Terp Spring 2007 by University of Maryland

TERP

CONNECTING

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COMMUNITY

The Bay and

Beyond Environmental Research at Maryland

RALLYING RECYCLEMANIA 2 I WORKING THE WATER 20 I HIGH-RANKING HOYER 28

TERP PUBLISHER

Brodie Remington Vice President, University Relations ADVISORY BOARD

J. Paul Carey ’82 M.B.A. CEO, Enumerate Terry Flannery ’83, ’87 M.Ed., ’95 Ph.D. Assistant Vice President, University Marketing and Communications John Girouard ’81 President and CEO, Capital Asset Management Group Anil Gupta Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Strategy and Organization, Robert H. Smith School of Business Danita D. Nias ’81 Executive Director, Alumni Relations Vicki Rymer ’61, ’66 M.B.A., ’83 Ph.D. Teaching Professor, Robert H. Smith School of Business Keith Scroggins ’79 Bureau Head of General Services, City of Baltimore, Dept. of Public Works Lee Thornton Professor and Eaton Chair, Philip Merrill College of Journalism MAGAZINE STAFF

Dianne Burch Executive Editor Beth A. Morgen Managing Editor John T. Consoli ’86 Creative Director Jeanette J. Nelson Art Director Mira Azarm ’01 Joshua Harless Brian Payne Contributing Designers Monette A. Bailey ’89 Kimberly Marselas ’00 Tom Ventsias Writers Mandie Boardman ’02 Karin Jegalian Denise Jones Pamela Stone ’95 M.A. Contributing Writers Michael D’Angelo Anu Kasarabada Taryn Roman Michelle Williams Magazine Interns E-mail terpmag@umd.edu Terp magazine is published by the Division of University Relations. Letters to the editor are welcomed. Send correspondence to Beth Morgen, Managing Editor, Terp magazine, Alumni Association, Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center, College Park, MD 20742-1521. Or, send an e-mail to terpmag@umd.edu The University of Maryland, College Park, is an equal opportunity institution with respect to both education and employment. University policies, programs and activities are in conformance with pertinent federal and state laws and regulations on non-discrimination regarding race, color, religion, age, national origin, political affiliation, gender, sexual orientation or disability.

Dear Alumni and Friends, IT SEEMS THAT everywhere I look these days there is another reminder to “go green”— to eat organic food, use environmentally safe cleaning products, drive a hybrid car and more. All of a sudden thinking about Mother Earth is as trendy as the wedge heel sandal or the Nintendo Wii game system.This is all well and good, but my hope for all of us—and for generations to come—is that “going green” is not a passing trend. Here at the university, the environment is at the forefront of research being conducted by many Maryland faculty members.Turn to page 24 to learn how researchers across several disciplines are studying the science behind global warming, analyzing its effects on society and proposing processes and technologies to address this serious problem. In “Working the Water” on page 20, the topic of discussion is the Chesapeake Bay. By encouraging a dialogue among the bay’s stakeholders, including watermen, scientists and regulators, university researchers are helping us understand the bay’s challenges in both scientific and human terms.This collaborative approach may bode well for the bay’s most famous inhabitant, the blue crab, not to mention countless other marine and wildlife that call the Chesapeake Bay home, including the diamondback terrapin. It was the Terrapin spirit behind the university’s success in Recyclemania—a national competition among colleges and universities to see which school could recycle the most waste per person. Learn how Maryland stacked up among its

peers and about the many eco-friendly plans and programs springing up across our campus on page 2.While there, check out the university’s First Year Book selection for incoming freshmen. The Ravaging Tide: Strange Weather, Future Katrinas, and the Coming Death of America’s Coastal Cities may prove more thrilling than your usual summer read. This summer, I intend to put my “green” thumb to work. For those who share my passion for gardening, see this issue’s “The Source” on page 6. Our friends in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources-based Maryland Cooperative Extension offer plenty of (free!) advice to help your garden grow. Whatever your plans this summer, absorb the world around you.Trends will come and go. Sustaining a healthy environment should be here to stay. Go Green!

Danita D. Nias ’81 Executive Director, Alumni Relations

2 BIG PICTURE Maryland thinks “green” in its recycling efforts; the 2007–2008 First Year Book confronts global warming; students have their say online; university’s East Campus on the verge of a facelift; the new vice president for administrative affairs; and more 6 THE SOURCE Cooperative Extension Program helps your garden grow 7 ASK ANNE Rivers wins the championship trophy in women’s pro-football; a 12-inning baseball game in 1948; and the founders of Maryland Agricultural College 8 CLASS ACT Testudo’s cousin in Pittsburgh; alumna heads one of the fastest growing companies; the Eighth Annual Alumni Awards Gala; racing Terps; and more 12 M-FILE Kids Team tests new technology; biology professor “gets” milk; computers that see like humans; engineering researchers turn to crustaceans for answers; and more 16 PLAY-BY-PLAY Field hockey coach is a champion both on and off the field 17 SPOTLIGHT A noteworthy occasion 18 MARYLAND LIVE Kapell International Piano Competition returns; Class of 1957 and 1967 Reunions; get ready to tailgate; and more 36 INTERPRETATIONS Picturing a visionary future

departments

features 20 WORKING THE WATER

GLOBAL WARMING

To help protect one of the state’s most treasured resources—the Chesapeake Bay blue crab— University of Maryland researchers are advancing a better dialogue among the bay’s many stakeholders.

The Earth’s climate is changing, and humans are behind it, so what are we doing about it? Maryland is on the cutting edge in the search for answers.

BY TOM VENTSIAS

Record-setting pledges in the A. James Clark School of Engineering push the school closer to its goals in Great Expectations, The Campaign for Maryland. Plus, special gifts help women make inroads in the bioengineering field; Testudo gets the scoop; learn more about the Colonnade Society; and get to know campaign volunteer Craig Thompson ’92.

COVER PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI; PHOTO ABOVE BY MIKE MORGAN

BY KARIN JEGALIAN

MARYLAND’S MAJOR LEADER

Proud alumnus Steny Hoyer ’63 takes the No. 2 spot in the U.S. House— and becomes the highest-ranking member of Congress from Maryland. BY KIMBERLY MARSELAS

IN THE LOOP

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bigpicture

What special steps do you take at home or at work to

How Green Is my Campus

protect the environment or conserve resources? Save a piece of paper and let us know on the Terp blog at http://terp3101.squarespace.com

TURN TO THE BACK COVER of Terp. See the black recycling

logo? Since 1999, the university has made a concerted effort to print publications on paper that is environmentally responsible. Maryland continually strives to think “green” when approaching everyday activities, and everything—from the food served in cafeterias to the paper on which Terp magazine is published—is up for grabs. On any given day, Maryland students recycle everything from cars to couches at the Terrapin Trader; campus buildings conserve energy through low-energy bulbs; and Shuttle-UM buses reduce carbon emissions thanks to clean-burning fuels. The university’s Dining Services has also ramped up its eco-friendly practices. As part of its “Green Dining” program, the department sends used cooking oils to be turned into bio-diesel fuels, uses energy- and waterefficient equipment and employs cooking procedures that reduce waste. In addition, Dining Services began a partnership last year with Maryland company EnvirRelations LLC to turn waste into valuables. Every morning, an EnvirRelations truck picks up food waste from the South Campus Dining Hall and the North Campus Diner, which is then taken to Anne Arundel County and composted into premium mulch. More than 11 tons of both pre-consumer waste (meat trimming, melon rinds and other unused foods from the kitchens) and post-consumer waste (leftovers on plates) are turned into a rich source of protection for plants each month. The

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department recently expanded the program to include waste from the university’s catering services and the Stamp Student Union. Earlier this year, Maryland got to brag about its ecofriendly plans and programs, thanks to Recyclemania, an annual nationwide competition among more than 200 colleges and universities to determine which school can recycle the most materials in a variety of categories. The result? Maryland had its best showing yet, ranking third among ACC schools and earning the Gorilla Prize, for the most gross tons of recyclables collected. Maryland students are already thinking up plans to climb the ranks of next year’s Recyclemania. Team SOS, a student group in the interdisciplinary Quality Enhancement Systems and Teams (QUEST) program, placed as a finalist in the mtvU/GE Ecomagination Challenge, thanks to its innovative design for a solar-powered recycling/trash compaction receptacle; and another QUEST team is working with Dining Services to implement their invention—the “Compostation,” a bin that encourages students to compost leftover food—on campus. —AK

The Recyclemania campaign turns into a work of art on Hornbake Plaza (above), where students spell out “Recyclemania” through a variety of common materials.

Printed on Recycled Pape Printed on Recycled Paper

PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

YOURwords

The Tides Are Changing WHAT DO THE DOUR predictions of climate scientists mean for residents of Maryland, other coastal states and great cities around the world? It’s a question author Mike Tidwell answers in frightening detail in the 2007–2008 First Year Book. In The Ravaging Tide: Strange Weather, Future Katrinas, and the Coming Death of America’s Coastal Cities, the Takoma Park, Md., environmental activist tracks the effects of climate change from 400 A.D. Easter Island to present-day Alaska and to a Manhattan largely underwater by 2100. Current estimates mean much of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay region could be washed out by rising seas in the next 100 years,

but Tidwell argues that it’s not too late to reduce our impact and save the planet. That optimism—as well as clear strategies to increase the use of clean energy in our backyard and around the world—swayed the committee that selects an annual book to be distributed to all freshmen. “There was a sense that we, as a community, could take the issue of global warming, look at the science of climate change and begin to discuss solutions to this problem,” says Lisa Kiely, assistant dean of undergraduate studies. “There was also a sense that this was one of the most pressing issues of our time, but the impact would be far greater on our students’ lives than on ours. For that reason, we needed to address it.” —KM

I READ THE ARTICLE about alumna

Jennifer Keats Curtis ’91, M.A. ’93 who wrote Turtles in My Sandbox (Winter 2007). It reminded me of the turtles on our beach last year that we accidentally ran into as they were hatching—in the middle of the day, instead of the norm, first thing in the morning. They weren’t diamondbacks, but loggerheads; it was the most amazing experience to see these little guys find their way to the water. The whole beach came to watch and cheer them on. They have so many predators and are so vulnerable. It was exciting to see that no birds came by. Once the hatchlings got into the water, they were on their own. I was on the beach and was lucky enough to have my camera to snap some shots of the little guys work their way to the waves. We lost 14 or so that didn’t make it out of the nest, and there were a few unhatched eggs, but I was pleased that around 80 turtles made it to the water. Thanks for reminding me of the miracle I witnessed last year for the first time. We should all be so lucky. —Janet Levin ’77 Riviera Beach, Fla.

