Offices on the move …

The Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement, formerly known as the Center for Intercultural Learning and Community Engagement (CILCE), was reorganized recently by Academic Affairs.

As a result of the reorganization, programs and services were reassigned:

• The Tutor Mentor and Literacy Connections programs are now part of the College of Education, Leadership and Counseling.
• The Early College Awareness program now is offered by Student Diversity and Inclusion Services.
• All other service learning and community engagement operations, including the Community Engagement Network, now are housed in the Office of Service Learning and Civic Engagement.

The Office of Service Learning and Community Engagement Has New Location in Room 313, Aquinas Hall

The Office of Service Learning and Civic Engagement assists St. Thomas faculty members, students, staff and community members to establish reciprocal meaningful relationships in which academic coursework and reflection are integrated with civic engagement together with its community partners. The work is designed to enhance students’ learning and to encourage social responsibility on local, national and global initiatives.

OSLCE staff members are happy to assist faculty, staff, students and community partners develop and implement new opportunities that enhance and support the University of St. Thomas mission dedicated to educating students to work skillfully and advance the common good.

For more information:

• Visit the OSLCE website
• Call the OSLCE, (651) 962-5380
• Stop by the office in Room 313, Aquinas Hall

Tutor Mentor and Literacy Connections Programs Move to College of Education, Leadership and Counseling, Minneapolis Campus

The Tutor Mentor and the Literacy Connections programs invite the campus community to visit at its new location in Room 317 (part of the same office suite as Teacher Education), Opus Hall, Minneapolis campus. Staff members will provide the same great opportunities and resources that have been supportive and beneficial to students in the past. While now located in Minneapolis, the programs still are designed and offered for all students at the University of St Thomas.

For more information contact:

• Kate Caffrey, program manager, (651) 962-4438
• Amparo (Paro) Pope, administrative assistant, (651) 962-4437

Early College Awareness Program Moves to Student Diversity and Inclusion Services

Student Diversity and Inclusion Services (SDIS) welcomes the Early College Awareness (ECA) program to its department’s services. The University of St. Thomas regularly invests in heightening college awareness for middle school students, particularly those from underrepresented racial, ethnic or economic backgrounds. In fact, these efforts originated in the Multicultural Student Services area years ago, before being moved to a Diversity Initiatives office and later to the Center for Intercultural Learning and Community Engagement (CILCE). Now SDIS staff members are pleased to continue the important work of generating early college awareness in the community.

For more information:

• Visit the Student Diversity and Inclusion Services website
• Contact Teresa Sweeney, administrative assistant, (651) 962-6800

UST’s Institutional Review Board Now Is Located on IRBNet.org, Sponsored by Office of Academic Affairs

Now housed under the auspices of the Office of Academic Affairs, the Institutional Review Board also has a new location in Room 311, Aquinas Hall. The Institutional Research Board reviews, approves and monitors all research studies undertaken at the University of St. Thomas.

The IRB has a twofold commitment:

• Commitment to a policy of safeguarding the dignity, rights and privacy of all human subjects of scientific research
• Commitment to assisting faculty, staff and student researchers meet the highest ethical and professional standards

For more information and sign-up instructions for research reviews:

• Visit the IRBNet.org website for more information and specific directions on submitting research protocol
• Contact the Institutional Review Board, (651) 962-6015
• Stop by the office in Room 311, Aquinas Hall

Minnesota Public Radio will broadcast a lecture given at the University of St. Thomas last week by author and Slate magazine editor David Plotz.

The program can be heard at noon Tuesday, May 21, on the “Minnesota Public Radio News Presents” program at 91.1 FM. The program also can be heard via the Internet. Information is available here.

The program is part of Minnesota Public Radio’s 2012-13 Broadcast Journalist Series, which is co-sponsored by St. Thomas’ College of Arts and Sciences and its Communication and Journalism Department.

On May 25, Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea will speak to graduating seniors at 2 p.m. More »

Several years ago, I attended a dinner celebrating Father John Malone’s 40 years as a priest and his retirement as pastor of Assumption Catholic Church in St. Paul. I was  among the “roasters” that evening, and when Father Malone finally reached the podium to defend himself, he did so with good humor and concluded by quoting from a famous William Butler Yeats poem:

Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, 
And say my glory was I had such friends.

