Terp Winter, 2006

TERP

CONNECTING

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COMMUNITY

VOL. 3, NO. 2 WINTER 2006

Maryland Celebrates

Y E A R S

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 Margaret Hall ’84 Joshua Harless Brian Payne Contributing Designers Monette A. Bailey ’89 Kimberly Marselas ’00 Tom Ventsias Writers Katrina Altersitz Amy Harbison Jessica Price Juan Manuel Ramirez Pamela Stone ’95 M.A. Ellen Ternes ’68 Mark Walden ’96 Contributing Writers Michael D’Angelo Arthur Silber Jessica Weglein 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, WE MAY BE well into the New Year, but the Maryland community is still reveling from two announcements made in 2005.

The first came bright and early on an October morning, when Professor Emeritus Thomas Schelling learned he was the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics.The university shared the news with the world just a few hours later at a special press conference held at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center.

Professor Schelling’s research on game theory analysis has influenced global security, and we congratulate him on an honor well deserved. (Read more about Professor Schelling’s research on page 3.)

Weeks later, there was more good news, this time from the alumni ranks.

Robert Fischell, a 1953 graduate known for inventing life-saving medical devices, announced that he is giving $30 million to the A. James Clark School of Engineering (see page 29).This historic gift will establish the Fischell Department of Bioengineering and the Robert E. Fischell Institute of Biomedical Research, inspiring today’s students to improve the health of the world.

The celebration continues in 2006— March 6, to be exact. It was on this day, 150 years ago, that the Maryland Agricultural College was chartered.

From this small institution, focused on the science of farming, grew the university we know today. Students of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources still study on the farm occupying a small corner of the campus, but they also conduct cutting-edge research aimed to improve the health of humans, the environment and the economy.

Read all about it in “Our Deeply Rooted History” on page 22.

Learn more about Maryland’s journey from “cow college” to public research university in “A Maryland Movie: 150 Years and Rolling” on page 18. Coming soon to a TV screen near you,“Keeping the Promise:The Rise of the University of Maryland,” marks Maryland’s milestones in cinematic fashion from the 1953 football team’s national championship to Professor Ira Berlin’s writings on slavery and emancipation.

What better time to toast the university’s achievements than during our anniversary year? I, for one, will raise a glass to Alma Mater, thanks to a recommendation from renowned wine expert Robert Parker ’70. It was as a student here that Parker began a wine tasting group. Several years and a law degree later, he more than lives up to the name of his popular consumer guide, The Wine Advocate. (See page 26 for more on Parker.)

Regardless of how you choose to celebrate the university’s success, the message is the same: Maryland, you have arrived.

Cheers!

Danita D. Nias ’81 Executive Director, Alumni Relations

2 BIG PICTURE You are there … Gun Girls hit national bull’s-eye; Maryland’s newest Nobel Laureate; Engineering leaves its mark; and more 6 THE SOURCE Art abounds indoors and in plain sight 7 ASK ANNE The purloined pendulum; a guide to Terp memorabilia; and more 8 CLASS ACT A not-so-secret garden; Recipe for a romantic kiss; The legacy of Maryland’s first Chinese student; and more 12 M-FILE Peering inside our beloved trees; M Square expanding in scope; and more 16 MARYLAND LIVE 150th Anniversary display on view in Annapolis; A look at student life over the years; Circle the date for Charter Day; and more 29 IN THE LOOP Renowned biomedical inventor’s $30 million gift creates Fischell Institute 30 PLAY-BY-PLAY Olympic gold medalist Andrew Valmon is on right track as head coach 31 SPOTLIGHT American opera “Vanqui” blends African rhythms with jazz and classical motifs 32 INTERPRETATIONS Realizing a promise of greatness

departments

features

18 A MARYLAND MOVIE:

150 YEARS AND ROLLING

Lights, camera, action! Amid Maryland’s sesquicentennial celebration, filmmakers have chronicled the 150-year history of the university.

BY KIMBERLY MARSELAS

22

OUR DEEPLY ROOTED HISTORY

In 1856, agriculture played an important role in the development of the university. And 150 years later, it still does.

BY ELLEN TERNES

26

WINE WIZARD

Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “the most powerful critic of any kind, any where,” Robert Parker’s success stems from a love of wine that began during his undergraduate days at Maryland.

BY KATRINA ALTERSITZ

COVER PHOTO AND PHOTO ABOVE BY JOHN CONSOLI

TERP WINTER

bigpicture WITH Terp, YOU ARE THERE

Irene Knox and Maryland Gun Girls Bring Home National Title COLLEGE PARK, Md., March, 1932—For the second year in a row, education major Irene Knox has propelled Maryland’s Women’s Rifle Team to a victory in the National Inter-Collegiate Rifle Competition. She was also named this year’s Women’s Individual Inter-Collegiate Rifle Champion.

It all began during the 1931 season, when Knox was a mere freshman. Even then, she distinguished herself on the field, placing third in the individual inter-collegiate championships. Her team shooting that year gave the “gun girls” the boost they needed to go undefeated and claim their first national title since 1926.

Knox has done one better in 1932, writing herself into the record books and making herself the darling of Fox Movietone News at the same time. In the individual competition, she never missed the bull’seye. Her perfect score of 600 points is a championship first that trumps the men’s record of 597 set in 1927.

In the team shoot-out, she scored 599, missing the center-mark once.

Thanks to Knox’s efforts, and stellar performances from her teammates, rival University of Missouri has been sent back across the Mississippi shouldering a second-place trophy.

Even if the team, coached by Sgt. Earl Hendricks, should go on to From a distance of 50 feet, Irene Knox heart-breaking defeats in 1933 and 1934, they will always have these (above) and her teammates (below) take aim at a bull’s-eye no wider than halcyon days to look back on. And who knows, perhaps 50 years from .15 inches. now Maryland will establish a record of its greatest athletes—sure’s shootin’, Knox would be included. —MW

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Women in the NCAA Today The Maryland Women’s Rifle Team was founded in 1922 and disbanded in 1964. Athletic Hall of Fame member Irene Knox graduated in 1934, but her competitive spirit lives on through the triumphs of Shay Doron in basketball, Mollie Reese in lacrosse, Susie Rowe in field hockey, and hundreds of others who participate in the university’s 15 different women’s varsity sports.

GUN GIRLS PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES; ATHLETICS PHOTOS COURTESY OF MARYLAND MEDIA RELATIONS

YOURwords Nobel Prize Comes to Maryland … Again Professor Emeritus Thomas C. Schelling, known for his work in game theory, is Maryland’s third Nobel Laureate.

OF LATE, THE UNIVERSITY of

Maryland has been able to boast having two Nobel Laureates in its 150-year history.

A phone call made at 6:45 on an October Monday morning changed all that, however.

The university added one more Nobel Laureate to the list when the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences informed Professor Emeritus Thomas C. Schelling that he was one of two men sharing the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics.

Known for his work in “game theory,” Schelling shares the award with Israeli-American Robert J. Aumann, a professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Although they have worked separately, the two have each contributed to enhancing “our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game theory analysis,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in its prize citation.

“I’m deeply honored by this recognition,” Schelling said. “I’ve been doing this for over 50 years and it’s hard to find a shorthand way to describe my interests. But in my mind it all comes together, and what links this work is my fascination with how people react to and influence others—as individuals and as nations.”

Game theory is essentially a branch of mathematics and social science that studies strategic scenarios in an effort to better determine how to make the most out of a given situation.

A self-proclaimed “errant economist,” Schelling has used game theory to examine real life problems. Topics he has explored include how racial segregation in modern U.S. cities can develop, what makes organized crime so lucrative and why the world has yet to be annihilated by nuclear weapons.

Schelling, 84, may be best known for applying game-theory methods to the nuclear arms race and its role in providing global security.

Schelling’s work has especially “had a profound impact on military theorists and practitioners in the Cold War era, played a major role in establishing ‘strategic studies’ as an academic field of study and may well have contributed significantly to deterrence and disarmament among the superpowers,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Science said in a statement explaining its selection of the prize winners.

“All of us in the University of Maryland community salute Dr. Schelling and celebrate his achievement,” University of Maryland President Dan Mote said in a statement released shortly after the news broke.

William Phillips, currently on faculty, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997. Juan Ramón Jiménez, a faculty member from 1948 to 1951, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1956. —JMR

A Once-in-150-Year Occasion

D MARYLAN Reflect

ars 150 ye ions on

March 6, 2006 marks the 150th Anniversary of the 1856 charter date that established the Maryland Agricultural College. From a tiny private college for the sons of wealthy plantation owners has sprung the diverse Top 20 public research university we know today. The date also marks the debut of a pictorial history book, Maryland: Reflections on 150 Years.

The book includes a treasure-trove of historic images available though University Archives as well as iconic campus landmarks, familiar to anyone who has set foot on campus. Respected alumni and faculty members offer their own perspective on aspects of university life, through evocative essays to introduce each visually engaging chapter.

A timeline offers readers an at-a-glance look at our unfolding history as an added bonus to the 128-page, full-color book.

For more information, go to www.150years.umd.edu.

SCHELLING PHOTO BY AMY DAVIS; BOTTOM LEFT PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI; TOP RIGHT PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES; BOTTOM RIGHT PHOTO BY MICHAEL MORGAN

Mylo Downey (“Downey Family Rooted at Maryland,” fall 2005) was not only state leader of the 4-H program but became the national 4-H leader. In this position, he was invited to initiate the 4-H program in several foreign countries. Also, while serving as national leader, he was awarded the highest honor a federal servant could attain.

Additionally, Robert Downey, Ed Downey’s brother, serves on the board of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Mylo Downey ’27, ’40 Alumni Chapter.

—Ella F. Smart ’52, M.Ed. ’56 immediate past president, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Alumni Chapter Although I am not an alumnus, I have a strong affection for the institution.

After 22 years as director of planning for the University System, I retired in 1982 and moved to North Carolina.

