Features

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August 31, 2011

Artscapade 2011

Artscapade, a popular and festive annual Welcome Week event that introduces new students to the lively arts scene at Michigan, takes place September 1 at the U-M Museum of Art. It includes a Passport to the Arts activity, which features games related to each of the arts offered on campus, student performances, films and prizes.

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August 30, 2011

When earth attacks

In the wake of Virginia’s recent earthquake and Hurricane Irene’s devastating trail through the East Coast, there’s debate about whether natural disasters are occurring more frequently or more severely than ever before. In a recent interview with LSA Wire, Eric Hetland, an assistant professor of geological sciences, explores the science behind natural disasters and the ability to predict them.

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August 29, 2011

Sarvajal Water Project

A team of graduate students from the School of Natural Resources and Environment traveled to India this summer to study wastewater issues and possible ways to reuse or reduce the brine that is created during a reverse osmosis process that produces clean and affordable drinking water.

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August 26, 2011

Inorganic clusters resemble living viruses

U-M researchers have discovered a delicate balance of atomic forces that can be used to make nanoparticle superclusters that are uniform in size—an attribute that’s important for many nanotech applications. These inorganic superclusters share many of the same attributes of simple life forms, including size, shape, core-shell structure and the ability to assemble and disassemble.

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August 25, 2011

Learning about giving

U-M undergraduate students recently presented and discussed their projects at the 2011 Development Summer Internship Program Showcase. This year marked the fifth summer of the three-month program which introduces participating students to philanthropy as a career through development internships with U-M and other local nonprofit groups.

Photo: Martin Vloet, U-M Photo Services

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August 24, 2011

Unraveling a twisted tale

Researchers at the U-M Museum of Paleontology have concluded that having skewed (asymmetrical) skulls may have helped early whales discriminate the direction of sounds in water and are not solely, as previously thought, a later adaptation of modern toothed whales related to echolocation—a sort of biological sonar used to navigate and find food.

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August 23, 2011

Navigating the admission process

As part of the Michigan College Advising Corps, recent U-M graduates are working in high schools in low-income areas to advise prospective students—many who will be the first in their family to attend college—on the admission process. They provide guidance with everything from the application to financial aid forms to making students aware of all of their post-high school options.

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August 22, 2011

Finding their voice

The Ark at the U-M Museum of Art Student Songwriters Series offers students the opportunity to perform original songs and compete for the chance to open for a show at The Ark, one of the country’s premier acoustic music venues. Open to students from area colleges, it attracts both experienced songwriters and those who are performing for the very first time.

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August 19, 2011

Sustainability Without Borders

A playground that includes a merry-go-round connected to a generator that produces electricity as it turns and stores it in a battery is among the projects tackled this summer by a team of U-M graduate students working with villagers in Liberia. The power will be used to light classrooms at night when adult literacy courses are taught.

Photo: Jose Alfaro

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August 17, 2011

Keeping concussions in check

After an athlete takes a big hit or a blow to the head, it’s difficult for coaches to know how to respond. To address this, Michigan NeuroSport is offering free online courses about recognizing concussions and how to treat them. NeuroSport is a team of U-M physicians, researchers, and medical personnel that specializes in the treatment and prevention of neurological sports injuries.

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August 15, 2011

Mastering the big idea

Two top-ranked U-M schools have teamed up to establish a professional master’s degree in entrepreneurship. The College of Engineering and the Stephen M. Ross School of Business are hoping to offer a joint program that trains students to turn ideas into inventions and inventions into successful businesses. Pending approval by the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan in October, the program would begin in fall 2012.

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August 12, 2011

Campus: Then and now

The Detroit Observatory, named for donors in Detroit who funded its construction, was U-M’s first dedicated scientific research laboratory. When it was built in 1854, it stood isolated up on a hill. Today, it is surrounded by a thriving Medical Campus and is a University museum open to visitors.

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August 10, 2011

Planet Blue Student Ambassador Program

U-M students with a passion for the environment will have the unique opportunity to be part of the pilot launch of the Planet Blue Ambassador Program this year. The goal of this outreach program, modeled after other successful peer-to-peer initiatives, is to create a culture of sustainable behavior by promoting environmentally and socially responsible practices within U-M’s residence halls.

Photo: Austin Thomason, U-M Photo Services

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August 8, 2011

Reprogramming stem cells

The U-M Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies recently achieved one of its primary goals: reprogramming adult skin cells so they behave like embryonic stem cells. The reprogrammed cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells, display many of the most scientifically valuable properties of embryonic stem cells while enabling researchers to bypass embryos altogether.

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August 5, 2011

U-M makes best workplaces list

For the fourth consecutive year, U-M was named one of the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Great Colleges to Work For. Michigan was recognized for its compensation and benefits, job satisfaction and support, and tenure clarity and process. The results are based on a review of demographics and workplace policies, and a survey of faculty, administrators and professional support staff.

Photo: Scott C. Soderberg, U-M Photo Services

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August 3, 2011

Northern exposure

U-M students conduct environmental field research at the Biological Station, a U-M facility that occupies 10,000 acres of forest, wetlands and lakeshore in the northern part of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, just east of Pellston. Laid out like a small village, the station consists of approximately 150 buildings for housing, dining, teaching, research, maintenance, and recreation.

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August 1, 2011

Life in Oslo

A U-M political science undergraduate student working as an intern at the Peace Research Institute of Oslo in Norway describes the moments following the recent bombing in central Oslo and how Norwegians are coping with the aftermath of these attacks on the International Institute’s blog.