Bell Tolls for Student Investors STUDENTS FROM THE ROBERT H. SMITH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS rang the official opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange as part of a learning and networking trip earlier this year. The group of undergraduates and M.B.A. candidates manages the Smith School’s Mayer and Lemma Senbet funds, which allows for hands-on finance and investment training and pays dividends to the school. While in New York, students met with financial professionals, including John Thain, CEO of the stock exchange. Their shining moment came at 9:30 a.m. on January 19, when they crowded onto a balcony inside the exchange and Harold “Tray” Spiker ’07 pressed the green button that set the market in action for the day. —KM

FIRST YEAR BOOK PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI; NYSE COURTESY OF THE SMITH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS; BABY TURTLES BY JANET LEVIN ’77

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bigpicture

GROWTH spurt

ith Maryland students involved in everything from basketball to broadcasting, staying on top of Terp happenings can be a challenge. To catch up on the latest news, head online where students are having their say and spreading the Terrapin spirit.

Re-Think College Park www.rethinkcollegepark.net/blog The revitalization of College Park, Md., has long been a hot topic in which everyone from university officials to city residents have a stake—especially as development ramps up around town (see story on page 5). Last year, senior environmental economics major David Daddio and Rob Goodspeed, graduate student in community planning, believed interested parties needed a central place to learn about and debate the complex issues involved. The result is “Rethink College Park,” a blog whose mission is “to help transform College Park into a great college town … [through] … full access to information, public dialogue, and the power of creative ideas.” The site has caught the attention of city leaders and the national media.

Good News www.umtv.umd.edu University of Maryland’s cable television station UMTV has been bringing regional and national news to local counties since 2000. Four years later, the station expanded its audience by providing online streaming of UMTV programs on the Web. Now, viewers from Baltimore to Beijing can watch shows produced by Maryland students, including “Maryland Newsline,” named the best college-produced daily newscast by the Society of Professional Journalists. “Maryland Newsline” is available online during the academic year. And stay tuned to the UMTV Web site: The station is always looking for new shows to stream online.

Hear the Turtle www.wmuc.umd.edu In the late 1990s, Maryland’s WMUC 88.1FM made the jump to the Web, offering an entire catalog of programming online, from “Third Rail Radio,” a live in-studio concert show to the three-year-old news show, “Terp Weekly Edition.” Its site also boasts 24-hour online radio play, a discussion forum, and an archive of past shows and playlists for individual programs. But it may be WMUC’s sports programs that are best known on the Web: The only site to provide live broadcasts of Terp games, WMUC’s coverage draws hundreds of listeners on game days—especially for women’s basketball and men’s soccer. WMUC celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. 4

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TOP PHOTO COURTESY OF RETHINKCOLLEGEPARK.NET; CENTER PHOTO COURTESY OF UMTV; WMUC PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

Major Campus Redevelopment on the Horizon

The 38-acre East Campus site (shown left in an aerial view and highlighted below) will be redeveloped in a partnership between the university and FP-Argo, a private company involved in the revitalization of downtown Silver Spring, Md.

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THE UNIVERSITY RECENTLY ANNOUNCED formal negotiations with FP-Argo of Rockville, Md. (a joint venture

of the Foulger-Pratt Companies and Argo Investment Company) for redevelopment of a 38-acre site across from the main campus on the east side of Rt. 1. The East Campus location currently houses the central mail facility, parking and repair areas for the Shuttle UM bus fleet, the Leonardtown student-housing complex and other university buildings. Key aspects of the multi-phase project include the relocation of the university’s existing facilities on the site, followed by construction of new, mixed-use development that includes student housing, retail amenities and office space. Look to future issues of Terp for updates, or go to www.eastcampus.umd.edu. —TV

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Wealth of Experience Comes to Maryland AS A THREE-TERM COUNTY EXECUTIVE for Montgomery

County, Douglas M. Duncan spent the last 12 years wrestling with the issues faced by the largest jurisdiction in the state of Maryland. In April, he took on a new position as the vice president for administrative affairs at the University of Maryland, College Park. A former three-term mayor of Rockville, Md., Duncan filled the position vacated in January by John D. Porcari, who joined Gov. Martin O’Malley’s cabinet as Maryland Secretary of the Department of Transportation. Duncan’s new role with the university speaks to his interest in education. As county executive, he played a vital role in advancing Montgomery County’s higher education agenda, including support for more meritPHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI; EAST CAMPUS MAP BY JOSH HARLESS

based scholarships and advocacy for a statewide strategy to link community colleges with high-tech business incubators. Now Duncan is using his wealth of experience to oversee seven university departments including public safety, comptroller, business services and facilities management. “I am very excited to begin a new chapter in my service to the state and region at the University of Maryland,” says Duncan. “I plan to reach out to our diverse stakeholders, including community partners, government and business, labor and others, as we build the university into the creative and entrepreneurial center of the state.” —AK TERP SPRING

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the Source WITH A WEALTH OF RESOURCES, THE MARYLAND COOPERATIVE EXTENSION, A PROGRAM UNDER THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES, WILL HAVE YOUR GARDEN GROWING AND FLOURISHING ALL SEASON LONG.

Tune In

In Person Green Thumbs Up: The Maryland Master Gardeners Program is one of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resource’s many jewels. The program trains volunteers about safe and sustainable practices so they can become successful horticultural educators. During the 40–50 hours of basic training, volunteers learn everything from therapeutic horticulture to how to improve the quality of soil and water without the use of pesticides and fertilizer. When training’s finished, volunteers educate Maryland residents in 16 counties and Baltimore City to keep the love for healthy gardens and landscapes growing. Advanced training is also offered. The Other Green: The training cost varies. Participants are charged a fee for supplies and training materials. Contact your local Maryland Cooperative Extension staff for more information.

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Green Thumbs Up: If you can’t make it to any trainings, then why not learn some gardening tips from the comforts of your home or office? Ginny Rosenkranz, a commercial horticulture specialist, hosts “Delmarva Gardens,” a half-hour television show produced by Public Access Channel 14 in Salisbury, Md. This show may start a competition between you and your neighbors over who has the best garden. “Delmarva Gardens” covers topics ranging from butterfly gardens to effective lawn maintenance tips. Visit the show’s Web site to view past episodes. The Other Green: Viewing from your television or computer screen is free.

Phone In Green Thumbs Up: The Maryland Cooperative Extension’s Home and Garden Information Center has something for those who want help right at their fingertips. Inquisitive minds can call the center’s hotline to speak to a horticulture expert. If you’re more of an online communicator, the center’s Web site has a section where you can send in questions. The site also provides useful tips including how to diagnose what’s pestering your petunias—complete with visuals. The Other Green: Only Maryland residents can call toll-free. Some publications offered on the Web site have a charge.

Bug Off Green Thumbs Up: Know how to save your plants and flowers from a bug’s wrath (or hunger) by talking to entomologist Michael Raupp. Known for his popular “Bug of the Week” series, Raupp provides great insight into how bugs affect your gardens and landscapes. Visit his Web site to identify that strange bug in your flower garden or to find out why your azaleas turn white in the summer (hint: the culprit is a critter). The Other Green: The cost shouldn’t pester you—his advice is free.

H OT L I N E ◗ THE MARYLAND MASTER GARDENERS PROGRAM

◗ THE HOME AND GARDEN HOTLINE

Maryland residents should call 800.342.2507, non-residents, 410.531.1757, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. http://www.hgic.umd.edu

800.342.2507 http://mastergardener.umd.edu ◗ “DELMARVA GARDENS”

Saturdays at 9 a.m. on Public Access Channel 14 in Salisbury and Wicomico counties (check the PAC 14 Programming Guide for other time slots) http://extension.umd.edu/gardening/Delmarva Gardens

◗ MICHAEL RAUPP

301.405.8478 or mraupp@umd.edu www.raupplab.umd.edu

PHOTO COURTESY OF MASTER GARDENERS PROGRAM; COOPERATIVE EXTENSION PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

ask Anne Questions for Anne Turkos, university archivist for University Libraries, may be sent to terpmag@umd.edu.

Subrena Rivers ’90 and the Women’s Basketball team made it to the Final Four. In 2006, she won a World Championship

Q. In 1988,

in women’s pro football playing for the D.C. Divas. Has there ever been a Terrapin to win an NCAA

championship in one sport and then win

a championship at the pro level in another? —Rich Daniel ’85 Q. I am looking for the name of the athletic field and the start time of a baseball game played between Dartmouth and UM in College Park, April 2, 1949. Any other details of the game—a long one ending in a 10–10 tie after three-and-a-half hours of play—would be great. —Barb Krieger, Archives Specialist, Dartmouth College

A. Renaldo Nehemiah ’81 is the answer. Nehemiah, now a member of the University of Maryland Alumni Hall of Fame, won the NCAA Championship in 60-yard high hurdles (indoor, individual, 1978 and 1979) and the 110-meter Hurdles (outdoor 1979). He went on to a pro football career with the San Francisco 49ers and was a member of the team when they won the Super Bowl in 1984.

A. We have the date of the game as April 2, 1948, not 1949. An article in The Washington Post (April 3, 1948 on page 12), provided an account of the game and the box score. We believe the game started at approximately 4:00 p.m. (A spring sports schedule from 1946 states that weekday games began at 4:00 and weekend ones at 2:30). In the late 1940s, the baseball field was located next to Ritchie Coliseum. The game was called in the 10th inning due to darkness. Each team committed 10 errors. The teams combined for a total of 29 hits. Maryland used four pitchers, Dartmouth only two.

Q. Do you have the list of names of the original 19 Maryland planters and politicians that founded Maryland Agricultural College in 1856? —Bill Mitchell A. We have assembled a spread-

sheet, which I will send to you, listing all the investors in our Maryland Agricultural College stockholders’ ledger, a printed broadside recording stockholders’ names and all the individuals honored on the plaques on the Founders Gate (North Gate) to campus. Many names of old Maryland families appear on the spreadsheet: Bowie, Beall, Carroll, Duvall, Magruder and Weems. It is also interesting to note that several women appear on the list as does Samuel Sands, the father of one of our first two graduates, William B. Sands.

