July 2010 (Vol. 9, No. 8)

This Month's Top Stories . . .

• Lens on the First Lady
• Viewpoint: Gulf Coast Oil Spill
• Faculty Share Perspectives on Human Genome 10th Anniversary
• Fukagawa and U.S. Committee Share Dietary Advice
• Council on Foreign Relations Interviews UVM's Commercio on Kyrgyzstan Conflict
• Six UVM Students Awarded Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarships
• UVM's Yellow Ribbon Scholarships Offer Financial Support for Veterans
• Vermont Wins Sixth Straight America East Academic Cup
• Six To Be Inducted Into the UVM Athletic Hall Of Fame
• Catamounts Post Second Best NACDA Cup Standings Ever
• Campus Kudos

Lens on the First Lady (up^)
Associate professor of English Emily Bernard coauthored the text of a new book, Michelle Obama: The First Lady in Photographs which won this year's NAACP Image Award in the category of biographical literary work. In her essay, "Native Daughter," Bernard seeks to understand Michelle Obama in the context of race, feminism, fashion and family and what about her has so captured America's attention. Bernard writes that Obama is "a walking medley of contradictions. She represents a story so curious, so puzzling, that we have developed a seemingly insatiable need for more information." UVM Today spoke with Bernard about this phenomenon and what drew her as a scholar to write about the first lady. Listen to the interview here.

Viewpoint: Gulf Coast Oil Spill (up^)
As oil continued to leak into the Gulf of Mexico over the summer, it's clear the long-term effects of the BP oil disaster will be far-reaching. Three UVM faculty and a post-doctoral researcher addressed the issue from their respective fields: ecological economics, finance, political science and sociology. Read their viewpoints here.

Faculty Share Perspectives on Human Genome 10th Anniversary (up^)
Saturday, June 26, 2010, marked the 10th anniversary of the completion of the draft sequence of the human genome. On the day the sequencing was announced, then-President Bill Clinton was quoted as predicting that "Genome science will have a real impact on all our lives — and even more, on the lives of our children. It will revolutionize the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of most, if not all, human disease." As the milestone approached, two University of Vermont College of Medicine faculty experts provided their perspectives on the scientific value realized by the sequencing of the human genome, biomedical advances that have been achieved over the past ten years, as well as what we have to look forward to in the future. Full story here.

Fukagawa and U.S. Committee Share Dietary Advice (up^)
In fall 2008, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) appointed a national panel of prominent researchers with expertise in dietary intake, human metabolism, behavioral change, and health to serve on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC). University of Vermont Professor of Medicine Naomi Fukagawa, M.D., Ph.D., serves as one of these 13 appointed experts in the role of vice chair. She and her fellow committee members participated in a review of the scientific literature, listened to and received public comment and deliberated in open forums in order to gather the information for the Dietary Guidelines report, which will be released in late fall 2010. Full story here.

Council on Foreign Relations Interviews UVM’s Commercio on Kyrgyzstan Conflict (up^)
A Q&A-style interview with Michele E. Commercio, assistant professor of Political Science at UVM and an expert on Kyrgyzstan, was posted on the web site of the Council on Foreign Relations shortly after clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstanc generated international news. Recent ethnic clashes in the region result from "a political conflict that happens to be corresponding to ethnic lines" following the ouster of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in April, she says. Read the interview here.

Six UVM Students Awarded Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarships (up^)
Six University of Vermont students have been awarded prestigious Benjamin A Gilman Scholarships, nationally competitive awards given to accomplished students with financial need who wish to study abroad. The Gilman, established by the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000; provides awards that allow American undergraduate students who receive federal Pell Grant funding at a two-year or four-year college or university to participate in study abroad programs worldwide. The Gilman program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by the Institute of International Education. Full story here.

UVM's Yellow Ribbon Scholarships Offer Financial Support for Veterans (up^)
UVM is now accepting applications for Yellow Ribbon Scholarships to eligible undergraduate and medical students on a first-come, first-served basis. The scholarships, available to veterans who are 100 percent eligible for Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, will provide 20 out-of-state undergraduates up to $5,000 with a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) match of up to $5,000 and five College of Medicine students up to $10,000 with a VA match of up to $10,000. The national program, launched in 2008, allows institutions of higher learning to enter voluntarily into an agreement with VA to fund tuition expenses that exceed a state's highest public in-state tuition rate for undergraduates. The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides eligible veterans with a tuition benefit that pays up to full in-state, undergraduate tuition and fees at UVM and additional benefits for living expenses and books. Approximately 40 Vermonters at UVM are currently receiving benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The Yellow Ribbon Scholarship Program provides additional financial assistance for eligible out-of-state undergraduates and in- and out-of state medical students whose tuition costs exceed the in-state, undergraduate rate. "We're pleased to be able to contribute additional financial assistance to these students," says Christopher Lucier, vice president for enrollment management. "It's an honor to help those who have served our country to meet their educational goals." Students may apply for Fall 2010 and spring 2011 scholarships online on the Student Financial Services website. For more information about Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility, visit: www.gibill.va.gov.

