News & Views

‘Tis the Season to be Careful Online

About 61 million Americans will shop online for holiday gifts this year. Yet behind those enticing Web sites lurk cyber Scrooges, hackers who want a piece of the $24 billion online shopping pie. One out of 10 online shoppers could become a victim of online fraud this season, warns the National Consumers League and National Cyber Security Alliance.

“Hackers make money and use that money to avoid detection,” says Alan White ’98, a computer science alumnus who was hired by the University nearly four years ago as its information security architect.

White offers these tips to help consumers keep the ho, ho, ho in the holidays.

1. Be computer secure: There are 5,000 new viruses every week, according to the URI expert. Install anti-virus and anti-spyware programs and keep them up-to-date. Many of the virus protection programs are free. Check to see if the company is reputable before downloading.

2. Be suspicious: Check out unfamiliar e-stores with the Better Business Bureau at bbb.org. Look for a physical address and phone number. Call the company to verify.

3. Buy a pre-paid credit card: When shopping online, don’t use your main debit or credit card. Purchase a pre-paid credit card, limiting the amount to what you estimate you will be spending.

4. Be sure purchase sites are secure: When you are asked to provide payment information online, the beginning of the Web site address should change from http to https, indicating the information is being encrypted and can only be read by the seller. Your browser may also signal that the information is secure with a symbol such as a broken key that becomes whole or a padlock that closes.

5. Beware of offers of loans and credit: Con artists take advantage of cash-strapped consumers during the holidays through email offers of personal loans or credit cards for upfront fees.

6. Avoid pop up screen ploys: When you visit a company Web site, an unauthorized pop up screen created by an identity thief could pop up and ask you for personal information. No legitimate company asks for such information.

Alain-Philippe Durand, left, Dean Winnie Brownell of the College of Arts & Sciences, and French Consul François Gauthier.

French Honor

Alain-Philippe Durand was awarded France’s highest teaching honor, the Palmes Académiques, for his distinguished service to French education. The award, established by Napoleon, was presented to the associate professor during a pinning ceremony in the fall.

Durand’s motto is simple: The B.A. in French, Don’t Leave URI Without It. More and more URI students have heeded his advice. When Durand joined URI’s Modern and Classical Languages and Literature Department in 1999, there were 30 students majoring in French. Today there are 130. Thanks, in large part to Durand’s persuasive personality, URI’s French and Francophone Studies program is now the third largest in the country.

Durand helped unite the French language and business, French and pharmacy, and French and textiles, fashion merchandising, and design to create double majors in all three areas.

Durand also teaches film media studies, comparative literature, and honors courses. This year, the versatile professor with the French accent serves as the interim chair of the English Department.

“He is a unique force,” said French Consul François Gauthier from the French Consulate in Boston, who pinned the ribbon with the bright gold medallion on Durand’s left lapel. “He is working magic.”

“J’ai deux amours,” commented Durand, who was awarded the 2002 URI Foundation Teaching Excellence Award. “I have two loves—my country and America.”

Emerging Poet

Poet Peter Covino, an assistant professor of English, received the 2007 PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry for his collection, Cut Off the Ears of Winter, during an awards ceremony at New York’s Lincoln Center.

The award recognizes the high literary character of the published work of an emerging American poet and the promise of further literary achievement, according to the PEN American Center, an association of writers working to advance literature, defend free expression, and foster international literary fellowship.

The judges wrote in their citation: “Images of real and symbolic violence ricochet and reflect off each other in this elegant and disturbing collection. The poems chronicle, among other things, a history of childhood abuse and its aftereffects, but in a larger sense, they also explore through the lens of myth, art, religion, and popular culture, the underlying and often unacknowledged brutality beneath even mundane events. Covino’s voice is urgent: ‘This is my last dollar, last cigarette, last match,’ but it is also witty, sophisticated, erudite, and street-wise. How can we not pay attention?”

Covino joined the URI faculty in 2006. He coordinated the University’s first Ocean State Summer Writing Conference, which attracted more than 240 participants last June.