I have always loved those words, which are the closing two lines of the poem, “The Municipal Gallery Revisited,” and as I approach my final weeks as president of the University of St. Thomas I cannot find a more appropriate valedictory in thanking this community.

I find it fitting to quote Yeats, considering that he counts among the dozens of Irish poets who have visited our campus over our 128 years. He appeared on a bitterly cold  January day in 1904 to give a St. Paul Seminary lecture to what one newsletter called “a large and cultured audience.”

I also borrowed Yeats’ words about friendship when I informed the faculty last May of my plans to retire, and in an effort to add some levity to the situation I quoted a  second Yeats observation: “Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.” The line drew welcome laughter, and I said it could be seen as even inspirational. “I know there have been days that were difficult as well as days that were good,” I told the faculty. “It’s the kind of existential resignation captured in the more homespun American proverb, ‘Some days you’re the bug; some days you’re the windshield.’” And there was more laughter!

In all seriousness, my gratitude today knows no bounds, and for good reason. Any success that I have enjoyed during my 22 years as president has been directly the result of generous, unselfish and heroic work by you – our faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni and benefactors. Or, as I like to say when I address a gathering, our “friends all.”

You also have been kind beyond description – to me and to St. Thomas. I will forever carry fond memories of those kindnesses, which I know were borne out of a genuine desire to make this a better university and to help us provide the best possible education for our students. The lengths to which you go to provide assistance astound me time and time again, almost to the point that it would be easy to take you for granted. I hope I never have done so.

As you know, I am fond of quoting our mission statement, which so perfectly captures what we attempt to do – to educate students “to be morally responsible leaders who think critically, act wisely, and work skillfully to advance the common good.” I take comfort in knowing how those words unite us as we seek to live up to one more Yeats maxim: that “education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire” – and I know they will motivate me in the years ahead.

I will see you around campus!

Read more from St. Thomas Magazine.

St. Thomas is one step closer to becoming a tobacco-free campus on Jan. 1, 2014.

The President’s Staff under Father Dennis Dease endorsed the tobacco-free concept at its May 6 meeting, and a committee will be appointed to work out an implementation plan in conjunction with smoking cessation programs before returning to the President’s Staff this fall for final approval. The policy would affect the St. Paul and Minneapolis campuses but not the Rome campus or the Gainey Conference Center in Owatonna.

More than 30 Minnesota colleges and universities already have tobacco bans. Nationwide, 700 are tobacco free and more than 1,000 are smoke free.

“Research shows that having a tobacco-free campus literally changes the behavior of students,” said Dr. Jane Canney, vice president for student affairs. “They smoke less and have a better understanding of the health and wellness aspects of their lives, and they come to value a tobacco-free environment.”

In the St. Thomas policy, “tobacco” is defined as any lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe, clove cigarette, hookah smoked products, electronic cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in any form. Promotion, sale or distribution of tobacco products and merchandise, including any items carrying tobacco logos, will be prohibited on campus or at any university-sponsored events.

“Compliance with this policy will depend upon the cooperation of all faculty, staff and students as well as campus visitors,” states a policy proposal considered by the President’s Staff. “The university will develop training programs to assist and prepare students and employees to help one another honor the tobacco-free environment that this policy supports.”

Proposal came from students

In the fall semester of 2010, Mike Orth, then president of the sophomore class and until recently president of the Undergraduate Student Government, approached St. Thomas leadership about ways to reduce tobacco use on campus.

“Mike took a real leadership role on the issue,” Canney said. “He formed a USG Tobacco Policy Review Committee during the 2010-2011 academic year, which conducted two student surveys and did thorough research. They involved a lot of students, and they concluded that they wanted to advocate for a tobacco-free campus.”

Orth decided to become involved because he knew the issue would become “incredibly important” for the St. Thomas community. Over time, he became convinced it made sense for St. Thomas to be tobacco free.