Whenever the Terps play on Tobacco Road, I am a strong if lonely voice in opposition to my neighbors. During my tenure … it was always a problem to site buildings in a manner that would be convenient for the students as well as the faculty and staff. I read your magazine (fall 2005) and my mouth pops open. Where is there room for the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and still area for the average person to draw a breath?

I am envious of the present staff …

My congratulations! Incidentally, I knew Paul Poffenberger (“Welcome Home: Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center Marks the Next 150 Years,” fall 2005) quite well. I am pleased to see that he has been memorialized.

—Robert E. Kendig

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GROWTH spurt

F

or more than a century, engineering at Maryland has played an important role in the university’s dramatic rise in academics and research. What originally began as a series of scientific courses within the Maryland Agricultural College has grown into a powerhouse of an engineering program.

Engineering Is Established Formal engineering instruction began in 1894, when the college trustees set aside $3,500 for facilities and an instructor to teach a comprehensive, four-year curriculum in mechanical engineering. The Mechanical Engineering Building (shown left, now known as Taliaferro Hall) used a steam engine to power its machinery. It housed an all-male cohort of engineering undergraduates who studied surveying, mechanics, hydraulics, as well as mathematics and physics.

The Program Takes Off The private support of aviation pioneer Glenn L. Martin (inset) was pivotal in the growth of Maryland’s engineering program. In 1944, Martin’s gift of $1.7 million established instruction and research in the aeronautical sciences and helped fund four new buildings, including a state-of-the art wind tunnel and an engineering classroom building (shown left). Martin’s second gift of $800,000 a year later was specifically designated to fund research. (This endowment has since grown to more than $60 million and is a major source of research funding for engineering.) It was during the 1950s and ’60s that the engineering school expanded to include aerospace engineering, fire protection engineering and new graduate programs.

Building for the Future Officially dedicated in September 2005, the Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building is home to some of the most sophisticated research and educational laboratories anywhere, including programs in hot new areas like nanotechnology and bioengineering. The building is named for alumnus and professor Jeong Kim Ph.D. ’91.

Diversity in the engineering sciences has also increased significantly. Recent help has come from the engineering school’s namesake, alumnus A. James Clark ’50, who pledged $30 million specifically for scholarships, part of which will fund scholarships for women and other underrepresented groups in engineering.

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HISTORIC PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES; BOTTOM PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

Mote Receives National Engineering Award Dan Mote tests instrumental ski equipment, critical to his research on reducing skiing injuries.

His experiments led to new industry standards for ski equipment.

MANY RECOGNIZE University

President Dan Mote for leading Maryland to its Top 20 public research university status. In the engineering field, he is known for revolutionizing saw mechanics and ski equipment. For this accomplishment, the National Academy of Engineering bestowed its Founders Award on him at a ceremony last fall.

Mote, who has served as president of the university since 1998, received the Founders Award “for the creation of a comprehensive body of work on the dynamics of moving flexible structures and for leadership in academia.”

His research in saw mechanics enabled the forest products industry to

significantly decrease waste and preserve natural resources worldwide, improve product quality and reduce the noise and hearing loss associated with wood machining.

Through his experiments with ski mechanics and skiing biomechanics, Mote uncovered the basic mechanism behind many skiing injuries, established the fundamental dynamic models for the skier and ski equipment and helped protect skiers by developing industry standards for ski equipment.

Before coming to the university, Mote held various administrative roles at the University of California, Berkeley, where he guided 56 graduate students to achieving Ph.D.s. Today, he continues to mentor students and gives lectures on engineering. “Every student should have a mentor,” says Mote.

“Mentoring is as important to student achievement as teaching.”

ses•qui•cen•ten•ni•al TAKE THE WORD centennial—from the Latin centum, meaning hundred— and add the appropriate prefix. What do you get?

Sesquicentennial.

Why say that the University of Maryland is celebrating 150 glorious years when sesquicentennial sounds so much more grandiose?

Found smack dab in the middle of centennial and bicentennial, sesquicentennial—sesqui is a Latin prefix denoting one-and-a-half—has two usages, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

• As an adjective it pertains to a celebration of a 150th anniversary.

• As a noun it is the actual anniversary or its celebration.

Although we are sure to set the bar high for Maryland’s 150th anniversary, we can already begin to look forward to celebrating our 175th anniversary, the terquasquicentennial! —JMR

MOTE PHOTO BY PATSY MOTE; TESTUDO AND DOCTORATE GRADUATES BY JOHN T. CONSOLI; WHITTLE PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES; MITCHELL PHOTO COURTESY OF PARREN JAMES MITCHELL

Important Firsts: African American Graduates

IN HONOR OF Black History Month (February), Terp magazine recognizes some important firsts at the University of Maryland.

• In 1951, Hiram Whittle was the first African American undergraduate to be admitted to the University of Maryland.

• The first African American graduate student to complete his coursework on campus was Parren James Mitchell, who received his master’s in sociology in 1952. The first African American elected to Congress from the state of Maryland, Mitchell is a member of the University of Maryland Alumni Hall of Fame. Other early African American students at the university include Rose Shockley Wiseman, Myrtle Holmes Wake and John Francis Davis, who completed their coursework off-campus but received their master’s degrees in education at the June 9, 1951, commencement ceremony in College Park.

• Elaine Johnson, the first African American female undergraduate student, began her studies in 1955 and received her degree in education in 1959.

• In 1966, Rebecca Carroll became the first African American woman to earn a doctorate from the University of Maryland. She received her degree in education.

• In 2000, Kimberly Weems, Tasha Inniss and Sherry Scott Joseph (shown, left to right) were the first three African American women to receive doctoral degrees in mathematics from Maryland.

• Today, the University of Maryland is first among the nation’s Top 20 public universities in the total number of degrees conferred upon African Americans.

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the Source ART ABOUNDS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, BOTH IN FORMAL GALLERIES AND IN SURPRISING PLACES. LOOK FOR BEAUTY IN THE WEATHERED PATINA OF AN OUTDOOR SCULPTURE, SPY SOME ANCIENT POTTERY OR SEEK OUT FAMOUS FACES ON CANVAS.

Scattered Sculptures Union Gallery The Art Gallery What you’ll see: Four to six contemporary exhibitions during the academic year, featuring regional, national and international artists. Currently, catch a retrospective of Professor Emeritus Claudia DeMonte’s works, including the noted “Female Fetish” series. The gallery’s permanent collection has more than 1,500 pieces ranging from African sculpture to Chinese ceramics to 20thcentury American and European art.

What you’ll see: An array of visual and performing arts shows, changing about every six weeks. In March, it’s an assortment of landscape architecture drawings and plans.

Next, the Mid-Point Show features mixed media from Maryland’s fine arts candidates. Curators typically host Wednesday “walk and talks” to share details about exhibits.

Where to find: Inside the newly renovated Stamp Student Union. Glass walls allow you to sneak a peek any time.

What you’ll see: More than a dozen unique pieces, most notably the Stonehenge-esque “Night-Day” between Holzapfel and H.J. Patterson halls. Others include “Bradford,” a metal design in front of the Chemistry Building; glazed ceramic lions outside Francis Scott Key Hall; five bronze Testudos and several busts.

Where to find: Keep your eyes open as you stroll around campus or inside classroom buildings.

Oil Portraits What you’ll see: Historical renderings of some of Maryland’s biggest supporters, including our presidents, Registrar Alma Preinkert and Dean Marie Mount (above). Donors A. James Clark ’50 and Glenn L. Martin were recently honored with portraits, with Clark’s painting completed by the same artist who captured Presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter for the White House.

Where to find: Administrative offices, conference rooms, lobbies and University Archives.

H OT L I N E THE ART GALLERY Phone: 301.405.2763 Web: www.artgallery.umd.edu Hours: 11 a.m.–4 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Where to find: A museum-quality display in the Art-Sociology Building.

Open until 6 p.m. on Wednesdays.

UNION GALLERY Phone: 301.314.8493 Web: www.union.umd.edu/gallery Hours: 10 a.m.–8 p.m., Monday through Saturday SCULPTURES For a partial list, visit www.lib.umd.edu/ARCV/macmil/lets.html

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DeMONTE PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ART GALLERY; OTHER PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

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

John Wakefield as director of bands (after 40 years!), he was named director of bands emeritus. What exactly does the emeritus title mean, and what privileges do the emeriti get? —Phil Barnes ’02 Q. After the recent retirement of

A. The definition of emeritus according to Webster’s is “1) holding after retirement an honorary title corresponding to that held last during active service; 2) retired from an office or position.”At Maryland, the emeritus designation is approved by University President Dan Mote and is not automatically bestowed. Emeritus faculty members are entitled to several standard benefits, including free parking, continuing e-mail, library privileges and invitations to various university events. Many emeriti continue to be actively involved with the university, teaching or lecturing, guiding graduate research projects or doing research.

Q. Whatever became of the pendulum that used to be suspended from the dome of the Glenn L. Martin Institute of Technology (math building)?

—Dave Hanson ’70 A. I have not

been successful in determining the whereabouts of the pendulum in the Glenn L. Martin Institute of Technology, Help solve the so I am afraid “Case of the we will have Purloined Pendulum!” If you to consign have clues to its this mystery whereabouts, conto the “cold tact Anne Turkos.

case” file. I suspect that a combination of repeated theft— according to a caption in the 1977 yearbook, the pendulum had been stolen five times by 1977—and building renovation did in this unusual architectural feature by the late 1970s.

Q. I found a piece of Terp memorabilia in an antique store. How do I know if it’s valuable, and where might I find similar pieces?

A. It is very difficult to

determine the value of these items because there are so many variables—scarcity of the piece; possible

PENDULUM PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES; WAKEFIELD PHOTOS COURTESY OF RICHARD TAYLOR, BAND ARCHIVIST; NESTING FOOTBALL PLAYERS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

association with alumni, faculty or staff; age; physical condition; collectors’ desires, just to name a few. It is a judgment call, since there are usually no sales records that you can use as a guideline. If a similar item has been sold on eBay in the past, that price might be helpful.You can contact University Archives

John Wakefield marches on as University of Maryland director of bands emeritus.

regarding similar pieces.We have approximately 1,000 memorabilia items—like the nesting football players below —documenting nearly all 150 years of the university’s history.

