VINO VIRTUOSO PG. 2 / COMMUNITY JOURNALS PG. 3 / EXPANDING SAFETY PG. 3 / SMOKE-FREE DECREE PG. 6 / ACCOLADES PG. 7 / INNOVATION WANTED PG. 7 / PRESERVING HISTORY PG. 8
Between the Columns a newsletter for faculty & staff of the University of Maryland September 2013
Red is the New Green
SUSTAINABLE FOOD AT UMD | PG. 4
Vintage Expert BY LIAM FARRELL
ANTONIO BUSALACCHI, A CERTIFIED
“It was just totally different than my day job. I had no real outside diversions but food and wine,” Busalacchi says. “Studying to be a master sommelier is really rigorous.”
ADVANCED SOMMELIER , has been around wine his entire life. His family has been in the restaurant business for decades, and his Sicilian grandparents even made their own vino during the Great Depression. “Wine was always on the table,” says the director of the university’s Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center and professor of atmospheric and oceanic science. “It was just a part of the cultural upbringing.” His expertise in wine and the environment have come together on more than his résumé. Busalacchi recently researched how climate change will impact the world’s major wine regions by 2050 and 2100, finding some will be devastated and others could actually improve their prospects. Growing up during the space race, he loved exploration and earned degrees in physics and oceanography. While working at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, he began to buy wines, read about them and network with wine professionals. Busalacchi, now working on a master sommelier certification, is using the same skills it took to get a Ph.D. to become proficient in history, blind tasting and service. “It was just totally different than my day job. I had no real outside diversions but food and wine,” he says. “Studying to be a master sommelier is really rigorous.” A consultant for vineyards on climate conditions, Busalacchi projects that the next 100 years will hurt Australia and South Africa through heat and drought. But other areas may benefit—the higher latitudes of the Pacific Northwest are one example, much to the recent interest of its local media. Today’s consumers, however, are faring well. Busalacchi says emerging areas like Chile or Greece have boosted overall quality, and a $20 bottle can rival one five times the price. His main advice: Don’t be distracted by labels. “There’s a lot of good juice in the market,” he says. “I’ll never pass a bottle that’s open.”
MAKING CAMPUS
SAFER
THE UNIVERSITY IS BEEFING UP
Private Thoughts, Public Location
Shared Journals at Garden Chronicle Terps’ Perspectives BY LIAM FARRELL
The place itself is a statement of purpose—the Garden of Reflection and Remembrance—so the tone of writing in the journals stored beneath its two benches is not surprising. The pages, scribbled on by visitors to the south side of Memorial Chapel and its waterfall and labyrinth walk, ruminate on God and relationships, purpose and prospects, and range from the sacred to profane (being left on a college campus, after all). Love both flowers and dies on their lines. One entry asks, “Will you marry me?” above “Yes, I do,” and a drawing of hands exchanging a ring. A couple marks their 30th wedding anniversary, gushing, “What a spectacular place! 30 more!” A woman returns to where she was married years earlier and notes that today she is “divorced. Very sad.” Entries ponder a 9/11 anniversary and the Boston Marathon attacks. Others say, “I’m so full of ice cream,” or “You know, now that I think about it, I really want to play some baseball now,” and label a smudge as “Dead bug.” And there is also poetry of the original and co-opted varieties, all a window into the thoughts of Maryland’s thousands: “It’s chilly out but I got to walk through this garden with a beautiful girl and it feels like the world and the stars and the moon and the car lights on the road at the bottom of the hill are all a bit warmer now.” Between the Columns is published twice per semester by University Marketing and Communications. Story ideas are welcome and should be sent to Liam Farrell, managing editor, at lfarrel1@umd.edu or by calling 301.405.4629. The mailing list is generated through University Human Resources. Any changes to names and addresses should be made through ares.umd.edu.
ITS CRIME-PREVENTION and awareness efforts this fall, with more officers and equipment, an expanded patrol area and a campaign to reduce risky behavior. A new agreement between the Department of Public Safety and the Prince George’s County Police Department is extending the university’s police jurisdiction into the Calvert Hills, Berwyn and Lakeland neighborhoods and student areas such as the View, Varsity and Enclave high-rises on Route 1. This gives Maryland’s police the ability to patrol those off-campus areas with the same authority they have on campus. The department is also adding eight officers, more cameras and license tag readers to monitor the campus’ five exit points. The university in conjunction with the city is launching the “Be Smart, Be Safe” public-awareness campaign to encourage the campus community, and students in particular, to take steps to avoid becoming victims of crime. The six lighthearted tips—such as “Save the bingeing for Netflix” and “Swipe in selfishly”—convey serious messages about locking dorm rooms and property, avoiding excessive drinking and getting home safely at night. Posters will be distributed around campus and on Shuttle-UM buses, and College Park restaurants and bars will have coasters bearing the tips.
