New minor program expands
agricultural and resource economics

A new minor in environmental economics and policy is being offered through the department of agricultural and resource economics, joining an existing minor program in agribusiness management.

The environmental economics and policy minor provides an overview of concepts and methods used to analyze issues and policies associated with natural resources and the environment. Students enrolling in the program will complete courses related to environmental resource policy and economics, cost/benefit analysis, food policy and coastal management.

Linda Lee, UConn professor of agricultural and resource economics, says the minors are designed as a way for UConn students to enhance their educational courses with business and economics fundamentals.

"It would be useful for students majoring in areas like plant science or dairy management who would like to get some business training," she says, noting that some students in other majors, such as economics, are taking the department's related classes in order to gain additional applied business-related coursework.

In addition to the two minors, the department is broaden-ing its focus to include new subject areas for students. Two faculty members from the department have been appointed to UConn's Avery Point campus within the past two years, providing offerings there in areas such as fisheries economics and coastal management, says Lee.

The minor programs will also assist students in preparing for internships that are coordinated with First Pioneer Farm Credit, which provides financial services for agricultural businesses. First Pioneer offers internships for UConn students that ultimately could lead to employment opportunities.

Cut salt to strengthen bones

Research by UConn professor Jasminka Ilich-Ernst suggests that increased sodium intake among post-menopausal women leads to reduced bone density.

Ilich-Ernst, a registered dietician and associate professor of allied heath, has spent the past three years studying the bone density of post-menopausal women. This segment of the population is already at a greater risk to develop osteoporosis or break a bone because their bodies no longer naturally produce the hormone estrogen, a leading risk factor of the disease.

Photo: Peter Morenus

Jasminka Ilich-Ernst, associate professor of allied health, in her lab.

"The higher sodium in the food, the more calcium will be excreted in urine," says Ilich-Ernst. "The question [for my research] was where was this calcium coming from? Something is probably going on where your bones are being compromised. The impact of this research likely will be to reduce sodium intake. And it's not just because of hypertension."

For the UConn study, Ilich-Ernst followed about 100 women who ranged in age from 57 to 88. The women were divided into two groups. One group reduced their sodium intake to 1,500 milligrams a day, while the other continued to consume sodium at the normal rate of 3,000 to 4,000 milligrams a day. Although one teaspoon of table salt is equivalent to 2,000 milligrams of sodium, most of the sodium people consume is not from table salt, Ilich-Ernst says. Sodium is often found in deli products, canned foods and ready-made dinners.

To assist subjects, UConn graduate student Rhonda Brownbill, who worked as a research assistant in the study, says participants were taught how to interpret food label nutritional information on the products they consumed.

Final data on the sodium study should be released later this year. However, Ilich-Ernst's three-year research has already yielded other results. The Journal of the American College of Nutrition previously published the professor's findings that caffeine, alcohol and smoking may also contribute to whether a person develops osteoporosis or is prone to bone fractures.

Globalization offers positive changes

For Subhash Jain, director of UConn's Center for International Business & Education Research (CIBER), globalization is a positive force for changing lives throughout the world.

Photo: Peter Morenus

Subhash Jain, director of UConn's Center for International Business and Education Research, champions globalization as a positive force.

"In the not too distant future, multinational corporations will have a more dominant role in the world than they now play," Jain says. "People want jobs. They want the good life, and the multinationals can deliver. They develop the new technologies that make life better, which they sell all over the world."

Jain says that as corporations create new jobs in other nations, those countries witness the emergence of an entrepreneurial class of citizens who generate new spending resulting in stronger national economies. This helps to pay for improved education, medical research and social welfare.

Preparing students to understand that the world is becoming one large marketplace is one of the goals of CIBER, one of 30 such federally funded centers at top business schools across the nation. UConn's center began in 1995 and since that time has led the effort to bring together business leaders and researchers to focus on emerging globalization issues such as improved wages for workers, clean environments, creating government subsidies to stimulate business development and trade tariffs. In April CIBER sponsored an international conference held at UConn's campus in Stamford, attended by more than 200 globalization experts.