Many of these special pieces are featured in Corps of Cadets to Testudo’s Troops, an exhibition to celebrate our anniversary.

For more on the exhibition, see page 16.

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In More than Words (Smithsonian Books), Liza Kirwin Ph.D. ’99 writes historical commentary to accompany a selection of illustrated letters from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art. The letters, originally penned for a personal audience, capture the casual sketches of premiere artists such as Andrew Wyeth, Frida Kahlo and Andy Warhol.

Lisa Trutkoff Trumbauer ’85 pens her own addition to the Knights of the Silver Dragon book series. The Hidden Dragon (Mirrorstone Books) follows the adventures of three teenage knights on a dangerous journey to find the silver dragon. This novel promises to stimulate your pre-teen’s imagination with pages full of fantasy fiction.

In War Games (Smithsonian Books), Jenny Thompson Ph.D. ’99 takes readers on a thought-provoking journey into the interesting subculture of 20th century war reenactors. By joining the ranks for seven years of fieldwork, Thompson captures the motivation and experiences of American men who make a hobby out of recreating our nation’s most famous battles. Prisoner interrogations, ambushes, trench raids, camaraderie and hilarity are all an essential part of this case study.

Holly (Harmar) Shimizu M.S. ’84 tends the U.S. Botanic Garden as its executive director.

Tending a Not-so-secret Garden HOLLY (HARMAR) SHIMIZU’S office is almost as

She’s passionate about plants—particularly fra-

green as the 10-acre garden that surrounds her his-

grant herbs like lemon grass and lemon verbena—

toric digs in Washington, D.C.

and wants to make sure others see the beauty and

Broad-leafed plants rest atop her desk, on a mini refrigerator and in nearly every corner. Photos and

function in the plant life that surrounds them.

“The thing you want to do is to be scientifically

paintings—including an American Holly watercolor—

correct,” she says. “You also want to get visitors

take on a botanical theme, while bookcases struggle to

engaged.”

contain tomes on roses, herbs and exotic or rare plants.

Consider it required interior decorating for

Those visitors—some one million annually—include D.C. residents, tourists and high-ranking government

Shimizu M.S. ’84, executive director of the 186-year-

officials. Filled with fragrant blossoms and trickling

old United States Botanic Garden.

fountains, the gardens offer serenity, but Shimizu

Nestled at the foot of the National Mall, the Botanic Garden’s dramatic glass conservatory and Bartholdi Park are home to 18 individual gardens designed to teach and inspire.

ensures they also include an element of surprise.

With a collection of more than 20,000 plants— about 10,000 orchids alone—designs and information are constantly changing.

After working at public gardens in Pennsylvania

Shimizu oversees a staff

and throughout Europe, Shimizu earned her master’s

of 60 and coordinates

in horticulture while running the National Arboretum’s

daily activities,

herb garden. She joined the Botanic Garden in the

annual exhibits

1980s, but left for a stint at an up-and-coming garden

and special

in Richmond. She returned to D.C. as executive direc-

events held in

tor in 2000, just as the U.S. Botanic Garden was

conjunction with

undergoing a major renovation.

the Architect of the

“It’s had a lot of highs and lows,” says Shimizu.

Capitol or the

“We’re in a really great place now. I’m so lucky

Smithsonian

because I do what I love here.” —KM

Institution.

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HOLLY SHIMIZU AND ALUMNI BOOK COVER PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

alumniprofile Campaigning for Life-Saving Contributions AS A CHILD, Ben

travel 2006 Kenya Migration May 14–22 Observe the migratory patterns of the East African herds on a safari of Kenya’s Masai Mara Reserve. Each year, more than two million animals roam the Serengeti/Masai Mara ecosystem in search of food, providing an excellent opportunity to see what some call the greatest wildlife spectacle in the world.

Saxony Cruise on the Magnificent Elbe River September 27–October 6 Embark on a cruise down the Elbe River to visit the most picturesque

Ruder ’05 was terrified of needles.

“I used to scream and squirm to get away from the doctor,” he says.

Today this young alumnus is an avid advocate of the Ben Ruder ’05, right, CEO of Donors for Life, is campaign- dreaded syringe. As ing to save lives—one blood the CEO of Donors drive at a time. for Life, a marketing and consulting agency associated with the Red Cross, Ruder strives to significantly increase blood donations on college campuses.

Ruder dedicated much of his college career to the Red Terrapins, a campus group he founded his freshman year to coordinate student blood drives.

By his senior year, Maryland’s blood donations had increased from 250 to 1,000 pints a year.

As graduation day loomed, Ruder began to seek ways to continue and enhance his blood collecting mission. He felt that something more needed to be done.

“The challenge with the Red Terrapins is that it is run by full-time students—they’re limited to what they can do during the day,” he says.

Ruder approached the Red Cross with an idea to expand and continue what he was accomplishing at Maryland after graduation. Within eight months, Donors for Life was born.

In September 2005 alone, Donors for Life helped the University of Maryland collect 1,000 pints of blood. Due to its overwhelming success, the organization expanded in January to promote blood drives at George Washington, American and Catholic universities. The organization’s goal is to increase donations by 400 percent in the first semester at each of the schools.

In the spirit of competition, Ruder says he hopes Maryland’s momentum will eventually make them the leading collegiate supplier of blood donations to the Red Cross.

Though there are restrictions that reduce the percentage of students able to donate, Ruder says fear alone is not a valid excuse. “Giving blood is just such an easy way to give back to the community,” he says. “Even if you have a fear of needles—it doesn’t hurt too much.” —JP

cities in Germany’s provinces of Brandenburg and Saxony. This trip features faculty member Richard Raymond, an expert in art history.

Alumni College in Sicily September 30–October 9 Discover the Mediterranean island of Sicily, famous for its Greek and Roman ruins, beautiful architecture and delicious cuisine. Stay in the hilltop town of Taormina, located

From the Archives: Smooching Snippets IN THE SPIRIT of Valentine’s Day, the writers of Terp present you with this snippet from the scrapbook of Minnie Mosher Hill ’25 (center, in photo below). Recognized as the “most universally popular girl on campus” in her senior year book, Hill was active in athletics, university publications and student government.

Though it doesn’t call for chocolate, this Recipe for Kisses is a sweet morsel that will leave you craving for more:

on Sicily’s northeast coast. It is the perfect base from which to explore the city of Agrigento, whose Valley of the Temples is one of the most impressive classical sites in all of Italy.

For more details, visit www.alumni.umd.edu or call 301.405.7870, 800.336.8627.

“To one piece of dark piazza, add a little moonlight. Take for granted two people. Press in two strong ones a small hand. Sift lightly two ounces of attraction, one of Romance. Add a large measure of Folly. Stir in a floating ruffle and one or two whispers. Dissolve half a small quantity of hesitation, one ounce of resistance, two of yielding. Place the kisses on a flushed cheek or lips. Flavor with a slight scream and set aside to cool.

This will Succeed in any climate if the directions are carefully followed.”

Subtle clues lie within its pages, but Hill’s scrapbook gives no solid evidence as to who may have inspired this recipe. She donated the scrapbook to the university in 1975. Filled with dance cards, invitations, snapshots and newspaper clippings, the scrapbook provides an excellent context for the social life of co-eds in the roaring ’20s. —JP

TRAVEL IMAGES COURTESY OF ALUMNI HOLIDAYS INTERNATIONAL; PHOTO COURTESY OF BEN RUDER; MINNIE MOSHER HILL SCRAPBOOK PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

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TERPgenerations

Path to Maryland Paved Early Though his grandfather bears the distinction of being the first Chinese student to attend Maryland and his dad and all three uncles are alumni, Andrew Chen ’85 finds it surprising that the university knows who he is.

THE YOUNGER CHEN admits that he led

a low-key college life. A self-described “lost puppy” at Maryland, Chen worked through most of two majors, history and electrical engineering, before finding his way to the Robert H. Smith School of Business and a marketing degree.Thanks to strong family ties, the path to Maryland was much clearer.

Grandfather Chunjen Constant Chen came from Shanghai to enroll at All in the family: Maryland grads Andrew Chen (background, left) and his father, Yi Maryland in 1915 through a U. S. govChen, hope that Andrew’s daughter and ernment scholarship.Though he comson will be Terps one day. pleted his final undergraduate year at Cornell University, Chen came back to Maryland to earn his master’s of science in agriculture in 1920. He returned to China to marry and begin teaching agriculture and military science at Tsing Hua University in what is now Beijing.

After fleeing communist China in the 1950s, Chunjen Chen settled in Maryland with his wife, Eva Chen; his oldest son, Ping, was a student at the university.The elder Chen joined the faculty as a Chinese language instructor.

He retired as an assistant professor in 1967 and died in 1978, after sending to the university three more sons—Ming,Yi and Kong.Yi Chen ’55, Andrew’s father, says that he and his brothers didn’t have a choice about attending college elsewhere. Of Yi’s two sons, Andrew felt Maryland was his destination as well.

“I knew I was going to Maryland,” says Andrew, though to show his mom that he wasn’t limiting himself he also applied to the University of Virginia.

Now president of Laurel-based Peace Technology, an information technology consulting company, Andrew Chen says more than academics, he and his dad are bound to Maryland by its sports. Specifically basketball. “My dad is the first crazed Terp in the family. He’s this mild-mannered guy … who during games is screaming at the television.”

Yi Chen marvels at Maryland’s physical growth as he travels to campus to attend games with Andrew, a Terrapin Club member, and Andrew’s 5-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter.The two already know the Maryland Victory Song.

At least one of them, say Dad and Granddad, will be a fourth-generation Terp.

