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A Year in Review: 2000-2001Here's a quick refresher on some of the main events and other news through the 2000-2001 Academic Year that has just come to a close: Colloquium brings peace. In the fall semester the 2000 Honors Colloquium, "Nonviolence: Legacies of the past, Bridges to the future," brought such notables as civil rights activist Coretta Scott King, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Pulitzer Prize winner David Halberstam and folk singer Pete Seeger to campus. The Colloquium's "Peace Poster Project" also brought artistic expressions of peace from thousands of children throughout the state, and spawned University- and state-wide discussions about nonviolence. Speaker's Bureau becomes the talk of the town. Through proactive promotion of the URI Department of Communications/Speakers Bureau and strong support from volunteer faculty and staff members, nearly 200 members have been invited to address community groups throughout the state on hundreds of different subjects since last summer. Among the many topics being discussed around town are: What's new at URI, a history of swimwear, George Washington, balancing land preservation with development, the Federal Reserve, caring for the elderly, jazz, the philosophy of science, and pain management. Something old made new again. The University celebrated the grand opening of Barlow Hall, the first of 14 residence halls to be renovated and the first phase of the "Freshman Village." Keeping on schedule, Weldin Hall was completed January 2001, as renovation of Bressler Hall began. The renovations are the first phase of a $64 million renovation plan to be completed over eight years. The Women's Center planned its move into Phi Sigma Kappa on Upper College Road, and the buildings that formerly housed Sigma Nu and Sigma Chi fraternities were removed to make way for new homes for the URI Foundation and the Alumni Association and Division of University Advancement. At the same time, Theta Chi takes shape as a temporary home for URI's Admissions Office as fraternity brothers endow proceeds from the sale of the property to the University for scholarships. Endings bring beginnings: Shortly after Barlow opened its doors, the University celebrated the successful completion of the fundraising drive for Ballentine Hall with a groundbreaking ceremony for its renovation. The successful campaign for restoring Green Hall was celebrated with a step back through time with the Green Hall Revival. Breaking new ground: As the fundraising campaign led by the Division of University Advancement forged ahead of schedule, ground was broken for the University's largest-ever building project, the $54 million Convocation Center. By late spring steel was rising, concrete seating risers were in place, and the spectator bowl began to take shape. Also now in shape, the new 50,000 square-foot, three-story Coastal Institute building on the Kingston Campus opened for occupancy in December. Dedications by the bay and beyond: The Narragansett Bay Campus Quadrangle was named to honor the Graduate School of Oceanography's founding Dean John A. Knauss; a bronze sculpture of the Rev. Arthur L. Hardge, a noted civil rights leader who helped improve the lives of minorities living in Rhode Island was unveiled in front of the Multicultural Center; and a room in Taft Hall was dedicated to Leo F. DiMaio Jr, retired director of URI's Special Programs for Talent Development. New Millennium brings challenge. Just before the New Year began, the University closed the Chafee Social Science Center after tests showed elevated levels of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in dust in the building and in the soil immediately surrounding it. College of Arts and Sciences Dean Winnie Brownell, department heads for all of the programs, faculty and staff from Chafee, as well as departments throughout the University pulled together to make the best of a trying situation. Faculty, staff, and classes were moved to other locations before the start of the spring semester. In the meantime and since, extensive testing has been conducted, epidemiological studies developed, and cleanup work has begun. Resolution of the issues regarding Chafee remain the top priority in the URI capital projects plan, and financial assistance has been requested from the General Assembly. Bumper crop of awards. Spring 2001 sprung with University students taking top national honors with Truman, Fulbright, Goldwater, Udall, and other scholarships. Of course, the newest freshmen class will be right at home with the scholarly demands and rich academic environment provided through programs like the URI Honors Program, among others. A snapshot of the incoming class depicts a group of students with an SAT score average of 1117, who rank in the top 27 percent of their graduating class, and include 16 valedictorians and 15 salutatorians. Nearly 30 percent of the class has been awarded URI Centennial Scholarships. Student research takes flight. A senior uncovers a threat to monarch butterflies, a student researches how songbirds choose foods to eat during their first migration, and a graduate student's research on the decline of ruffed grouse in New England may make the bird's population numbers soar again. Other students were awash in their research projects, studying the impact of land development, and a method of tracking the migration of lobster larvae. Faculty research gets to the heart of the matter with artificial arteries, minds the dangers of how lead affects the brain, and investigates the muscle behind blue mussels. Other research made waves in the effects of shellfish aquaculture on Narragansett Bay, the dynamics of East Coast squid, lobster sustainability, seeking cancer drugs in the sea, planetary waves' affect on phytoplankton production, how sharks eat, and nuclear contamination from the cold war in the marine environment. The Forensic Science Partnership even found evidence of livelier balls at play in the Major League. For more information on any of these news highlights and others, log onto http://www.news.uri.edu. By Jhodi Redlich |
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