ILLUSTRATION BY JEANETTE J. NELSON; FOUNDERS GATE PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

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classact I’ll Take Mine with a Turtle on Top WHAT IS THE PERFECT topping for an ice cream cone-

shaped building? That was the question facing Colleen (Wudkwych) Tatano ’85 and her husband, Jim, when they decided to open a frozen custard stand near Pittsburgh. The store came complete with a bright red cherry, but Tatano thought maraschinos were best left to sundaes. She was also looking for a mascot for her shop, a character that would attract customers and get the fledgling business off the ground. And so Turtle Twist, complete with a 3-foot-tall fiberglass turtle on top, was born. A turtle seemed a natural fit given that Tatano was an active member of Delta Gamma and a “spirit girl” who helped recruit football players during Maryland’s Bobby Ross glory days. It also didn’t hurt that Jim Tatano’s family included an uncle nicknamed “Turtle.” These days, Twistee the mascot oversees carryout sales April through October. And Terrapin spirit is reflected throughout the stand, whether in the namesake turtle sundae or as green chocolate turtles placed atop each specialty sundae— and cones on request. —KM

Become an Officially "Licensed" Terrapin! TESTUDO LOVES TO TRAVEL and is looking for you to be his chauffeur. As

you make those summer vacation plans, be sure to bring him along for the ride. The Maryland Alumni Association offers you the chance to drive your pride home wherever you go with the official University of Maryland license plate, featuring the Terp or globe logos. By purchasing a license plate, you’re helping the university exceed expectations—a portion of the plate fee goes directly to the alumni association to support alumni and student programs. And you’ll be able to show off your school spirit every time you drive! “We want to spread the Terrapin spirit and put the Terrapin name on the roadways,” says Sonia Huntley ’92, director of membership and marketing. “We think this is a great way to get alumni involved and

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show their school spirit just in time for those summer road trips.” The plate is available in Maryland and Virginia and may be displayed on passenger cars, multi-purpose vehicles such as SUVs, motor homes and trucks up to 10,000 lbs. gross vehicle weight. For more information on the license plate or to receive an application, call the alumni association at 301.405.4678 or 800.336.8627. Or visit www.alumni.umd.edu. —MB

TURTLE TWIST SUNDAE COURTESY OF COLLEEN TATANO; TURTLE TWIST PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE OBSERVER-REPORTER; TESTUDO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

alumniprofile

Her Guiding Light

Alumna Mei Xu is both a savvy business leader and a cultural ambassador.

travel 2007–08 French Riviera October 25–November 5 Start in Provence, known for its verdant countryside, Roman ruins and breathtaking sunsets. Explore the sparkling seaside vistas and fashionable promenades of the French Riviera. Bavarian Markets Discovery November 29–December 7 Along the Romantic Road to Nürnberg, Christkindlmarkt awaits. Visit medieval Nordlingen. Enjoy exclusive access to

“I WAS ALWAYS the one that pushed the

the private

envelope,” says Mei Xu M.A. ’92, cofounder of Pacific Trade International Inc.—a company recognized twice by Inc. magazine as one of America’s fastest growing companies. The risk taker grew up in China during a time when her newly fashionable pedal pushers drew stares from her principal; they showed too much skin. It was also a time when the government saw college students as troublemakers. After the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989, Xu and other college graduates of that year were sent to work in the countryside and factories for their “re-education.” Having studied to become a diplomat since she was 12, Xu became bored with her new job of tracking mineral inventories for export day in and day out. So she resigned to pursue a higher education in the United States, a country she’d always been interested in. Now 15 years after receiving her master’s in journalism—a natural extension from her English degree—Xu is considered one of the fashion leaders in the candle and home fragrance industries. Noticing a need for candles that marry decorative and fragrant aspects of the candle, Xu and her husband, David Wang,

markets in Thurn und Taxis Castle, in Regensburg. Visit the Marienplatz Christmas Markets, and taste glühwein, a traditional holiday treat. Australia Discovery Early 2008 Journey to Australia and find out why this unspoiled country has captivated millions around the world. Spend time in Sydney, Ayers Rock and Cairns, gateway to the tropical wonders of North Queensland.

For more details on these and other tours featured in the Travel 2007–08 program, visit www.alumni.umd.edu or call 301.405.7870/800.336.8627.

TRAVEL IMAGES COURTESY OF ALUMNI HOLIDAYS INTERNATIONAL; XU PORTRAIT AND BEDROOM IMAGES COURTESY OF PACIFIC TRADE INTERNATIONAL, INC.

started Pacific Trade International. Xu began creating candles in their Annapolis, Md., basement. From just a stove, soup cans and paper towel rolls, their first brand, Chesapeake Bay Candle, was born. Today their candles are sold at major retailers such as Target, Kohl’s and IKEA. The company’s second brand, Blissliving Home, sells globally inspired and sourced textiles, which are available in 25 retail stores in China and through e-commerce in the United States. Xu also has factories and design centers in China and Vietnam. Besides being a business leader, Xu is also a cultural ambassador. Wanting to give back to children the opportunities she was afforded, Xu created the Mei Xu Cultural Exchange Foundation. The foundation promotes English- and Chinese-language education for American and Chinese children by encouraging living and learning summer camps in the United States and China. “To me, learning a language is not just the language and linguistic aspect. It’s really acquiring a new logic … so you become more open-minded … you accept other’s logic and it makes you such a better partner in any relationship,” Xu says. —MW TERP SPRING

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classact Staging an Alumni Association Production

3000

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND ALUMNI ASSOCIATION hosted its Eighth Annual Alumni Awards Gala on April 14. Just what goes in to this “Cecil B. DeMille production” as one regular attendee calls it? We took account. And the numbers are …

tasty hors d’oeuvres: Attendees whet their appetites with spicy ahi tuna, miniature sweet potato pies and more

Alumni Association Award Recipients

430 whimsical favors: guests received turtle ink stamps

co-masters of ceremonies: Danita D. Nias ’81, executive director of alumni relations; Marvin Rabovsky ’81, president of the Maryland Alumni Association Board of Governors

45 floral arrangements: tulips and orchids filled Dorothy D. And Nicholas Orem Alumni Hall

distinguished award presenters: Dan Mote, university president; Michaé Holloman ’03 Miss Maryland-USA 2007; Alexander Kouts ’07, Robert H. Smith School student and president, American Marketing Association; Ranjit Dhindsa ’91, ’92, attorney, Spriggs & Hollingsworth

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President’s Distinguished Alumnus Award Michael D. Griffin ’77 Ph.D. nasa chief adminsitrator International Alumnus Award Sudhitham Chirathivat ’71 global retailer Outstanding Young Alumnus Award Michael R. Kerr ’99 innovative educator Tyser Gottwals Award Marilyn Berman Pollans M.A. ’73, Ph.D. ’79 role model for women in engineering

President Mote presents the Tyser

Gottwals Award to Marilyn Berman proud awardees: Pollans M.A. ’73, Ph.D. ’79. This year’s honorees span several generations and represent numerous professions. They are educators and entrepreneurs, scientists and artists, leaders and trailblazers. Their collective efforts have improved lives, generated new technologies, enhanced educational opportunities and encouraged others to pursue their dreams—whether it’s earning a college degree or traveling to the moon.

Terp entertainers: Jazz musicians Gene D’Andrea ’06, Brad Linde ’07 and Kevin Pace ’05 set a festive atmosphere

✪

loyal sponsors: Donald Blyler Offset and J & J Promotions supported print materials and favors

Behavioral & Social Sciences Alfonsa N. Gilley ’75 retired major general, u.s. army Robert H. Smith School of Business William A. Longbrake Ph.D. ’76 long-serving financier Chemical & Life Sciences Willie E. May Ph.D. ’77 national chemist Computer, Mathematical & Physical Sciences Phillip H. Horvitz ’75 valued computer scientist College of Education Richard A. Duschl ’74, Ph.D. ’83 recognized science educator

Humanitarian Award Jack Kay ’47 far-reaching philanthropist

A. James Clark School of Engineering Emilio A. Fernandez ’69 engineering entrepreneur

Honorary Membership Linda R. Gooden inspiring executive

Health & Human Performance Patricia Mail Ph.D.’96 national health advocate

College/School Distinguished Alumnus Awards

College of Information Studies Robyn Frank ’67, M.L.S. ’72 spreading knowledge

Agriculture & Natural Resources J. Landon Reeve IV ’63 honored landscaper Architecture, Planning & Preservation John P. Stainback ’72, ’73 community builder Arts & Humanities Harlan F. Weisman ’75 leading medical researcher

Philip Merrill College of Journalism Emory Kristof ’64 distinguished photo journalist School of Public Policy Jody Breckenridge M.P.P. ’91 decorated coast guard officer Undergraduate Studies Joseph R. Castiglione ’79 championing athletics

For more information on this year’s awardees and to nominate a fellow Terp for an alumni award, go to alumni.umd.edu/programs/annual awards.

PHOTOS BY MIKE MORGAN

alumniprofile Terps–Start Your Engines! ENGINES ROAR. Cars race around the track at speeds of

more than 100 mph.The checkered flag comes down. Most may think that racecar driving is all up to the driver, but not according to Craig Hampson ’92, race engineer for Newman/Haas racing. Once students behind the university’s solar-powered car, Craig Hampson ’92 Now in his 13th season working for the ChampCar (above) and Roy McCauley (below, right) World Series team, owned in part by actor Paul Newman, are now on the national racing circuit. Hampson is the engineer for the McDonald’s car driven by Sebastien Bourdias.Together, the duo has combined for 23 wins and three consecutive championships. In the days leading up to the wave of the green flag, Hampson lives in a world of car dynamics, machine design and tire behavior—all things that he learned as an engineering student at Maryland. No stranger to car competitions, while attending the university, Hampson spent his time working on the solar-powered car, the Pride of Maryland.The team blended bicycle and airplane technologies to create a lightweight, aerodynamic, non-polluting vehicle.Through their hard work, they went on to place third in the National Competition and traveled to Australia, where they placed seventh in the World Competition in 1991. “What engineer wouldn’t be excited by 750 horsepower—whistling by at 190 miles per hour,” says Hampson. “We do a lot of engineering and science … but this is a sport, and we’re in it to win races.Through my job I get near immediate validation for whether myself and the team have done a good job.” Hampson’s fellow classmate, Roy McCauley ’92, also knows something about winning races. He is the Miller Lite Dodge Racing Crew Chief of the No. 2 Lite Dodge driven by Kurt Busch. McCauley joined Penske Racing South in 2002 as chief engineer and made his crew chief debut in 2004. Being a NASCAR crew chief is “a lifestyle, not a job.The best part is having the opportunity of knowing you can be better than everyone else on any given Sunday,” says McCauley, who has eight wins as a crew chief. Both Hampson and McCauley participated in the Society of Automotive Engineers while students.Through that program they developed a friendship and learned the skills necessary to be successful in their industry.Today they are proud Terps, speeding by the competition. —MB

BYalumni In Edith Wharton and the Visual Arts (University of Alabama Press), Emily J. Orlando ’96 explores author Edith Wharton’s concern with women’s limited artistic expression during the 19th century. Orlando studies Wharton’s fiction, which reflects the subjugation and objectification of women in both arts and letters, and reveals how the author reworked classic poetry and prose. Jeffery S. King ’68 presents the chronology of an American nightmare in The Rise and Fall of the Dillinger Gang (Cumberland Press). While there have been many biographies on Dillinger himself, this one traces the lives of his nine major gang members. Their violent crimes, including robbery and murder, terrorized the Midwest during the early 1930s. Alex MacLennan’s ’93 novel The Zookeeper (Alyson Books) explores the private life of Sam Metcalfe, a zookeeper working in Washington, D.C. Like the animals he cares for, Sam longs for freedom but finds comfort in his current environment at the same time. A dutiful employee, son and brother, Sam is forced to face the compromises he has made throughout his life when he begins dating Dean.

