Terp, Fall 2009

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TERP

CONNECTING

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COMMUNITY

VOL. 7, NO. 1 FALL 2009

Finger

On the Pulse Maryland Leads Effort to Put Digital Health Records in Your Hands 20

FIGHTING FROG EXTINCTION 14

I

PRO-LIFIC PLAYERS 24

I

SIX DECADES OF GIVING 35

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TERP PUBLISHER

Brodie Remington Vice President, University Relations ADVISORY BOARD

J. Paul Carey ’82 M.B.A. Managing Partner, JPT Partners John Girouard ’81 President and CEO, Capital Asset Management Group Anil Gupta Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Strategy and Organization, Robert H. Smith School of Business Beth Morgen Chief Administrative Officer, Maryland Alumni Association Danita D. Nias ’81 Assistant Vice President, Alumni Relations and Development Vicki Rymer ’61, ’66 M.B.A., ’83 Ph.D. Teaching Professor, Robert H. Smith School of Business Keith Scroggins ’79 Chief Operating Officer, Baltimore City Public Schools Lee Thornton Professor and Eaton Chair, Philip Merrill College of Journalism MAGAZINE STAFF

Lauren Brown University Editor Kimberly Marselas ’00 Managing Editor John T. Consoli ’86 Creative Director Jeanette J. Nelson Art Director Joshua Harless Catherine Nichols ’99 Brian G. Payne Contributing Designers Monette A. Bailey ’89 Mandie Boardman ’02 Cassandra Robinson Rebecca M. Ruark Tom Ventsias Writers Kelly Blake ’94 Michael Hoffman ’05 Contributing Writers Anne McDonough ’09 Photographer’s Assistant Kathy B. Lambird ’94 Production Manager Elizabeth Burzenski ’10 Katherine Davis ’09 Magazine Interns E-mail terpmag@umd.edu Terp magazine is published by the Division of University Relations. Letters to the editor are welcomed. Send correspondence to Kimberly Marselas, Managing Editor, Terp magazine, 2101 Turner Building, College Park, MD 20742-1521. Or, send an e-mail to terpmag@umd.edu.

The University of Maryland, College Park is an equal opportunity institution with respect to both education and employment. University policies, programs and activities are in conformance with pertinent federal and state laws and regulations on non-discrimination regarding race, color, religion, age, national origin, political affiliation, gender, sexual orientation or disability.

Dear Alumni and Friends, FROM TEXTING TO iPods, technology is

changing the way we live our lives.

We’ve certainly come a long way since eight-tracks and street maps! And Maryland’s world-renowned researchers are working to implement technological advances to help improve the likes of health care, energy, the environment and even museum collections for “end users” like you and me, in Maryland and across the nation and the world.

“Health IT” on page 20 explores the challenges and opportunities in the race to modernize medical record-keeping.

Success would expand health-care access, improve quality and reduce costs and enable each of us to take better charge of our health.

On page 12, read about Maryland faculty from engineering, chemical and life sciences and computer science who have joined together to tackle energy storage issues. Their aim: to create “super batteries” to power the next generation of automobiles and more.

Our world-class university is also leading a new climate institute with the goal of providing detailed—and perhaps lifesaving—weather information with the help of technology. Read more on page 5. And, get the scoop on technology’s marriage with the environment at Maryland straight from a botanist and undergraduate program director of environmental science and technology on page 13.

In collaboration with the university, the Smithsonian Institution plans to make a digital record of the more than 137 million artifacts in the Smithsonian’s collection to keep up with the technological times. Turn to page 3 for more

on that collaboration. At Maryland, thousands of recordings and books in the Keesing Collection of Popular Music, covered on page 17, have been made searchable through University Libraries’ catalog—making rock ‘n’ roll rarities accessible to fans all over the world.

Even Terp is getting in on the tech act. Can’t get enough of the magazine that connects you to everything Maryland? Starting with this issue, we preview bonus Web content on page 6.

And don’t forget to bookmark alumni.umd.edu for all the goings-on around Homecoming and Reunion Weekend, Oct. 16-17. You won’t want to miss out on the members-only Backyard Bash before the Terrapins tromp the Cavaliers. (See the calendar section in the magazine’s center for more upcoming activities.)

Signing off from my BlackBerry— Go Terps!

Danita D. Nias ’81 Assistant Vice President, Alumni Relations and Development

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2 BIG PICTURE International undergraduate enrollment expands; three deans named; leading new climate institute; and more 6 TERP ONLINE Ask a reading expert; take a virtual stadium tour; and more 7 ASK ANNE Fallout shelters; oldest female graduate; and more 8 CLASS ACT Brothers spin successful Webs.com; Hollywood Terp; and more 12 M-FILE Vanishing frogs; powerful ideas for cars; environmental professor rocks; and more 16 PLAY-BY-PLAY Gymnastics coach familiar face 17 SPOTLIGHT Gems in popular music history 18 MARYLAND LIVE Homecoming and reunion details; the 2009 First Year Book; and more 31 IN THE LOOP Donor for 50-plus years; Divine Nine to the rescue; giving teaches giving; and more 36 INTERPRETATIONS New vigor in research-funding efforts

departments

features 9 CLIMATE LEADER A new climate institute at Maryland links researchers to improve longrange forecasts and climate change projections.

20

A SOUND RX FOR HEALTH CARE

University researchers advance ideas integral to health-care reform in the United States: developing technology, assessing costs and improving communication between doctors and patients.

BY TOM VENTSIAS

24

PRO-LIFIC PROGRAM

Maryland churns out a surprisingly large number of NFL players, and football Coach Ralph Friedgen’s methods on and off the field get the credit.

BY MICHAEL HOFFMAN ’05

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GIVING + RECEIVING

Maryland earns a national reputation in encouraging students’ interest in improving their communities and the world.

BY LAUREN BROWN

CLIMATE IMAGE COURTESY OF NASA; PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOSHUA HARLESS

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GROWTH spurt

T

his year, Maryland was named a Tree Campus USA and designated an arboretum and botanical garden, recognizing the university's commitment to beautifying the campus, maintaining it as a learning resource and serving as an exemplary environmental steward.

Protecting History Historic Morrill Quad is being restored with assistance from the Class of 2009. Located in the center of Morrill, Tydings, LeFrak, Taliaferro and Shoemaker halls, it is the site of the original campus quadrangle and is home to some of the university’s oldest trees. Plans, pending funding, call for creating a setting of historical highlights with a prominent gateway.

Connecting the Community to Nature Near Memorial Chapel, construction begins this fall on the Garden of Reflection and Remembrance. Designed as a place of solace, the garden will include a beautiful and fragrant labyrinth, a reflection pool and all-weather journals for visitors’ thoughts. It will also be the site of a Vietnam veterans memorial, restored, designed and funded by graduates from the 1980s. To demonstrate sustainable practices, the garden will include recycled PVC pipes for the walkways and other innovations.The project is being supported by significant private donations.

Honoring Tradition and Service He’s covered in boxwoods and sits across the street from Cole Student Activities Building. The Testudo topiary, also known as “Terpiary” and designed by Tennessee artist Joe Kyte, shares space on a traffic plaza with two 50-foot flagpoles and a plaque honoring those who have served and are serving in the U.S. military. The memorial is a gift from the university’s Air Force ROTC unit and the Class of 2004. Once funding becomes available, says Dan Hayes, an architect with Facilities Planning, the site will also feature flowering trees in a grove and benches.

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MORRILL QUAD PHOTO BY DAVID TROZZO, 1986; GARDEN OF REFLECTION SKETCH BY SCOTT MUNROE; “TERPIARY” PHOTO PROVIDED BY DEPARTMENT OF FACILITIES PLANNING

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3 Deans in, 2 Off to White House THE SCHOOL OF Public Policy, University Libraries and the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences this summer welcomed new deans—two of whom replaced deans who assumed positions in the Obama administration.

Donald Kettl, a well-known expert on government reform and a prolific author, arrived in June to lead the School of Public Policy.

A former scholar at the University of Pennsylvania and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, a respected think tank, Kettl says he’s glad to come to Maryland as the U.S. struggles with economic and political crises.

The School of Public Policy is “uniquely suited to grapple with the overwhelming policy challenges facing government,” Kettl says. “I’m enormously impressed by all the school has accomplished and where it can go.”

Patricia Steele, a national leader in digitizing information to improve academic libraries’ access, took her new post on Sept. 1. Previously

head of the libraries at Indiana University, she’s known for her work on the Google Project to put online up to 10 million volumes in important library collections.

The new dean for the university’s largest college, Behavioral and Social Sciences, is more homegrown. John Townshend is former chair of the Department of Geography, which he has guided into a leader in global measurements through satellite imaging. He hopes to attract to the college more resources, more disciplinary research on national and global concerns and a more entrepreneurial spirit.

He takes over for Edward Montgomery, who is now heading the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry. Steve Fetter, former public policy dean, was named assistant director in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

And if that’s not enough Maryland influence in D.C., public policy Professor Ivo H. Daalder is the new U.S. ambassador to NATO. —LB

KETTL

STEELE

TOWNSHEND

Maryland Leads New Climate Institute A NEW RESEARCH partnership led by the University of Maryland may soon provide long-range global forecasts and warnings about the impact of climate change on the Earth’s ecosystem, including water quality, disease vectors, drought projections and the health of marine life.

The Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites, funded by up to $93 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration, links Maryland researchers with federal scientists and faculty from North Carolina State University and 16 other institutions.

These experts will collect data from dozens of sophisticated NOAA and NASA satellites orbiting the Earth, providing information on atmospheric water vapor, ozone levels, sea-ice concentrations, sea level, infrared radiation from the planet’s surface, chlorophyll in the

ocean as well as rainfall and vegetation in specific areas.

“Ultimately, we want to provide detailed information to end users— people and officials who need to make decisions based on our climate modeling and predictions,” says Phillip Arkin, a senior research scientist at Maryland who will lead the new institute.