Woman of the Year

Karen Stein was named a Woman of the Year by the Rhode Island Commission on Women for her significant positive impact on the lives of women. The non-profit state agency’s mission is to advance women toward full equity.

Stein joined the English Department as a part-time lecturer in 1970. Two years later, she helped found and develop the Women’s Studies Program and is its current director.

The program began with 200 students and 10 faculty members. With Stein’s guidance, it has grown to encompass more than 1,000 students involved in more than 25 interdisciplinary courses.

In addition to developing the introductory course in women’s studies, Stein helped develop the senior seminar that helps launch women’s studies majors into their professional lives. As an English professor, she also developed more than 12 courses on women writers and American authors.

Stein has headed various committees to improve working conditions for part-time faculty, who are primarily women. She served for two years as the co-chair of the URI President’s Commission on the Status of Women and helped to develop a new parental leave policy.

“Many people helped build the organizations that I currently represent or work for, so I am enormously grateful to accept the award on their behalf,” said Stein.

Campus Safety Award

URI President Robert L. Carothers received the 2007 Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Award for his efforts to reduce student alcohol abuse. The award honors those who have taken extraordinary actions to make students safe.

“We are honoring Dr. Carothers because he has demonstrated how taking proper action can improve the campus culture and reduce alcohol and other drug abuse by students,” said Connie Clery who, with her husband, Howard, co-founded Security On Campus, Inc.

The organization advocated for the successful enactment of the federal statute that requires colleges and universities participating in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses. “Dr. Carothers has been a vocal advocate for college alcohol and other drug prevention efforts not only on his own campus but also in the state of Rhode Island and on a national level.”

The award is named in memory of the Clery’s daughter, who was murdered on the campus of Lehigh University in 1986.

Carothers serves on the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s College Drinking Task Force Panel on Prevention and Treatment.

Under his leadership, URI has adopted comprehensive approaches to substance abuse, including a prohibition of alcohol at social events on campus; parental notification after the second alcohol or drug violation; alcohol awareness information for freshmen through a required class designed to acclimate them to campus life; and establishment of the URI-Narragansett Community Coalition to address alcohol problems in concert with the local community.

Meritorious Service

The Rhode Island Psychological Association recognized Professor Emeritus Albert J. Lott with its Musiker-Merenda Award for Significant Contributions to Mental Health.

In October, Lott was cited for his dedicated service to the psychology profession, which has included research, teaching, academic leadership, mentoring, and a tireless commitment to social justice.

He joined the URI faculty in 1969 and became a pioneer in women’s studies and men’s studies.

“Al remains one of the most popular and beloved professors and mentors to have taught at URI,” says his colleague Kat Quina, professor of psychology. “His Men and Masculinity course is still taught today.” A Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Lott is a prolific scholar, publishing extensively in the area of social psychology and prejudice and discrimination. His many roles included chairing the Psychology Department, presiding over the Faculty Senate, sponsoring an Honors Colloquium, and serving as faculty advisor for students studying lesbian, gay and bisexual issues.

Since his retirement in 1996, Lott has continued his commitment to social justice, notably through his work with Marriage Equality R.I., and nationally through his work with lawyers and veterans at the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network in Washington, D.C., on efforts to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell rules.

Making the Cut: A ribbon cutting officially opens the Chi Phi fraternity house. Making the cut are, left to right, Thomas Dougan, vice president of Student Affairs; Doug Bennet ’77, president of the Chi Phi Alumni Association; Tom Paquette, president of Chi Phi Holding Corp.; and R. Henry Carnevale, Grand Alpha, Chi Phi National.

Chi Phi Chapter House Opens

Chi Phi, the University’s oldest fraternity, has a snazzy new 13,000-square-foot chapter house on campus complete with 20 bedrooms, a commercial kitchen, social area, meeting space, air conditioning, and Internet access. Chi Phi alumni and their families joined current members and URI officials at the ribbon-cutting last fall.