CIBER also has provided opportunities for UConn faculty to travel internationally, visiting businesses, meeting with government leaders and academic colleagues and learning about the effects of globalization on other cultures. Faculty can then bring first-hand experiences into the classroom for UConn students, who also have the opportunity to study business abroad through CIBER scholarships.

Learning English for business and college classes

Photo: Peter Morenus

When Ruzanna Davtyan came to the United States from Armenia in 2001, she had earned a university degree in advanced mathematics. She had two goals: to learn English and to pursue an M.B.A. But she knew only five words in English.

So Davtyan began taking English as a Second Language (ESL) courses in the American language program at UConn's campus in Stamford, one of the nearly 1,000 students enrolled in the program each year.

The program serves adults of all ages from 50 countries and offers a wide range of non-credit ESL classes from beginning to advanced levels. Classes help students develop and enhance their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills and prepare for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) examination. The program also encourages students to develop proficiency in English for social, professional and academic purposes. There are also English classes that can be customized to meet the needs of a variety of business professions.

"The students are looking to either advance themselves in their careers or in academia," says Marcia Gethin-Jones, director of the ESL program. "Many of them go on to UConn for their undergraduate and graduate degrees."

For students such as Davtyan, who are academically ready to take credit courses, the program also offers a transition program to teach students how to function successfully and assimilate easily into the American university culture.

Davtyan took 10 courses in the regular ESL program and earlier this year enrolled in the Academic Strategies and American University Experience as transition program courses and also took undergraduate credit courses in financial accounting and microeconomics.

"UConn's ESL program was a wonderful experience," she says. "I learned English, became familiar with American customs and traditions and had excellent instructors. The program helped me to accomplish both my goals."

Davtyan, now fluent in English, has applied to five different M.B.A. programs, including UConn's.

Spreading the word about oral health

For Cynthia Hodge, practicing good oral health is an effective means to good overall health. As the new associate dean for community and outreach programs at the UConn School of Dental Medicine, Hodge is spreading that message throughout the state.

Photo: Peter Morenus

Cynthia Hodge, associate dean for community and outreach programs at the School of Dental Medicine, at Charter Oak Health Center in Hartford.

"It's the foundation of everything I do," says Hodge. "The mouth has the highest number of microorganisms. If there are problems there, it can be a pathway to other areas, such as the heart. Research has also demonstrated a relationship between some oral diseases and control of systemic diseases, such as diabetes."

She arrived at UConn from her position as a research fellow at the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Since then, Hodge has developed plans for the UConn community-based dental education programs to expand students' service and learning to more of Connecticut's federally qualified community health centers.

Hodge also has responsibility as principal investigator for the $1.5 million Pipeline, Profession and Practice grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which aims to increase access to oral health care among low-income and other disadvantaged populations needing quality dental services. UConn's dental clinics are already the largest single provider of dental care to Medicaid-eligible adults and children in Connecticut.

Creating new partnerships and collaborations is an important part of expanding the School of Dental Medicine's work in the community, Hodge says.

"What drew me to UConn is the thought that I could create these new alliances between the UConn Health Center and the community and bring improved health care to where it is needed," she says.

From UConn to the Yukon, gifted education online

One student asked a classmate about a reading assignment. Another asked the professor for feedback on a paper. Several discussed a group project.

It sounds like ordinary classroom conversation, but there's a twist: The students live in Alaska, Singapore and New York — and their teacher lives in Montana.

These students are among the growing number of people from around the world enrolled in UConn's online master's degree program in gifted and talented education. There are currently 42 students in the program.

The program started two years ago when demand grew for more online courses, says Del Siegle, associate professor of educational psychology. "It's perfect for people who want to pursue an advanced degree in gifted and talented education without sacrificing family or work time," he says. There are other benefits, such as experts in the field from around the world who give guest lectures with an opportunity for students to ask them questions.

Siegle says the courses are very interactive. "We've designed them to stimulate discussions among students and instructors and have included group projects."

In addition to the online courses, students come to UConn's main campus in Storrs at the start of the program, when they meet fellow classmates and professors, and again at the end, to take comprehensive exams. The degree program also includes attending Confratute, a professional development conference and institute held at UConn during the summer for teachers of the gifted and talented.