The institute will be based at the university’s M Square research

KETTL BY CANDACE DICARLO; STEELE BY KIP MAY; TOWNSHEND BY JOHN T. CONSOLI; EARTH IMAGE COURTESY OF NASA

park, where a cluster of climate and weather-related research activities are already established, including the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center and the Joint Global Change Research Institute. NOAA’s National Center for Weather and Climate Prediction is set to open there next year. —TV

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terp online

terp.umd.edu

THIS FALL, WE’RE BRINGING YOU MORE OF WHAT YOU LOVE ABOUT TERP ONLINE. EACH ISSUE, OUR WRITERS AND DESIGNERS WILL PUT TOGETHER BONUS CONTENT RANGING FROM BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEOS TO A CHANCE TO SPEAK DIRECTLY WITH MARYLAND FACULTY. YOU CAN RECONNECT WITH FORMER CLASSMATES THROUGH CLASS NOTES, FIND OUT WHO’S BEEN PUBLISHED IN AN EXPANDED BY ALUMNI SECTION OR SIMPLY DROP US A LINE TO TELL US HOW WE’RE DOING AND WHAT YOU’D LIKE TO SEE IN FUTURE ISSUES. OUR ADDRESS IS WWW.TERP.UMD.EDU. BOOKMARK US. YOU’LL WANT TO VISIT OFTEN.

more green goodness terp.umd.edu/green

To remember why you fell in love with Maryland’s tree-lined mall (and see some of the plant life that helped us become an official arboretum and botanical garden), enjoy a slideshow by photographer John T. Consoli ’86.

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alumni bylines With so many graduates becoming authors, we’ve expanded our By Alumni department to include more great titles online.

terp.umd.edu/revamping

School is back in session, and for some parents that means endless battles over homework assignments. Whether your student has just mastered the alphabet, is reluctant to pick up his first chapter book or refuses to crack the cover of a great American classic, our expert can help. College of Education Professor Jennifer Turner fields your questions on developing a lifelong love of reading.

terp.umd.edu/alumni

terp.umd.edu/experts

expert on call

revamping byrd Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium is new and improved, with new suites and mezzanine seating in Tyser Tower.

Take a virtual tour and check out the sweet digs for yourself.

PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI; BYRD SUITE PHOTO COURTESY OF MARYLAND ATHLETICS

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ask Anne Questions for Anne Turkos, university archivist for University Libraries, may be

Q. Were any fallout

shelters located on

campus, and if so, where?

sent to terpmag@umd.edu.

—Al Barth

A. The Diamondback reported in December 1962 that 39 areas in 37 campus buildings had been prepared for fallout shelters. These areas could accommodate a total of 7,462 people. The university planned to create 20 more shelters, each stocked with a two-week supply of food and water and a radio kit. A shelter manager and two alternates would be assigned to take charge during emergencies.

By 1971 there were 42 buildings with fallout Students participate in a fallout shelter course at Denton Dining Hall in 1966.

shelters with a total capacity of 23,052. As far as can be determined, none of these shelters exists today. It is believed that most were converted to

other uses during major renovations of university buildings beginning in the late 1970s. Fallout shelter signs were reported to exist in Reckord Armory and at the Institute for Physical Science and Technology Building, but no signs were found during a recent check of these buildings.

Q. My late great-grandmother, Henrietta Spiegel, was a student at the university in the 1980s, and I believe she was the oldest woman ever to graduate from the university. Can you share any information about her? —Ryan Spiegel '00 A. I remember when your great-grandmother (right) graduated cum laude in Spring 1989 at the age of 85. She earned a degree in English and a GPA of 3.9. She holds two records: She is the oldest person to complete an undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland and the oldest woman inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. An award for creative writing in the Department of English has been named for her.

IMAGES COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

Q. How does Rachel Carson fit into Maryland’s history?

She was an adjunct faculty member in zoology, and I am curious to know more. —Andrea Morris A. Even though she taught zoology, a

course we normally associate with University of Maryland, College Park, a yearbook photo and faculty directories from the Baltimore campus confirm that Rachel Carson (right) only taught there. Carson wrote “Silent Spring,” a call to action on the environment that resounds loudly even today.

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Brothers’ Hobby Becomes Web Wonder LOGGING PHYSICS FINDINGS in a journal, investing in the stock market and attending weekend math and technology courses aren’t the kind of things most school kids do for fun. Then again, not many people have enjoyed the kind of success that brothers D. Haroon Mokhtarzada ’01 and Zekeria “Zeki” Mokhtarzada ’01 have as leaders in the Web publishing world.

As children, Haroon and Zeki were forced to flee Afghanistan with their family. Here in their adoptive country, they learned survival skills in life and work. “Our parents started a business, which exposed us very early on to two things: entrepreneurship and computers,” says Haroon.

While at Maryland, the brothers used their complementary skills to build a Web site people could use to construct their own sites for free—even as Haroon finished his economics degree summa cum laude and Zeki finished his double major in computer science and mathematics.

Today, Haroon and Zeki are CEO and chief technology officer, respectively, of Webs.com, their hobby-turned-business.

Younger brother Idris, a senior majoring in

computer science, is a co-founder and senior engineer. Each day, 20,000 new sites—for personal, organizational and business uses—are created using their simple and streamlined site-building process, and each month, more than 30 million unique visitors hit on Webs.com.

“Webs.com has helped hundreds of thousands of people generate income for their families and causes,” says Haroon.

Now the brothers can add 2009 Outstanding Young Alumni to their résumés.

In April, Haroon and Zeki were named Outstanding Young Alumni at the Maryland Alumni Association Awards Gala. In their acceptance speech, the brothers thanked their parents and siblings—all Terps—as well as their alma mater. “It’s great to know that Maryland honors entrepreneurship and innovation, things we really believe in,” Zeki says. —RR

Entrepreneurs and brothers, clockwise from left, D. Haroon, Zekeria and Idris Mokhtarzada.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MOKHTARZADAS

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Terp Takes Tinseltown AFTER EMIGRATING FROM Italy to

travel 2010 Treasures of Jordan April 3-14 Encounter wonders both of nature and of man: lively Amman and rose-red Petra, the ruins of Jerash, the resort life of the Red Sea and the restorative powers of the Dead Sea.

Holland and Belgium April 20-28 Experience the beauty, history and culture of Holland and Belgium by cruising their legendary waterways. Join us aboard the MS Amadeus Diamond and enrich your life with an adventure you will never forget.

Amalfi June 2-10 Indulge in the majesty of the Divine Coast, where you’ll travel a fabled, serpentine ribbon of road from destination to destination.

Along the way, take in the breathtaking views and realize why it has drawn royalty and celebrities for decades.

For more details on these and other tours featured in the Travel 2010 program, visit www.alumni.umd.edu or call 301.405.7870/ 800.336.8627.

Washington, D.C., with her family at age 7, Giuliana Rancic ’96 learned English by watching television. She grew up idolizing News 4 reporter Barbara Harrison and dreaming of a career in journalism.

Today she’s a well-known TV anchor for the E! network, co-hosting “E! News” daily with Ryan Seacrest, tracking celebrity stories and working the red carpet at high-profile events.

At Maryland, the then-Giuliana DePandi reveled in the fast-paced course work and demanding professors. With her undergraduate degree from the Philip Merrill School of Journalism and a master’s degree from American University, she set out for Los Angeles, knowing entertainment news was her passion.

“My degrees set me apart from my peers in Hollywood—I wasn’t just another blonde trying to be an actress.”

She began her job at “E! News” in 2002 as an off-camera reporter, and was promoted to anchor and managing editor in January 2005.

“I became a stronger writer and producer because of that initial work,” she says. Since her promotion, according to the network, the show’s viewership has jumped more than 50 percent.

Rancic spends her days in a flurry of shooting promos, writing stories and seeking the latest celebrity scoops. By night, she takes to the red carpet, asking questions her viewers would love to ask their favorite celebrities, but can’t. “I prepare by not preparing,” Rancic says.

“By thinking too much, it inhibits the

organic process and you miss the spontaneity right in front of you.

Plus, my knowledge of pop culture is a great safety net.”

In 2007, she cemented her own role in pop culture, marrying Bill Rancic, season 1 winner of “The Apprentice.” Their Style Network reality show, “Giuliana & Bill,” debuted in August. The couple recently traveled to campus, where Giuliana served as presenter at the 10th annual University of Maryland Alumni Association Awards Gala. “I

Giuliana Rancic's interest in entertainment and journalism led her to a dream job at E! Entertainment Television and her own reality show.

spent the last nine years working nonstop, and because of that I lost touch with my past. I’m ready to reconnect and give back,” she says.

Rancic emphatically broadcasts her Terp pride. “I love saying I am from Maryland and representing the Terps in Tinseltown.” —MLB

TRAVEL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION; RANCIC PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT; “E! NEWS” LOGO COURTESY OF VIACOM

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Food Scientist Takes Baby Steps DAN HEIGES ’93 is surely one of only a few corporate executives who

get paid to eat baby food.

A physics major who switched to food science, Heiges is now vice president of food production at Sprout Foods, a nearly year-old company that sells gourmet, organic baby food.

Heiges says he was at Maryland when he realized he didn’t want to be a physicist.

“I had been cooking since I was 16,” he says. “The day I decided to change course and become a chef, I stumbled on a food science fair. I’d never heard of [food science], a blend of culinary arts and science. Perfect.”

Eventually, Heiges wound up as director of research and development at Wild Oats Markets. He got excited during a meeting where Sprout Foods founders Max MacKenzie and celebrity chef Tyler Florence pitched their innovative baby food.

“I was so impressed that I volunteered my help in getting the company off the ground. When Whole Foods merged with Wild Oats, the writing was on the wall and I asked if there was any chance Sprout Foods was hiring,” he says.

He joined the company last March, helping to translate the recipes and cooking processes to manufacturing scale. Sprout is available in more than 1,300 Publix and H.E.B. Fresh Foods stores, and planned to add 500 to 1,000 locations during a nationwide rollout in September.