Vermont Wins Sixth Straight America East Academic Cup (up^)
The University of Vermont has been awarded the America East Academic Cup for an unprecedented sixth consecutive year, the conference office made the announcement today. UVM student-athletes achieved a 3.19 cumulative grade-point average during the 2009-10 season, marking the highest grade-point average in the 15-year history of the award. The Catamounts shattered their own previous record of a 3.14 GPA that was set during the 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2007-08 academic years. Vermont is the only school in America East history to have won the Academic Cup six straight years (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) and has a total of seven Academic Cups after winning the inaugural award in 1996. "We are very proud of the way in which our student-athletes represent the university and the ideals of intercollegiate athletics. Their accomplishments in the athletic arena and in the classroom are exceptional and reflect the dedication, commitment and effort they put forth along with the tremendous support and encouragement which they receive from their professors and coaches," said Robert Corran, associate vice president and director of Athletics. Read more here.

Six To Be Inducted Into the UVM Athletic Hall Of Fame (up^)
The University of Vermont will welcome six new members into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, September 11, 2010. This year's inductees are: Karalyn Church '00 (women's basketball), Stephane Delval '93 (men's soccer), Brandon Dyksterhouse '00 (men's skiing), Alexandra Lawson '97 (women's basketball), Kristen Nestor Tayag '98 (softball) and Wade Rikert '00 (baseball). The inductees will be lauded at the 42nd annual UVM Athletic Hall of Fame Dinner at the Davis Center on the UVM campus. Tickets to the dinner may be purchased starting August 9 through the UVM Victory Club Office in Patrick Gym (802-656-0956 or victory.club@uvm.edu). Read about the inductees and their accomplishments here.

Catamounts Post Second Best NACDA Cup Standings Ever (up^)
The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) recently announced that the University of Vermont ranks 101st out of more than 370 Division I schools in the Learfield Sports NACDA Directors' Cup final standings. UVM earned all of its 172 points during the winter season when the men's basketball, women's basketball and men's hockey teams all advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. Additionally, sophomore Franz Bernstein (Unterthingau, Germany) also won a national championship in Nordic skiing at the NCAA Ski Championships this past winter. He was the first Catamount to win a national championship in the freestyle since 1998. "This is a significant milestone for our student-athletes," said Robert Corran, associate vice president and director of Athletics at Vermont. "We are very proud of their accomplishments on the national stage over the course of the 2009-10 season. Together with winning a sixth consecutive Academic Cup, our student-athletes have demonstrated the most positive values and outcomes of educational sport." Vermont's 101st ranking is the second highest in school history, UVM ranked 98th in 2008-09. The Catamounts also ranked second among America East schools, behind New Hampshire (72nd) and seventh overall among Division I-AAA institutions and schools in New England. Read the full story, and see the rankings on the Athletics website.

Campus Kudos (up^)

Professor Robert Manning has been selected by the National Recreation and Park Association as this year's winner of the Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt Award for Excellence in Recreation and Park Research. This award recognizes Manning's sustained program of excellent research. The award will be presented at the NRPA Congress in the fall.

Judith Van Houten, University Distinguished Professor and Vermont State EPScoR Director, was elected Vice- Vice Chair of the NSF EPSCoR Project Director's Executive Committee at the 2010 Project Directors Meeting in Arlington, Virginia. There are 29 EPSCoR states and jurisdictions including Vermont. Van Houten also assumed the Chair of the National IDeA PI Association Council Executive Committee.

Would You Like to Subscribe to Dateline via Email? Click here and make sure the top box is checked.

Can't Get Enough UVM News? You may receive UVM news releases via e-mail by signing on to the UVMNEWS listserv. To do so:

• Send an e-mail message to listserv@list.uvm.edu. No need to include a subject line.
• In the body of the e-mail message, write:
subscribe uvmnews yourfirstname yourlastname (EXAMPLE: subscribe uvmnews jill jones)
• Turn off your signature so it doesn't appear in the message to the listserv.

UVM Sports Fans: Keep track of your favorite UVM sports, including news, seasonal schedules, and outcomes, at http://www.uvm.edu/athletics/

Dateline UVM Would Like to Hear from You: Send comments, questions, and address changes to Dateline UVM Editor Jay Goyette (jay.goyette@uvm.edu)