"It is the only realistic way for me to take courses at this time," says Teresa Hedges, a full-time teacher who lives in Kodiak, Alaska. "I don't have to take a leave of absence, I don't have to relocate, and I can do most of the work on my own schedule."

Hedges, who learned about the program through Confratute, says she "wanted to be part of the UConn program. The people and the knowledge base don't get any better."

 

National Academy of Engineering honors Reifsnider

Kenneth Reifsnider, Pratt & Whitney Chair of Design & Reliability in UConn's School of Engineering, received one of the most coveted professional honors that can be bestowed upon a U.S. engineerÑelection to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

Reifsnider, a leader in the science and technology of composite materials, was cited by the NAE for his "development of strength-life relationships in composite materials and structures."

"This marks the first time in the history of the University of Connecticut that a full-time faculty member was elected to the National Academy of Engineering during his career at UConn," said Amir Faghri, dean of engineering. "This tribute honors a researcher of impressive international credentials, and brings distinction to the University."

Two other faculty members in the School of Engineering held NAE membership when they joined UConn: David Crow, distinguished professor-in-residence of mechanical engineering, and Anthony DeMaria '56 (ENG), '65 Ph.D., professor-in-residence of electrical and computer engineering.

NAE was established in 1964 as an independent, nonprofit institution charged with advising the federal government and conducting research in engineering and technological subjects of importance to the nation.

Reifsnider is editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Fatigue; associate editor of the Journal of Applied Composites; and founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Composites Technology and Research. He is also a founding member of the editorial board of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology.

Currently he is expanding his research, seeking to understand the physical changes that control the useful life of a composite-based material. He is involved in applying these concepts to high- and low-temperature fuel cell systems as a faculty member affiliated with UConn's Connecticut Global Fuel Cell Center.

Working to prevent child abuse

Preston Britner, associate professor of family studies, is highly respected by undergraduate and graduate students alike for his skillfully prepared lectures, fine organizational skills, fairness, humor, and dedicated mentoring.

Photo: Peter Morenus

Preston Britner, associate professor of family studies, focuses on child abuse prevention.

All these characteristics and more have earned Britner University-w ide recognition. He was named a 2003 University Teaching Fellow, the highest teaching honor at UConn, and also received the AAUP's Teaching Excellence Award for teaching promise.

Britner is working to bring the same level of skill to his responsibilities as the editor of The Journal of Primary Prevention, a professional journal dedicated to theory, practice and research on the prevention of problems and the promotion of health, healthy functioning, and psychosocial wellness.

Britner also works with the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) to develop child abuse prevention programs. In 2002, an estimated 896,000 children nationwide were determined to be victims of child abuse or neglect, according to the most recent report by the Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. More than 60 percent were neglected, 20 percent were physically abused and 10 percent were sexually abused. In Connecticut, there were 12,818 substantiated cases of child abuse in 2002, with 11 deaths, the report says.

"The problem with a lot of prevention programs is that they sound good but they lack the high quality research to prove their effectiveness," Britner says. "Both in the research I'm conducting and publishing in the journal, I want to make sure these worthwhile ideas are backed up with good studies."

He says often case workers can assess a family environment and assist families in learning time management and lowering stress in order to prevent a problem of child abuse or neglect from developing. Identifying and building up support systems or identifying and reducing the causes of stress in the family are the basics, he adds.

"UConn is in a really strong position to take the lead in this area because there is a good deal of prevention science going on," says Britner. "For someone in my field, it's a really great place to be right now."

A design worth more than a plugged nickel

Amy Mortensen '04 (SFA) took the call from her brother, Greg, in late November, as she was settling in to study for final exams. He had just noticed an advertisement in Coin World, announcing a nationwide competition for artists interested in redesigning coins for the U.S. Mint.

Photo: Melissa Arbo

Amy Mortensen '04 (SFA) was selected to develop new designs for the U.S. Mint.

"He was really excited," Mortensen says. "He said, 'This is a chance for immortality!'"