—MAB

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Chunjen (pictured above): B.S., agriculture from Cornell (1919), M.S., agriculture from Maryland (1920), on faculty teaching Chinese at Maryland until 1967

Ping: B.S. (1950), M.A. (1950), and Ph.D. (1959) government and politics, retired professor of political science at University of Eastern Illinois

Ming: B.S., electrical engineering from Maryland (1956), retired professor of applied mechanics at SUNY Stony Brook

Yi: B.S., physics (1955) and M.S., physics (1960), retired Montgomery County Public Schools employee

Kong: B.S., accounting (1966) from Maryland, retired Department of Defense employee

Andrew: B.S., marketing (1985), Peace Technology today

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Do You Have Strong Family Ties to Maryland Tell us your story.

Submit your “family tree” to the Terp Blog located off www.terp.umd.edu OR write to us at Terp magazine, Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center, University of Maryland, College Park, Md. 20742-1521.

Be sure to include your class year and how we can contact you.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNIVERSTIY ARCHIVES AND ANDREW CHEN

By making a gift through the Maryland Fund for Excellence AND joining your Maryland Alumni Association, you can enjoy a smashing future while creating knockout opportunities for future Terps.

When you make a gift through the

Maryland Fund forExcellence,

When you “Carry the Card” as an

Alumni Association member, you can:

support specific colleges and departments ◆ expand scholarship resources ◆ enhance classroom and library technology increase access to our nationally ranked programs ◆

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demonstrate your commitment to Alma Mater ◆ reunite with former classmates ◆ expand your professional contacts access the Riggs Alumni Center for private events ◆ earn 20% off Terp gear at alumni events support the Alumni Association Scholarship Fund

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Visit www.giving.umd.edu to make your gift.

Go to www.alumni.umd.edu for your membership application or to enroll in our new auto-renewal program.

PHOTOS BY JOHN CONSOLI

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m-file 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.

“I see people going two ways.They can continue with the plastic surgery, and just deny they’re aging. Or there can be a group who are saying,‘hey, age is good, age is great, I’m proud of my wrinkles, I’m proud of my gray hair.’”

NANCY SCHLOSSBERG, PROFESSOR EMERITA OF

“There is no market solution to New Orleans. … It essentially is a problem of coordinating expectations. If we all expect each other to come back, we will. If we don’t, we won’t.”

COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY, ON HOW BABY BOOMERS

THOMAS SCHELLING, PROFESSOR EMERITUS AND

COULD HANDLE TURNING 60, WASHINGTON POST,

2005 NOBEL PRIZE WINNER IN ECONOMICS, LOS

JANUARY 5

ANGELES TIMES, DECEMBER 4

“It’ll be the electronic equivalent of the interstate system in terms of improvement in transportation.”

“Black holes are perhaps the most exotic objects to impinge on the cosmic consciousness.”

PHILIP J. TARNOFF, CENTER FOR ADVANCED

CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS, ASTRONOMY, ON

TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGY, ON AN EMERGING

IMAGES OF BLACK HOLES TAKEN BY CHINESE

TECHNOLOGY TO MONITOR TRAFFIC FLOW BY DRIVERS’

RESEARCHERS, NATURE, NOVEMBER 3

CELL PHONES, BALTIMORE SUN, NOVEMBER 18

“It’s the 800-pound gorilla of free time.”

JOHN P. ROBINSON, SOCIOLOGY, ON HOW MUCH FREE TIME PEOPLE DEVOTE TO TELEVISION, NEW YORK TIMES, OCTOBER 27

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Seeing Through the Trees McKELDIN MALL’S TREE-LINED walkways have been a signature feature of the campus for generations. But as many of the trees have aged, hidden problems may be threatening their health. The university’s Office of Facilities Management is using a revolutionary technique to spot disease and fungus beneath the trees’ bark.

Maryland is the first university to employ a new radar imaging technology, billed “an MRI for a tree,” to find out what lies inside the trees. Combined with the results of upcoming root scans, the X-rays will reveal at-risk trees before it’s too late to save them.

“Fungal invasion from the ground attacks both the roots and internal trunk, literally eating away the wood,” says Tony Mucciardi, adjunct professor in natural resource sciences and landscape architecture and owner of TreeRadar Inc., which patented the tree X-ray technology. “This compromises a tree’s structural integrity and makes it a candidate to fall in even a moderate wind.”

In the survey’s preliminary stage, students from urban forestry and environmental sciences classes worked with facilities management to identify all the trees. Using a global positioning system, they recorded the species, size, condition and placement of 3,400 trees.

“We need trees to protect soil and make the air pollution-free. But more than that, these trees really define our landscape. Having those willow oaks line our walkways gives us a sense of community,” says natural resources and landscape architecture professor Marla McIntosh, whose students are working on the survey. —AS

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

University’s Research Park Continues to Grow A BURGEONING RESEARCH PARK spearheaded by

the University of Maryland continues to add significant research partners to its already impressive roster. Known as M Square, the University of Maryland Research Park, the 124-acre site is located about a mile from the university and is adjacent to the College Park/UM Metro station.

“M Square is the catalyst that allows for our faculty, federal research agencies and the private sector to come together in a seamless way,” says Brian Darmody, the university’s assistant vice president for research and economic development.

University officials want M Square to focus on three main areas: homeland security and related areas, including intelligence and food safety; earth and space sciences; and private R & D organizations conducting research.

All three of these initiatives are already moving forward, Darmody says. For example, the Center for the Advanced Study of Language, or CASL, officially opened last fall. CASL is a joint effort between the university and the U.S. intel-

ligence community, supporting the nation’s critical need for increased language capabilities. It is considered a major anchor in the research park and will collaborate with the National Foreign Language Center, an already established center (and new M Square tenant) that investigates the strategic impact of language and cross-cultural communication.

Darmody expects that federal researchers at the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (set to open in 2007) will work closely with Maryland faculty whose research involves the earth and space sciences.

Groundbreaking for the state-of-the-art NOAA weather center is scheduled for this spring.

Another addition to M Square is the Center for Food, Nutrition and Agriculture Policy, whose mission is to advance rational, science-based food and nutrition policy. The center will interact with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Nutrition—already headquartered at the research park—on important issues concerning food safety and security. —TV

When completed next year, the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (shown left) is expected to bring together government scientists and university faculty who will collaborate on climate and weather-related research topics.

Other new M Square construction includes a 120,000-sq.-ft. building (above), tentatively scheduled for occupancy by both university faculty and scientists from private research institutes and centers.

IMAGES COURTESY OF NOAA AND M SQUARE

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m-file Acting Tough in School—Is Most of It Just Acting?

RESEARCH SHOWS THAT

kids who easily transition from middle school to their freshman year of high school stand a good chance of continuing on to earn a diploma.

This transition isn’t always straightforward—particularly in inner-city schools—where students are often asked to navigate a narrow path between their school environment and the tough street culture that surrounds them.

Lory J. Dance, associate professor of sociology, has carefully observed the lives of inner-city youths going through this important phase of adolescence. Dance has spent considerable time studying 13- and 14-yearolds—both in and out of school—in lower-income neighborhoods around Boston and Philadelphia.

Dance identified many young people who acted tough in school because they felt they had to, not because they wanted to. “If you didn’t walk the walk and talk the talk of being tough,” Dance explains, “then you increased your chances of being beat up or disrespected in your own neighborhood.”

Many teachers would automatically group these atrisk youths together with more violent students, resulting in a disproportionate number of minority students routinely getting suspended or expelled. Dance believes that her research will help educa14

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“There is a tendency among teachers and school administrators to look at these at-risk groups and see them as monolithic, and not as individuals.” —LORY J. DANCE tors broaden or change the way they think about their interactions with kids from urban or low-income backgrounds.“There is a tendency among teachers and school

administrators to look at these at-risk groups and see them as monolithic, and not as individuals,” she says.

Dance recently returned from teaching and research in

Research by Lory J. Dance (center) may help educators better understand the tough-acting stance taken by some teens in inner-city schools.

Sweden as a Fulbright scholar.

In Europe, she was again studying at-risk teenage youths; this time it was European Muslim immigrants, who although white, are still deemed minorities in Swedish society. —TV

PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

Getting DWI Offenders Off the Road

Making Meat the New-Fashioned Way

MARYLANDERS MAY NOW feel safer when

ONCE THE SMIRKING or grimacing stops, producing meat in a lab begins to make sense. Or at least that’s what agricultural policy doctoral student Jason Matheny hopes happens. He and a few colleagues propose an alternative to the traditional cultivation and consumption of meat.

Major epidemics, such as smallpox, typhoid fever and the 1918 Spanish (avian) flu pandemic, can be traced to humans living in close proximity to feed animals being raised in unhealthy conditions. Circumstances today aren’t much better, says Matheny. “Intensive breeding” of animals with greatly compromised immune systems sets humans up for recurrences of avian flu and mad cow disease, he says, pointing to recent outbreaks.

“We saw [cultured meat] as a means of cleaning this up,” says Matheny, who co-wrote what appears to be the first peer-reviewed paper on the subject for Tissue Engineering. His co-authors are Pieter Edelman, formerly of Wageningen University, Netherlands; Douglas McFarland, South Dakota State University; and Vladimir Mironov, Medical University of South Carolina.

The process involves harvesting muscle cells from either living farm animals or stem cells from an embryo. The cells are multiplied by growing them on thin membranes in large sheets or on three-dimensional beads.

It could be a while before steaks or chicken tenders are products of such technology. While small amounts of meat have been created for NASA space missions, Matheny says commercial quantities are “hugely expensive to produce right now.”

To advance the technology, he and other scientists formed the nonprofit New Harvest research organization (www.new-harvest.org) to work on this and other meat substitutes. There’s also the issue of palatability. Matheny, a vegetarian, hasn’t tasted cultured meat, but adds, “It’s the kind of meat I’d be willing to eat.” —MAB

they hit the road thanks to a new program aimed at saving lives.

Amid an increase of alcohol-related auto fatalities, the Maryland Department of Transportation looked to Kenneth H. Beck, an expert in traffic safety and professor in the College of Health and Human Performance, to develop a unique curriculum geared to help law enforcement.