“A tobacco-free campus means two things,” he said. “First, that our university offers a safe and healthy place for students, faculty and staff to work, attend class and live. Second, that St. Thomas encourages the entire community to make healthy choices. That has an especially profound impact on students who are developing habits for the rest of their lives.”

Through the surveys and interviews, the USG committee became more familiar with the pros and cons of limited or no tobacco consumption on campus. Supporters objected to inhaling second-hand smoke and believed limits or a ban would promote healthy practices for people to follow for the rest of their lives, including in smoke-free work places. Opponents said a ban would infringe on their personal freedoms and would create safety concerns and littering problems by forcing people to smoke on public property, such as sidewalks, streets and the Summit Avenue median.

“There are strong opinions on both sides of the issue,” Orth said. “A change like this takes time, and we have been careful to include every opinion in the discussion.”

Tobacco-Free Campus work group formed

Following the Undergraduate Student Government recommendation in the fall of 2011, a Tobacco-Free Campus work group was formed. It included representation from faculty, students, exempt staff and non-exempt staff. After 18 months of consultation and research, the work group developed a draft tobacco free campus policy proposal.

This spring, members of the workgroup made nearly 20 presentations to committees and organizations across campus, discussing the proposal and assuring each constituency that it would be involved in future discussions regarding implementation of the policy once it was approved.

“I believe we are ready to move forward as an educational institution and not only become a tobacco-free campus,” Orth said, “but also utilize this opportunity to educate our students, faculty, and staff about living healthier lives.”

Among those participating on the Tobacco Free Campus work group is Dr. Jill Manske, a biology professor who completed a master’s degree in public health at the University of Minnesota last year. Manske and Dr. Jolynn Gardner of the Health and Human Performance Department (also a work group member) are developing tools to assess the attitudes and tobacco use before and after the ban.

Manske said she became involved in the work group a year ago after Canney asked her if she would be interested in serving as faculty representative. She said yes because of its origin as a student-generated initiative.

“It represents the type of student/grass-root ‘working for the common good’ that we hope to inspire in our students,” said Manske, who teaches a course in women’s health. “I also see this as an important women’s health issue. More men than women smoke, but smoking among college-age women has increased since the 1980s for a variety of reasons, including weight control and media exposure.”

Manske cited a 2001 U.S. Surgeon General’s report that women’s death rates due to lung cancer, a disease primarily caused by cigarette smoking, have increased 600 percent since 1950 and that “smoking-related disease among women is full-blown epidemic.”

Added Manske: “I think that anything we can do to counter these social pressures, and to introduce a different culture around tobacco use, is important.”

U of M will have smoking ban

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus is the most recent to announce a ban – at least a smoking ban, that is. The University Senate, made up of faculty, students and staff, voted May 2 in favor of a smoking ban and President Eric Kaler concurred, telling the Star Tribune: “A tobacco-free campus has become an expectation … rather than an innovation. It’s about time for us.” The ban could begin in the fall of 2014, and in the meantime officials will determine details such as whether the ban will include chewing tobacco.

Two other U of M campuses already have bans – tobacco in Crookston and smoking in Duluth. Private colleges with tobacco bans are Bethel, Northwestern, St. Catherine and St. Scholastica, and other major public institutions include state universities in Bemidji, Mankato, Marshall, Moorhead, St. Cloud and Winona.

Assistant Professor of Nursing Susan Riley, MS, RN, is the first faculty member at St. Kate's to receive The DAISY Faculty Award. More »

As the Class of 2013 prepares to graduate, their professors have some words of wisdom for students to keep with them during their future endeavors.

The day the Class of 2013 has been working toward is just around the corner. Hamline undergraduate, graduate, and law students will gather to celebrate commencement with family, friends, faculty, and staff on May 17 & 18, 2013. The School of Law ceremony will be held on Friday, May 17 at 6 p.m. 

Hundreds of University of St. Thomas staff and faculty members came to a farewell celebration Friday afternoon for their retiring president, Father Dennis Dease. They all went home with a souvenir pair of “Groucho” glasses complete with big nose and bushy black eyebrows.

The program featured much laughter, some tears, two sustained standing ovations, kind words, and a chance to see Dease cover his distinguished gray hair with a Harley Davidson “do-rag,” complete with bright orange flames.