Heiges, dad to 3- and 6-year-olds, says people are initially hesitant to try the pouches of roasted bananas, baked sweet potatoes and peach rice pudding, but smile after their first bite. He remembers his first meeting with Florence, who asked the group, “Why would you feed kids something that you wouldn’t eat?”

Now, Heiges says, “I eat it all the time.” —MAB

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF SPROUT FOODS; AT RIGHT: ROTTER AT PODIUM BY LISA HELFERT; ROTTER WITH STUDENTS BY ANNE MCDONOUGH; ALUMNI BOOKS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

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BYalumni Ernie Full of Energy by Tara Iona ’91 is a great way for parents and their children to begin a dialogue about the frustrations involved with learning disorders, particularly ADHD. Ernie’s constant energy and sometimes explosive behavior confuse his parents, but through it all they see their son’s special and wonderful qualities.

Rotter Plots New Course for Association DR. STEVE ROTTER ’82 believes that you get what you give in life. Grateful for the education and experience he received at Maryland, he is committed to giving back to his alma mater.

In July, Rotter became the University of Maryland Alumni Association board of governors’ new president. Rotter has served on the board since 2005 and has chaired two committees: awards and recognition and membership and marketing. He also serves on the College of Chemical and Life Sciences board of visitors.

After graduating from Maryland, Rotter went on to the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is now the owner and director of the Center for Skin Surgery & Skin Cancer Outpatient Surgical Hospital in Vienna, Va. And while Rotter spends most of his time in surgery or with his wife, Fran ’82 and their two children, he takes his new post seriously and has set goals for his two-year term. He plans on growing the alumni association’s life membership program and strengthening ties between the alumni association and the undergraduate and graduate student populations.

He encourages all alumni to become involved. “This university is firstclass from top to bottom. All you have to do is see the campus and feel the energy of what’s happening here.” —MLB

Dr. Steve Rotter speaking (above) at a Maryland ring ceremony, and with students (below) at a welcome event early this semester, is the board of governors’ new president.

University Professor Anil C. Gupta and Haiyan Wang ’95 help business leaders develop robust global strategies by uncovering hidden opportunities—and challenges—presented by the rapidly growing economies of China and India.

In Getting China and India Right, they reveal the secrets to capturing the hearts, minds and wallets of consumers there.

In Rabbit in the Moon by Deborah and Joel Shlian ’67, Dr. Lili Quan honors her mother’s dying wish by traveling to China, where she meets her grandfather, who made a remarkable discovery: the secret to long life. This earth-shattering find could become a deadly international game.

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m-file NEWSdesk UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND FACULTY ARE THE SOURCE NEWS MEDIA TURN TO FOR EXPERTISE—FROM POLITICS AND PUBLIC POLICY TO SOCIETY AND CULTURE TO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. “The Republicans were more nervous about giving Obama a big victory than in further eroding their diminished support among Hispanics. The Sotomayor vote signals that (Obama) needs to be very, very careful about going any further left with the next nominee.”

SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY DEAN DONALD KETTL, ON REPUBLICANS’ “UNFLINCHING” OPPOSITION TO SONYA SOTOMAYOR, THEN A CANDIDATE FOR THE SUPREME COURT, LOS ANGELES TIMES, JULY 29

“Legalization in the U.S. might be a much more commercial matter than in pragmatic Holland, where the government created a legally ambiguous regulatory system with minimal court oversight.The U.S. might find it hard to prevent producers from using their First Amendment rights to actively promote the drug.”

PETER REUTER, CRIMINOLOGY, IN A FORUM ON WHETHER ADDICTION WILL RISE IF MARIJUANA

“When students actually track those expenses, they realize how much they are spending on little items.

And small things add up.”

IS LEGALIZED, THE NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 19

“The public is pulling for more—a lot more, no, but a bit more, yes. There is definitely political capital there to move the ball forward and that is pretty much universal.”

Powerful Ideas on Energy Storage IMAGINE A NEW breed of all-electric cars that can travel 300 miles or more before needing a quick recharge— almost three times farther than current hybrid models that rely on gasoline as a backup.

Innovative science in the university’s recently launched Energy Frontier Research Center may lead to such a vehicle within a decade, says Gary Rubloff, the Minta Martin Professor of Engineering and director of the center.

Working with Sang Bok Lee, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, Rubloff is developing “super batteries” that can store more energy, deliver more power and recharge much faster than existing devices can. The key, says Rubloff, is exploiting the honeycomb patterns of nanoscale pores in aluminum oxide, using arrays of these nanowires to build compact yet extremely efficient batteries.

Linking faculty from engineering, chemical and life sciences and computer science, the energy research center was funded with $14 million from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of a new program that brings together groups of leading scientists to address fundamental energy issues. —TV

STEVEN KULL, DIRECTOR, PROGRAM ON INTERNATIONAL POLICY ATTITUDES, DISCUSSING THE POLL HE LED ON DIFFERENT COUNTRIES’ BELIEF THAT CLIMATE CHANGE SHOULD BE A GOVERNMENT PRIORITY, THE

JINHEE KIM, FAMILY SCIENCE, ENCOURAGING

(U.K.) GUARDIAN, JULY 30

COLLEGE STUDENTS TO WATCH THEIR DISCRETIONARY SPENDING, USA TODAY, AUG. 15

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STUDENT EXPENSES ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN G. PAYNE

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ANDREW BALDWIN, AN EXPERT ON WETLAND ECOLOGY AND ENGINEERING, IS UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF

In Tune with His Environment

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. HE JOINED THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND

NATURAL RESOURCES IN 1996 AND ENJOYS WORKING WITH STUDENTS OUTDOORS, EVEN IN FREEZING RAIN OR SEARING HEAT. HE SAT DOWN WITH TERP’S LAUREN BROWN TO TALK ABOUT HIS FIELD.

TERP: How do technology and the environment fit together in this new department?

BALDWIN: People hear “technology” and think “computers.” A lot of the research in our department helps design ways to solve problems—an applied technology approach. Pat Kangas is using algae to clean wastewater and create biofuels. Josh McGrath is working on a GPS/sensor system that lets farmers fertilize only exactly where needed. Other faculty are working on how to use plants to purify indoor air or use bacteria to clean up hazardous waste.

TERP: Why should students be interested in environmental science at Maryland?

BALDWIN: We’re one of the only universities that offer undergraduate concentrations in ecological and technology design and in environmental health.

The university’s location is great. Maryland is physiographically diverse—there are wetlands and forests, mountains and beaches. The university is surrounded by urban conditions, but we’re only a few miles from the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, which has experimental farms, plus forests and fields. We’re also near a lot of federal and state government agencies and nonprofits where graduates can find internships and jobs.

TERP: What are the most pressing issues in your field?

BALDWIN: We need to learn more about ecosystem restoration.

Another big one is climate change; it’s changing precipitation patterns, temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations.

TERP: How does your love of nature extend beyond the classroom?

BALDWIN: I’m a botanist—I go out and identify plants. Sometimes, I’ll just take a walk with my field guide. I’ve tried to take my kids out, but they say, “Nooooo.”

TERP: You're known for your enthusiasm for teaching in the field. How do students respond?

BALDWIN: I tell the students, “We’re going to go outside,” and they don’t really believe me. One time, it was raining and 35 degrees out, and I saw one kid had on only shorts and a T-shirt. After they do that once or twice, they seem to be more prepared.

TERP: You play bass, guitar and drums and sing with a band, but you’re also the college’s commencement singer. What’s that like?

BALDWIN: I sing the national anthem and the alma mater.

I try to spice it up, maybe a fist in the air. Then, usually, I high-five the dean on the way back to my seat.

PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

m-file

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Where Have All the Frogs Gone?

FROGS AND OTHER amphibians are mysteriously disappearing from the planet, and biologist Karen Lips is racing against time to save them. Onethird of the 6,300 species of amphibians are in decline and 168 have gone extinct in the last 20 years, with more disappearing each day. The crisis has required Lips and her colleagues to act as detectives at a crime scene, investigating sites where they find the bodies of thousands of dead frogs to unravel what went wrong.

While pollution and other environmental factors are taking their toll on frogs, Lips and others discovered that it’s an unusual fungus, called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd, that’s causing massive frog die-offs in locations as disparate as Panama, Australia and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, these experts don’t know where this fungus originated and don’t know how to stop it. They do know that it likes cool, wet climates, where frogs also thrive, and that it spreads rapidly.

After Lips documented the disease’s rapid and devastating impact on frogs in Costa Rica and Panama, her colleagues rushed to evacuate frogs from the forests of Central Panama to save them from the advancing fungus. Today, their facility shelters 58 species of frogs—including some of the rarest on earth.

Lips is also investigating the fungus’s impact in the U.S. and whether it has caused the decline of several species of salamanders in Appalachia, which has the highest biodiversity of salamanders in the world. In addition, she is documenting the impact that these extinctions are having on ecosystems.

“Once amphibians are eliminated from an ecosystem, everything else changes,” she explains. “Snakes disappear, algae grows, sediments accumulate and affect water quality. We don’t know yet how many of these changes are irrevocable.” —KB

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ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN G. PAYNE

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Researchers Team Up to Fight Alzheimer’s Disease

New Tools to Identify At-Risk Youths THE SOMETIMES-AWKWARD transi-

A UNIVERSITY OF Maryland neuroscientist is collaborating with experts at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to advance a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, the debilitating neurological disorder that afflicts more than 5.3 million Americans and is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States.

Hey-Kyoung Lee, an associate professor of biology in the College of Chemical and Life Sciences, links her previous work in neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to reorganize neural pathways—with Johns Hopkins scientists who are studying innovative treatments for Alzheimer’s.

Current Alzheimer’s treatment relies on medications that can only delay or manage the disease’s most prevalent symptoms: the loss of memory and thinking skills. In research funded by the National Institutes of Health, Lee and the Johns Hopkins researchers are attempting to actually stem the disease by preventing the action of an enzyme called BACE1, which produces linked

amino acids called peptides.