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g n i t a E esh Fr
IATIVES
BY KAREN SHIH
IN A FEW YEARS, you could
ILITY IN IT
be ordering this from the campus food truck: chicken spiced with herbs from the Stamp Student Union garden, a salad with veggies from the South Campus Dining Hall rooftop garden, and honey ice cream sourced from campus hives. It’s all part of how SE S Dining Services and students, faculty PU M A ,C and staff have embraced the “locavore” ES BE D N A H FROM mentality of eating sustainable, locally produced GARDENS TO FIS food. Here’s a look at the latest campus initiatives: RV ES
UP
NE W
SU S
TAI N AB
D M U t a
TEAM MEGA’S TILAPIA How can fish survive on a rooftop? Ask senior Gemstone team MEGA (Maximizing Efficiency of Greenhouses using Aquaponics), which is raising tilapia on the roof of the South Campus Dining Hall this fall. The fish are held in giant tubs connected to tubes where vegetables are planted. The water flows through the tubes, allowing the roots to suck out the nutrients and returning clean water to the tank. At the end of the semester, they hope to work with Stamp or Dining Services to cook and serve the fish. “We’re trying to design a system that’s affordable and grows a significant amount of food, to be used in developing countries,” says team member Eric Kazyak ’14.
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ROOFTOP GARDEN EXPANSION Started just two years ago, the South Campus Dining Hall garden has expanded to produce enough squash, tomatoes, potatoes and more to donate to local shelters. It’s one of five on campus, including vegetable gardens at St. Mary’s Hall, Hillel and the School of Public Health and the Chef ’s Herb Garden. Allison Lilly M.P.H. ’12, sustainability and wellness coordinator for Dining Services, works with the Rooftop Garden Club to help maintain it, and hopes to eventually incorporate the vegetables into meals served by Dining Services. “It will be an adventure,” she says. “We’ll be figuring out what they can use and tweaking what we have growing in the garden.”
Tomato Gazpacho
Recipe featured on the Green Tidings Food Truck
Directions Ingredients 1 cup water olive oil 1 cup extra virgin shed , peeled and cru rlic ga s ve clo 2 , chopped ion on ite wh ½ cup 2 lbs tomatoes ped eled and chop 2 cucumbers, pe and chopped ed ov rem s seed 1 yellow pepper, chopped d an ed eds remov 1 red pepper, se ar eg vin y err 1 tablespoon sh er und white pepp ¾ teaspoon gro s, minced ive ch s on po 2 tables taste Kosher salt, to
d ingredients an 1. Combine all s. ur ho marinate for six one xer for at least 2. Blend with mi . th oo minute, until sm
full
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ing as necessa
3. Adjust season
the st one hour in 4. Chill for at lea ng. rvi se e for be refrigerator Serves eight.
GREEN TIDINGS FOOD TRUCK What’s green and white and serving up local, sustainable eats to every corner of campus? Green Tidings Catering’s new food truck, of course. Executive Chef Will Rogers had the idea when he came to Maryland two years ago, but it wasn’t until the A. James Clark School of Engineering donated an old truck that it came to fruition this summer. He wants “to push the limits with flavors and ideas,” by using different types and cuts of meat and herbs from the Stamp Student Union’s new Chef ’s Herb Garden and offering tasty vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options. The truck changes menus every other week and accepts cash, credit cards and Terrapin Express. For location and menu information, follow it on Twitter @UMDGreenTidings or visit umdgreentidings.wordpress.com.
UMD APIARY Sophomore Jordan Arata missed the calming buzz of his bees when he came to college. Working with entomologists and Dining Services, the budding beekeeper created an apiary system of ten hives across the rooftops of 251 North, the Diner and Plant Sciences last year. As the colonies grow stronger, each hive could produce three gallons of honey, enough for Dining Services to make honey ice cream and for him to make lip balm, lotions and more to support the apiary. “Lots of people are afraid of bees and will squish a bee if they see one,” he says. “We want to educate them.” Honeybees directly and indirectly contribute to more than a third of the food we eat but are also in crisis, dying off by about a third each winter. To learn more, participate in one of Arata’s tours this fall: ter.ps/umda.
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A New Leader for Smith BY LIAM FARRELL
The university has appointed Alexander J. Triantis, a finance professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, as the school’s dean. He began his new role on Sept. 1. Triantis joined Smith in 1996 and chaired the Department of Finance from 2006-11. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Toronto and master’s and doctoral degrees from Stanford University. He has taught at the University of Wisconsin and the MIT Sloan School of Management, and consulted with companies such as CSX, Ernst & Young and the World Bank. He’s been acclaimed for both his research and teaching. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to work in a new way with Smith’s outstanding community of faculty, students, alumni and staff to help the school reach its full potential as a world leader in business education,” Triantis says.
UMD GOES SMOKE-FREE BY LAUREN BROWN
THE UNIVERSITY is trying to improve not just the food we eat, but the air we breathe. The University of Maryland became a smoke-free institution on July 1, covering all buildings and campus property, except for four designated smoking areas, and all people on campus, including visitors and contractors. “We have an opportunity to make this a constructive experience that will promote our community’s health and well-being, and at the same time provide support to those who want help to quit smoking,” says President Wallace D. Loh. The University Health Center also offers a free smoking cessation program, and the state of Maryland has “quit coaches” who can give advice and support. For more information, visit smokefree.umd.edu.