TERP SPRING RACING PHOTOS COURTESY OF CRAIG HAMPSON AND ROY MCCAULEY; ALUMNI BOOKS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

2007

m-file If They Build It, the Kids Need to Test It

NEWSdesk UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND FACULTY ARE THE SOURCE NEWS MEDIA TURN TO FOR EXPERTISE—FROM POLITICS AND PUBLIC POLICY TO SOCIETY AND CULTURE TO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. “It speaks to a post-feminism dilemma that a lot of women have—what is the nature of your identity?” TREVOR PARRY-GILES, COMMUNICATION, ON REFER-

“It’s a goodwill statement, and you could say, in the broadest sense, it is part of the public diplomacy.”

ENCES FOR SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (RANGING FROM

JANE LOEFFLER, ARCHITECTURE, ON

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON TO HILLARY CLINTON TO

THE SOFIA EMBASSY BECOMING

JUST HILLARY), OTTAWA CITIZEN, MARCH 1

THE FIRST U.S. EMBASSY TO BE DESIGNATED A GREEN BUILDING BY

“It is still our legacy in that you and I and everyone else have the chemical residues from DDT and other pesticides in our bodies.They are still out there in the food chain.And in some parts of the world, DDT is still being used and those crops are imported to the United States.”

THE UNITED STATE GREEN BUILDING

DAVID INOUYE, BIOLOGY PROFESSOR, ON SILENT

NOTING THAT THERE IS LITTLE DIFFERENCE IN

SPRING, WRITTEN IN 1962 BY RACHEL CARSON, A FOR-

CONTAMINATION BETWEEN ORGANICALLY GROWN PRO-

MER MARYLAND LECTURER, BALTIMORE SUN, MARCH 4

DUCE AND CONVENTIONAL PRODUCE, CBS NEWS, APRIL 7

COUNCIL, WASHINGTON POST, MARCH 20

“The idea that somehow eating organic foods is going to make you healthier, I think is just wishful thinking.” MARK KANTOR, NUTRITION AND FOOD SCIENCE,

“It’s like the human genome project. DNA has all the information coded in it, which was mapped for the genome project. What we’ve done is to map the structure of E8, showing all its different manifestations. If people say we’re mad, in some sense they’re right.” JEFFREY ADAMS, MATHEMATICS, WHO WAS PART OF A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS WHO CRACKED THE LIE GROUP E8, THE TIMES OF LONDON (THE AUSTRALIAN), MARCH 20

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LAST DECEMBER, the College Park KidsTeam at

the International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL – www.childrenslibrary.org), a nonprofit online children’s library born at Maryland, began a new project. The six children, ranging from 7 to 11 years of age, began testing how the ICDL's digital books function on “XO,” a revolutionary new laptop (shown at left and above) created specifically for kids. The project is part of the library’s new partnership with One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), a nonprofit organization that provides laptops to children in developing countries. “Our priority is to ensure that all of ICDL’s books can be displayed in the optimum manner on their laptops,” says the digital library’s executive director Tim Browne. The XO is designed for children who live in countries with little technological infrastructure. To that end, the small and bright limegreen machine is energy efficient and inexpensive (about $130 per laptop). But will it pass the kid test? The College Park Kids Team has pored over the XO, exploring its interface and testing how the library’s books work on the machine. According to the library’s founder, Professor Allison Druin, the children gave the XO a thumbs-up—with some reservations. “They loved reading books on the laptop. Kids usually read while curled up on the couch or the floor, and they could do that with the laptop. But they also discovered some kinks,” she says, noting that the laptop is a bit hard to open. The children’s feedback is given to One Laptop Per Child, which is currently working on evolving versions of the XO. It will be months before the digital library and OLPC decide what books to install on the laptop. In the meantime, however, the partnership offers a rich new showcase for the library’s digital collections. “One Laptop Per Child needs content that is children-centric and educationally rich,” Browne says. “And there is nobody that can match ICDL in those areas.” —AK PHOTO COURTESY OF ICDL

Seeing with Computers CAMERAS CAN LOOK, but it usually takes a human to see. Yet with millions of video cameras monitoring airports, banks, parking lots and myriad other places, people do not have enough time to watch all the action caught on tape. Researchers in the university’s Institute for Advanced Computer Studies reason it would be handy if machines could interpret videos and automatically raise alarms in dangerous situations. Rama Chellappa, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Larry Davis, professor and chair of computer science, are longtime collaborators who work on the problem of computer vision. Among the problems Chellappa and Davis address is how to analyze human movement so as to track people through large settings, such as airports, that are monitored by many cameras. The researchers rely on cues like appearance and walking style, or “human gait DNA” as Chellappa says. By measuring stride, body angle and the way different people swing their arms and legs, the researchers want to tag individuals as they make their way through large spaces. The researchers also want to detect when a person is carrying something and then drops it off. Even if cameras don’t capture the moment when someone puts down a large parcel or a backpack, computer algorithms should be able to deduce the event. “We superimpose images on top of each other and detect differences,” says Davis. But things look different depending on the light and the angle of a camera, and a person’s appearance changes all the time in subtle ways. The trick is to figure out what differences are revealing and what can safely be ignored. A fairly simple computer program could alert authorities when a fuel tanker fails to show up next to an airplane that needs to be refueled. More sophisticated analysis of human movement could detect suspicious behavior in a bank, such as two people moving together unusually closely toward a bank vault. Besides analyzing videos overlooking large public spaces, Researchers Rama Chellappa (left) and Davis and Chellappa are working Larry Davis collaborate on research to interpret videos recorded at involving pattern recognition in video. close range. For example, they are developing computer programs to recognize faces, allowing only approved personnel inside secured spaces. Beyond the many applications in surveillance, computer vision can be applied to industrial inspection, highway safety, medicine and to create more intuitive ways of interacting with desktop computers. Whether a camera is in a satellite orbiting the earth or inches away from someone’s face, pattern recognition in video promises to be a valuable tool. —KJ

PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

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2007

m-file Evolutionary Discovery Gene for Milk Tolerance in East Africans

Sarah Tishkoff, below right, works with her team to collect genetic samples from remote regions of Africa.

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2007

EVOLUTIONARY CHANGES can take tens of thousands of years to manifest. When a university geneticist discovered a mutation in humans that took what colleagues call “the blink of an eye” to develop, she knew she’d found something significant. Sarah Tishkoff, associate professor in the Department of Biology, and an international team of researchers found that East Africans possess a gene that is associated with the ability to digest milk as adults. Most humans can’t properly digest lactose, the sugar found in milk, beyond age four. The discovery is remarkable because it is evidence of how genes and culture coevolve. The mutation occurred at a time, thousands of years ago, when Africans began raising cattle, and is different from the gene present in Europeans. Some populations may have adapted to meet nutritional needs during droughts or periods of scarce food. The findings “reveal one of the most striking genetic footprints of natural selec-

tion ever observed in humans,” Tishkoff says, adding that it would’ve been completely missed if they hadn’t studied these populations. African populations have not been as well studied at the genetic level, she says, because logistics, infrastructure and the history of colonialism have been difficult to overcome. Interested in humankind’s African origins for more than 10 years, Tishkoff and her students found the mutation after resequencing genetic samples from a subset of 500 of the more than 6,000 samples she’s collected from almost 100 tribes. Her long-standing interest in the region, though, goes beyond looking for lactose tolerance. Tishkoff and her team are researching other adaptive associations in genes that could determine height, taste perception, disease resistance or predisposition, strength and color vision. “This has relevance for biomedical research,” says Tishkoff, adding that Africa provides a rich resource of information. “Even from one geographical region, African populations are genetically very divergent due to their large population sizes, complex history of migration and population divergence.” —MAB

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SARAH TISHKOFF; ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN PAYNE

Chitosan: Providing a Sense of Safety

Using testing probes (shown above) that can manipulate micro and nanoscale devices, Reza Ghodssi (second from left) and his research team are developing optical sensing technologies that may soon lead to new security and safety innovations for airports, hospitals and other public locations.

A CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE derived from the shells of crabs and other crustaceans is a key component in a microscale sensor system being developed by researchers in the A. James Clark School of Engineering. Working with scientists from the nearby University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, the Clark School engineers are using a biological compound known as chitosan to coat components of the sensor system. This microscale “system on a chip” will eventually be able to detect explosives, bioagents, chemicals and other dangerous materials in the air and water. “Chitosan is interesting because it can interact with a wide variety of substances, and works well in complex, sensitive devices,” says lead investigator Reza Ghodssi, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering with a joint appointment in the

PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI; YU PHOTO BY EDWIN REMSBERG

Institute for Systems Research. The sensors employ microscopic vibrating cantilevers—swinging mechanical arms that can be as small as 600 nanometers in width. (There are more than 25 million nanometers to an inch.) Smaller objects can detect smaller changes, which in turn makes for more sensitive tools, Ghodssi explains. When the cantilevers are coated with chitosan, new optical measurement technology developed by Ghodssi can determine very minute changes in how the cantilevers vibrate. The device is so sensitive that if a single targeted bacterium fell on one of the sensor’s cantilevers, the optical technology would detect a change in the cantilever’s vibration, alerting authorities to a possible danger. To view the system, go to www.ece.umd.edu/MEMS/ —TV

Chitosan for Better Health LIANGLI LUCY YU, associate professor

in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, also uses chitosan in her innovative work with nutraceuticals—natural ingredients used as food additives to prevent disease. Yu has developed a research program in nutraceutical and nutritional chemistry that she believes will have a positive impact on human health. In recognition of this research, she received the 2006 Young Scientist Award from the American Chemical Society’s Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division. “We have examined and compared commercial chitosan samples with different characteristics for their capacity to bind fat, cholesterol and bile acids,” Yu says. “These properties are important in body weight control and reducing blood cholesterol.” Yu is also collaborating with colleagues at China Pharmaceutical University to develop chitosan-derived nanomaterials for the controlled release and targeted delivery of bioactives, including nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. —TV

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2007

play-by-play SCOREcard

Back-to-Back Champion: On and Off the Field

Over the years Maryland has seen many accomplishments in women’s athletics. 1929: Virginia Peasley becomes the first University of Maryland Women’s Athletics Director (for the Women’s Athletic Association created in 1924). 1981, 1986 and 1987: Sue Tyler is the only Division 1A coach to win NCAA championships in two different sports (field hockey and lacrosse). 1994: Deborah A. Yow

Field hockey coach, Missy Meharg (inset), has led the Terps to back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006.