Many scientists believe that an overproduction of a peptide called A-beta is the cause of Alzheimer’s. The concern is that by eliminating the BACE1 enzyme in laboratory mice, some of the test animals became confused and aggressive.

Lee and her students pinpointed these abnormalities, and the researchers are now searching for a pharmaceutical solution that can eliminate the behavioral side effects caused

by BACE1 inhibition.

“Learning what is happening at the cellular level gives us the tools to circumvent what is causing the brain to function abnormally,” Lee explains.

Ultimately, Lee says the research team is hoping to discover a cure for Alzheimer’s.

“That’s the holy grail—to be able to first show we can safely inhibit the production of A-beta peptides in laboratory animals, and then move on to clinical trials that can lead to an effective treatment,” she says. —TV

tion from adolescence to adulthood is a period of intense physical, mental, emotional and social change.

While most young people can cope with these growing pains without much consequence, others may struggle and engage in harmful behavior to suppress their uncomfortable feelings.

Research in the university’s School of Public Health may soon give counselors new tools to identify at-risk youths prone to negative behaviors like substance abuse, juvenile delinquency and unprotected sex.

Stacey Daughters, ’98, M.A. ’03, Ph.D. ’05, assistant professor of public and community health and director of the Stress, Health and Addictions Research laboratory, is investigating the biological and psychological mechanisms underlying distress tolerance, which is the ability to tolerate intense emotional discomfort without reverting to avoidant or impulsive behavior.

“The substance abuse or other non-acceptable behaviors may be symptoms of a core emotional vulnerability we want to identify,” says Daughters, who recently completed a distress intolerance assessment of 150 Prince George’s County high school students ages 14 to 17.

“The school system can definitely benefit from new approaches to

early intervention at this critical stage of development for our youth,” says Heather Iliff, a member of the Prince George’s County Board of Education.

The project is funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse and follows up on distress tolerance research Daughters is doing with recovering drug addicts and alcoholics at an inpatient treatment center in Washington, D.C. The high school students played a series of computer games that involved adding numbers or tracing the outline of a star using the computer mouse. To increase stress, the task included forced failure in the form of a quickened pace followed by a loud buzzer.

The students were told that the better they performed, the greater their reward at the end of the session—yet they also had the option to quit the task at any time.

Students who quit early (showing they had low distress tolerance) were also more likely to report drug or alcohol abuse and other harmful behaviors identified through a follow-up questionnaire.

The next step is to develop interventions. “If you can identify these kids right away with the tools that we have, and give them treatment, then that’s the key,” says Daughters.

—TV

For more details, go to www.chemlife.umd.edu/biology/leelab#.

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play-by-play SCOREcard

Balance of Power

The 2008-09 school year as one of the most successful in Terps’ athletics history.

Men’s soccer, women’s basketball, field hockey, women’s lacrosse and wrestling all brought home ACC tournament championships this year, making it the first time since 1964-65 that five Terps teams won ACC titles in the same season.

AFTER 31 YEARS, 19 winning seasons and 493

victories, Bob Nelligan is no longer the face of women’s gymnastics at Maryland.

But the new face looks familiar: The team’s head coach is now his son, Brett.

Bob Nelligan, who everyone calls Duke, retired in June as the university’s longesttenured coach, just after being named the 2009 NCAA Division I Southeast Region Coach of the Year.

Brett, who served six years under his dad as an assistant coach, knows that taking the grips from him is no small feat.

“For his retirement, 200 gymnastics alumni came back—each with their own story about how Duke personally impacted their life. It’s intimidating,” Brett says.

Duke was exposed to gymnastics early on, in elementary school, and developed his own philosophy as a coach even before coming to Maryland at age 28.

By the time gymnasts got to college, he soon found, many were no longer enjoying the sport that brought them so much joy as a kid.

“My role was to be not just a coach but a caretaker,” he explains. “By helping them find excitement in the sport again, it created a stronger program.”

His role as caretaker extended outside the 16

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Bob “Duke” Nelligan gym. To senior Brandi (left) passed the George, he became her responsibilities of family away from home. coaching Maryland’s women’s gymnastics “Duke makes the gym team on to his son, enjoyable, but he’s also a Brett (center). father to all of us. When my roommate and I arrived from Florida in shorts and flip-flops, he drove us around until we found the perfect winter coats.”

He also became known for encouraging his athletes to remain committed to school, and his squad won the President’s Cup Team GPA award nine times since the program was founded 13 years ago.

Brett says he’s up for the challenge of maintaining the program’s strong tradition and plans to implement a more aggressive training and recruiting program. Says his father: “Brett is a better businessman for the program.”

Losing only one student from the 2009-10 team, Kelsey Nelligan ’09, Duke’s daughter and Brett’s sister, and welcoming four new top-notch gymnasts, Brett has high expectations for the team and himself for the season starting in January.

Duke intends to remain a proud supporter of Maryland gymnastics. Says George: “I’m not sure what retirement will bring, but I don’t see him going anywhere anytime soon.” —MLB

Women’s basketball, field hockey and women’s and men’s lacrosse finished first in their ACC regular-season standings, giving Maryland four regular-season champs for the first time since 1996-97.

All five of Maryland’s ACC tournament championship teams saw continued success in the NCAA tournament, with men’s soccer and field hockey winning national championships last fall. Women’s basketball played in its second consecutive regional championship game, women’s lacrosse made it to the national semifinal round and wrestling tied for its best national finish ever, placing 10th at the NCAA championships.

PHOTO BY GREG FIUME, MARYLAND ATHLETICS

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spotlight Music to Researchers’ Ears IN 1996, RETIRED Maryland professor and popular

music collector Hugo Keesing made his first gift to the University of Maryland Libraries.

He gave generously: The gift consisted of 2,708 books, 1,529 journals and 175 linear feet in paper and memorabilia items. It has grown into the Hugo Keesing Collection of Popular Music, housed in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library, or MSPAL, at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. The books, serials, recordings, sheet music, auction lists, clippings and memorabilia span the 1910s to the 1990s. While the collection is comprehensive, a significant amount of material is related to Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Fats Domino and Roy Orbison.

The collection recently opened to the public, with new resources available to guide amateur and expert researchers.

“Recordings are essential for understanding rock music,” says Vincent Novara, curator for Special Collections in Performing Arts within MSPAL, “and Keesing has given us thousands.”

From the primary source materials in this collection, researchers gain access to more than the music of former generations; they gain access to

KEESING COLLECTION PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

the history of 20th century America. Says Novara, “I’m always surprised to see younger students researching the artists their grandparents listened to.”

Unfortunately, the sources that cultural and music historians rely on are often dismissed by some scholars and may be in danger of not being preserved, says Professor Andrew Kellett, who received his doctorate in history from Maryland in 2008. “The sources I found in the Keesing Collection, like interviews with Pete Townshend of The Who and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin in the ’70s fanzine Zig Zag, brought my research to life.”

They proved crucial to Kellett’s analysis of the British appropriation of American blues music in the creation of “classic” rock. “It’s so commendable that collections like the Keesing Collection exist,” he says.

The study of music strikes a personal chord for Novara. “My earliest childhood memory is of listening to ‘Hey Bulldog’ by the Beatles over and over again. Ever since then I have been hooked, and I look forward to helping students utilize the sources Keesing assembled over decades.” —RR

A sampling of music and memorabilia from the Hugo Keesing Collection of Popular Music: Rare sheet music from the WWII musical propaganda campaign The ’60s album “Sands of Time” from Jay and the Americans that has never been reissued on CD or iTunes A Four Seasons greatest hits recording with liner notes written by Dick Clark Elvis milk bath A Rock ‘n’ Roll brand beer can featuring Chuck Berry The first issues of Rolling Stone magazine Metal lunchboxes and thermoses featuring Bobby Sherman, the Bee Gees and Kiss A Pepsi can advertising the 1984 Jackson Tour

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Step Afrika!

By Dave Eggers

0130 Tydings Hall Eggers offers Maryland’s freshmen insight into the power of community amid chaos in an overlooked part of the world with this year’s program selection. His book, provided to all first-year students, is a novelized biography of one of the more than 20,000 children who fled during the Second Sudanese Civil War. Eggers chronicles the harrowing, sometimes humorous and always inspiring journey of Valentino Achak Deng, who eventually settled in Atlanta.

NOVEMBER 5, 5:30 P.M.

The First Year Book Program Presents Dave Eggers, Author of “What Is the What”

First Year Book 2009/2010

WHAT E IS TH WHAT

• Maryland Alumni Association Homecoming Festival with activities for the entire family, game fare and beverages. October 17, Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center (three hours prior to kickoff)

• An All-Reunion Lunch for all Maryland classes, with celebrity host and nutritionist Joy Bauer ’86, where guests will enjoy a student performance. October 16, Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center

• 50th reunion for the Class of 1959, featuring the Emeritus Alumni Club induction with a formal medallion ceremony and an Alumni College event with a faculty speaker. October 16, Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center

• Homecoming parade, including floats, live music, special guests and more. October 16, Main Administration Building

Throughout campus Reunite with old friends and make new ones, as you rediscover Maryland during Homecoming and Reunion Weekend. The campus will be buzzing with a variety of festive activities:

OCTOBER 16-17

2009 Homecoming and Reunion Weekend

www.lib.umd.edu/prange/html/exhibit09.jsp

UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 301.405.9348,

FIRST YEAR BOOK firstyearbook@umd.edu, www.firstyearbook.umd.edu

www.claricesmithcenter.umd.edu

CLARICE SMITH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 301.405.ARTS (Ticket Office),

Sponsored by GEICO • Maryland vs. Virginia. The Terps Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center take on the Cavaliers in this ACC This members-only event features complimentary match-up. October 17, Capital One tailgate fare and beverages and live music. Reunite Field at Byrd Stadium with former classmates and friends at this exclusive party held just for members in the Samuel Riggs IV Visit www.alumni.umd.edu for a Alumni Center’s Moxley Gardens. Be sure to carry complete list of events. your membership card on HOT LINE Homecoming for entrance to this ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 301.405.4678 or 800.336.8627, www.alumni.umd.edu special celebration!