Speaking at the event were Father John Malone, vice president for mission, and Archbishop Harry Flynn, chair of the university’s board for the past 18 years.

Flynn, also sporting a Harley cap at the podium, commented on Malone’s string of jokes and stories that peppered the program. “When Father Malone was speaking, I was wishing this was six years ago and I was still in office … so I could can him.”

Father John Malone, left, cracks a joke as Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn and Father Dease look on.

The archbishop turned serious and described this as a bittersweet time for the university. “We’ve all grown with him,” he said of Dease, who will retire at the end of June after 22 years as the university’s president.

“The hardest job in the world is being president of a Catholic university,” he said. “The president is responsible to so many constituents … students, faculty, the board, alumni and to the local bishop. It is a delicate balance, and Father Dease has done it brilliantly.”

Flynn said there are two types of leaders. One is the “instrumentalist” who is focused primarily on getting the job done. The other is the “expressive leader” who accomplishes tasks through encouragement, through listening, by making sure the morale is high and who leads others to work toward goals. “Those two forms of leaders landed in one person, Father Dease. He has been a patient, patient leader … and how important that is.

“I always describe Father Dease as steel wrapped in velvet. He smiles when he asks you for something.”

There are stories behind the Harley do-rags and the Groucho glasses.

Years ago, Dr. Ron Bennett, former dean of the School of Engineering, gave Dease a piggy-bank for his office desk. It was inscribed, “My Harley Fund,” and Dease often joked that he planned to buy a Harley motorcycle when he retired. At the start of the program, Malone and Dease donned their do-rags and the archbishop put on a more dignified Harley beret.

The origins of the Groucho glasses go back two years, to the fall faculty convocation. At the annual gathering, Dease put on a pair of Groucho glasses while commenting on a widely reported controversy involving British climate-change skeptic Lord Christopher Monkton and St. Thomas engineering professor and climate-change expert Dr. John Abraham. It was in the course of the controversy that Monkton called Dease a “creep of a president.”

As Malone recounted the story Friday afternoon, members of the audience took their Groucho glasses out of hiding and put them on.

Staff and faculty applaud Father Dease at a sendoff celebration.

“I thought a nice thing about getting old is you couldn’t be shocked anymore,” Dease said when he took the podium. “I was wrong. I never believed I’d be up here with an archbishop in a Harley hat and me in a do-rag.”

Dease’s remarks were short. “I don’t have a speech. I want to say thanks to all faculty and staff for making the St. Thomas culture so really, really special … and it’s hard to look out and say that with everyone wearing Groucho glasses.”

And at that, the audience rose and gave him a long standing ovation.

Leave a Farewell Note for Father Dennis Dease

If you were unable to attend the faculty and staff farewell celebration for St. Thomas President Father Dennis Dease, you can still offer your best wishes to him by signing a memory book that will be given to him when he retires on June 30. Stop by Aquinas Hall Room 102 to sign the book through Friday, May 31. The first 100 signers will receive commemorative Groucho glasses.

In a new installation celebrating 25 years of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, the work of Carleton College art professors David Lefkowitz and Stephen Mohring is featured in “Walker on the Green: Artist-Designed Mini Golf.” On Thursday, May 23, The Walker Art Center will open two eight-hole courses, featuring individual holes created by various architects, artists, engineers, machinists, and mini-golf aficionados. The new interactive installation features everything from garden gnomes masquerading as foosball players to a scale model of a French chateau, along with mazes, gopher holes, and contours mapped from the course of the legendary Augusta National Golf Club. The result is a delight for both serious golf purists and lovers of outdoor kitsch.

Carleton College’s Jazz Ensembles will perform their annual Spring concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 19 in the Carleton College Concert Hall. Carleton’s new Instructor of Saxophone Greg Keel will perform as a guest soloist. This event is free and open to the public.

For Grandma: The 2013 Senior Art Exhibition opens tonight at 7 p.m. in the Perlman Teaching Museum of the Weitz Center for Creativity. The exhibit is the culminating event in the studio art major's experience at Carleton, showcasing artwork produced during their senior year. Tonight's reception is free and open to the public. For Grandma will remain on display through June 14.