“The program came about in order to help the police be able to make more and better DWI arrests, to have that be a high priority and to upgrade their level of commitment to reach that goal,” Beck explains.

The training aims to combat an alarming trend. Over the last few years, the number of alcohol-related fatalities in Maryland has increased while nationwide the number has been dropping steadily.

And it’s not only lives that will be saved. Including lawsuits and prosecution costs, alcoholrelated crashes cost more than $140 billion to society annually, says Beck.

Two dozen experienced law enforcement officers from across the state participated in the weeklong program held at the university in September.

A previous class took place in May and a third is in the works.

The rigorous session was “designed for police officers to raise their skills to a new

level” while serving to complement the training that they have already received, says Tom Gianni, law enforcement program coordinator for the Maryland Highway Safety Office.

Officers walk away from the training better suited to handle DWI arrests, from the moment they begin patrolling the streets all the way through their day in court.

“Cases are becoming more and more complex and this training helps [law enforcement] prepare for those complexities,” says Gianni.

The program, the first of its kind in the nation, included hands-on workshops, a mock court and featured instruction by university professors, prosecuting attorneys and various experts in alcoholism.

“This training can help make the best police officers in the state even better,” says Stacey Green, assistant state’s attorney for Anne Arundel County.

Participants in the program were not the only ones benefiting. “Any time we can increase the effectiveness of law enforcement, the public stands to gain,” Gianni says. —JMR

ILLUSTRATION BY JEANETTE J. NELSON; ENGINEERED TISSUE IMAGE COURTESY OF JASON MATHENY

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Hornbake Library The UM Libraries will mark the University of Maryland’s 150th Anniversary with a special exhibit featuring memorabilia, photographs and documents from University

THROUGH AUGUST 2006 Corps of Cadets to Testudo’s Troops: 150 Years of Student Life at Maryland

8:00 p.m.

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center $30 ($24 subscription) Sponsored in part by an award from the National Endowment of the Arts “Vanqui” is the story of two Africans, and the triumph of the human spirit. Enslaved in America, forcibly separated and cruelly murdered, Vanqui and Prince arise as spirits who ride the wind searching for each other. On their journey, they meet freedom fighters, including Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. For more about the opera, which stars soprano Carmen Balthrop ’71, see page 31.

MARCH 4 Vanqui: An Opera in Two Acts (concert version)

Miller Senate Office Building, Annapolis Open weekly from 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

This special 150th Anniversary display communicates the importance and value of having one of the nation’s top public research universities in the state, highlighting the university’s history while looking toward the future.

THROUGH NOVEMBER 2006 150th Anniversary Annapolis Exhibit

Winter blues getting you down? Come in from the cold for anniversary exhibits, pleasing performances and an inspiring lecture. Before you know it, spring will be here, and what better way to welcome the new season than a visit on Maryland Day, the university’s annual open house.

If you’re a member of the Class of 1956, 1966 or 1981, your alumni association needs you! Help organize your class reunion by volunteering for a reunion committee. The 50th, 40th and 25th for these classes will be held this fall over Homecoming Weekend. Let the planning begin!

For more details, contact the alumni association.

Call for Volunteers

7:00 p.m.

Comcast Center The university-sponsored exhibition gymnastic troupe, Gymkana, brings its road show home. The annual event captures the best of Gymkana’s unique performances while promoting an anti-drug message. Advanced and group ticket sales available.

APRIL 7 AND 8 Gymkana Homeshow

1:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

Campus March 6, 2006, marks the university’s 150th Anniversary; it is the officially noted charter date of Maryland Agricultural College. To celebrate, the university will host one humongous birthday party for the entire campus community.

MARCH 6 Charter Day

Archives. The show will chronicle the student experience in the classroom, laboratory and dorm, on stage and on the playing field, in organized activities, and out and about on campus.

MARYLAND DAY www.marylandday.umd.edu

HORNBAKE LIBRARY 301.405.6320, www.lib.umd.edu/HBK/hornbake

GYMKANA HOME SHOW 301.405.2566, http://home.gymkana.org/gymkana

DAVID C. DRISKELL DISTINGUISHED LECTURE IN THE VISUAL ARTS 301.314.2615, www.driskellcenter.umd.edu

CLARICE SMITH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 301.405.ARTS (Ticket Office), www.claricesmithcenter.umd.edu

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 301.405.4678 or 800.336.8627, www.alumni.umd.edu

150TH ANNIVERSARY EVENTS www.150years.umd.edu

H OT L I N E

10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Campus Enjoy more than 450 activities during the university’s annual open house. There is something for everyone including tours and exhibits, live performances and sporting events, hands-on demonstrations and workshops, petting zoos, dairy delights and much more. Admission and parking are free.

APRIL 29 Maryland Day: Explore Our World!

4:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center Sponsored by the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of African Diaspora The annual lecture is part of a program that brings internationally known artists, scholars and educators in the field of African American visual arts and culture to the university. This year’s speaker is Distinguished University Professor Emeritus David C. Driskell, artist, art historian, collector and curator. Admission is free.

APRIL 20 Fifth Annual David C. Driskell Distinguished Lecture in the Visual Arts

IT’S JUST AFTER 3 P.M., and the sun is already sinking into the willowy trees behind the grave of university founder Charles Benedict Calvert.

A film crew hustles to move an overhead camera into the cemetery and adjust metallic light boards to capture the right mix of shadows and detail—all of them knowing these scenes should have been in the can hours ago.

But a morning re-enactment at historic Riversdale Mansion took longer than expected, and when the crew moved down the road to the family plot, they found the lock on the gates rusted closed.Their keys were no good, and even with permission to break the lock, they had no bolt cutters to do the trick.

So the crew, composed of the university’s video production unit and local freelancers, finally broke in by bashing it off with a plain old hammer. As rush hour traffic kicked up on nearby East-West Highway a few minutes later, a writer was off to buy a new lock and the camera was rolling on “Keeping the Promise:The Rise of the University of Maryland.”

In the works for more than a year,“Keeping the Promise” documents the history of the university from its infancy to its current status as a Top-20 research institution—all in 60 minutes.The brainchild of several current students and alumni, the movie includes a mix of live-action scenes; historical images; interviews with historians and prominent university officials like University Archivist Anne Turkos and Distinguished University Professor of History Ira Berlin; and video taken on campus over the last few decades.

Mac Nelson, director and producer for university video, says bringing it all together was sometimes a logistical nightmare, a project that required a great deal of ingenuity.

“It’s been a real challenge to get everything we wanted,” says Nelson, who has been with the university for 35 years.

“We wanted to give a lot of rich production value to everything we did.”

There were days when the elements seemed to be conspiring against the crew.The costumer was hours late one day.The next day, a carriage needed for horse and buggy scenes was stuck in gridlock after a truck overturned on i-95.The rusted lock could have cost an entire afternoon of shooting.

Luck, however, worked in their favor occasionally.

One person the crew wanted to track down for the movie was Chet “The Jet” Hanulak, a member of Maryland’s 1953 national championship football team and a Cleveland Brown from 1954 until 1957.They’d had no success until the 2005 Homecoming game, when University Marketing Director Deborah Wiltrout bumped into Hanulak’s wife. In minutes, a freelance cameraman—already on campus to capture football footage—had the cameras set up for an on-thespot interview.

Former Student Government Association legislator Scott Tsikerdanos ’05 was one of three students who brought the idea of permanently capturing Maryland memories to Linda Clement, vice president for student affairs.Touring Hornbake Library—home to University Archives—for an honors seminar, the psychology major was amazed by how much Maryland history he and his classmates didn’t know.The group decided a Maryland Museum or a film might be a good way to boost pride and responsibility, particularly at a time when the university was addressing the issue of fan behavior.

“It occurred to me that other schools took a much more proactive role in educating their students about the history of their schools,” Tsikerdanos recalls. “I thought that if [Maryland] students knew the history of this university, they would be likely to become engaged students and active alumni.”

Director and Producer MAC NELSON (standing right) and Video Editor CHRIS ABOLT (kneeling on right) pose with other members of the cast and crew while filming a historical re-enactment at Charles Calvert’s grave.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN T. CONSOLI AND MAC NELSON

Clement supported the idea, and in November 2004, she sent the students to meet with Wiltrout, a member of the university’s 150th Anniversary Committee. She, too, liked the idea of a Maryland movie, but knew finding funding for such a massive project might be difficult.To boost their chances, the SGA donated $5,000 in seed money. Over the next several months, the alumni association, the offices of undergraduate admissions and university marketing agreed to split the production costs.

A core group of university staffers worked on the movie throughout 2005, starting with an outline listing important facts to cover and potential interviews. Once a script was completed, the team had to travel to record many of the participants—including a 105-year-old alumnus in Tennessee and former chancellor John Slaughter in New York.They also had to pin down always-busy students for camera time, as well as coordinate re-creations, aerial shots, archival footage and special effects. In all, the crew shot roughly 20 times more digital footage than they were able to squeeze into an hour-long video. Even more material was left on the proverbial cutting-room floor when the team created a 20-minute version to air in freshmen classes, orientation sessions and at the Visitor Center.

“Even if it’s not used, it’s still a great opportunity to get historical information that we may not have another chance to get,” says Video Editor Chris Abolt.With more than 60 tapes, each 30 minutes or longer, the crew covered significant ground in just a few months of taping.To preserve their efforts, all of the digital recordings and still images they used will be catalogued into University Video’s database and stored in University Archives once filming is complete.

The final version of the movie, set to debut on Maryland Public Television March 8, doesn’t gloss over the university’s struggles. Segments focus on integration, as well as the promising life and sudden death of basketball player Len Bias.

“Our goal was to really create a historical documentary of the university, addressing the downs as well as the ups,” says Wiltrout. “We’re not going to belabor them, but they have to be included to demonstrate just how far the university has come.”