In mid-February, Mortensen, a photographic illustration major, took a step toward that possibility when she was named one of 24 professional and student designers selected for the U.S. Mint's Artistic Fusion program, which for the first time opens coin design to a pool of artists. She was selected for the team based on a portfolio of her work, a personal background essay and rationale for receiving the appointment, and the required redesign for the backside of the Maryland quarter.

The program participants' first assignment is to prepare a new design for the back of the nickel, based on Native Americans and the Lewis and Clark expedition, which will be released in 2005. Mortensen attended a program at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia to learn about the history of coin and medal design, the coin-making process and upcoming design opportunities.

In researching her nickel design, Mortensen used books from the Babbidge Library and reviewed online copies of Lewis and Clark's journals.

"I focused on the navigational aspect of their journey, using constellations and a sextant, incorporating all those elements into the design," she says.

Mortensen says the artists were able to view one another's design concepts and get feedback, a process she found familiar.

"To find a real-world application for your art is interesting," she says. "UConn really prepares you for it with the critiques and your classmates' pointing things out."

All of the proposed designs for the new nickel will be displayed in Washington, D.C., later this year, when the new design is announced.

A rare look inside the U.S. Supreme Court

UConn School of Law students had the opportunity to hear first hand about the inner workings of the Supreme Court of the United States during an address by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who delivered the annual Day, Berry & Howard Visiting Scholar Lecture in March.

Speaking in the Starr Hall reading room before a capacity audience of several hundred students, faculty members and alumni, Ginsburg offered a look at the collegial nature of life inside the nation's highest court, noting that during court sessions, the justices first exchange handshakes and later have lunch together, often with renowned guests such as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan or Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

Photo: Peter Morenus

From left: Dean Nell Newton, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ellen Ash Peters, former chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, and Carol Weisbrod, Ellen Ash Peters Professor of Law at UConn.

Justice Ginsberg also answered questions about legal issues posed by students on topics such as rulings in which the Supreme Court has cited foreign laws in its own decisions. The discussion was moderated by her former law clerk, UConn law professor Paul Schiff Berman.

"The Founding Fathers looked all over for models of government they could adapt to our circumstances," she says. "No one suggests that foreign law would be binding on us, but we have something to learn from the quality of reasoning on questions that confront us all."

Ginsburg is regarded as a legal pioneer after serving as the first tenured female law professor at Columbia and as an early leader in the battle against sex-based discrimination, when, for example, school teachers were forced to give up their jobs if they became pregnant.

"If not for women like Justice Ginsburg, I wouldn't be where I am," says Joette Katz '77 J.D., associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, who attended the lecture. "I didn't have the struggles she had going to law school or practicing law. For me, it was inspirational having her here."

"It's extremely significant to bring a legal figure of this magnitude to the school," says Peter Haberlandt, a third-year law student and editor of the Connecticut Law Review, which co-sponsored the event. "It's a heartwarming experience to see the personal side of someone you are taught to revere from day one in law school."

A night at the movies to understand other cultures
Birds, bees, flowers and computers

A night at the movies to understand other cultures

One night it might be Howard Hawks' Scarface. Another night it might be Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, or Fritz Lang's Metropolis.

Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis, is one of several films analyzed by students enrolled in a new film sudies minro

These are some of the works students will analyze as part of the new film studies minor, an interdepartmental and interdisciplinary course of study offered through the department of modern and classical languages.

The program brings together a broad range of courses that will acquaint students with a variety of perspectives on film and enhance their critical appreciation of film culture in social and historical contexts, says Norma Bouchard, associate professor of modern and classical languages.

"We want students to have a good introduction to world cinema and comparative film theory, and those are part of the core courses," she says.

Core courses also include two newly created ones — Studies in Film History and Film Genres. In addition, the film minor will include courses taught in the departments of drama, communication sciences, English, women's studies, political science, Latin American studies, sociology, and Puerto Rican and Latino studies.

Students will also take classes in national cinema — which may include films taught either in English or a native language — as well as interdisciplinary courses such as Political Propaganda and Film. In a typical course, students will see 14 films.

Bouchard says the study of film has become an increasingly important part of academic disciplines: "Film has become a literary text. If you're studying the culture of Fascist Italy during the 1930s, film is fundamental to understanding what was going on in terms of propaganda — probably much more than the novel."