Eleven faculty and staff, leaving this academic year, were feted at the University’s Retirement Reception. More »

Thanks to its second-best round of the tournament, SJU edges Gustavus by a stroke.

Eight major capital improvement projects to update or restore parts of the University of St. Thomas will take place this summer. All of these projects will occur on the university’s St. Paul campus, and construction may cause some parking lots and areas of certain buildings to close temporarily during the summer.

Projects are scheduled late May through the end of August.

These projects include:

2120 Summit Ave.

• The garage behind 2120 Summit Ave. (Development Office) will be razed to expand the existing parking lot used by the Child Development Center and the Development Office. Work will be begin in early June and will be completed by late July. The area also will be landscaped.

Brady Hall

• Phase two of work on fixing the exterior brick of the upper floors, which have experienced structural issues the past few years, will continue this summer and will be completed by July 19. Phase one occurred last summer and fixed 60 percent of the afflicted areas.

Modern and Classical Languages Department

• All 2,800 square feet of the Modern and Classical Languages offices on the third floor of O’Shaughnessy Educational Center will be renovated.

Murray-Herrick Campus Center

• Renovation of the building, including the second-floor space in Herrick Hall (former dining rooms and office space converted for use by Admissions) will continue this summer and will finish by Aug. 15. When completed the entire Enrollment Services division will be in Murray-Herrick Campus Center. (The Office of Financial Aid moved last year.)

O’Shaughnessy Stadium

• Decorative Mankato Kasota stone will be added to each end and underneath the existing video board in O’Shaughnessy Stadium to make it fit within the context of the stadium, which is walled in the same stone.

Owens Science Hall

• The obsolete fume-hood controls, which exhaust air from the science labs, will be replaced in the fourth-floor teaching labs.

Sculpture garden

• A sculpture garden will be installed in the area between Brady Educational Center and the Binz Refectory. The sculptures include “The Family,” a 3,200-pound copper sculpture by Evelyn Raymond that originally was installed on the Coughlan Field House’s east wall in 1983; “Stephen’s Summer” by John Raimondi, a five-piece, 21-ton sculpture of cor-ten steel donated by Dolly Fiterman, which previously was displayed on the west lawn of Loras Hall; and possibly a third sculpture to be announced.

South Field

• St. Thomas will replace the grass with artificial turf beginning Monday, May 20. The bleachers, scoreboard, fencing and softball dugouts also will be replaced. All of the work, which will cost $2 million, is expected to be completed by early August. More information is available in this Newsroom article.

A printed supplement of the 2013 digital online Aquinas yearbook will be available for purchase for $25 this summer.

The supplement will contain a portion of what is featured in the online digital yearbook, including photos of student clubs and organizations and faculty and staff departments; senior portraits; and athletic team photos. To purchase a supplement, stop by Tommie Central in the Anderson Student Center or call (651) 962-6137. The supplement will be available by midsummer.

The fall semester release of the online yearbook is now available at www.aquinasyearbook.com and on Facebook. You can download the yearbook through its free app for Android and Apple devices. The app can be downloaded in the Google Play Store, the Amazon App Store for Android and in the iTunes Store.

Archived versions of Aquinas yearbooks from 1993 to 2011 can be viewed online in UST Libraries’ Digital Collections archives.

For more information, contact Aquinas adviser Kim Rueb.

Concordia University, St. Paul President Tom Ries will be honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Concordia University, Wisconsin (CUW) at its commencement ceremony May 18. The award recognizes alumni who have consistently demonstrated faithful stewardship of their talents and have rendered notable service to the church and to CUW.

Prior to accepting a call to the Concordia presidency in 2011, Ries served as President of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Foundation from 2004-2011 and Vice President for Finance and Operations at Concordia University, St. Paul from 1999-2004. 

President Ries earned an Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Sciences from Concordia College Milwaukee (now CUW) in 1974.