The true-to-history interpretation sits well with Tsikerdanos, who has served on the movie’s oversight committee since graduating and beginning work in human resources. “I hope that people [who see the movie] take

away that this university is an institution with a long and proud history,” he says. “While there may have been rough times in the past, and most undoubtedly there will be in the future, this university has always managed to bounce back and grow after adversity.”

Abolt’s special effects helped capture that resiliency in a unique way. Using black-and-white archive images of the old campus barracks as visual cues, he “built” the dorms electronically, then layered in vibrant, licking flames in a virtual 3-d recreation of the Fire of 1912. High-quality editing equipment—some of the same equipment used to make the university’s Fear the Turtle advertising spots— guaranteed “Keeping the Promise” wouldn’t look like a low-budget film.

Throughout the production, the Maryland team turned to outside experts to ensure accuracy and high production values. Historical Entertainment, the casting company hired to recreate scenes at Riversdale, the Calvert family cemetery and at a farm in Front Royal,Va., previously worked for The History Channel and provided actors, make up and costumes for films like “Cold Mountain” and “Gods and Generals.” Doug Ray Production Services provided lighting —spending more than an hour to get the right amount of orange flicker in one fireside scene—and has done the same on dozens of previous university productions.

Alumnus Herb Rosen helped research and write the university’s history in screenplay form, while Mike Fincham ’63 finalized the script and helped bring it to life as a co-producer.

Fincham, coordinator for the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s Sea Grant College, and Nelson have collaborated on projects since 1975, a period in which the university—and its campus—have undergone major changes.

Each time Nelson takes his camera out and about, he gains some new perspective. He last shot aerial footage about six years ago, so the view had changed considerably when he went up in a helicopter in October to get new overhead views for the movie’s opening sequence.Though work on the Engineering Fields marred one of the prettiest campus scenes, Nelson said it was exciting to see additions like Comcast Center and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center pop up on his camera monitor.

No doubt the view will be just as spectacular on our television screens. TERP

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From farming, locally to growing, globally

Story by ELLEN TERNES

n the shadow of the gleaming Comcast Center and down the street from the modern Plant Sciences building and the state-of-the-art Kim Engineering Building, you can still hear the cows mooing in the early morning quiet.

Tucked beneath the high-rise dorms in the Centreville complex, the university farm is easy to miss. If your routes don’t take you to that end of campus, you could spend an entire undergraduate career at Maryland and never see the horses, sheep and cows that live in the barn.

Operated by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the farm is the one place on campus where students in animal science classes can still get hands-on experience with livestock. Perhaps the important thing to understand about this small farm is that just about everything the University of Maryland has become grew out of something very much like these five acres.

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Today, the reach of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources spans from a single molecule in a lab to a community in Western Maryland to the Chesapeake Bay watershed to food production in China.

“We used to serve a certain percent of the population,” says Cheng-i Wei, who took over as dean of the college in September.

“That’s expanded to the whole population.We are still doing traditional agriculture, but the new agriculture now extends to healthy humans, a healthy environment and a healthy economy.”

Healthy Humans

In 1856, when the Maryland Agricultural College—MAC— was chartered on property belonging to Charles Calvert, there was nothing but farm.The whole reason for starting the private college was to give sons of well-heeled landowners a place to learn the science of farming.When MAC became a land grant institution in 1864, something big changed—the school welcomed students (still all men) from all walks of life.And one of the school’s new missions was to use the institution’s knowledge to help improve life for citizens of Maryland.

In 1864, when more than two-thirds of Maryland was agrarian, that meant mostly teaching people new and better ways to feed their families. MAC remained heavily agricultural for many years—the “cow college” in College Park. But by the time MAC became the University of Maryland in 1920, and since then, American life has gone through several sea-changes—transformation of agriculture into an industry, space travel, the computer, globalization, the Internet, genetics. It would never again be just life on the farm.

Living up to its land grant mission to make life better for the citizens of Maryland meant that the university would have to expand from its agricultural roots. As the university grew into a leading research institution, the College of Agriculture grew with it.

Eating isn’t as simple as it used to be. Modern mass production of food has brought abundance, but it’s also brought worries about things like antibiotic resistance, food-borne illness, infectious disease, insecticide use and genetic engineering of crops.

Faculty researchers in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources are becoming leaders in these issues. Daniel Perez is one of world’s top researchers of avian influenza. Jianghong Meng, a recognized global authority on food safety, is doing groundbreaking work on how food-borne pathogens, such as E coli bacteria, become resistant to antibiotics used in livestock production.

Faculty travel to places like China and Mexico, which export food to the United States, to teach safe food production methods and U.S. regulations.

Several major food safety research centers and institutes are based at the university.The college’s Center for Food Systems Security has just been launched to help scientists, businesses, regulators and government officials ensure a safe food chain. Robert Facchina, a 1977 alumnus of the college and now president and CEO of Johanna Foods, gave $1.2 million to create the center and endow a chair in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science.

“In addition to helping students achieve their dreams,” Facchina says, “I hope this gift will also provide the entire nation with the knowledge necessary to ensure a secure and ample food and water supply for our day-to-day needs, as well as during catastrophic events.”

Into the Future Where Maryland’s agriculture and natural resources strengths will be going and growing …

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Water Quality The quality of the water in streams and rivers

Rural Development Maryland’s rural areas have seen their tra-

will become even more important to the health of the Chesapeake Bay. University researchers and educators will continue to find new ways to reduce the release of polluting elements, such as pesticides and fertilizer, in Maryland waters.

ditional means of support give way to urbanization, environmental threats and changes in product demands. University researchers will help devise alternative ways to help the state’s rural communities thrive.

Bioenergy To reduce dependence on oil and other fossil fuels,

Nutraceuticals University researchers will look at ways to add

scientists will research new energy sources from organic fuel sources like plant vegetation and grain.

nutrients and medicinal elements to crops and food products to enhance their natural nutritional value.

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A Healthy Environment Over the decades we’ve learned that what we do in our own backyards can affect the environment hundreds of miles away. University researchers, many of them in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, were instrumental in showing that the fertilizers and chemicals used on farm crops and home flowerbeds have a profound impact on the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay and water sources in the bay’s watershed.Today, college faculty are researching ways to reduce that impact on the bay and the state’s ecology, developing real-world solutions to environmental problems.

Andrew Baldwin looks for signs of pollution in Chesapeake marshlands. Rosalina Angel studies ways to change what poultry producers feed their flocks, to reduce the effects of nutrient waste on the environment. John Lea-Cox researches nutrient management for commercial nurseries, to help lessen environmental impacts.

Healthy Economy Maryland’s rural areas face economic challenges.Tobacco that supported generations of communities in Southern Maryland is no longer a profitable crop for many farmers.

Real estate development threatens small farm survival.

College researchers and Extension specialists are helping to find new ways for all of Maryland’s communities to thrive.

Y. Martin Lo is one of a team of faculty who are studying how tobacco can be used as a protein source for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Joseph Viola, a vitaculturalist and Maryland Cooperative Extension specialist based in Washington County, is showing former tobacco farmers and others how they can grow grapes for wine and even produce medal-winning wine from apples. In Kent County, Extension agent John Hall worked with farmers to form the Chesapeake Fields cooperative, which gives members full control of their products, from the field to baking and distribution of artisan breads and healthy snacks.Through the Maryland Saves program, assistant professor Jinhee Kim and Extension educators help families learn to handle finances wisely.

And at the university, classes in landscape management and other natural resource areas are growing, as more students prepare for careers in the newly booming green industry.

Extension Service Mirrors the Times In 1914, Congress created a national Cooperative Extension System. The idea was to “extend” the research and work of universities, such as the Maryland Agricultural College, to the public—mostly farmers.

Today’s Maryland Cooperative Extension is part of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. It remains an important source of information for farmers and producers, as well as families, urban youth and Marylanders who care about the environment.

Specialists in every Maryland county and Baltimore City, along with 200 university faculty from several colleges, as well as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, are involved in Maryland Cooperative Extension.

As in generations past, today’s Maryland Cooperative Extension mirrors its time.

Maryland Cooperative Extension Highlights

1917

1928

Demonstrate ways to use electricity on the farm.

Ramp up nutrition education after first military draft rejects a large percentage of men for poor nutrition.

1950 1954

Quality of Life Today’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources bears little resemblance to the small college that began here 150 years ago. But its mission is as critical to the modern world as MAC was to the earlier citizens of Maryland.

“A farmer can still pick up the phone and call our Extension office, and we are there to help,” says Dean Wei. “But we will also meet the expectations of a leading research university. It’s about quality of life, about sustainability and passing on a better world to the next generation.” TERP

Establish community kitchens … During the influenza epidemic, Hagerstown kitchen is converted into Emergency Diet Kitchen, to feed hundreds of influenza patients.

1983 2006

Conduct series of television programs for rural and urban audiences Hurricane Hazel destroys 700 tobacco barns and 2,000 poultry houses. Extension engineers show better construction methods to help avoid future losses.

Introduce crime prevention program for disadvantaged youth Dozens of programs, including Small and Beginning Farmers program; Maryland Home and Garden Information Center (www.hgic.umd.edu); nutrition education for low-income families; 1,600 Maryland youth in 4-H after-school programs.

TERP WINTER ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

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WINE WIZARD Parker’s Power Is Felt Worldwide STORY BY KATRINA ALTERSITZ ILLUSTRATION BY MIRA AZARM

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When Robert Parker ’70 entered Professor of History Gordon Prange’s class during his junior year at Maryland, he was far from the passionate student he would become and still is today.

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“He got a student who was half-assed to get serious about his academic endeavors,” says Parker, recalling his days as a Phi Kappa Sigma brother living on Frat Row. “He turned the lights on.”

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And ever since, Parker has been lighting up the world around him, especially the world of the wine industry.Today, Robert Parker is a name feared and awed by wine makers, a name trusted and held high above by wine buyers and a name that few knew 30 years ago.

His journey from history major at Maryland to international wine critic began in 1967 with a trip to France to spend six weeks with his then-girlfriend who was studying abroad. “I was just like a sponge that absorbed so much because of my studies and because of her,” Parker says.