“The completion of our new chapter house is the first step in our fraternity’s return to campus,” said Doug Bennet ’77, president of the Rho Iota Kappa Alumni Association of Chi Phi and treasurer of its holding company. Bennet was the driving force behind the new building. “We tried to build something that our students, parents, alumni, other fraternities and sororities, and school officials could all be proud of. I think we succeeded,” he added.

The house is located at 11 Fraternity Circle behind Weldin Hall. The fraternity’s former home on Upper College Road was renovated and converted into an additional International Engineering house. (See accompanying story.)

The University shut down Chi Phi in 2005, primarily for violations of URI’s substance-free housing agreement. Since the chapter is currently inactive, 40 transfer students are renting rooms at the new facility this academic year.

“The University appreciates the work of the Chi Phi alumni for their extraordinary efforts in building this new chapter house on our campus,” says Thomas Dougan, vice president for student affairs. “It is a beautiful facility that is a true signal of the resurgence of fraternity life at URI. We look forward to teaming with alumni and the national fraternity to form an outstanding undergraduate chapter of Chi Phi fraternity at the University.”

“We will participate in Spring Rush and hope to completely fill the house with new brothers next fall,” says Bennet. “As you look around campus you can see a resurgence of the Greek system. There are new buildings, renovations, and cleanups going on, and I understand there are other groups looking to start up or return to URI. At the risk of sounding bold, I feel that this beautiful building in some way will help serve as a catalyst for this revival.”

IEP Opens New House, Celebrates 20th Anniversary

URI’s International Engineering Program turned 20 this fall with the grand opening of a building renovated to house additional students in the expanding program.

“This program—one of the most prestigious on campus—attracts top students from around the country, and leading global companies aggressively seek them out upon graduation,” said President Robert L. Carothers.

The program requires students to complete simultaneous degrees in a foreign language (German, French, Spanish, or Chinese) and an engineering discipline. The students also spend a year working and studying abroad.

“Ours is the first program in the nation to offer a complete language degree, a complete engineering degree, and a year abroad, all in five years,” said the program’s founder and director, John Grandin. “It has become a model that many other universities have followed.”

The program’s second facility, the former Chi Phi fraternity house, was transformed and expanded into a living and learning community. It houses 37 students who can live, learn, and interact in comfortable and modern accommodations. The building includes a community room, meeting space, a videoconferencing facility, and a student dining room. It also serves as the program’s administrative home.

The building is next to the original IEP House, which houses 40 students. The side-by-side buildings, connected by new walkways and a patio, will be known as the Heidi Kirk Duffy Center for International Engineering Education, named for the chair of the program’s advisory board and a longtime supporter of international education at URI. Duffy donated her yacht to the program, and the $400,000 proceeds from its sale were used to purchase the fraternity building.

The building’s renovation was undertaken with the generous support of three major donors:

• The Sensors and Controls Division of Texas Instruments (now Sensata Technologies) contributed $400,000 to the program, most of which was used for renovations to the new facility, with the remainder used for scholarships and program support. Thomas Wroe, president of Sensata, is a 1972 alumnus and Donna Kimmel, senior vice president, serves on the IEP Advisory Board.

•The second floor of the building will be called the Max Kade German Language Learning Community, named for the foundation that contributed $200,000 to support the renovation. The Max Kade Foundation was established by a German immigrant who made his fortune producing cough syrup and who was committed to promoting German language and culture programs.

• Z.F. Friedrichshafen AG, a manufacturer and supplier of transmissions, chassis, and other components for the automobile industry, also contributed $200,000 in support of the renovation.

IEP Opens New House, Celebrates 20th Anniversary

URI’s International Engineering Program turned 20 this fall with the grand opening of a building renovated to house additional students in the expanding program.

The building’s renovation was undertaken with the generous support of three major donors:

• Z.F. Friedrichshafen AG, a manufacturer and supplier of transmissions, chassis, and other components for the automobile industry, also contributed $200,000 in support of the renovation.