Currently a doctoral degree candidate in the Higher Education Administration program at the University of Minnesota from which he holds a Master of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Finance, President Ries also holds a Master of Divinity degree from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis and a Bachelor’s degree from Concordia Senior College, Ft. Wayne, Ind.

George Baboila

George Baboila, School of Social Work; Virgil Wiebe, School of Law; and Jennifer Wright, School of Law, presented on “Teaching Interprofessional Ethics,” April 30, to a packed audience at the American Association of Law Schools annual clinical Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Hans Gustafson

Dr. Hans Gustafson, Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning, and Theology Department, College of Arts and Sciences, wrote a chapter, titled “Place, Spiritual Anthropology, and Sacramentality in Merton’s Later Years,” for the forthcoming book The Merton Annual: Studies in Culture, Spirituality, and Social Concerns, Volume 25 (David Belcastro and Joseph Raab, eds. Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 2013, pp. 74-90).

Mark Jensen, University Relations, has a solo exhibition of selected prints from his North Shore Portfolio, titled “Rocks, Trees, and Moss,” hanging this month at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, located on Lowry Hill in Minneapolis. This portfolio is comprised of color photographs taken with a large format view camera along the North Shore of Lake Superior. The original images were created using 4×5 color transparency film. This is the first exhibit of Jensen’s color work in Minneapolis. Jensen also will display a portrait from the National Endowment for the Humanities-funded “Minneapolis – Portrait of a  Lifestyle” and others commissioned by the Minnesota Historical Society for its “Minnesota 2000 Documentary Photography Project” at Art-a-Whirl the third week in May.

Dr. Meg Wilkes Karraker

Dr. Meg Wilkes Karraker, Sociology and Criminal Justice Department, College of Arts and Sciences, is editor of The Other People: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Migration  (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).

Contributors include specialists in migration studies from anthopology, criminal justice, family studies, legal studies, nursing, political science, social welfare, sociology and women’s studies. The authors have lived experience in African, Australian, Canadian, German, Hmong, Korean, Middle Eastern and United Kingdom cultures. They hold positions at universities in Australia, Canada and across the United States, and include the deputy head of the University of Southern Queensland Law School, Australia, and the director of the Asylum and Refugee Law Clinic at Pepperdine University School of Law.

Karraker wrote the introductory chapter “Global Migration in the Twenty-first Century.” Jennifer Blank (B.A. Sociology, Criminal Justice, University of St. Thomas; M.A. criminology, Middlesex University) is the author of “Human Trafficking, Migration, and Gender: An Interdisciplinary Approach,” based on her interviews with men engaged in sex trafficking in London. Dr. Sue Smith-Cunnien, Sociology and Criminal Justice Department, contributed “Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Nation): Zimbabweans in South Africa,” based on her work in those societies. Jan Orf, UST Libraries, and Mathew Vicknair, sociology and economics major, co-wrote an appendix, “Resources for Research on Global Migration.”

The cover, by award-winning Twin Cities photographer Wing Young Huie, depicts an emigrant from Sudan awaiting the bus to adult education classes on a snowy January morning in St. Paul, Minn. The book is dedicated to that person.

Dr. John Wendt

Dr. John Wendt, Department of Ethics and Business Law, Opus College of Business, co-presented “I Can Do This! Where is the Bottom?: An Analysis of Risk Management Plans for Swimmers in Triathlons” with Dean John Miller of Troy University and Professor Gina A. Pauline of Syracuse University at the 26th Annual Conference on Sport, Physical Activity, Recreation and Law.  Wendt and Miller also co-presented “Risk Communication Management of Concussions in High School Football, Who Knew?” at the conference.