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Over dinner with the woman who now shares his life, Parker met the other half of his destiny in a modest carafe of wine.

“Here was a beverage that was pleasing from a pure hedonistic side but there was this intellectual side,” Parker says. “There was a mild sense of euphoria. It seemed to enhance the food. It seemed to encourage conversation.”

Here was a previously undiscovered sensation. For him, beer was bloating and liquor numbed the senses.With wine he found his perfect medium, his art. Of course, Parker admits with a laugh, “The stuff I was drinking back then I probably wouldn’t touch today.”

Luckily for today’s average wine consumer—the one who walks into the local

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“I like that most Americans 20

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know that 90 is a good score and that 70 is an average score.”

10 (above) Robert Parker’s journey to international wine critic began on a 1967 trip to France with his then girlfriend and now wife, Patricia.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROBERT PARKER

PARKER’S PICKS The best introductory guide to wine is Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World Wine Course. Karen McNeil’s Wine Bible, which is much more comprehensive, is also very good for beginners.

My call for wine find of the year is inexpensive Malbecs (a red grape varietal from Argentina) that are wonderful buys if you like dry red wine. The 2005 Beaujolais Nouveau should be terrific, as it was a great vintage in that region. Those wines will be followed by the more serious Beaujolais, which will be released this spring.

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wine store and peruses the various wine bottles, looking for the highest grade assigned to the best buy—he did drink that French wine and never stopped.

When Parker returned to Maryland, he started a wine-tasting group, “a hard core group of about three or four” and a “rotating group” who would join in for a night or two of tasting various French wines.

Parker led the group, helping to choose the wines to buy with the group’s $20 budget and banning smoking because he felt it interfered with the tasting.

“It’s amazing how much wine you could buy at that time for $20.”The winetasting group lasted past Parker’s 1970 graduation and through his next step in life—or as he remembers it, his denial of the real world.

“I only went to law school because I didn’t want to work,” Parker says.

He went through the University of Maryland School of Law and crammed in an entire month of all-nighters to pass the bar exam, and avoided many of the traditional law student’s duties. Rather than clerking every summer, Parker and his wife caught student flights to Spain, Italy and France—anywhere with a vineyard.

“I continued to practice law, but every spare moment I continued to taste wine,” he says. “My whole love was wine … but there was no way you could make a living writing about wine.”

He soon proved himself and everyone else wrong when he started the BaltimoreWashington Wine Advocate—a magazine envisioned as a consumer advocate for wine buyers, separate from the wine industry where many wine critics intermingled with the winemakers they were reviewing.

“I was appalled by the general lack of integrity in the wine industry,” Parker says.

Influenced by what he had witnessed and the philosophies of consumer advocate Ralph Nader, Parker refused free samples and would not accept any advertising.

Instead, the self-proclaimed “wine nerd” went to local distributors and bought their mailing lists and compiled a magazine of criticisms on various wines he had tasted.

The wines were graded on a scale of 50 28

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to 100 points. Rather than the original 20point wine scale that detracts points, Parker’s scale added points based on the quality of the wine.

“I never ever dreamed the system would be so widely accepted,” he says. His scoring system also reflects his democratic approach to wine: don’t assume anything before a tasting and treat all wines the same no matter the vineyard’s heritage. Plus, he says, “I like that most Americans know that 90 is a good score and that 70 is an average score.”

He sent out his first subscription attempt for free, explained the rules and set $10 for future subscriptions.The 10 percent return—“extraordinary” to Parker today—was disappointing to the fledgling wine critic, but he persevered.

“I knew that this independent sort of thing was resonating and people liked the simplicity of what I was trying to do,” he says. But it wasn’t until 1982 that Parker’s name became a worldwide phenomenon.

Parker traveled to France to taste the Bordeaux batch of 1982. He predicted these to be timeless wines and, still today, says they are among the “best wines I ever tasted.” His opinion was disregarded by other American wine critics and he was attacked as a novice who had no place in the international wine world.Today, he remembers it as a “dramatic schism” between the critics of old and himself.

But the public had more respect for the newcomer and there was a “gigantic demand” for the wine. “I had built up much more credibility than I even thought,” Parker says. “The trade then began paying attention to what I was doing.”The subscription count for the Wine Advocate reflected Parker’s growing influence. By 1983, more than 8,000 people were subscribing, enough for Parker to leave law behind.

“I think it was sort of a crazy move. I had the passion, I had the interest. I knew I was good,” he says. “I never had any doubts that I would succeed. I just didn’t know what shape that success would take.” After receiving the highest presidential awards possible from both Italy (Commander in

PARKER’S PRIMER

Beware the 12 greatest lies you are likely to hear from people in the wine trade.

12 The reason the price is so high is because the wine is rare and great.

11 We ship and store all our wines in temperature-controlled containers.

10 You didn’t let it breathe long enough.

9 You let it breathe too long.

8 Sediment is a sign of a badly made wine.

7 Boy, are you lucky … this is my last bottle (case).

6 Just give it a few years.

5 We picked before the rains.

4 The rain was highly localized; we were lucky it missed our vineyard.

3 Parker or the Wine Spectator are going to give it a 94 in the next issue.

2 This is the greatest wine we have ever made, and, coincidentally, it is the only wine we now have to sell.

1 It’s supposed to smell and taste like that.

Italy’s National Order of Merit) and France (Knighthood and Office status in France’s Legion of Honor), after writing more than 10 books and doing it all by following his true passion, Parker believes he has found that success.

“Information is empowering,” he says.

“And if you’re providing the information where people can learn and evolve, people can go as far as they want.”

For him, this business allows him to constantly go back to the days of Gordon Prange and the University of Maryland, even if it is without the smells of half-price pizza night at Town Hall or the Hungry Herman sub shop.

“You’re always a student,” he says.

“You’re always going back to school.” TERP

in

theloop Benefactor’s $30 Million Gift Establishes New Bioengineering Department ROBERT E. FISCHELL, M.S. ’53, physics, and a 1996 honorary doctor of science, has spent the better part of his career saving or improving lives with the invention of a host of life-saving medical devices.

Now, with a gift of $30 million to the A. James Clark School of Engineering, Fischell is giving engineering students an opportunity to develop ideas and create devices of their own to improve health care and change millions of lives.

His gift, one of the three largest ever received by the university, will establish the Fischell Department of Bioengineering and the Robert E. Fischell Institute of Biomedical Devices in the Clark School.

In a separate gift, his sons, David, Scott and Tim, committed $1 million to support the new department.

“I want undergraduate and graduate students to have the vision to search for answers to scientific questions and the courage to pursue their ideas.This gift focuses on students’ ability to innovate, to

make new devices, and to help mankind cure any disease imaginable,” Fischell explains. He recounts his own version of the Serenity Prayer that has guided much of his work,“God grant me the courage to use my intellect to pursue medical treatments that can change the course of human life.”

Fischell, who holds more than 200 patents, is the father of modern medical stents, lifelong pacemaker batteries and implantable insulin pumps. His sons are his closest collaborators and one of their latest innovations is a pacemaker-sized implantable computer that provides the earliest possible warning of an impending heart attack. Fischell founded Angel Medical Systems Inc., named by his granddaughter, Jennifer, and run by his son, David, to bring the technology to market. It is one of more than a half dozen companies, including Pacesetter Systems, IsoStent, Neuropace and NeuraLieve, which he has founded since 1969 to develop his inventions.

Robert E. Fischell (second from left) has established a bioengineering program at Maryland with help from his three sons (from left) David, Scott and Tim.

His family shares his passion for changing the world through inventive genius, hard work and philanthropy. “The deepest happiness comes from what you are doing to make the world a better place,” says Fischell, who is now busy instilling those values in his grandchildren. “Joy in life comes from what you accomplish and what you have done to help humankind.”

Fischell serves on the university’s Board of Trustees and the Clark School’s Board of Visitors. —NG

specialGIFTS Michael S. Dana ’81, a trustee with the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, pledged $1 million toward the upcoming fundraising campaign. His gift will support athletics and undergraduate student initiatives including the University of Maryland Incentive Awards Program. Dana is CEO of Onex Real Estate Partners in New York.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded $841,000 for the College of Information Studies’ Computational Linguistics for Metadata Building (CLiMB-2) Project. CLiMB adapts and uses computational linguistic techniques in novel ways to mine metadata from scholarly literature to improve subject access to images. Providing adequate subject access to images is a significant problem in digital libraries and other collections of images.

PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

Robert H. Smith ’50 made a new commitment of $500,000 toward the Southwest District landscaping project. This effort is designed to add a mall area outside of Van Munching Hall and to provide green space to an area of campus that has been undergoing a great deal of construction.

Aris Mardirossian ’74, ’75, made a gift of $150,000 to establish the Aris and Marianne Mardirossian Endowed Scholarship at the Clark School of Engineering for undergraduate mechanical engineering students. Mardirossian is president of Technology Patents LLC. Jane Anne Henson ’55 made a commitment of $100,000 in part to support a creative artist residency program in the Department of Theatre. Henson, widow of Jim Henson ’60, is president of the Jim Henson Legacy in New York City.

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play-by-play SCOREcard

Valmon Is on the Right Track THOUGH HE WON two Olympic gold medals as a member of the U.S. 4x400-meter relay team, Andrew Valmon is far from the finish line.These days he is in a new race, leading Maryland’s track and field teams back to prominence in a sport that reigned supreme at the university for nearly 30 years.

Now entering his third season as Maryland’s head coach of track and field, Valmon is pleased with the track and field teams’ progress.

The Terp men douOlympic gold medalist Andrew Valmon (above bled their point proand below, right) is now duction last season at leading Maryland’s Track the ACC meet. And and Field teams.

Dominic Berger won the 110-meter hurdles at the USA Track and Field Junior Nationals. On the women’s side, Kierra Foster was named an All-American when she placed in the long jump. Athletes from both teams made the Pan Am Junior team that competed in Canada in last year.Together, the Terps set nine school records last season.