MISSY MEHARG M.A. ’90 has a lot to be proud

of—back-to-back national championships, four NCAA titles and six-time National Coach of the Year. Entering her 20th season guiding one of the top field hockey teams in the country, she proves to be a great coach on and off the field. No stranger to competition, Meharg’s playing career was almost as illustrious as her coaching career. She was an All-American forward at the University of Delaware, where she not only excelled at field hockey, but was also a lacrosse player. She led her field hockey team in goals, assists and points, and was named MVP of the East Coast Conference in 1983. Meharg was a seven-year player with the U.S. National Team, a member of the 1986 World Cup team and an alternate to the 1987 Pan American and 1988 Olympic teams. Being a “go to” star as an athlete helped her to develop her winning coaching style. Her experiences gave her compassion for her players and the realization about what you can and cannot control. “I know, as do all the Terp hockey players, that controlling your attitude (enthusiasm) and work rate are constants,” Meharg 16

TERP SPRING

2007

explains. And it’s those attitudes that helped the field hockey team earn the ACC Sportsmanship Award last season. More commonly given to the team with the lowest winning percentage for a season, the team, with its back-to-back championships, was awarded the honor based on the players’ good character and sportsmanship displayed throughout the season. As remarkable as Meharg’s stats are, her offthe-field contributions are just as impressive. She believes that staying in the present and taking the time to care for each team player and staff member has been her greatest achievement throughout her career at Maryland. “I try not to look back or forward too much so I don’t miss what’s right in front of me … listening, mentoring and coaching 24 women between the ages of 17 to 22 is serious full-time work.” The relationships she has developed over the years with her players is built on respect, trust and pride in themselves as well as in Maryland. Meharg is confident in saying, “The women would say that I sincerely care about them because we are serious about developing the complete champion on and off the field.” —MB

becomes the first female athletic director at Maryland and in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). 2000: Sports Illustrated for Women ranks Maryland as the No. 10 school for women’s athletics (ranking discontinued after 2000). 2004: Cindy Timchal, former Maryland coach, is the first woman in collegiate women's lacrosse history to compile 300 victories. March 2006: Brenda Frese leads the women’s basketball team to the NCAA National Championship on her first trip to the final four. She is also the first Maryland women’s basketball coach to win 34 games and a national championship.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ATHLETIC MEDIA SERVICES; DEBBIE YOW BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

spotlight A Noteworthy Occasion TECHNICAL MASTERY, artistic presence, competitive drive, winners and losers. It’s a once-in four-year event. No, it’s not the Olympics—that’s a year away. Come this July, 30 young competitors (age 18 to 33) from around the world will vie for a $25,000 First Place prize in the William Kapell International Piano Competition at the University of Maryland. Santiago Rodriguez, 1975, after winning Professor of Music Santiago Rodriguez the Kapell.l knows firsthand the pressures and glory of competition.The Cuban-born pianist earned First Prize at the Kapell Competition in 1975, followed by the Silver Medal at the Van Cliburn International Competition in 1981, which propelled him into an international career with such leading orchestras as the Chicago Symphony, the London Symphony and the Tokyo Symphony. “Unlike other art forms, the concert pianist is the medium through which the composer speaks to the audience,” says Rodriguez, who is considered one of the foremost interpreters of Sergei Rachmaninov. Currently in the midst of recording the entire catalog of Rachmaninov’s solo piano compositions, he realizes how much his understanding and interpretation of the music has changed over time.“A true career is something that you look back on, not forward,” says Rodriguez. Now he is heading the seven-member jury that will determine the fate—and careers—of top winners in the Kapell. Rodriguez is particularly proud of one change that he implemented in this year’s judging. Jury members will have no advance information about the 30 contestants. Each will be judged solely on the performance given on the stage—a move Rodriguez says the contestants like because it eliminates bias. It doesn’t alleviate the nerve-wracking schedule. All 30 contestants will have the opportunity to play 20 minutes from the solo program they submitted with their application. Of these, nine will be invited to perform an hour’s program that includes a combination of solo and piano portions of concerto works of the jury’s choice. They will also perform a chamber work for trio with the resident ensemble. For the final round, three competitors will perform a concerto, selected by the jury, to be played with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Says Rodriguez,“Every member of the jury knows what it feels like to be on the other side.” Let’s hope that is some comfort to the contestants. —DB

Kapell’s Legacy Preserved William Kapell is widely regarded as the first great American pianist. Unfortunately, his career ended tragically. Returning from a tour of Australia, Kapell died in a plane crash in Los Angeles on Oct. 29, 1953. He was 31 years old. Most of his recordings live on in the International Piano Archives at Maryland (IPAM), home to 97 percent of all commercial classical piano recordings. With more than 15,000 scores of piano music; documentation of the lives and careers of many eminent concert pianists; an audio preservation studio; and two specialized pianos capable of playing back live performances, it is an unmatched treasure-trove for piano aficionados. IPAM’s curator, Donald Manildi, is also a member of the jury judging this year’s competition. Santiago Rodriguez, professor of music, describes his colleague as possessing encyclopedic knowledge of composers and the artists who have performed their works. —DB For a complete listing of events, please see page 18 or visit www.claricesmithcenter.org/kapell.

School of Music colleagues Santiago Rodriguez (left) and Donald Manildi pose in IPAM.

PORTRAIT COURTESY OF SANTIAGO RODRIGUEZ; RODRIGUEZ AND MANILDI PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

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2007

JULY 10–21 William Kapell International Piano Competition and Festival Featuring Competition and Insight Events, Evening Concerts

Campus, Lot 1 (Near Tawes Theatre) Co-sponsored with the City of College Park Avoid the crowds in the District and Baltimore’s Harbor and head to College Park for a 4th of July celebration, featuring a spectacular fireworks display. Enjoy live music before the show and limited refreshments on site.

JULY 4 Independence Day Celebration

Do you remember Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to the University of Maryland? Were you among the fans attending the October 19, 1957, game at Byrd Stadium where she watched the Terps defeat the Tar Heels? Share your memories by contacting Anne Turkos, university archivist, at 301.405.9060 or aturkos@umd.edu.

All Hail the Queen!

Join the university at a special reception commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Queen’s Game and honoring all members of the 1957 Terrapins football team. Guests will preview a special documentary feature on the game and all of the festivities surrounding Queen Elizabeth II’s legendary visit to the university 50 years ago. Guests will also have the opportunity to view an exhibit about this landmark event in our campus’ history. Look forward to more on the history of the Queen’s Game in the fall 2007 issue of Terp magazine.

5:30–8:30 P.M.

Hornbake Library

OCTOBER 4 50th Anniversary of the Queen’s Game

Follow the sounds of music to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center for a renowned festival for piano experts and enthusiasts. Save the date for gold and ruby reunions.And get ready for a fall filled with football action and a touch of British royalty.

L AL TB O FO

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7 0 ʼ

Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center The Maryland Alumni Association welcomes home Golden and Ruby Terps—alumni of the Classes of 1957 and 1967—for Homecoming and Reunion Weekend. Reconnect with old friends, rediscover the expanding campus, create new memories at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center and cheer the Terrapins on to victory against Virginia. Whether you’re celebrating your 40th or 50th reunion, we hope you return home to Maryland in 2007.

OCTOBER 19–20 Reunions for Classes of 1957, 1967

QUEEN’S GAME EVENT 301.314.5674

(Ticket Office), www.claricesmithcenter.umd.edu

CLARICE SMITH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 301.405.ARTS

ATHLETICS 301.314.7070 (Ticket Office), http://umterps.cstv.com

www.alumni.umd.edu

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 301.405.4678 or 800.336.8627,

H OT L I N E

Help us plan this exciting weekend! To join a Reunion Committee, contact Mary Hormozdi, director of the Maryland Fund for Excellence, at 301.405.8017 or maryhmd@umd.edu.

Call for Leaders

KAPELL COMPETITION PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CLARRICE SMITH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER; REUNION PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MARYLAND ALUMNI ASSOCIATION; ILLUSTRATIONS BY JEANETTE J. NELSON

Chevy Chase Field at Byrd Stadium September kicks off six home games for the 2007 football season as Maryland welcomes ACC rivals Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia and Boston College as well as non-conference foes West Virginia and Villanova. See all the action live from Byrd. Order your season tickets today!

SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER Home Football Games

on to the solo and chamber rounds. From there, three finalists will perform with the Baltimore Symphony JULY 10–12 Preliminary Rounds Orchestra in the culminatJULY 12 Start of Evening Concerts and Insight Series ing event of the festival, JULY 13–15 Semi-final Solo Round the concerto round on July JULY 17–18 Semi-final Chamber Round 21. The festival includes JULY 21 Final Concerto Round five evening concerts, beginning on July 12, featuring masters of classical, contemporary, iconoclastic and jazz piano. Also starting on July 12 are a series of Insight events, where attendees can participate in lively conversations with performers, composers ADM IT O and other experts. NE E N O IT M D A AD

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center Ticket Prices Vary (package deal available) The William Kapell International Piano Competition and Festival, which occurs every four years, celebrates the piano, pianists and piano music in its many forms, and honors American pianist William Kapell (1922–1953). The centerpiece of the celebration is the International Competition. Thirty pianists from around the world will convene at the Performing Arts Center and compete through preliminary rounds, and nine semi-finalists will move

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FOO TBA FOOTBALLL FO OT BA LL

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story by Tom Ventsias

maryland researchers promote a better dialogue among chesapeake bay stakeholders

HE EARLIEST INHABITANTS of Maryland had

a name for the great body of water that bisects the state: Chesepioc, Native American for “Great Shellfish Bay.” This estuary, the Chesapeake Bay, originates from the freshwater Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, reaching southward more than 200 miles before joining the salty brine of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia. Home to dozens of species of marine life that include striped bass, bluefish, eels, mollusks and oysters, the bay is also a prime habitat for the region’s most recognized shellfish, the

PHOTO COURTESY OF NATHAN BENN/CORBIS

Chesapeake Bay blue crab.

The blue crab has long provided a food source and a livelihood for Marylanders. Whether it is a third-generation waterman harvesting tens of thousands of the crustaceans each year, or the casual “chicken-necker” snagging a dozen “Jimmies” off a dock on a warm summer day, the catching and eating of blue crabs is a deep-rooted Maryland tradition. But maintaining this tradition—or guaranteeing the sustainability of the Chesapeake Bay—is a complex issue.“The biggest problem we’re facing is the impact of excessive nutrient runoff into the bay, creating conditions for low oxygen levels,” says Doug Lipton, associate professor of agricultural and resource economics and coordinator of the Maryland Sea Grant Extension Program. Low water clarity in the bay affects submerged sea grasses, which in turn alters the habitat of the blue crab.“It disrupts the bay’s functioning as a healthy ecosystem,” Lipton says. Add to this equation the demise of the bay’s native oyster—a natural filter for the bay—as well as chemical runoff from industry, sediment from new homes construction and the population growth in the bay’s watershed, and you have the recipe for some serious problems.