Students and faculty from the Chemistry Department presented their research at the 245th American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition, held April 7-11 in New Orleans, La. Student presenters, their projects and their research advisers were: Cole Johnson, “Computational Analysis of Molecular Fluoroquinolone using GAMESS” (student of Dr. Joseph Brom); Wendy Consoer, “Characterization of Ozonation Products for the Macrolide Antibiotic Roxithromycin,” Sam Jensen, “Assessing Estrogenic and Androgenic Activity of UV Filter Photoproducts,” and Maia Moffatt, “Effects of Ozonation on the Antibacterial Activity of the Macrolide Roxithromycin” (students of Dr.  Kristine H. Wammer); Mark Schwerkoske, “Novel Antimalarial Compounds,” Tommy Gentle, “Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Isoluminol Derivatives,” Sam Fish, “Kinetics of Hindered Amine and Isocyanates Reactions,” Olga Zamulko, “Synthesis of a Topologically Designed Novel Antibiotic,” Mark Frommelt, “Synthesis of a Near Infrared Absorbing Photochrome,” Suzanne Mages, “Tunable Radiopaque Polymers,” Becca Kummer, “Synthesis of a Novel Antibacterial Compound,” Sarah Larson, “A Novel Route to N-Alkylated Benzimidazoles,” and Brooke Capelle, “Synthesis of Novel Thermochromic Compounds” (students of Dr.  J. Thomas Ippoliti); Jenna Johnson, “Intermolecular Contacts Involving Halogen Atoms in the Solid-State Structures of Some bis-Benzylideneanilines” (student of Dr. William Ojala); Bryan Haugen, “Synthetic Pathway of Symmetrical Triazole-based N-Heterocyclic Carbenes,” and Kayla Ryan, “Toward Group Two Metal Alkoxides and Aryloxides using Hydrothermal Synthesis” (students of Dr. Marites A. Guino-o); Amber R. Schoenecker, “Characterization of Glycosaminoglycans and Their Interactions with TAT Peptide to Increase Drug Specificity,” Kyle Chamberlain, ‪”Quantitative Determination of DNA Affinity for PEGylated PAMAM Dendrimer Gene Delivery Vehicles,” Danielle Francen, ‪”Tat Peptide-Mediated Gene Delivery: Complex Formation and Interaction with Cell-Surface Glycosaminoglycans,” and Kristin J. Braden, “Charge Density and Stereochemistry Affect the Interaction of PAMAM Dendrimer with Glycosaminoglycans” (students of Dr. Lisa E. Prevette); Christina Rozeske, “Hydroboration as a Route to Cyclic Boranes” (student of Dr.  Eric Fort); Zach Henseler, “Characterization of Cationic DNA Transfection Agents Binding to Supramolecular G-DNA” (student of Dr. Tom Marsh).

Faculty presenting talks were Dr.  J. Thomas Ippoliti, Chemistry Department, College of Arts and Sciences, “Utilizing Undergraduate Research Results in Organic Spectroscopy,” and Dr. Eric Fort, Chemistry Department, “Improving Routes to Azaborine Containing Molecules.” Faculty presenting posters were Dr.  Joseph Brom, Chemistry Department, “Quantum Interference: How To Measure the Wavelength of a Particle,” and Dr. Lisa Prevette, Chemistry Department, “Quantifying the Interaction of Tat Peptide and Cell-Surface Glycosaminoglycans.”

Ten faculty and one library staff member presented various aspects of their work with the UST Writing Across the Curriculum program held April 4 and 5 at the Minnesota Writing and English Conference at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minn.

Supporting Student Writing Across the Curriculum 1: Teaching Revision, Scaffolding Assignments, and Revising ESL Assignment Design
• Dr. Lon Otto (English)
• Dr. Michael Degnan (Philosophy)
• Dr. Juan Li (English)

Supporting Student Writing Across the Curriculum 2: Writing as a Means of Learning Course Content
• Dr. Stephanie Grimm (Accounting)
• Dr. Colin Martin (Biology)
• Dr. Kevin Henderson (Management)

Supporting Student Writing Across the Curriculum 3: Using Technology and Partnering with Librarians to Enhance Student Learning
• Ms. Talia Nadir (Research and Instruction Librarian)
• Dr. Debra Petersen (Communication and Journalism)
• Dr. Daniel Tight (Spanish)
• Dr. Andrea Nesmith (School of Social Work)

“Transformation from Within: Creating a Culture of Writing at the University of St. Thomas”
• Dr. Erika Scheurer (WAC director, English)

Hamline University is pleased to welcome Ann Ness as vice president of marketing and enrollment management. In this role, she will lead the teams of marketing and strategic communications, enrollment, and financial aid.