“It’s refreshing to see the program come back to the forefront and join the crowd,” says Valmon.With about 70 athletes and four events (field, hurdles, jumps and distance), track and field teams comprise the second largest body of student athletes at Maryland.

Valmon turned to two of Maryland’s most successful track and field coaches for advice on recharging the teams. Frank Costello ’68, twotime national champion and NCAA Coach of 30

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the Year, is now a volunteer assistant coach for Maryland. Costello linked Valmon to Jim Kehoe ’40, national Hall of Famer, who led the Terps to 48 conference team championships and has attended several of the current teams’ events.

Valmon’s own coaching style is straightforward. “They need to compete, and let me manage,” he says.“And there is no trade-off for hard work.” Instilling confidence in his teams is equally important.“Once it’s there athletically, you can reinforce to them that the sky is the limit with anything that they do.”

He also requires his students to do community service, creating “humble warriors.” Distance runner Danielle Siebert received the ACC Community Service award for her volunteer work at several organizations, including The Avenue Program, a nonprofit that Valmon and his wife and fellow Olympian, Meredith Rainey Valmon, founded in 1993.

The Avenue Program connects young people with role models.The volunteers, many of whom are former athletes, visit area schools and community organizations about the challenges they overcame to achieve their goals. Olympic gymnast Peter Vidmar tells the people with whom he meets that his 5-foot-5 stature could have discouraged him from being an athlete, but found that in gymnastics, it gave him an advantage.

In between coaching and volunteering for The Avenue Program,Valmon, a father of three, serves on an Olympic panel confronting the issue of under funded sports. Since the majority of Olympic athletes come through the NCAA, Valmon says it’s critical that young athletes receive the support they need so that they can compete with the best in the world. If his celebrity can raise that awareness, then he is all for it.

Says Valmon, “I want to maintain a legacy in my own sport.” —BAM

University of Maryland students are the best in the nation at supporting their sports teams, according to a survey by The Princeton Review. Maryland topped the 2005 list for schools where students pack the stadiums, edging out Notre Dame, Florida, Penn State and North Carolina.

Two Maryland teams brought home national titles last fall, with men’s soccer securing its first championship since 1968 and field hockey winning its first in six years. After losing in the national semifinals three years in a row, the No. 1–ranked men’s team rebounded to defeat New Mexico 1–0. Meanwhile, the field hockey team posted 23 wins and captured the ACC championship to become the second-most winning team in program history.

The USA Basketball Executive Committee named Terps forward/center Crystal Langhorne USA Basketball 2005 Female Athlete of the Year. Langhorne, a sophomore, led the 2005 USA Under-19 team to an 8–0 record and a gold medal in the world championship.

For more on The Avenue Program, visit www.avenueprogram.org.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

spotlight Trumpeting the Triumphant Human Spirit

School of Music faculty member and alumna Carmen Balthrop ’71, soprano, performs the title role in “Vanqui” composed by Leslie Savor Burrs (right). The artwork (left) of Distinguished University Professor Emeritus David C. Driskell is part of the university production’s set.

WHAT BETTER SIGNATURE event to cel-

ebrate the university’s 150th Anniversary than a production of “Vanqui,” an American opera that tells a touching love story that spans 150-plus years from 1700 to 1861. Set to the lyrical poetry of librettist John A.Williams and the music of composer and virtuoso flutist Leslie Burrs, it features in the title role Carmen Balthrop ’71, voice professor in the School of Music and an internationally acclaimed soprano in her own right.

“Vanqui” is uniquely American, a kind of aural assortment of American music that composer Leslie Burrs describes as “urban classical.” Burrs mixes all of the musical genres he was exposed to while growing up in Philadelphia: jazz, classical, blues, African and Gospel styles. “I wanted to make an artistic statement about the eclecticism of our society, finding my own voice for bringing those genres together rather than being true to one particular genre of music,” he says.

Bringing a new multi-media element

PHOTO BY STAN BAROUH; ARTWORK (DETAIL) BY DAVID C. DRISKELL

to this university production is the artwork of Distinguished University Professor Emeritus David C. Driskell.

Balthrop had suggested that Driskell, an artist and scholar regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on African American art, would add a wonderful new visual context for “Vanqui,” and a new level of collaboration began.

The story—part mythical, part historical—is about a young runaway slave, Prince, who is killed during a slave revolt when his wife,Vanqui, is sold to another plantation.Vanqui’s new owner’s wife kills her in a fit of jealousy. Resurrected as spirits,Vanqui and Prince “ride the wind” in search of each other. During their journey they encounter famous freedom fighters, including Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, Frederick Douglass and John Brown.

Reunited in the end,Vanqui and Prince symbolize the ultimate triumph of the human spirit.

Balthrop knew there was something special about “Vanqui” from the minute

she heard the music.When the new opera was commissioned by Opera Columbus, with whom Balthrop had collaborated before, her name came up repeatedly as someone to consider for the title role. Burrs needed little persuasion after hearing some tapes of her singing. “We knew she was the best choice for the lead,” he says. Balthrop returns the compliment, saying that her character’s music is haunting and “a beautiful fit. … the part was written in a key that brings out the best in me.” Critics agree, saying that she sings the score “with mystical rapture and warm, luscious tone.”

For those who have limited or no exposure to opera or have felt intimidated by the art form in the past,“Vanqui,” assures Balthrop, will be a perfect introduction.“Whatever music you think you like, you are going to find it in ‘Vanqui,’ ” she says. I’ve never seen anyone, in the eight or nine years I’ve been connected to this opera, who wasn’t ecstatic about it.” —AH To listen to audioclips of “Vanqui” and to read the synopsis, visit the Clarice Smith Center’s Web site: www.claricesmithcenter.umd.edu.

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Interpretations Realizing a Promise of Greatness

AS WE PREPARE to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the university’s charter, we recall that top quality was the promise in the University of Maryland’s mission from the outset.

In 1858, the founder of the Maryland Agricultural College, Charles Benedict Calvert, proclaimed, “We desire to have an Institution superior to any other.” Calvert recognized that academic innovations in agriculture would transform farming practices and the Maryland economy.

Fast forward to more recent history.

State of Maryland leaders have an even greater appreciation for the link between a strong research university and a vibrant economic future. In 1988, the state set expectations that our university be ranked among the nation’s best public flagships, and went even further in 1999 by stipulating that the achievement of the top-tier ranking by the university be the state’s number one priority in higher education.

These are remarkable recognitions of the importance of the flagship to the future of the state, and a public policy position that is singular in the nation.

Equally important to delivering the state’s promise to build a top-ranked flagship university is our promise to deliver affordable access to it.We are fiercely determined to

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provide highly talented Maryland students the opportunity to graduate from the university regardless of financial circumstances.

To fulfill these promises requires a multiyear partnership involving four players: the university, the state, the University System, and our alumni and friends. All have key roles to play and only by working together can we together deliver the promises.

The university is primarily responsible for delivering quality programs.We will use enhanced resources to increase financial aid and reduce the unmet financial need of Maryland students.We will invest enhanced revenues in nationally eminent faculty, innovative programs for undergraduates, and graduate programs that will be renowned for their quality, contribution, and national recognition.We will operate efficiently, raise revenue through entrepreneurial initiatives and expanded summer

Likewise we have asked the University System to make “Delivering the Promises” a priority, hence supporting policies that encourage maximum flexibility and innovation; to advocate for funding that supports enhancement; and to reflect the flagship priority in system budget allocations.

Alumni and friends will promote increased quality and access through heightened philanthropy in the new campaign. By 2011 they will contribute at least $200 million in new scholarship funds, contribute at least $600 million in support of other university initiatives, help publicize university accomplishments, advocate for flagship funding, and assist in building alliances between the university and businesses, federal laboratories and other educational institutions.

The commitment of these four partners will ensure that Charles Benedict Calvert’s pronouncement is being realized. Having a

“We desire to have an Institution superior to any other.” * F O U N D E R C H A R L E S B E N E D I C T C A LV E R T , 1 8 5 8

and winter term offerings, expand our research mission, and continue to develop mutually beneficial partnerships.

We have requested the state to increase funding per student through General Fund allocations and tuition increases, thereby meeting the flagship mandate and the state’s funding guideline by 2010; and to provide capital funding to construct and renovate facilities, thus enabling the ultimate in educational and research opportunities needed at a top-ranked flagship.

superior university was important then, but it is even more critical today. Research universities have always been the most persistent organizations in the history of mankind because they are society’s best way of transforming itself. As we fast forward to the decades ahead, the spirit of our roots enables us to capitalize on our strengths and serve the larger community—now globally as well as regionally— in enormously significant ways.

–Dan Mote, President PHOTO BY JEREMY GREEN

A l low u s to h o st your eve nt i n

OUR HOME Introducing the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center at the University of Maryland, the Baltimore /Washington area’s newest event venue.

ALUMNI HALL Room for approximately 500 guests Stained-glass ocular Grand fireplace CONFERENCE

AND

R E T R E AT S PA C E

50-seat boardroom Meeting rooms equipped with state-of-the-art multimedia technology Mahogany-paneled library M A RY L A N D C L U B Sports bar fitted with a fireplace and big screen TV Photographic exhibit of Maryland athletes— past and present Hardwood floors replicating center court in Cole Field House T H E M OX L E Y G A R D E N S Lush gardens of red, white and gold A view of the Center’s signature architecture The relaxing sight and sound of a flowing fountain

The Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center is the perfect location for all of your most important events—personal or professional. For more information, call 301.405.9756/800.336.8627 or go to www.alumni.umd.edu/riggs.

rain or shine free!

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The University of Maryland is turning 150 and it’s never looked better.

We invite you

to come and see for yourself as we open our doors to

the entire community on Maryland Day— Saturday, April 29, 2006 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Enjoy more than 400 free performances, demonstrations, exhibits and other events, many of them created specifically in honor our 150th Anniversary.

LEARN

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