TERP SPRING 2007

Anthropologist Michael Paolisso (right) talks with waterman John van Alstine at the beginning of this year’s crab season in early April.

a murky situation The past decade has been particularly precarious for the blue crab population.“We went from several good years in the mid-1990s, when crabs were doing well, to several years where there was a low abundance, yet we were still harvesting a high percentage of the population,” Lipton says.“That led to a fear that we were putting that resource in danger—we were harvesting at a rate that we really hadn’t harvested at before.” By the summer of 2000, the situation had reached a critical point, and the state stepped in with new regulations that included increasing the size of a legal crab catch by one-quarter of an inch. Soon thereafter, Lipton was asked by state regulators to look at the costs versus benefits of the new regulations being implemented. “We had already been collecting information for stock assessments of the blue crab,” says Lipton.“But this time, we looked in much greater detail at the human impact of the regulations—how these new rules were going to affect the watermen and seafood processors.” The motivation for this expanded assessment came from the top down. John Griffin, recently appointed as secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, held the same position under former governor Parris Glendening. Griffin, along with Doug Lipton, attended a meeting with watermen in fall of 2000, where the DNR secretary proposed doing things differently.“I told them that I was willing to temporarily freeze any new regulations on blue crab resources, if we would instead invest this time in looking at a new way of doing business,” Griffin recalls.This “new way” meant that watermen, scientists and resource managers would try and work together to better manage the blue crab’s fragile ecosystem.

TERP SPRING 2007

“we all work with crabs …” In 2003, a University of Maryland social scientist helped to spearhead a Maryland Sea Grant-sponsored collaborative learning project. “We recognized that although there were strong disagreements among blue crab stakeholders concerning some of the science and regulations, there were also some deep-rooted cultural beliefs that everyone did agree upon—and those issues were not being discussed,” explains Michael Paolisso, associate professor of anthropology. What the watermen, scientists and regulators shared at a deeper, cognitive level, Paolisso says, were beliefs and values about the importance of saving the crab, and why. Paolisso wanted to bring these groups together, and then use anthropological approaches to “dredge up” these implicit, cognitive models about the blue crab fishery and the blue crab population. He began organizing a series of workshops and workplace exchanges—marine scientists would go out on the workboats with the watermen, and watermen would go to the offices or laboratories of the scientists.“They just got to know each other better,” Paolisso says. At the first in a series of workshops held from Annapolis to the lower Eastern Shore,“they locked horns on some crab pot regulations,” Paolisso says.The second meeting went better, and by the third meeting, they had stopped talking about stock assessments or specific crab regulations and started talking in earnest to each other on the topic of “work.” “We were able to identify that everyone here works on crabs— they make their living based on crabs. Some manage them, some study them, and some harvest them, but we all work with crabs,” Paolisso says.“We found common ground, and then worked back up to the points where there was disagreement.”

PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

In addition to Maryland’s blue crab fisheries, resource economist Doug Lipton is also taking a close look at the state’s oyster industry.

continuing the conversation

shifting tides, shifting values

This new paradigm of better communication has carried over to today. Doug Lipton was recently asked to give a presentation before the Chesapeake Bay Commission concerning the bay’s faltering oyster industry. “Oyster restoration and the introduction of a nonnative species of oyster into the bay could be one of the most important decisions we make about the Chesapeake Bay for the next 20 years,” Lipton says. Where the University of Maryland has made an impact, Lipton believes, is that the policymakers are now including the human dimension into their discussions from the get-go.“We are showing them the systematic ways we are exploring these cultural issues— using sound scientific principles.That is what has changed in the regulatory process, and it is significant.” Much of Lipton’s recent research on Maryland’s oyster industry is in trying to determine exactly what the market is today.With the majority of oysters consumed in Maryland being shipped in from out of state, Lipton says the question that needs to be asked is: are we doing oyster restoration for economic reasons for the oyster industry, or are we doing it for ecological reasons? “In just looking at the numbers, economically, it might not be that great a loss,” for Maryland’s oyster industry to fade away and disappear, Lipton says. But if you look at the other aspects—how it impacts the watermen and their families, or how other Marylanders who are non-fishermen value that part of our cultural heritage, then it is quite a significant loss, he says.

But even that mindset is changing, says Michael Paolisso.The people moving into the state now may not really connect to the bay on the same level as people who grew up here, he says.“They are more urban based, more educated—they tend to practice a form of environmentalism that does not easily accommodate the harvesting of natural resources.” Marylanders raised around the bay still remember what it was like to go down to a crab shanty and get their crabs, Paolisso says.Today, people can order them online and they could be shipped in from out of state overnight.And most locals don’t realize that the “Marylandstyle” crab cake they order in a restaurant is most likely made from pasteurized crabmeat imported from Asia or South America. “I think we are privileged and fortunate to have a blue crab fishery that is still about small boats and individual families going out and harvesting,” Paolisso says.“Culturally, that enriches our area.” Paolisso says it is also important to recognize that watermen have a different way of understanding nature.“They have an intense experiential knowledge on the life cycle of the blue crab or other species in the bay, and that is valuable to scientists and the general public.” Paolisso likes to share this anecdote:As he sat one day with a close friend who is a waterman, fishing at sunset in the marshes surrounding Deal Island on the Eastern Shore, his friend turned and said,“Mike, you look at all of this and you see nature in scientific terms… for me, I can’t break it down for you that way, but I can tell you this is everything I know.” TERP

TERP SPRING 2007

Global Warming Ahead

The Earth’s climate is changing, and humans are behind it. So what are we doing about it? by Karin Jegalian

After years of extreme weather headlines and alarming scientific findings, climate change is the talk of the developed world, even in the petroleum-hungry United States, where about five percent of the world’s population produces about a quarter of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions. “Many scientists have been frustrated about the public perception that there is a debate” about global warming, says Steve Fetter, dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. Recent reports from the National Academies of Science and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change unequivocally state that the Earth is warming and that human production of greenhouse gases—primarily carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels—is a large reason why. “It’s frustrating that it has taken so long for this to become a generally accepted fact,” says Fetter. “But I think there is now a consensus that this is a serious problem.”

Collaborative Research Is Key The chair of the National Academies of Science panel on climate change is Antonio Busalacchi, professor and director of the university’s Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, or ESSIC. “My role and responsibility is to provide objective information on the science,” he says. ESSIC was created to foster collaboration among earth scientists. The center spans three departments from two colleges and includes faculty with joint appointments in NASA-Goddard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, both of which have facilities close to the university. The goal of ESSIC researchers is to understand how the physical systems of the Earth— involving the land, water and atmosphere—interact and how these systems in turn interact with living things. Busalacchi spent 18 years as a researcher in NASA before joining ESSIC, and one of his goals has been to create stronger partnerships between the university and federal agencies. “The university can draw on NASA and NOAA’s

DIORAMA AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY MIRA AZARM

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Acting Locally When the state of Maryland was considering joining a regional compact designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions, it knew where to turn for some perspective. The University of Maryland’s Center for Integrative Environmental Research, or CIER, had just been established last year, when the state commissioned a study to assess the economic and environmental impact of joining other Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states in an agreement to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide. Matthias Ruth, the director of CIER and Roy F. Westin Chair in natural economics, points out that university researchers working on environmental issues are spread across dozens of colleges, departments and research centers. CIER was founded to connect these researchers and to serve as a point of contact with the outside world. “Our hope for CIER is to add value in every corner of the campus where environmental research takes place, and to add value to policy making from the local and state to the national and international level,” Ruth says. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative that Maryland now plans to join gives each member state an annual cap on carbon dioxide emissions and allows some trading of emission allowances. CIER assembled a team to model the ripple effects of joining. A study released in early February 2007 concluded that joining the initiative should cut the state’s carbon dioxide emissions from electric power generators by about 10 percent. Somewhat surprisingly, joining should also have an overall positive effect on the state economy. Electric bills should drop for everyone, and more efficient energy use should save industry money. “We have a case here where we can show that immediate action is much better than waiting,” Ruth says. “Climate change is a global problem, but it would be foolish to wait for a global solution. … At the end of the day, it is in communities, businesses and households where decisions need to be made.” —KJ

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strengths … and can complement the strengths of the government,” he says. Another collaborator in environmental research is the Joint Global Change Research Institute, or JGCRI, which was established in 2001 as a joint venture between the university and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. “The core work here is integrated assessment,” says James Dooley, a senior staff scientist at JGCRI. “We take what I would call an almost omnidisciplinary—more than multidisciplinary— approach to looking at climate change.” By integrating analysis of demographics, economics, technological developments and policy as well as the physical sciences, the researchers at JGCRI model how the global energy system and society might respond or adapt under a wide range of possible scenarios. The overriding goal of the work at JGCRI is to help find practical and costeffective solutions for addressing climate change. Busalacchi is eager to bring nearby climate researchers closer together because much of the research is complementary. Soon, NOAA will move onto university property in M Square, the research park near the College Park Metro station, and ESSIC and JGCRI plan to share a new building in M Square as well.

Earth, Sea and Society In ESSIC, researchers use observations gathered by satellites and on the ground to create models that project how greenhouse gas levels and temperatures will change. Predictions about physical factors like temperature, precipitation and ocean circulation can lead to forecasts about agricultural productivity, the possibility of harmful algal blooms and the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue fever. “We are doing research to see what can be predicted on the scale of months, years and decades,” says Busalacchi. Among other questions, researchers in ESSIC are studying how deforestation affects the global carbon cycle, how increasing levels of aerosols in the atmosphere affect climate, how inland waterways respond to climate change, and what the atmosphere on Earth billions of years ago can tell us about what may happen in the future. A number of researchers at the university study the effects of warming oceans. “Ocean circulation may be slowed down worldwide,” says Wendy Wang, an assistant research scientist in ESSIC. When less nutrient-rich water wells up

The planet is already committed to a significant amount of warming. The question is how high temperatures will go and when and how societies will respond.

from the ocean’s depths, populations of phytoplankton, which form the base of the ocean food chain, decrease. This ultimately affects fish and sea bird populations. Also, because phytoplankton are tiny plants, collectively responsible for absorbing large amounts of the planet’s carbon dioxide, lower phytoplankton populations exacerbate the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The responsibility for earth scientists, as Busalacchi sees it, is to provide an ever better understanding of the planet as a dynamic entity and, thereby, ever more reliable predictions. Whereas researchers in earth science study why and how climate is changing, those in JGCRI focus on what the effects might be on society and how new processes and technologies could lessen greenhouse gas emissions while still allowing for rising standards of living. Dooley, for example, does research on technology that could capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and inject it deep inside the ground. Others at JGCRI study how changes in agricultural practice, like tilling less deeply into soil, could help release less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. “More efficient light bulbs and automobiles are necessary but not enough,” says Dooley. “There is no silver bullet. It’s inconceivable that just one technology is the solution.” Part of the issue is that there is no shortage of fossil fuels in the ground. Reduced carbon dioxide emissions “won’t happen automatically,” says

Fetter. “We’ll need policies.” Instituting a tax based on the carbon content of fuel or developing a cap-and-trade system in which people and institutions can buy and sell carbon permits are the most frequently discussed policy initiatives. While there may be costs in limiting carbon dioxide emission, there are also clear costs to not doing enough—whether in damage from storms, increasing rates of infectious diseases, disruptions to food production or the loss of species. “We could start with a modest tax,” says Fetter. “This would send a signal to industry and investors that we’re committed to reducing carbon emissions.” At this point, the energy industry puts less than 1 percent of its proceeds into research and development, in contrast to, say, the pharmaceutical and software industries, where investment is closer to 10-12 percent. Creating new incentives would encourage research into more efficient fuel use and the development of alternative forms of energy, such as biofuels, solar and wind. “There’s no consensus yet on what to do,” says Fetter. “There’s a temptation to say let’s wait until we know all the details, but we can’t afford to do that.” The planet is already committed to a significant amount of warming. The question is how high temperatures will go and when and how societies will respond. Busalacchi says he’s optimistic about the future. “The ultimate fix will result from advanced technologies,” he says. “When industry realizes it’s in their economic interest, we will see those changes.” TERP TERP SPRING

2007

✮

✮ Maryland’s

MAJOR Leader ✮ HOYER TAKES No. 2 SPOT IN U.S. HOUSE

ince Congressman Steny Hoyer ’63 rose to the rank of House Majority Leader in late 2006, much has been made of his brush with Sen. John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was campaigning for president in 1959 and delivered Maryland’s convocation address, a speech that stirred Hoyer to change his major, follow his passion for politics and launch a career that has taken him to the highest ranks of state and federal government over the last 41 years. But he might have missed out on that fateful day had he had his way as a high school stand out in Suitland. Hoyer wanted to go to Princeton. A second university in Pennsylvania offered him a scholarship, but it wasn’t enough. So he enrolled at Maryland, commuted and—with a generous scholarship—paid less than $100 his first semester.