BOOKSHELF
John Parascandola, who teaches
In What Then Must We Do?:
courses on the history of modern biology and public health, delves into one of the world’s most notable toxins in
Straight Talk About the Next
King of Poisons: A History of Arsenic.
American Revolution, Lionel R.
Bauman Professor of Political Economy Gar Alperovitz calls for changes in American markets.
English Professor Howard Norman explores his life and its haunting events in the memoir I Hate to Leave this Beautiful Place.
Julie J. Park, an assistant professor
of education, looks at how college students are affected when racial diversity declines in When Diversity Drops: Race, Religion and Affirmative Action in Higher Education.
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Photos by John T. Consoli.
ACCOLADES Dining Services was awarded the Gold Medal for Waste Management and the Grand Prize for Sustainability during this year’s National Association of College and University Food Service conference. Elana Fine, managing director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, was recognized as a “Tech Titan” by Washingtonian magazine. Mark Walsh, the Dingman Center’s board chair and president of FedBid, was also on the list. William Fourney, associate dean and keystone professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, was selected for the 2014 M.M. Frocht Award from the Society for Experimental Mechanics. Woman Veterans Interactive named Sally Kobinsky, associate dean for diversity and inclusion, an “Honorary Woman Veteran” for her efforts to improve the lives of service members, veterans and families. The American Physical Society awarded physics professor Phillip Sprangle the 2013 James Clerk Maxwell Prize in Plasma Physics. Jane E. Clark, dean of the School of Public Health, received the Distinguished Scholar Award from the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Health. Clark also gave the commencement address at the College of Brockport, State University of New York, and received an honorary doctorate. Bonnie Dorr and Lise Getoor, respective professors of computational linguistics and machine learning, have been elected fellows of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Avram Bar-Cohen, professor of mechanical engineering, received the 75th anniversary medal of ASME’s Heat Transfer Division.
More Opportunity for Innovation INNOVATION FRIDAYS TO FOSTER ENTREPRENEURSHIP ON CAMPUS BY DAVID KOHN
Could the next big app come from College Park instead of Silicon Valley? Maryland students, faculty and staff can now get an extra dose of expert help from experienced entrepreneurs on how to bring their ideas to fruition. Through the Innovation Fridays initiative, which began this month, they have the chance every Friday to share their ideas with successful business people, who will offer advice on next steps. To pull in a range of participants, it will take place at three places on campus: the Engineering and Physical Science Library, McKeldin Library and the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship in the Robert H. Smith School of Business. “A lot of people have great ideas,” says Elana Fine, director of the Dingman Center. “The hardest thing is knowing where to start. We help with those baby steps.” A Dingman mentor helped Sean Virgile, a doctoral student in bioengineering, navigate the process of applying for funding for his startup, Diagnostic anSERS, which uses a new low-cost process to detect trace amounts of explosives, toxins and drugs. “It was really helpful,” he says. “They gave us great advice.” Innovation Fridays grew out of Dingman’s Pitch Dingman program and Mtech’s Entrepreneurship Hours. Other participants are the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership in the School of Public Policy, the Office of Technology Commercialization and the Center for Social Value Creation. It’s part of the university’s efforts to develop a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across all colleges and curriculum.
INNOVATION FRIDAYS TAKE PLACE EVERY FRIDAY FROM 11 A.M. TO 1 P.M. AT THE FOLLOWING SITES: • Engineering and Physical Science Library, Conference Room A, Room 1403
• 2518 Van Munching Hall, Dingman Center Suite
• McKeldin Library, Room 2113 Visit innovation.umd.edu for more information.
YOU WORK IN THE TOP TEN UMD IS RATED NO. 9 AMONG D.C.-AREA EMPLOYERS, according to Glassdoor. com. The ranking is based on anonymous ratings from current and former employees in five categories: career opportunities, compensation and benefits, work/life balance, senior management and culture and values.
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Historic Collection Passes Milestone BY LIAM FARRELL
A unique window into post-World War II Japan continues to get wider online, following the digitization of the millionth image from one of University Libraries’ largest collections. The Gordon W. Prange Collection is the world’s most complete archive of Japanese print publications from 1945–49. Comprising newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, posters, children’s and general interest books and more that were issued or suppressed by the U.S. government, it shows a rebuilding society and the oversight exercised by the Allies. “Scholars learn about the resilience of the Japanese people and the resilience of the human spirit after such a devastating period,” says Amy Wasserstrom, the collection’s acting curator. Plans are under way to celebrate the milestone. There are millions more images to go, as the collection includes 71,000 book and pamphlet titles and tens of thousands of other documents. Digital preservation is needed to Kintaro. 1948. Futaba Shobo. capture deteriorating materials. http://hdl.handle.net/1903.1/4489. “It is a race against time,” WasserstromDoyo says. ehon dai 1-shu, Noguchi Ujo and others, and Kazama Shiro. 1947. Toppan. http://hdl.handle. net/1903.1/5064.
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