OCTOBER 17, THREE HOURS PRIOR TO KICKOFF

Alumni Association Members-Only Backyard Bash

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center Step Afrika delivers the highenergy tradition of stepping, an art form born at African American fraternities and based in African traditions, to the Ina and Jack Kay Theatre. With its intricate kicks, stomps and rhythms mixed with spoken word, the troupe seeks to build connections between people and to highlight the similarities in dance forms, lives and communities.

To mark the company’s 15-year anniversary, Step Afrika will perform some its most celebrated works with a remarkable choral collaboration.

NOVEMBER 12-13 8 P.M. $37/$9

PRANGE COLLECTION BY JOHN T. CONSOLI; STEP AFRIKA PHOTO ©SHARON FARMER; HOMECOMING BY LISA HELFERT; FOOTBALL BY GREG FIUME, MARYLAND ATHLETICS

Hornbake Library University Libraries shed light on the world of print publications during the first years of the Allied Occupation of Japan, with a display that includes books and short stories censored by the Allies, pulp fiction, children’s textbooks on democracy and materials related to the drafting of the Japanese Constitution of 1947. Discover Japan as it rebuilt, recovered and redefined itself after World War II.

THROUGH DECEMBER 30

“Voices of the Vanquished: Censored Print Publications from Postwar Japan, 19451949,” Showcasing Materials From the Gordon W. Prange Collection

With classes in full swing and a crisp breeze in the air, “fall” back into life at Maryland with a visit to campus. We’re hosting events this season that will get you thinking, clapping and cheering.

Spring09terp_MDLive:p16-17 9/18/09 4:26 PM Page 1

Step Afrika!

By Dave Eggers

0130 Tydings Hall Eggers offers Maryland’s freshmen insight into the power of community amid chaos in an overlooked part of the world with this year’s program selection. His book, provided to all first-year students, is a novelized biography of one of the more than 20,000 children who fled during the Second Sudanese Civil War. Eggers chronicles the harrowing, sometimes humorous and always inspiring journey of Valentino Achak Deng, who eventually settled in Atlanta.

NOVEMBER 5, 5:30 P.M.

The First Year Book Program Presents Dave Eggers, Author of “What Is the What”

First Year Book 2009/2010

WHAT E IS TH WHAT

• Maryland Alumni Association Homecoming Festival with activities for the entire family, game fare and beverages. October 17, Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center (three hours prior to kickoff)

• An All-Reunion Lunch for all Maryland classes, with celebrity host and nutritionist Joy Bauer ’86, where guests will enjoy a student performance. October 16, Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center

• 50th reunion for the Class of 1959, featuring the Emeritus Alumni Club induction with a formal medallion ceremony and an Alumni College event with a faculty speaker. October 16, Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center

• Homecoming parade, including floats, live music, special guests and more. October 16, Main Administration Building

Throughout campus Reunite with old friends and make new ones, as you rediscover Maryland during Homecoming and Reunion Weekend. The campus will be buzzing with a variety of festive activities:

OCTOBER 16-17

2009 Homecoming and Reunion Weekend

www.lib.umd.edu/prange/html/exhibit09.jsp

UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 301.405.9348,

FIRST YEAR BOOK firstyearbook@umd.edu, www.firstyearbook.umd.edu

www.claricesmithcenter.umd.edu

CLARICE SMITH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 301.405.ARTS (Ticket Office),

Sponsored by GEICO • Maryland vs. Virginia. The Terps Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center take on the Cavaliers in this ACC This members-only event features complimentary match-up. October 17, Capital One tailgate fare and beverages and live music. Reunite Field at Byrd Stadium with former classmates and friends at this exclusive party held just for members in the Samuel Riggs IV Visit www.alumni.umd.edu for a Alumni Center’s Moxley Gardens. Be sure to carry complete list of events. your membership card on HOT LINE Homecoming for entrance to this ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 301.405.4678 or 800.336.8627, www.alumni.umd.edu special celebration!

OCTOBER 17, THREE HOURS PRIOR TO KICKOFF

Alumni Association Members-Only Backyard Bash

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center Step Afrika delivers the highenergy tradition of stepping, an art form born at African American fraternities and based in African traditions, to the Ina and Jack Kay Theatre. With its intricate kicks, stomps and rhythms mixed with spoken word, the troupe seeks to build connections between people and to highlight the similarities in dance forms, lives and communities.

To mark the company’s 15-year anniversary, Step Afrika will perform some its most celebrated works with a remarkable choral collaboration.

NOVEMBER 12-13 8 P.M. $37/$9

PRANGE COLLECTION BY JOHN T. CONSOLI; STEP AFRIKA PHOTO ©SHARON FARMER; HOMECOMING BY LISA HELFERT; FOOTBALL BY GREG FIUME, MARYLAND ATHLETICS

Hornbake Library University Libraries shed light on the world of print publications during the first years of the Allied Occupation of Japan, with a display that includes books and short stories censored by the Allies, pulp fiction, children’s textbooks on democracy and materials related to the drafting of the Japanese Constitution of 1947. Discover Japan as it rebuilt, recovered and redefined itself after World War II.

THROUGH DECEMBER 30

“Voices of the Vanquished: Censored Print Publications from Postwar Japan, 19451949,” Showcasing Materials From the Gordon W. Prange Collection

With classes in full swing and a crisp breeze in the air, “fall” back into life at Maryland with a visit to campus. We’re hosting events this season that will get you thinking, clapping and cheering.

Spring09terp_MDLive:p16-17 9/18/09 4:26 PM Page 1

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Health IT An Rx for Health Care

By Tom Ventsias

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It’s been 15 years since University of Maryland researchers invented the technology to allow doctors to get a compact overview of patients’ information—office visits, hospitalizations, medications and lab results—on a single computer screen.

But today, only 8 percent of the nation’s 5,000 hospitals and 17 percent of its 800,000 physicians are using computerized record-keeping systems. The federal government is racing to meet its self-imposed deadline of digitizing all Americans’ health records by 2014.

“Changing the way medical professionals work is not easy … and turning an academic idea into a commercial success is sometimes a long and difficult process,” says computer science Professor Ben Shneiderman, who with senior research scientist Catherine Plaisant guided the research efforts to modernize medical records.

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Bringing health-care records into the digital age could give patients better access to their records and the ability to make more informed choices.

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The problem has taken on new urgency with $19 billion of this year’s economic stimulus earmarked for bringing the nation’s health-care records into the digital age. The president and Congress continued to debate health-care reform into the fall, with the president stopping on campus in September to hold a reform rally.

The solution lies with the use of health information technology, or health IT, which can expand health-care access, improve quality, prevent medical errors and reduce costs.

Maryland faculty are already leaders in this field, creating software that can spot trends in patients’ medical histories, developing tools to train senior citizens in online “health literacy” and studying the financial impact of improved communication in hospitals.

It seems like it should be a no-brainer for all the stakeholders in health care to embrace information technology, says Ritu Agarwal, the Robert H. Smith Dean’s Chair of Information Systems. After all, it’s been more than two decades since the U.S. banking industry discovered that electronic banking could greatly speed up transactions, reduce errors and attract customers.

But Agarwal says significant hurdles—besides the cost, estimated at as much as $150 billion— are holding up the revolution in health IT: Insurance companies may not believe it’s in their best interest to empower consumers. Hospitals are reluctant to invest in expensive health information technology if doctors aren’t going to use it. And consumers have a number of serious concerns— from a digital health record provider going out of business (taking scores of medical records with it), to the fear of unauthorized users accessing their personal health information.

“There isn’t any rigorous evaluation of what the benefits of using these technologies are, so people are reluctant to make [large-scale] investments of both time and money,” says Agarwal, founder and director of the Smith School of Business’s Center for Health Information and Decision Systems, or chids.

That’s where her work comes in. In one study, Agarwal is evaluating how the use of electronic prescribing—which allows a doctor to write a prescription on a computer notepad and send it directly to your pharmacy—can change the workflow in small physician practices.

Researchers in chids are also at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., determining whether its new IT system for inputting and tracking physician’s notes has affected the way attending physicians and consultants do their rounds, especially doctors who are attending to patients with complex illnesses and injuries.

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With U.S. hospitals potentially wasting almost $12 billion a year because of communication inefficiencies, Agarwal says, it is important to build a model for quantifying the cost of these inefficiencies.

Funded by the National Library of Medicine, the project is led by Assistant Professor Bo Xie, whose goal is to improve training techniques that boost health literacy. “For this age group, we have discovered that people pick up the knowledge faster if they are working together with their peers.That collaborative learning is very important,” Xie says.

Taking Charge of Your Health In the university’s School of Public Health, Dr. Sidney Wolfe, acting president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, says it is essential for faculty are also involved with improving health literacy—especially for underserved groups—as well people to have unfettered access to their personal as studying demographic factors that influence the health records—as well as a basic understanding of effectiveness of online health information. what those documents represent.

Nancy Atkinson, director of the school’s Public He says patients who can review their records might discover a documenting error that could have Health Informatics Research Laboratory, specializes in developing health IT education programs. serious consequences down the road, such as being While social media tools like Facebook and Twitter denied life insurance or health insurance.The digiare popular with support groups for weight loss or tizing of health records also allows consumers other health issues, she says consumers need to learn an awareness of test results or consultations that how to evaluate the quality and validity of health doctors should generally be telling patients about, information they are getting online. but sometimes don’t, he adds.

Atkinson says reliable online health tools can “The more a patient knows about their own diagnosis and treatment, the better they can partici- help people make decisions in a safe environment and teach them about health in an engaging way. pate in their own health care,” Wolfe says.

Making informed health-care decisions, however, “You can’t force people to sit down and listen to a lecture, but if you can give them an online healthfirst requires sufficient health literacy, or the ability risk assessment that has interactive features, there is to obtain and understand basic health information a much better chance of the person participating in and services. making informed decisions about their health care,” Research in the College of Information she says.

