Winter 2016

Winter 2016 Edition

��

New core curriculum to serve today’s students, tomorrow’s world

��

Features

Physics prof’s home, like the man himself, is now an icon

Albert A. Bartlett, the iconic physics professor, helped preserve the city he called home, and now the city has moved to preserve his home. In November, the Boulder City Council designated the longtime home of the University of Colorado Boulder professor as an historic landmark. The city’s move reflects the impact Bartlett had on both the university and Boulder.

Thinking globally, eating locally

For decades in the post-World War II era, it’s fair to say that the diet of most Americans became less and less local. With innovations ranging from the interstate highway system to affordable home refrigeration and freezing systems, it simply became easier to eat food that came from a state — or even a country — far, far away.

Why are gang members disproportionately placed in solitary confinement?

Members of criminal gangs are disproportionately placed in restrictive housing when they are imprisoned in the United States, but the evidence supporting this practice is “weak,” says criminologist David Pyrooz, who advocates more rigorous research on whether widespread isolaton of gang members is based on the best evidence.

Diet-mimicking pill could reverse cardiovascular aging

CU Boulder researchers have successfully reversed vascular dysfunction in aging mice with a dietary supplement. The findings have implications for preventing cardiovascular dysfunction and disease during aging in humans.

News

Trump gestures infuse politics with comedic effects

Donald Trump’s use of comedic entertainment, scholars at CU Boulder contend, goes a long way toward explaining his success in electoral success. “In Trump we find a Rabelaisian character that deploys bawdy humor to entertain his audience," they say.

More undergrad research, yes, research, in arts and humanities

There’s a reason you aren’t likely to see a Hollywood blockbuster featuring a laboratory dedicated to, say, American literature, philosophy, Italian languages or any other arts and humanities discipline: For the most part, researchers in those disciplines work as individuals, and not on laboratory teams.

Bard fest hosts reading of ‘translated’ ‘Henry VI’ plays

In 2015, the oldest Shakespeare festival in the United States announced that it would commission 36 playwrights to “translate” 39 plays into “contemporary modern English.” The Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s “Play On!” project sparked instant, heated controversy and debate among Shakespeare aficionados. Now, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival has hosted a reading of two "translated" plays.

Boosting power plants’ efficiency can cause emissions rebound, study finds

Increasing the efficiency of power plants’ efficiency is often assumed to be an effective means of reducing carbon emissions. However, an empirical analysis of plants’ efficiency and emission led by a University of Colorado Boulder sociology professor casts some doubt on that conventional wisdom.

CU Boulder to revamp doctoral studies in the literatures

In an effort to recruit the most talented students, the University of Colorado Boulder will fundamentally restructure the support for doctoral studies in its six literature Ph.D programs with the new Consortium of Doctoral Studies in Literatures and Cultures.

Distinguished biochemist elected president of national society

Natalie Ahn, a professor of distinction in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder, was elected president of The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology last year and began her term as president-elect in July.

Miramontes program supports underrepresented, first-generation undergrads

Miramontes Arts & Sciences Program (MASP) has a mandate to support “motivated, traditionally underrepresented or first-generation students who want to be part of a diverse academic community in the College of Arts and Sciences.”

New ‘4+1’ program adds up for future teachers

The School of Education and Department of Ethnic Studies have partnered to offer a new program that will allow future teachers to earn a bachelor’s degree in ethnic studies and a master’s degree in education in five years. The new “4+1 Ethnic Studies and Education Concurrent Degree Program” will begin admitting students in spring 2017.

CU Boulder launches cool certificate in Arctic studies

There probably is not a more suitable location for one of the world’s first interdisciplinary certificates in Arctic studies than the University of Colorado Boulder.

Donors

Scholarship recipients and donors celebrate together

When Meghan Dulsky heard that she was going to study abroad, she was elated. Later, when she learned that most of her experience would be funded, she was brought to tears. Dulsky, a senior majoring in classics, is the recipient of the Ann Nichols Scholarship and the Herodotus Travel Grant.

There’s a Buff-to-Buff call on line 1

When you pick up the phone, you speak with a bright, enthusiastic student from your alma mater. Soon, you find yourself giving the caller career advice, learning about the latest developments on campus, laughing, and yes, talking about the importance of private donations to CU Boulder’s mission.

Alumni

John Warner at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge (USPCC) Time Trial Awards. Photo by Jenise Jensen.

Dentist packs life with adventure, civic service, altruism

John Warner is a dentist who’s climbed and skied mountains in the United States, Canada, South America and Europe, raced motorcycles and mountain bikes, and, incidentally, served as a town mayor, search-and-rescue volunteer, orchestra backer, and dentist-of-mercy in Guatemala.

Italian alumna, lifelong learner experiences la dolce vita

Simple twists of fate propelled Joyce Earickson toward the study of Italian, then English, divinity and psychology. She has taught Italian, French, English, and world religions; comforted families of those who were critically injured and gravely ill; and worked with autistic and disabled children.

Emmy winner honed storytelling skills at CU film program

Two-time Emmy-winning producer and University of Colorado Boulder alumna Alexis Martin Woodall (BFA-film production, BA-film studies ’02) says CU Boulder’s film-studies program gave her the power to craft compelling stories on the editing floor.

Alum forgoes career in courtroom to become L.A. chef

Dave Woodall, once an aspiring lawyer, says CU Boulder education gave him the tools to open a from-scratch, comfort restaurant that ‘recalls glamour of mid-century Hollywood.’

Kudos

CU students enhance global STEM learning with new iPad App

Thanks to a team of undergraduate students, the University of Colorado Boulder now has an innovative new iPad app for kids, extending the international educational footprint of the PhET Interactive Simulations project and its award-winning collection of science and math simulations.

CU scholars named American Council of Learned Societies fellows

Three University of Colorado Boulder professors have won prestigious fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies. The three are among 69 fellows chosen from 1,100 applicants.

CU lab’s fruit-fly work yields patented cancer treatment

CU Boulder and SuviCa recently received a patent for a promising chemical, SVC112, which helps prevent regrowth of cancer cells following radiation exposure. The chemical was originally identified through lab research with fruit flies — a process that is being shared with undergraduate students — and its synthesis helped create a collaborative pipeline for cross-disciplinary work through CU’s Technology Transfer Office.

Search