By Cheryl Cranick, Honors Program
It’s fall right now in Korea; “crisp and cool at night, while still pleasantly warm during the day,” said Emily Szkudlarek ’12. The CLAS Honors psychology graduate arrived in the country during the humid season in August this year and recuperated from the 15-hour flight during a weeklong orientation. Then she began her role as a guest English teacher in the city of Gyeongju. Continue reading
By Cheryl Cranick, Honors Program
Day one at Buckley Hall is when Ajay Madkekar ’06 and Diana Flynn ’06 met as friends. But it wasn’t until senior year, just a few weeks before graduation, that they became a couple. “I like to say we met the first day and starting dating the last,” said Flynn. To be specific, it was spring break in March when Ajay and Diana shared a cruise with eight UConn classmates, many of them from Honors. “The last night on the cruise, I remember playing blackjack with the guys while Diana watched us slowly hand our money to Carnival Cruise Lines,” quipped Madkekar. “Something about losing money and not having a care in the world must have sparked Diana’s interest.” This July they plan to marry. Continue reading
Each year, the University of Connecticut is permitted to nominate up to four outstanding undergraduates who are headed for research careers in science, math, or engineering to compete for the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. The faculty nominating committee read and considered a record number of outstanding submissions this year and just announced the 2013 Goldwater nominees. This year, they are all Honors students. The 2013 UConn Goldwater nominees are: Continue reading
By Olivia Balsinger
Students looking for an organization that can assist the worldwide community through action with other peers have a new club tailored for them: “UConn Empower,” a new club for students.
As stated on their website, UConn Empower’s mission is a student group with the mission to “help to bring about long-term change by empowering the underprivileged through education and health care.” Continue reading
By Mirofora Paridis ’13 (CLAS)
This summer, six Honors freshmen pursued their passion through individualized, self-designed research projects with funding from the Holster Scholars First Year Program.
The Holster Scholars First Year Program, funded by an endowment established by Robert ’68 and Carlotta ’68 Holster, provides Honors freshmen with the opportunity to pursue independent and individualized learning experiences. Prospective scholars must complete a highly selective application process in the fall of their freshman year, submitting an innovative and thorough project proposal. Holster Scholars are eligible for up to $4,000 in funding, and spend the spring semester fine-tuning their project plans. They carry out their research in the summer. Continue reading
Come hear a lecture by UConn alumnus and award-winning multimedia journalist, John Yearwood entitled, “Dispatches From a World in Need of Healing,” on Friday, October 12, at 3:00 p.m. in Konover Auditorium. Mr. Yearwood will discuss his personal journey through some of the past and present major conflicts that have occurred around the world, and his meetings with leaders who offer insight into their behavior, such as President Assad of Syria. He will also discuss other people with whom he’s met—Nelson Mandela in South Africa and Haitian dancer Jeanguy Saintus—who, in their own way, are working to heal the world.
Mr. Yearwood is World Editor of The Miami Herald and host of World Desk with John Yearwood, which focuses on global issues and newsmakers. His department has won numerous awards under his leadership, including two McClatchy Company President’s Awards, an Arthur Ross Award, and recognition as Pulitzer Prize finalist. Yearwood has served on the executive boards of Unity Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists. He also was named one of the 40 most influential African-Americans under 40 in South Florida and one of the 100 most accomplished Caribbean Americans in South Florida.
By Sheila Foran
In a ceremony on Thursday officially designating the former undergraduate education building as the John W. Rowe Center for Undergraduate Education, UConn President Susan Herbst spoke appreciatively of the role that Rowe, former chairman of the Board of Trustees, has played in the development of the University.
It is appropriate, she said, that a building where people come to find their way is named for a man who has given so much to UConn: “There’s a lot of advising in here … a lot of students come in looking for counsel … they come in looking for direction on how to navigate the University … so it’s only fitting that this building is named after one of our favorite people; a person who has given us outstanding direction and guidance during his time here.” Continue reading
Before Klair Lubonja even started classes his freshman year he was engaged in research courtesy of the Pre-College Enrichment Program, sponsored by the Department of Health Career Opportunity Programs at the UConn Health Center. As a member of Dr. Yu Lei’s lab, Klair spent the summer working with copper nanowire and single-wired carbon nanotubes in an effort to enhance glucose electrooxidation. Continue reading
Summer 2012: Structure and Interactions of Translesional Synthesis DNA Polymerases
By Maciej Kosakowski, Dr. Dmitry Korzhnev, Ph.D., Dr. Irena Bezsonova, Ph.D.
During my weeks with the College Summer Fellowship Program at the UConn Health Center, I worked in a structural biology lab in conjunction with the NMR lab under Dr. Korzhnev. I assisted him on his project, which aimed to discover the specific mechanisms behind translesional synthesis DNA polymerases, or TLS polymerases for short. Continue reading
Summer 2012: The Socio-Political Influences on Health in the Buduburam Refugee Camp
By Gian Grant, Dr. Elizabeth Holzer
The United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) recognizes that there are approximately 2.7 million refugees in the world. The UNHCR often coordinates with non-governmental organizations and asylum countries to provide refugees with services such as health care until a permanent residential situation is agreed upon. Continue reading