Studies, Maryland’s iSchool, is helping seniors— One example might be an online shopping who are more prone to medical problems yet less game in which people could practice buying food, likely to be computer-savvy—improve their then get feedback on the nutritional benefits of health literacy and learn the basics of accessing items they purchase. After playing a similar game health information online. aimed at children, Atkinson says, young research Twice a week, iSchool graduate students meet subjects then told their parents: “I need to eat at a Prince George’s County library with small groups of predominantly African-American women more breakfast!” over the age of 60. These adults are taught how to distinguish valid health information from online advertising and also learn computer skills like how to navigate the Internet or use a mouse.

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New Health IT Tools For health IT to really blossom, says Ben Shneiderman, doctors need to get on board. “The key word for medical professionals is interoperability,” he says. “They are interested in helping people get better, not having to learn two or three new computer systems.”

Working with colleagues in the university’s Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, Shneiderman has designed a new computer interface called Lifelines2 that is compatible with almost any existing health IT system.The technology gives physicians an overview of the patient’s history—up to 100 years or 10,000 medical events—and it lets doctors pull up groups of patient histories to see any emerging health patterns.

This feature can help in busy emergency departments, says Dr. Greg Marchand, senior attending physician of emergency services at Washington Hospital Center. “We can run blood work and immediately see if it matches certain patterns of irregularities in other patients we’ve admitted,” Marchand says. “This technology saves time and gives us another important diagnostic tool.”

Marchand is part of a group of physicians at the hospital testing the Lifelines2 technology.

“In its most basic form, medicine is people helping people,” he says, “Still, these new technologies will not only make for better care by doctors, but also help patients make healthier choices on their own.” 5&31 To view a video showcasing Lifelines2 technology, go to www.terp.umd.edu.

­ Lifelines2, the computer inter­

face designed by Professor Ben Shneiderman, is compatible with almost any existing health IT system. It can give doctors a quick view of a medical history and spot health problems.

Only 8 percent of the nation’s 5,000 hospitals and 17 percent of its 800,000 physicians are using computerized record-keeping systems.

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FOOTBALL IMAGES COURTESY OF MARYLAND ATHLETICS—PHOTOGRAPHERS: BILL VAUGHAN, GREG FIUME AND PEYTON WILLIAMS

9/18/09 4:57:50 PM

Friedgen and football staff pump out “players for life.”

by Michael Hoffman

Darrius Heyward-Bey had already gotten the magic phone call from Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable telling him he was the team’s first-round selection and the No. 8 overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft. But the star Maryland wide receiver didn’t believe it until his name scrolled across the TV screen in his house and his family exploded in cheers.

Maybe Heyward-Bey, a lightning-fast athlete who racked up 45 catches, 694 yards and five touchdowns last year, shouldn’t have been surprised.

He joins 36 other Terrapins who were listed on NFL rosters as of press time. In fact, head coach Ralph Friedgen’s team has produced the 13th-highest number of current NFL players of any college, according to an NFL database. Some of college football’s elite, including Virginia Tech and Alabama, trail Maryland.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOSHUA HARLESS, PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

ARYLAND PLAYERS are going beyond just making NFL teams, too; they’re leaders. D’Qwell Jackson registered 150

tackles last season to lead the Cleveland Browns, and Shaun Hill beat out a former No. 1 draft pick this preseason to win the starting quarterback position for the San Francisco 49ers. Minnesota Vikings middle linebacker E.J. Henderson ’02 directs one of the NFL’s most-feared defenses, which includes his brother and fellow alumnus Erin Henderson, as well as safety Madieu Williams ’03.

“I think Maryland is very underrated. Every year we have somebody go in the first round. Every year we have four or five guys get drafted. Not only do we get drafted, we do well in the NFL,” Heyward-Bey says.

The coaching staff says it’s all about the players, but former players point to Friedgen ’70, M.A. ’72 and his staff ’s guidance on—and off—the field as the secret to their success. Whether it’s the prostyle schemes employed by the staff, the rigorous strength and conditioning program or the coach’s dedication to developing his players into men, former players say they have an advantage.

“When I got to the NFL, I knew it was going to be tough but Coach Friedgen really got us ready and once I got past the shock of, arrive ‘I’m in the NFL,’ I realized it was a lot like what we did at Maryland on campus. every day,” says former Maryland tight end Joey Haynos ’07, who Much has been now plays for the Miami Dolphins. made about how Friedgen himself spent time coaching in the NFL. He was an well Maryland players, including Heyward-Bey and assistant with San Diego when the Chargers lost to the 49ers in tight end Vernon Davis, now with Super Bowl XXIX. That experience has helped Friedgen prepare the 49ers, performed in the combine. players to make the jump to the pros, but it also gives him credibility “The strength program by Dwight Galt definitely has gotten me when NFL scouts ask about his players. ready for the physical aspect of the NFL,” says defensive lineman “He’s spent so many years in the NFL that when Ralph puts his stamp on a player, you know it is legitimate,” says Bobby DePaul Jeremy Navarre ’09, who plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars. ’86, senior director of pro personnel for the Chicago Bears and a Galt, who has spent 21 years at Maryland, says this latest run of former Terps linebacker.

Terrapins going pro is special—and he doesn’t expect it to slow down.

Haynos said his exposure to Friedgen’s complex offense made “We have some really good football players coming to Maryland, it easier to learn the different offensive schemes and elaborate NFL and we are also doing a better job of getting them ready to make that jump,” Galt says. playbooks. It also helps Maryland players get drafted because NFL Well before then, Friedgen sets out to develop “players for life.” scouts know they can make the transition faster, DePaul says.

When recruiting, he talks up the school rather than the football Friedgen says some players have come back and even told him team or its potential to send athletes to the NFL. During senior his practices were tougher: “Many of them have remarked to me that it is easier in the NFL than it is playing for us.” quarterback Chris Turner’s recruiting visit, Friedgen says he stressed internship opportunities in nearby Washington, D.C., just as His strength and conditioning coach, Dwight Galt M.A. ’89, trains all Maryland players on NFL combine events such as the much as his passing drills.

“A lot of our competitors, that’s all they sell is the NFL,” 40-yard dash, vertical jump and bench press from the first year they

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PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOSHUA HARLESS

“I think Maryland is very underrated. Every year we have somebody go in the first round. Every year we have four or five guys get drafted. Not only do we get drafted, we do well in the NFL.�—HEYWARD-BEY

Friedgen says. “If I was a parent of a player, I would run so far away from that school. I would rather talk to our players or recruits about the fact that this decision is about the next 40 years of their life.�

Once players arrive in at Maryland, Friedgen demands those who skip class run stairs in Byrd Stadium. He and his wife, Gloria M.A. ’73, reward players with the highest class attendance rates and GPAs with dinner at their home. Gloria, a former biology teacher who works as alumni and outreach coordinator in the School of Public Health, also tutors players. “What we do is really try to develop a family atmosphere with the team right from the start,� Gloria Friedgen says. “Ralph looks for high-quality individuals, and it’s great to see how they mature over time. Some move to the NFL, which is great, too, but we want to see all players succeed in life.� 5&31

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“VAULTâ€? HOLDS TERPS FOOTBALL HISTORY A new book by a Maryland alumnus, sportswriter and devoted Terps football fan chronicles the team’s history, from the ďŹ rst game in 1892 to its successes under coach Ralph Friedgen today.

John McNamara ’83 uses words, historic photos and replicas of rare memorabilia to

create a vivid scrapbook of sorts titled “The University of Maryland Football Vault: The History of the Terrapins.â€? “The book was a very personal undertaking,â€? says McNamara, who covers the Terps at The Capital newspaper in Annapolis. “I have followed Maryland footballâ€”ďŹ rst as a fan, then as a journalist—for the last 35 years. Many of the players mentioned were people I watched, interviewed and got to

know. I even met my wife, also a Maryland journalism student at the time, after a Maryland-North Carolina football game in 1981.�

He combines stories about legends including Harry C. “Curley� Byrd 1908, Jack Scarbath ’54, Jerry Claiborne, Boomer Esiason ’84 and E.J. Henderson ’02 with materials drawn from Maryland’s athletics department and archives.

Johnny Holliday, longtime radio play-byplay announcer, wrote the foreword and Friedgen provided the afterword. Âą-#

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By Lauren Brown

Carrying pillows and sleeping bags from their dorm rooms, a few Maryland students arrive at Calvary Women’s Shelter in Washington, D.C., at 10 p.m. Their task for a few nights of the semester seems simple enough: Answer the phone or door. Try to sleep. Get up at 6 and put out breakfast and a pot of coffee. Make sure the 25 women who live there are out the door by 8.

The students chat with the residents, who are leaving behind abusive

relationships, drug addictions or unemployment and heading to work or school. Back on campus, the students attend seminars on homelessness, meet guest speakers and consider such questions as: What perceptions about homelessness did they bring to the shelter?

How had they changed?

Stephanie Rivero, a senior majoring in family science, called the work “inspiring.”

The women slowly “opened up to us and we saw just how difficult their lives were,” she says, recalling how the shelter’s coordinator got her and her peers to think about how the women there had lost everything. “And after we got that, it was even more fulfilling when they did talk to us.”

This isn’t just volunteerism. It’s a national trend called civic engagement. The University of Maryland is a leader among colleges encouraging students to become citizens who act to improve their communities.

People born between 1982 and 2000 are America’s first “civic generation” since the 1930s and 1940s, according to Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais Ph.D ’73, authors of the 2008 bestseller “Millennial Makeover: MySpace,YouTube, and the Future of American Politics.” Interest in public service has gained further traction with the election of President Barack Obama, who has championed community service, and Congress’s passage last spring of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, a broad outline to expand service opportunities and reward people who take part.

Campus Compact, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting community service, civic engagement and service-learning in higher education, has grown from 500 participating schools in 2006 to more than 1,100 now, representing 6 million students.

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A critical component of service-learning is stressing its reciprocal nature: While volunteering is a one-way act, participants in service-learning give and receive.