STORY by KIMBERLY MARSELAS

“I really was not very enthusiastic about going to the University of Maryland,” Hoyer admits. But after a few rough semesters—and failing grades that convinced him to drop out temporarily—he recommitted to his education. “I had told myself if I didn’t get down to brass tacks, I was going to be digging ditches,” Hoyer says.“Next to marrying my wife, going to the University of Maryland was probably the best thing that ever happened to me.” MAKING STEADY PROGRESS Today, Hoyer represents the university as both a proud alumnus and the highest-ranking member of Congress ever from Maryland. His district, redrawn dramatically in 1990 to include much of Southern Maryland and parts of Anne Arundel

✮ PORTRAIT by JOHN T. CONSOLI

LEFT: STENY H. HOYER AT HIS OFFICE ON CAPITOL HILL THIS SPRING. INSET: HOYER AS A COLLEGE SENIOR POSING FOR THE 1963 TERRAPIN YEARBOOK. ABOVE, FROM LEFT: HOYER, WIFE JUDITH PICKETT HOYER, VICE PRESIDENT WALTER MONDALE, MARYLAND GOV. HARRY HUGHES, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE TIP O'NEILL, MARYLAND SEN. PAUL SARBANES AND REP. MICHAEL BARNES GATHER AT AN ANNUAL BULL ROAST AND FUNDRAISER IN 1981.

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The HOYER File AGE

68 GRADUATION YEAR

1963 RESIDENCE

Mechanicsville, Md. PERSONAL

Married to the late Judy Pickett for 36 years, Hoyer has three daughters, three grandchildren and a great-grandchild born in 2006.

County, still includes the university and large swaths of Prince George’s County. He remains as dedicated to his constituents as he was when elected to the state senate for the first time in 1966 at the age of 27. Hoyer served 12 years there, the last four as senate president— the youngest person to hold the post. Early on, he built a reputation as a consensusbuilder, a tireless worker with an understanding of his district’s issues and the strategy needed to accomplish his goals. In 1978, he ran unsuccessfully for Maryland lieutenant governor. For the next three years, he toiled as a lawyer and served on the State Board of Education. The networks he’d established and the results he’d delivered for Prince George’s helped him win a special election to Congress in 1981. It was a natural step for a one-time member of the university’s Free State Party, motto:“For Steady Progress.” “I’ve never been surprised by his successes,” says Philip Rever ’64, a Hoyer classmate who has worked as a lobbyist and educational consultant. “My only surprise is that it took him until now

to become majority leader. I think many of us who knew him then would not have been shocked if he’d become president.” Actually, it was Rever who was president when the men were in college. He and Hoyer campaigned to lead the Student Government Association together, and then voters split the ticket, putting Rever in charge and leaving Hoyer out of office. It was one of only two elections he would lose. But he still had a chance to serve when the man who’d won left school early. “There was no question who I would appoint,” recalls Rever.“No one else that I’ve ever met in politics has such real purpose in his life to make other peoples’ lives better.That’s what his goal has always been.” COMMITTED TO THE TEAM Tom Carr, director of the university’s Public Safety and Technical Assistance Program, has worked with Hoyer for more than a decade. Carr oversees the university-based Washington/ Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program (HIDTA), which uses federal, state and local resources to combat drug-related crime and treat offenders. Hoyer was instrumental in founding the local HIDTA in 1994 and more recently led a battle against proposed budget cuts. Carr says Hoyer is always well prepared and has a strong vision for

STENY HOYER THROUGH THE YEARS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: CONGRESSMAN HOYER ADDRESSES DELEGATES AT THE 2004 DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION IN BOSTON; AT THE PODIUM WITH WIFE, JUDY, BY HIS SIDE; MEETING WITH PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE; TALKING WITH WOMEN IN AN INTERNATIONALLY DISPLACED PERSONS CAMP IN SUDAN; AT WORK IN HIS OFFICE DAYS BEFORE BEING ELECTED MAJORITY LEADER LAST FALL; AND SPEAKING AT THE UNIVERSITY.

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CAREER

✮ House Majority Leader, 110th Congress, 2006–present ✮ House Democratic Whip, 108th and 109th Congress ✮ Chair of the Democratic Caucus, 1989-1995 ✮ Member, House of Representatives, 1981–present

projects with which he is involved. “He reminds me at times of an undergraduate student,” says Carr, who has watched Hoyer work in Congress and state senate sessions. “He sits there with a wad of pencils and a legal pad. He’s listening intently and taking notes. He’s absorbing information like a sponge.” Hoyer sees university-based research as both a vehicle for local job creation and a smart move for the nation. Whether fighting to keep the nearby NASA Goddard Space Flight Center open or encouraging the Food and Drug Administration to locate new facilities at the university’s research park, Hoyer champions teamwork. “The university has such a wealth of resources it can offer in partnership with the federal government,” he says. “We work with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms … and certainly the National Archives is the No. 1 archival resource in the country, one of the most significant resources for researchers in our area.” DEDICATION TO EDUCATION Because of the opportunities he received at Maryland, Hoyer also continues to be an advocate for affordable education. He served 25 years on the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education and, since becoming majority leader, has promoted an increase in Pell Grant funding and a 50

✮ Member, Maryland State Board of Education, 1978–1981 ✮ President, Maryland Senate, 1975–1978 ✮ Member, Maryland Senate, 1966–1978 ✮ Practicing Lawyer, 1966–1981 INTERESTING TIDBIT

During college, Hoyer worked the 3:30 to midnight shift as a CIA file clerk.

percent reduction in student loan interest rates. “If we’re going to be competitive in this global economy, it will be because we maintain the highest levels of education and we make it affordable and accessible,” says Hoyer, who worked alongside every university president since Wilson Elkins in the 1960s. But it’s not just business that keeps Hoyer coming back. A basketball season-ticket holder and friend of coach Gary Williams’68, Hoyer followed tournament games as closely as he could between floor votes this March. This spring, he delivered his second Maryland commencement speech. Ever humble, he promised to keep it short and sweet. After all, as dedicated a Democrat as he was by graduation, Hoyer remembers virtually nothing of the speech thenVice President Lyndon Johnson gave to his class. “I do not delude myself,” he says with a forgiving laugh. “Nobody is coming there to hear Steny Hoyer speak.” TERP

PHOTOS COURTESY OF STENY HOYER, EXCEPT OFFICE IMAGE BY STEPHEN CROWLEY/NEW YORK TIMES

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theloop High-Voltage Celebration in the Clark School MORE THAN ELECTRICAL currents are lighting up the A. James

Clark School of Engineering. Since the launch of Great Expectations, The Campaign for Maryland last fall, $100 million is now committed toward the school’s overall campaign goal of $185 million.“The record-setting support provided by the Clark School’s alumni and friends to date is having an immediate and dramatic effect. … Each gift is a bolt of energy you can feel throughout the school,” says Dean Nariman Farvardin. In 2005, a generous gift of $30 million from A. James Clark ’50 helped lay the foundation for a new era of private gifts that support the programmatic goals of the engineering school. Clark’s munificence provides a range of scholarships large and small based on merit, need and diversity. Such scholarships enable students to explore the school’s expanding range of academic disciplines, like bioengineering. Biosciences engineering pioneer Robert E. Fischell M.S. ’53, physics, whose patents include flexible coronary artery stents and other biomedical devices, will impact healthcare for generations to come. Now, thanks to the visionary generosity of Fischell and his sons—Scott, David and Tim—their $31 million gift is creating the Fischell Department of Bioengineering and the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices.The new bioengineering wing scheduled for completion this fall in the Jeong H. Kim Building

will support greater collaboration between the new department and other disciplines. With such new initiatives, the need for graduate fellowship support is all the more crucial. Diana M.Yoon, Robert E. Fischell Fellow in Biomedical Engineering, whose research is focused on articular cartilage regeneration, understands this need firsthand. “Fellowships allow us to focus on our work rather than worry about finances. [We] choose the lab that inspires us rather than the lab where funding happens to be available.” Yoon is one of many women who are making inroads in the field of bioengineering, something that retired associate dean and board member of the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, Marilyn Berman Pollans M.A. ’73, Ph.D. ’79, applauds. Pollans and her husband,Albert, pledged more than $200,000 in the last two years, in addition to committing a $500,000 planned gift with a large percentage targeted to the Women in Engineering program. A major legacy of Pollans’ 25-year tenure in the Clark School is her work to increase the number of women in engineering.When she arrived in the 1970s, women made up less than 1 percent of the total student body in the school, and there was only one female faculty member.“Everything that touches our daily lives was done by an engineer.And women have a great capacity to invent and problem-solve, but they were essentially excluded by the cultural forces,” says Pollans.With her strong advocacy and greater institutional support, women now comprise 19 percent of the Clark School’s student population and there are 20 tenure-track women faculty. Fischell, Pollans, Clark and others are creating legacies of achievement both personally and in the outstanding academic quality of the school. Ultimately,“people who contribute to the Clark School,” says Pollans,“do so because they really recognize the value of their gift.” —DJ

Pushing to become one of the nation’s Top 5 engineering schools, Dean Farvardin says, “imagine the Clark School as you would like to see it, and give to realize that vision.”

Just Wondering … We all know Testudo as the university’s irrespressible mascot. But he has a very wise side, as well.When Testudo wanted answers to questions that have puzzled him about the Great Expectations campaign, he knew to turn to the chair of the University of Maryland College Park Foundation Board of Trustees, to get the straight scoop.

