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INTRODUCING MR. UML (YES, THAT’S HER) When she heard about the Mr. UML contest happening on campus a few months ago, sophomore fine arts major Trudy Ulmstead decided she was the best man for the job.
Carolina Barreto pauses during the installation of solar panels in a Peruvian village.
“They didn’t specify that you have to be male and I met the other criteria,” says Ulmstead, who is a resident advisor, orientation leader and Off Broadway Players officer. “I'm a prominent student leader on campus, so I thought it would be a
fun thing to add to my involvement here.” She was surprised as anyone when she won. “I think I won because I was trying to convey an important message … that if you want something, go for it. Take a chance,” she says. “I fully expected to not be taken seriously or not allowed to compete because of my gender. But I was allowed, and clearly got the support of the UMass Lowell community.”
Student Wins ‘German Oscar’ Angelina Jolie and UMass Lowell student Carolina Barreto have something important in common. They both won Cinema for Peace awards at the Berlin International Film Festival in February. Barreto, a native of Nicaragua and a doctoral student in the University’s solar energy engineering program, played a key role in the documentary “Burning in the Sun”—one of five films that won what is often called the “German Oscar.” “They recognize filmmakers who are involved in making a difference in the world. We won the Cinema for Peace International Green Film Award sponsored by the German automaker Opel,” she says. The critically acclaimed “Burning in the Sun” tells the story of Daniel Dembélé, a 26-year-old bartender in Amsterdam who decides to return to his homeland in Mali, an impoverished, landlocked country in Western Africa, and start a local business building solar panels—the first of its kind in the sun-drenched nation. Dembélé’s goal is to electrify the households of rural communities, 99 percent of which live without power. His first customers are the residents of the tiny village of Banko.
“In the film, I’m shown training Daniel and other Malians how to assemble and install solar panels,” Barreto says. “Daniel didn’t have any background in solar energy, but he wanted to find a way to help his countrymen. This solar energy training provided him with the skills, job and business opportunity to do it.” Barreto was also interviewed on-camera and gave her views about rural electrification in developing countries. You can view a 22minute clip of the documentary, which had its national broadcast premier on PBS on Jan. 29, on YouTube.— EA
Trudy Ulmstead
Good Will Growing About a dozen students are building a greenhouse and community garden on campus this spring, in part thanks to a grant from the Deshpande Foundation. The group hopes to donate vegetables and flowers to local organizations.
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