“The old—the bad—way to go in thinking was, ‘We know what you need. We’re here to solve your problems,’” says Barbara Jacoby, senior scholar at the Adele H. Stamp Student Union-Center for Campus Life. “Now we consider the community in terms of its assets as well as its needs.”

She gets much of the credit for the university’s commitment to “The growth preceded Obama,” says Elizabeth Hollander, former focusing on that difference. This year, Jacoby ’71, M.A. ’72, Ph.D executive director of Campus Compact and now senior fellow at ’78 published her fourth book on service-learning and civic the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, engagement, “Civic Engagement in Tufts University. “But what he did was reinforce it in a huge way.”

Higher Education: Concepts She praised Maryland’s “innovative” efforts to get students and Practices.” She and thinking about their role in society, and in particular its efforts to colleague Susan R. Jones in measure the growth in student involvement—whether in onethe College of Education are day stream cleanups, yearlong mentoring and literacy programs at seeking a grant to study how elementary schools or alternative breaks spent rebuilding homes students develop a civic identity. on the Gulf Coast. U.S. News & World Report also consistently “We have these resources here that really inform what we do,” ranks the university’s service-learning opportunities on its list of says Craig Slack, the Stamp’s assistant director for leadership and “Programs to Look For.” community service-learning. He helped establish the university’s Anecdotal evidence of the boom at Maryland abounds. Preyear-old minor in leadership studies, which connects theory to registration for Terp Service Weekend jumped from 300 in 2008 students’ identity, major and interests in the community. to 560 this past April. The Coalition for Civic Engagement and Jacoby was a founder of the university’s Coalition for Civic Leadership reached thousands of students in the last academic year through its 2-year-old Web site, Engagement and Leadership, which shows faculty how to incorporate civic engagement into their classes and integrated www.TerpImpact.umd.edu. the concept into the education of a large majority of Maryland Terps for Change, a volunteer students, through required English 101 classes. The Terp Impact placement program formed Web site has won accolades nationwide for pulling together all last fall through the university’s of the civic engagement and leadership opportunities for students Leadership and Community Service-Learning unit, already has a on and off campus, encouraging collaboration and reducing waiting list of students seeking long-term opportunities. duplication of efforts.

All kinds of organizations on campus are putting the “learning” “Students were telling us that they knew so much was going in “service-learning.” Leadership and Community Service-Learning on in the way of civic engagement, but they couldn’t fi nd it,” has students—like those who volunteered at the women’s shelter— Jacoby says. come together for reflective discussions on their work, where they She adds that there’s no way to measure the coalition’s success wrestle with their preconceptions and evaluate the success of social because that’s ultimately reflected in the community and around systems. Students in CIVICUS, a two-year living and learning the world, as more civic-minded graduates go on to nurture program in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, take commitments to their neighborhoods, professions, families and special classes about societal challenges and write in their journals faith communities. about their experiences in nonprofits, governmental agencies and But she’s encouraged by examples like Stephanie Rivero, who schools. In College Park Scholars, another living and learning planned to return to the women’s shelter this fall and hopes to community, all 900 freshmen participate in a service day around become a family and marriage counselor, and Matthew “M.J.” the Washington area every August.

Kurs-Lasky, a senior majoring in marketing. He came to Maryland “Overall, we’re seeing more involvement both by individual as a College Park Scholar, created a service day for Jewish students, students doing service-related projects, as well as finding faculty interned for nonprofits for the past two summers and is seeking a who are very interested in creating those kinds of experiences for career in the nonprofit sector. students,” says Martha Baer Wilmes, associate director for student Civic engagement, Kurs-Lasky says, “is something that might affairs in College Park Scholars. not have been formulated in my head coming to Maryland, After all, faculty members want their students to learn, and students generally prefer to learn by doing rather than through lectures. but Maryland solidified it for me. I can put in a great deal of work, and at the end of the day, there’s noticeable change in Students also know they can learn leadership skills as part of their the community.” terp community service experience, and build their résumés.

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PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

9/18/09 5:16:26 PM

A Memory to Keep Newport News,Va., named as this year’s recipient.

In April, Doggett was invited to a reception at Karen time WTTG–TV reporter Karen Gray Houston was distressed to Houston’s home in Silver Spring, Md., where the aspiring jourlearn an endowed scholarship honoring her late husband would nalist met a who’s who of broadcast media from Washington, D.C. not generate enough income for a 2009 award.

When it came time for Doggett to accept her award, the brief The scholarship, named for Maryland journalism alumnus Chris Houston ’85, provides financial aid to a broadcast journalism notes she had written on index cards fell by the wayside. Doggett broke into tears, expressing gratitude for the scholarship, but also student in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. It recognizes sharing concerns about making ends meet for her second year at Chris Houston’s passion for the news Maryland. industry, exemplified by his 18 years at Her heartfelt remarks struck a chord with the audience, WUSA–TV in Washington, D.C. There he advanced from reporter trainee to senior Houston says, with many of them immediately writing checks— totaling more than $4,000—to the scholarship fund, assuring that assignment manager before losing a battle with pancreatic cancer three years Doggett could receive additional support.

Two weeks later, Houston had a leather-bound journal delivered ago at age 42. to Doggett that was signed by dozens of reporters who attended the “I was determined not to let the reception, sharing words of wisdom about their experiences in the scholarship lapse,” Karen Houston says. news industry and life. “That means so much to me,” Doggett says.

“I knew how strongly Chris had felt “I can look at it for inspiration whenever I’m having a hard day.” about the value of an education, and I Houston says the experience touched her as well: “I just want also recognized the slow economy was probably affecting students, people like Jolie to be able to follow their dreams, just as I did… too, making it even more difficult to pay for college.” just as Chris did.” —TV Houston provided additional funding to the K. Christopher Houston Scholarship,, with Jolie Doggett, a sophomore from

WITH THE ECONOMY IN A TAILSPIN earlier this year, long-

The generous support of alumni and friends raised $112 million in new gifts and pledges last year*. To show our gratitude, individual benefactors are recognized in the Honor Roll of Donors, available exclusively online at www.honorroll.umd.edu.

K. CHRISTOPHER HOUSTON PHOTO COURTESY OF KAREN GRAY HOUSTON; DOGGETT/HOUSTON PHOTO BY REGINOLD MINTZ

Honor Roll of Donors Online

Jolie Doggett (left) with Karen Gray Houston.

K. Christopher Houston (above left).

*2009 fiscal year (July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009)

$1 BILLION

$500 M campaign total

$650 MILLION as of Sept. 1, 2009 TERP

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“Divine” Intervention for Students in Need THEY CALL THEMSELVES THE DIVINE NINE: the nine

historically African-American Greek-letter fraternities and sororities that form the National Pan-Hellenic Council, or NPHC. And Maryland alumni members of each organization are rallying around a new cause to benefit current students.

Led by Nicole Pollard ’91, a new member of the Colonnade Society Council and the alumni association’s Board of Governors, these alumni created the Divine Nine Emergency Tuition Assistance Fund this year.

“Members of our organizations were leaders at Maryland, and this fund benefits those students who are following in our footsteps and taking on leadership roles today,” says Pollard, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., who was seeking ways to encourage more alumni to give back to Maryland.

The Divine Nine, who share a common purpose of community service and leadership development, held their first alumni reunion on May 2 to get the fundraising ball rolling.

The more than 200 alumni who came

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together to reminisce also contributed nearly $17,000 to the fund.

Others who couldn’t attend the event connected on the group’s Facebook page and expanded the fundraising momentum online.

The goal is to raise $25,000 by Homecoming, which will endow the tuition assistance fund and ensure its perpetual impact.

“I strongly believe that people give to the things that they are close to, and this event renewed connections to Maryland for many African-American alumni,” says Pollard.

The tuition assistance fund will support members of NPHC organizations who have no other financial resources available to handle emergency situations, with priority given to students who are within one or two semesters of graduation.

“These students have invested two, three or more years in getting their education,” Pollard says.

“We don’t want them to have to walk away from their accomplishments and lose opportunities simply because of financial need.”

Ultimately, the group hopes continued contributions will grow the fund to a level that will allow full scholarships to be awarded. —CR

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32

• Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

• Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc.

• Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.

• Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.

• Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.

• Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc.

• Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

• Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc.

• Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.

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DIVINE NINE ILLUSTRATION BY JOSHUA HARLESS

9/16/09 5:22:00 PM

Turf Grad Sets Others on Right Course WHEN FRANK DUDA ’07 was finishing his undergraduate degree in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, his classmates joked that he was the type of person who might one day have a college building named after him.

Maybe someday. Duda was known then for his dedication to his studies in the college’s turf and golf course management program as well as his leadership and work as a peer mentor. Now he’s an alumnus who’s found another way to show his commitment to the college.

Immediately after graduating, and at only 21 years of age, Duda established a scholarship to benefit others in the turf program. His gift makes him one of the university’s youngest alumni to fund a scholarship.

“I knew I wanted to give back,” Duda says, “especially to the turf program, because there are not a lot of scholarships available in that discipline, and I wanted to help the program’s reputation grow.”

Now an assistant superintendent at the Miacomet Golf Course in Nantucket, Mass., he can see firsthand the value of the education he received at Maryland. “The plant sciences part of the program is invalu-

able, and you also learn a commitment to environmentally friendly turf management practices that are becoming the standard in the industry today.”

Steve Hutzell, a senior in plant sciences and University Honors with a 3.98 GPA, is

with taking care of the greenery.

He hopes to follow in Duda’s footsteps not only in his career track, but also in his financial support of Maryland’s turf and golf course management program. “I don’t think Frank could have done a better thing

“I knew I wanted to give back,”  ,“especially to the turf program, because there are not a lot of scholarships available in that discipline, and I wanted to help the program’s reputation grow.” the first recipient of the Frank Duda Turf Grass Scholarship. Hutzell completed an internship this summer in golf course management at the Chevy Chase Club, and says he learned that a large part of the business involves managing human resources along

DUDA

for the University of Maryland than to give back to the same program he was in,” says Hutzell. “I am thinking that maybe a year or two after I am done with my degree that I can do something similar.” —TV

HUTZELL

CREDITAND TURF PHOTOS BY EDWIN REMSBERG; HUTZELL PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI DUDA

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The Gift That Keeps on Giving IN THE MOST LITERAL SENSE the seed money offered by Bruce and Karen ’76 Levenson to expand philanthropy and nonprofit management studies at Maryland is a gift that keeps on giving.