T E S T U D O // Mr. Mayer, we have shared moments at Terp basketball games, so I do feel comfortable e-mailing you my questions. I can understand the need for private institutions to raise money from alumni and others, but the University of Maryland is a public institution. Doesn’t the state pay most of our bills? M AY E R // Good question.The state (of course, the taxpayers) never paid all the bills, and with the passage of time, the state’s role has diminished.This is true nationwide.Today, the state contributes 27 percent of the university’s budget; student tuition pays another 26 percent.The rest we have to generate ourselves. Gift support is essential for achieving our two most important objectives: quality, becoming a top 10 public research university, and access, remaining affordable to talented students regardless of their financial means.

T E S T U D O // I know you return to campus often for board meetings and games, so I suspect you see all of the new buildings sprouting up on campus. It seems to me that the university is doing quite well. So why do we need a fund-raising campaign? M AY E R // The University of Maryland does have state-of-the-art buildings for arts, academic and athletic programs for which we can take great pride. However, one of the biggest challenges for us is to modernize our older facilities. I suspect that you would be surprised to learn that of our built environment, nearly one-third of our facilities were constructed 50 years ago or earlier.

T E S T U D O // Can you tell me who will benefit from the Great Expectations campaign? M AY E R // Quite literally, everyone. First of all, students—current and future—who will be able to attain their own great expectations because of the education

PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

received at Maryland. Our faculty’s teaching will open new worlds to their students, and their research will shape our world.All the citizens of Maryland will benefit, as the university spurs economic development and keeps the best and brightest at home.As a preeminent public research university, we are at the forefront of positioning Maryland for success in the global economy.And, I should add, our donors will gain a sense of satisfaction from making a difference, and all our alumni will benefit as the value of their degrees increases with the university’s rising stature. T E S T U D O // I get to hang out with students during their time here and share the moment with graduates at Commencement. With limited resources, they find it hard to see how their gifts can have an impact in a billion-dollar campaign. M AY E R // No gift is too small, and there are other ways recent graduates can assist. I call it the “A Plan”: advise them to join the alumni association; contribute what they can to the annual fund (Maryland Fund for Excellence) for the benefit of our arts, academics and athletic programs; and be an advocate by passing the word on Maryland’s value to other alumni, prospective students and the state’s political leaders. Every person—and furry mascot—can make a difference.

William Mayer ’66, M.B.A ’67 is chair of the University of Maryland College Park Foundation Board of Trustees and former dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business.

TERP SPRING 2007

in theloop The Colonnade Society— Giving Back and Joining In IMAGINE ATTENDING AN EXCLUSIVE RECEPTION with 700 Terp

fans to rally the women’s basketball team one month; then, just weeks later listening to a best-selling mystery author reveal her writing secrets.What’s next? Attending a Pops concert with a preperformance reception held especially for you and select alumni and friends.These are just a few examples of activities that Colonnade Society members enjoy year round. The Colonnade Society recognizes donors who contribute annual gifts totaling $1,000 or more to Maryland. Members enjoy rewards beyond the satisfaction of supporting the university.The society hosts events throughout the year that allow its members to participate in many aspects of the Maryland community. “Being a member of the Colonnade Society is a way of giving back to the school that I care so much about,” says Carolyn Headlee Fichtel ’65, an active member in both the Colonnade Society and the Terrapin Club. She and her husband, Carl, attended the women’s basketball reception held at the Comcast Center earlier this year. “We are pleased to support higher education through music and athletic scholarships and the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center so that the university can sustain its momentum.The society provides

Colonnade Society members Carl and Carolyn Headlee Fichtel ’65 (foreground), have enjoyed attending many activities including an exclusive reception prior to a women’s basketball game.

the chance to become more involved in the university and to learn what is being done to improve the quality of education and hear about its successes as well as associate with others who love and care about the future of Maryland.” Borrowing its name from the strong and graceful Georgian architectural elements that create Maryland’s stately beauty, the Colonnade Society includes alumni, friends, faculty and staff who are committed to sustaining Maryland’s momentum. Members of the Colonnade Society lead the Maryland family by their example, giving generously of their financial resources and their time to support the academic mission and future success of the university. For more information about the Colonnade Society, contact Melissa Belsinger at 301.405.4630 or via email at melissa@umd.edu. —MB

Introducing Craig Thompson ’92 Craig Thompson graduated from the university in 1992 with a bachelor’s in political science and Afro-American studies. He is a trustee on the University of Maryland College Park Foundation and a member of the Great Expectations Campaign Council. In 2001 the Maryland Alumni Association awarded him with the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award.We look forward to introducing more campaign volunteers in upcoming issues of Terp.

TERP SPRING 2007

PROFESSION: Attorney HOBBY:

Reading

FIRST READ BOOK: Either Happy Sad, Silly Mad or Horton Hatches The Egg (I don’t remember which—I was very young!) LAST READ BOOK:

Enough by Juan Williams

LATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: WHY I DO WHAT I DO:

Reducing my coffee intake

I have a passion for helping people and

solving problems. FAVORITE QUOTE: “Do

the best you can with what you have, and do it now.” Theodore Roosevelt WHY I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT MARYLAND: The leadership, faculty and staff of the university are truly committed to the success of students both academically and personally, both short term and long term. It is great to be part of such an enriching environment!

For more on Great Expectations, The Campaign for Maryland, go to www.greatexpectations.umd.edu

specialGIFTS Harry K. Wells ’43 made a gift of $400,000 to establish the Harry K. Wells Graduate Fellowship in the Maryland Energy Research Center at the A. James Clark School of Engineering. A former member of the Clark School’s Board of Visitors, Wells served as president and chief executive officer of McCormick & Company for many years.

Under Armour made contributions totaling $350,000 in support of athletics and the Robert H. Smith School of Business. University of Maryland College Park Foundation Trustee and president and CEO of Under Armour Kevin A. Plank ’97 founded Under Armour in 1995 as a result of his experience on the Maryland football team and his irritation at wet cotton T-shirts. He set out to develop a next generation shirt that would remain drier and lighter, and Under Armour took off.

H.E. Jamshid Amouzegar made a pledge of $100,000 to establish the Amouzegar Undergraduate Scholarship in Persian Studies. This scholarship is an important step in the growth of the Center for Persian Studies, which was established in 2004 as part of the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the university. Amouzegar is a former prime minister of Iran.

Wachovia Corporation pledged $150,000 in support of the University of Maryland Incentive Awards Program. Wachovia’s gift, the largest corporate gift yet made to the program, will support Incentive Awards scholars from Prince George’s County. The Incentive Awards Program recognizes and promotes achievement, community responsibility and leadership among young people who have overcome difficult challenges to pursue their dreams of higher education. Each year, five students from Prince George’s County and nine students from Baltimore City are welcomed to the program. —PS

$350 MILLION to provide Students

the opportunity to reach for the stars. $225 MILLION to ensure our

Faculty are competitive with the best. $175 MILLION to create an

Environment of excellence. $250 MILLION to support

Innovation to change the world around us. University of Maryland Incentive Awards Program scholars benefit with generous contibutions from individuals and companies like Wachovia Corp.

$1 B I L L I O N TOTAL CAMPAIGN GOAL

progress toward $1 BILLION

$355 MILLION = $50 million

PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, MIKE MORGAN AND JOHN T. CONSOLI

TERP SPRING 2007

Interpretations Visionary Thinking

WHEN STARTING WITH a clean slate and looking for a great site to build a major university and college town, you could easily land right on College Park. It is next to the nation’s capital, less than 10 miles from the White House.The wealth of federal agencies in the surrounding area presents remarkable opportunities for jobs, partnerships and asset sharing to the benefit of our students, state and nation. Besides being the center of government, the capital is an international center with an abundance of cultural institutions, professional associations and national academies.This 1,200-acre campus site is at the junction of Interstate 95 and the Washington Beltway, is on the Washington Metro line and even has its own airport! Transportation doesn’t get better than this. Our region’s population is among the best

educated and wealthiest in the nation, and the university’s value in this knowledge economy has never been higher. And now we are presented with the opportunity to imagine the futures of this great university and the surrounding communities evolving hand-in-hand. As you read elsewhere in this issue, Doug Duncan, former three-term county executive for Montgomery County, has joined our team as vice president for administrative affairs. Doug built partnerships, supported the environment and took on the challenges facing education, economic development and fiscal management with great passion while county executive. I am indeed lucky to have Doug join my leadership team just as we are creating the East Campus development that will influence substantially the future of our campus and region. The developer selected for the 38-acre site, located at the corner of Route 1 and Paint Branch Parkway, is a joint venture between the Foulger-Pratt Companies and Argo Investment Company. East Campus will directly connect the university to the Metro and portends further developments along Route 1.We envision East Campus serving the needs of a world-class university including M Square—the University of

Maryland’s research park, and the City of College Park.We are fortunate that these same developers worked with Doug earlier during the revitalization of downtown Silver Spring, an urban renewal success story. The East Campus site holds promise for a transformation that will benefit the city, the community, the university and other stakeholders. Community input is sought on issues that need to be addressed during the formulation of the plans. In general terms, we are looking at a mix of retail establishments, a hotel, restaurants, graduate student and family housing, as well as expanded partnerships for university research.The plan that emerges will result from a collaborative process that engages all parties. Over time, the East Campus will develop its own identity and be recognized for it. Doug understands the complex issues around developments like this and he will also leverage the resources we have placed in safety and security in ways that further benefit the campus community and the City of College Park. Looking beyond these university efforts, we can see multiple projects blossoming along the Route 1 corridor, from the upscale housing near IKEA to the flourishing Arts District project in Hyattsville— visible evidence of the revitalization of the entire area. Just as this is the ideal site for a research university so too will this become the ideal site for those who live, work and visit the College Park community. —Dan Mote,

The East Campus site holds promise for a transformation that will benefit the city, the community, the university and other stakeholders.

TERP SPRING

2007

PHOTO BY JEREMY GREEN

TIME WELL SPENT

The Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center was designed to be all things to all people. It is a conference facility for business and community leaders; a gathering place for alumni and friends; and a special setting for family events. Spend time in each of our unique rooms and you are certain to find one or more that will fit your needs, whether you are planning an annual board meeting or a once-in-a-lifetime celebration.

BUSINESS TIME

FINE TIME

PLAY TIME

50-seat boardroom with custom-designed table

Suitable settings for any occasion, from grand galas to wedding celebrations

Sports bar fitted with fireplace, big screen TVs and replica of Cole Field House center court

Stained glass ocular, travertine marble floors and clerestory windows

Spacious plaza with Byrd Stadium in the background

Mahogany-paneled library

Outside terraces for old-fashioned picnics and cocktail receptions

State-of-the-art meeting rooms equipped with multimedia technology High-speed wireless Internet access Flexible space options whether for large conferences or small retreats

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Lush gardens of red, white and gold surrounding a crystalline fountain

Prime space for private tailgate parties

The Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center is the perfect location for all of your most important events. Contact one of our professional event planners today. 301.405.9756

800.336.8627

riggsinfo@ur.umd.edu

www.riggs.umd.edu

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