The study of film complements students' other academic courses and gives them a broader understanding of culture and society, faculty say.

"Film is the hegemonic narrative form of our time," says Roger Travis, associate professor of modern and classical languages. "Everyone knows that movies are important to our society, but in my experience, very few students understand just how deeply their entire world views are shaped by what they've seen in the cinema."

Birds, bees, flowers and computers

Birds, bees and butterflies come to mind when the subject is how flowering plants are pollinated. But some plants pollinate themselves, and the majority are equipped to do so.

Kent Holsinger, a UConn professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, is trying to determine under which evolutionary circumstances self-pollination occurs and why. His research office has little by way of plant specimens or pictures. Instead, a computer occupies center stage, because most of his research involves building mathematical models of the conceptual scientific ideas he is studying.

The tomato is an example of one of a few self-pollinating plants.

Holsinger explains that the vast majority of flowering plants have male and female reproductive parts in the same flower, yet nearly 90 percent depend on pollinators, such as insects, to move pollen from one plant to another to make reproduction happen. Only a few self-pollinate, such as tomatoes, wheat and peppers.

The primary explanation, he says, is what biologists call "inbreeding depression," the phenomenon that inbred offspring are less vigorous, less fertile and less likely to survive than those that are outbred. The phenomenon was first identified by the English naturalist Charles Darwin.

Predicting when self-fertilization may evolve is highly complicated, requiring detailed knowledge about the genetics of inbreeding depression in order to make reliable predictions about a particular plant, Holsinger says.

In his recent work on pollination systems, Holsinger has been trying to understand the circumstances under which there is an advantage in a plant's having self-fertilization and those in which there is no advantage. To do so, he creates mathematical models that can predict the consequences of particular forces interacting with one another.

Another way is to work back, describing the current status of a plant species and then constructing evolutionary scenarios for how that point was reached.

Unlike many of his departmental colleagues, who travel widely to gather information, most of Holsinger's research is conducted from his desk, taking the empirical work of others, identifying the underlying principles, and building mathematical or statistical models to explain them.

"In every area of science, many principles can be formulated as mathematical or statistical issues, and doing so may bring into focus certain problems," he says.

Identifying the earliest stages of colon cancer

A microscopic view of colon cancer cells in the lab of Dan Rosenberg and Joel Levine at the UConn Health Center.

Two UConn scientists are working together, one in the clinic with patients and the other in the laboratory with tissue and cells, to identify the very earliest stages of colon cancer, a leading cause of cancer death in both men and women.

The long-term prognosis for a patient with colon cancer traditionally is determined by the stage at which the cancer is discovered, with a late diagnosis generally resulting in fewer treatment options.

"If we can identify the molecular or genetic markers or fingerprints of colon cancer, then we can begin to identify patients who are at high risk of developing the disease and offer them preventive measures like dietary or drug therapies before they ever develop it," says Joel Levine, professor of medicine who is co-director of the newly established UConn Health Center program in colorectal cancer with Daniel Rosenberg, associate professor of molecular medicine.

Levine and Rosenberg are looking at genes in human tissue obtained by colonoscopies to see if they can identify gene targets that signal an elevated risk of cancer.

"Our goal is to determine the very earliest molecular signature of colon cancer so we can identify those most at risk and help discover new ways to block the cancer from ever developing," says Rosenberg.

Adds Levine: "Up-to-date clinical care depends on first-rate laboratory research. The days of the separation of clinical care and scientific investigation are over."

Memories that heal

Working in a convalescent home piqued the interest of Juliette Shellman '98 M.S., '03 Ph.D. to pursue the study of reminiscence as a tool to improve patients' well-being.

As a nurse some 10 years ago, she noticed that reminiscing with her elderly patients made them feel better.

"I could see a real difference in them," says Shellman, an assistant professor of nursing at UConn. "I noticed that my patients liked to talk about the past, and the more I would initiate conversation, the better my patients seemed to feel. Talking about the past made them happier. It took them away from [troubles in] their present situation."

She is now working on a study to test the effects of reminiscing on depression and life satisfaction among older African-Americans, a patient group research has shown is vulnerable to depression.