The couple has made a three-year commitment to the School of Public Policy to fund development of a program that produces graduates committed to advancing the work of nonprofits and introduces students to the importance of philanthropy in society and their own lives.

A love of horses was required to be a recipient of the Equine Studies Scholarship, and Sara Meagher’s long list of activities working with and caring for horses made her an easy first choice.

A senior double major in animal sciences and agricultural science and technology, the honor student was an active member of the Animal Husbandry Club and the Equestrian Club where she was both an

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“We see this as a way for us to leverage our own philanthropic endeavors in a way that can’t be achieved by focusing on any individual charity,” says Bruce Levenson. “There are numerous good causes, but most charitable decisions are made spontaneously. We want to encourage a more informed approach to giving that will benefit the greater community.”

Karen Levenson, who worked with high school students in a Jewish youth philanthropy program, saw the impact of actively engaging them in giving decisions.

“I’ve seen how excited young people become when they are part of the process, when they learn how to give in an educated manner,” she says. “We hope the Maryland program can expand on that idea.”

The Levinson gift will enable the hiring of a new professor of the practice, who will develop a robust curriculum for both undergraduate and graduate students, with the first course to be offered this spring.

An anticipated hallmark of the program is a hands-on philanthropy project that would allow undergraduate student groups up to $10,000 to distribute for philanthropic purposes based on their studies. Dean Donald Kettl says the school also envisions eventually establishing a center for philanthropy and nonprofit management.

“Our hope,” says Bruce Levenson “is that we can prove something through this seed program that will attract students and other donors in a large way and enable expansion of this into something more significant for the future.” —CR

instructor and rider on the Intercollegiate Equestrian Team. She volunteers with the Maryland Network for Injured Equestrians and helps plan equine events for the Maryland Cooperative Extension Service.

Meagher (above) assisted in teaching a horse management course last year and after graduation hopes to foster good management practices and an educated and passionate equine

community.

The scholarship was established in 2007 by Martha Asberry in memory of her brother John Bruce Dodson ’68, who had a passion for horses and riding. It is awarded annually to a student who demonstrates a commitment to the equine industry through education and hard work.

Rose Weiss, (right) a senior history major, loves working as a park ranger at the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site to help pay

GIVING TREE BY BRIAN G. PAYNE; MEAGHER PHOTO COURTESY OF SARA MEAGHER

9/18/09 5:35:06 PM

Make your mark on Maryland cheer join share volunteer give

For 59 Consecutive Years, Alumnus Supports Terps OSCAR LINE MISSED HIS GRADUATION CEREMONY back in Spring 1950—he’d already been

shipped off to serve in Korea. Despite his meager Navy wages, he managed from his overseas post to send his first donation to Maryland.

He’s mailed at least one check to his alma mater every year since.

Now 90, Line is one of the university’s most consistent supporters, helping to fund athletics, student scholarships and other priority needs.

“I’ve tried to make it a little better off for others than what I had,” he says.

Line (right) came to Maryland in 1946, after serving as a Navy fighter pilot in World War II. He’d already lost his dad, and his mother died while he was stationed in the South Pacific.

The pre-law major lived on campus and worked at the university bookstore; he laughs now as he recalls students offering him “bribes” of cold bottled milk in exchange for books. Line refused to take any shifts on Friday nights or Saturday afternoons because he never missed a football game.

He carried on that same devotion to the football team as soon as he returned from Korea after three years, two months and five days. Line earned a law degree at American University and began a long career in

Department of Defense intelligence. He still can’t talk about most of his work.

Line remains a huge Maryland football fan and likes to tailgate with fellow alumni in the Maryland Club at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center.

“He loves the people, he loves the music we play. He’s always the first one here,” says Brian Shook, director of individual philanthropy and regional programs and a friend of Line’s.

Over the years, Line increased his giving substantially, and in March of this year made a bequest to support the operation of the alumni center. A space in the building will be named in Line’s honor, a fitting tribute to a man who makes Riggs his game-day home. —LB

for school, but admits it takes a toll on her studies. The Hugh F. and Glen Hannah Cole Financial Aid Scholarship for Students in the Arts and Humanities allowed Weiss to reduce her work hours last year and take advantage of some special academic opportunities.

As part of a course exploring the relationship of slavery to the founding of the University of Maryland, she participated in research trips to Alexandria, Va., and Philadelphia to search through archives containing papers of some of the school’s founders. Weiss says having time for that kind of primary source

research and for working one-onone with distinguished faculty members in independent study projects was possible only with financial support from scholarships.

For Patrick McTamney, a fifth-year biochemistry doctoral student who graduated in August, the fellowship funded by Herman Kraybill provided more than money to support his research. It also led to a close relationship with the donor, a noted biochemist retired from the National Institutes of Health.

McTamney, (bottom left) whose research focuses on the chemistry

OSCAR LINE BY ANNE MCDONOUGH; SAMUEL RIGGS IV ALUMNI CENTER BY ROBERT SULLIVAN ; WEISS PHOTO COURTESY OF ROSE WEISS; MCTAMNEY/KRAYBILL PHOTO BY ANDREA MORRIS

In the Loop.indd 35

of iodide salvage in the thyroid, says he enjoys his discussions and interactions with Kraybill, including sharing research articles of mutual interest. Thankful for the fellowship support, McTamney prominently acknowledged it in three articles he wrote this year.

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Interpretations Changing Times “With the presidential administration’s new commitment to science, Maryland is strongly positioned to influence fundamental scientific advancement and the national science and technology agendas.”

ONLY A FEW miles

from the nation’s capital, the University of Maryland has always been affected by new presidential administrations. This year the influence has been even more pronounced, calling on the university’s research strengths in areas of critical national priority, such as energy, climate change and national security. With the new administration committed to promoting science and technology and the stimulus package providing a wellspring of funding, the university’s research efforts have been infused with new vigor.

In April the U.S. Department of Energy created an Energy Frontier Research Center at the university.

Discovering the science and creating the technology needed to build a 21st-century energy economy, our center focuses on new electrical energy storage capacity. The center is funded in part by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and complements the administration’s new $400 million Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.

Building on the University of Maryland’s talented teams of climate scientists, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, selected the university in May to lead a new climate research partnership of 17 institutions. The nationwide consortium, the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites, or CICS, will receive up to $93 million in funding over the next five years from NOAA. With one of the nation’s largest clusters of federal and university scientists, the CICS will focus on satellite observations and Earth system modeling to develop tools that will make our climate change predictions and assessments useful to policymakers and local communities.

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National security is another research area receiving continued attention in Washington, D.C. This year the Department of Defense has awarded the university a record-breaking four primary program awards from the highly competitive Multi-disciplinary University Research Initiative, or MURI. The MURI program supports multidisciplinary basic research in areas that have high potential both for defense and commercial applications. Our topics for this year include research into the electronic properties of graphene at the nanoscale, new phases of matter for quantum information/computing, quantum-optical circuits of hybrid quantum memories and practical superconductors.

These MURIs complement a new Physics Frontier Center, awarded in September 2008 to the Joint Quantum Institute, a partnership between the University of Maryland and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Focused on cutting-edge investigations of quantum science, the center is funded by $12.5 million over five years from the National Science Foundation, or NSF, and is pursuing the physics of quantum information and quantum computing. Discoveries are needed to create computers that can undertake very large database searches and create unbreakable data encryption that is not possible with the best conventional computers.

University researchers have been ahead of the curve for decades, creating innovative solutions to many challenges that are now pressing on the national agenda. Since over 70 percent of the university’s research funding comes from federal sources such as the NSF, NASA, the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the university has always been a leader in connecting basic research to federal as well as practical objectives. With the presidential administration’s new commitment to science, Maryland is strongly positioned to influence fundamental scientific advancement and the national science and technology agendas.

—Dan Mote, President

PHOTO BY JEREMY GREEN

Terp Cover FALL 2009 FINAL:Terp Cover Summer -FINAL 9/18/09 3:43 PM Page covVII

Terp is th

e magazi ne that ke Maryland eps you co , passing nnected w on news ith the Un and fun h of the late iversity o appening st research, f s on cam interestin pus.

These tou g alumni gh econo mic time deliver th s are maki e print ed ng it more it io n of Terp to Web-only challengin your mail format in g to box. We the spring to expan produced to tr im d our onli e it x p in a e n se ne conten s and use But we w d the opp t and coll ant to co o e rt ct unity fe e ntinue to dback fro who like m our rea make the settling in d p e ri rs n t . v ersion av to a favo ailable to rite chair If you en alumni with the joy our st magazine ories—su veterans . ch as our transition Spring fe ing to life ature abo our resea at Maryla ut military rch to ma nd, or this ke your h issue’s art consider ealth reco ic le about a tax-ded rds easie uctible co r to access ntribution — p lease to support your alum ni magazi ne.

Danita D . Nias ’81 Assistant Vice Pres ident, Alumni Re lations an d Develop m

ent

Yes, I want to support Terp magazine.

Enclosed is a tax-deductible gift to the Terp Magazine Fund in the amount of $

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PLACE FSC LOGO

Return to alma mater for Homecoming and Reunion Weekend

October 16 -17, 2009 Welcome to Terp Town! Bring the whole family to your alumni home on campus, the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center, for Homecoming Festival 2009, beginning three hours before kickoff, Saturday, Oct. 17. Gear up for the game with activities to delight Terps of all ages, including live Terp tunes, Terptivities for the kids and refreshments for purchase at the Terp Tavern and Tailgate Grill.

Alumni Association

members are invited to the exclusive Backyard Bash with complimentary tailgate fare, beverages and live music. See page 18-19 for details.

All-Reunion

Lunch