"African-American elders with multiple medical problems are particularly at risk for depression," Shellman says, noting that life expectancy for African-Americans is rising. "There is a greater need for research on interventions to decrease depression and promote health and well-being."

Although the therapeutic effects of reminiscence have been well documented in the literature, Shellman notes, there is little research regarding the use of it as an intervention with African-American populations. Research has shown that older African-Americans underutilize existing health care systems and demonstrate a lack of trust in health care professionals, often as a result of personal experiences of discrimination, Shellman adds.

"With the unprecedented growth in the African-American elderly population, there exists an urgent need to adequately prepare nurses to deliver culturally competent care to help improve quality of life for patients," she says. "Health care professionals need to be able to deliver care to African-American elders that reflects a sensitivity to their cultural characteristics and lifetime experiences."

Shellman plans to gather data on the effectiveness of reminiscence as an intervention to identify which aspects — such as number and length of sessions — may contribute to decreased levels of depression and increased life satisfaction.

Student findings support FDA ban of ephedra

A UConn student research project played a small but noteworthy role in a Food and Drug Administration ruling that banned the sale of weight-loss products containing the controversial substance ephedra.

Photo: Dollie Harvey

For the past four years, UConn pharmacy professor Michael White has had his pharmacy students evaluate a popular herbal supplement based on the same FDA health safety criteria used for new drugs. Last year's research project was Metabolife 356, the nation's number-one selling weight-loss supplement, which contained 17 ingredients, including ephedra.

The study, which showed that the drug affects both blood pressure and heartbeat, drew media attention nationwide in January of this year after it was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. On Feb. 6 the FDA banned products with ephedra.

"Ephedra was linked to many case reports of arrhythmia and stroke," says White, whose expertise is arrhythmia — an alteration in the rhythm of the heartbeat — and cardiac pharmacology.

"But until our study, no one knew what effect Metabolife 356 would have on heart rhythm and blood pressure."

Angeliki Karapanos and Agnes Krudysz, fifth-year Pharm.D. students conducting the research, wrote a protocol, collected the data and then analyzed the results under the direction of White and with the assistance of UConn pharmacy fellow Brian McBride.

The research team recruited 15 healthy, young adults for the study. On one day, the study subjects received half the recommended maximum dosage of Metabolife 356, and another day they were given a placebo. The patients' blood pressure and electrocardiogram measurements (EKG) were taken immediately before taking a pill and then at regular intervals.

The UConn data showed troubling results in terms of both blood pressure and in the electrical signals that control heartbeat, says McBride.

"We know from discussions we've had with the FDA that our study was one of the pieces of evidence it considered while making its decision to ban ephedra," says White.

A social work/social services partnership

A working partnership between the UConn School of Social Work and the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS) provides efficiency and shared resources that benefit not only the partners but the state of Connecticut as well.

The organizational and skill development section of DSS is staffed by 29 professionals from the School of Social Work who provide a variety of training, education, computer, media production and human resource development support for the agency's nearly 2,000 employees.

The School of Social Work has collaborated with the Department of Social Services media production center to develop a variety of training materials.

Operating under a contractual agreement for more than 25 years, the partnership has changed over time to meet DSS' developing needs.

"Initially it was primarily for training, but it has evolved to meet the growing demands of the department," says UConn's Judy Feinstein, director of organizational and skill development. "As new policies are introduced and as procedures change, we do refresher training. We also do problem solving around difficult cases."

The training provided by UConn ranges from presenting core policies and procedures for new DSS employees to refresher courses updating staff on new regulations and procedures.

Education and training addresses both general, agency-wide requirements and specific job training for DSS staff working in a range of program areas such as Medicaid, child care, child support, elderly services and case management.

A media production center develops educational materials for training projects, group presentations and other needs through newsletters, videotapes, posters and other communications tools.

"Using the staff experiences at DSS, we are able to further develop our training capacity to benefit others we educate and train," says Kay Davidson, dean of the School of Social Work, in describing one of the key benefits to UConn. "The staff has developed content training programs that have been incorporated into our social work curriculum."

Graduate students from the School of Social Work are placed as interns in DSS departments, providing the opportunity for valuable experience, she adds.