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Think. Move. Live. Research “Decodes” Brainwaves To Control Prosthetics 20 Research “Decodes” Brainwaves To Control Prosthetics 20 TER P CONNECTING THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COMMUNITY VOL. 8, NO. 3 SPRING 2011 BATTLEFIELD TO BOARDROOM 14 I VIETNAM WALL MEMENTOS 24 I GIVING HOW-TO 28 BATTLEFIELD TO BOARDROOM 14 I VIETNAM WALL MEMENTOS 24 I GIVING HOW-TO 28

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Page 1: Terp—Spring 2011

Think.Move.Live.

Research “Decodes” BrainwavesTo Control Prosthetics 20

Research “Decodes” BrainwavesTo Control Prosthetics 20

TERPCONNECTING

THE UNIVERSITY

OF MARYLAND

COMMUNITY VOL. 8, NO. 3 SPRING 2011

BATTLEFIELD TO BOARDROOM 14 I VIETNAM WALL MEMENTOS 24 I GIVING HOW-TO 28BATTLEFIELD TO BOARDROOM 14 I VIETNAM WALL MEMENTOS 24 I GIVING HOW-TO 28

Terp Cover SPRING 2011 FINAL3:Terp Cover Summer -FINAL 5/17/11 11:18 AM Page cov I

Page 2: Terp—Spring 2011

last month, I had the honor of hosting the annual Alumni Awards Gala, an inspiring gathering of some of Maryland’s superstars.

They come from different fields, studied during different eras and have different memories of their college years. But one thing all of our honorees—in fact, most of our alumni—share is a sense of Maryland as a life-changing place.

One by one, our award recipients took to the podium to reflect on the opportunities they had in our classrooms and community, and how they were transformed by their time here.

There was Aris Mardirossian ’74, M.S. ’75 emotionally recounting how he came to the university shortly after immigrating to the U.S., speaking little English. He left here a well-educated engineer who went on to manage major building projects and launch lucrative businesses.

Amal Mudallali Ph.D. ’97 shared how Maryland gave her the freedom to explore professional roles not always open to women in the Middle East. She parlayed her educa-tion into a career in foreign affairs, work-ing to improve her native Lebanon and her adopted country.(See Page 8 for more gala honorees.)

I’ve been fortunate to meet many other remarkable alumni on campus and at Terp events around the country, and I’ve been reflecting lately on how the University of Maryland has shaped my own life.

I jumped at the chance to become a Terra-pin cheerleader—my first step in becoming the Maryland booster I am today. I made friends for life on campus and got expert advice from

mentors like the late Tom Fields ’42. And with my business degree, I entered the private sector, thoroughly prepared for a career in sales and marketing.

But my passion for alma mater put me back on the path to Maryland. I returned to my college home, first to work for Intercol-legiate Athletics and since then for Univer-sity Relations. It has been my great privilege to serve as your alumni director these past 12 years, so it is with mixed emotions that I say farewell and embark on a new journey. This summer, I will join the University of Florida to lead its alumni association.

I leave here excited for the future of Maryland under our new president, Wallace D. Loh, and confident that the university is on the path to reach greater heights than ever. Even though I’ll be cheering on the Gators, I’ll always Fear the Turtle.

Danita D. Nias ’81Assistant Vice President Alumni Relations and Development

Dear Alumni and Friends,

TERPpublisherBrodie RemingtonVice President, University Relations

advisory boardJ. Paul Carey ’82 M.B.A.Managing Partner, JPT Partners

John Girouard ’81President and CEO, Capital Asset Management Group

Anil Gupta Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Strategy and Organization, Robert H. Smith School of Business

Beth MorgenChief Administrative Officer,Maryland Alumni Association

Danita D. Nias ’81Assistant Vice President, Alumni Relations and Development

Vicki Rymer ’61, M.B.A. ’66, Ph.D. ’83Teaching Professor,Robert H. Smith School of Business

Keith Scroggins ’79Chief Operating Officer, Baltimore City Public Schools

Lee ThorntonProfessor and Eaton Chair, Philip Merrill College of Journalism

magazine staffLauren BrownUniversity Editor

John T. Consoli ’86Creative Director

Jeanette J. NelsonArt Director

Monette A. Bailey ’89Mandie Boardman ’02Priya Kumar ’09Kimberly Marselas ’00Cassandra RobinsonTom VentsiasBrian Ullmann ’92Writers

Joshua HarlessPatti Look ’08Catherine Nichols ’99Brian PayneDesigners

Gail M. Cinoski M.L.S. ’10Photography Assistant

Christie Liberatore ’13Magazine Intern

Kathy B. Lambird ’94Production Manager

E-mail [email protected]

Terp magazine is published by the Division of University Relations. Letters to the editor are welcomed. Send correspondence to Managing Editor, Terp magazine, 2101 Turner Building, College Park, MD 20742-1521. Or, send an e-mail to [email protected]

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-dis-crimination regarding race, color, religion, age, national origin, political affiliation, gender, sexual orientation or disability.

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Page 3: Terp—Spring 2011

TERPspring2011 photo by john t. Consoli; illustrations by brian G. payne and patti look

2 Big Picture VeteransCenteropens;WaterShedpreparations;GaryWilliamsretires;andmore 6 terP online Philanthropyfollow-up;Lohinaugurationphoto

album;andmore 7 Ask Anne RedandWhiteGamereview;fauxTerpsonfilm;andmore 8 clAss ActBusinesswomandesignsnewcareer;nonprofit’sgoodtaste;

andmore 12 m-file Trackingbiodiversity;battlefield’sleadershiplessons;buildingabettersneaker;andmore 16 PlAy-By-PlAyEdsall’splaybook17 sPotlight

VoicesofAmericanhistory18 mArylAnd live FireworksontheFourth;youthorchestrafestival;andmore32 in the looP Entrepreneurshipcenter;Colonnade’s

20th;andmore36 interPretAtions Four-partvision

departments

24 cataloging grief

UMD interns at the National Park Service archive mementos left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, part of a larger effort to tell the stories of the fallen. ByLAuREnBRoWn

20 tHinK. MoVe. liVe.

A Maryland researcher is building a computer interface that connects human thought with robotic prosthetic limbs, offering new hope to amputees and victims of stroke. ByTomVEnTSiAS

28 learning to giVe

A new program offers students a unique way to study philanthropy: They have one semester to decide how to give away $20,000. ByPRiyAkumAR’09

features

S11terp_deptsJN.indd 1 5/11/11 11:39 AM

Page 4: Terp—Spring 2011

bigpicture

Ventilators exchange stale,

indoor air for fresh, outdoor

air and control humidity and

temperature

Butterfly roofing design provides

solar power through one

“wing” and rain-water filtration

through the other

Green wall filters rainwater

from roof to ir-rigate garden

M Signature plaque courteSy of veteranS prograM office; waterShed iMage courteSy of the waterShed teaM; and photoS by john t. conSoli

2 TERPspring2011

Veterans at Maryland now have a

new home base where they can meet,

study and relax.

The Veterans Center opened on

Maryland Day in the Cole Student

Activities Building, with an office,

a kitchenette, computer stations, a

lounge with a large TV and video games

and a meeting space.

Funded by a $125,000 gift from

Gordon England ’61, former U.S. deputy

secretary of defense and a member of

the university foundation’s Board of

Trustees, the 800-square-foot space

supplements the TerpVets and Veterans

Program Office space in the Stamp

Student Union.

The opening is part of Maryland’s

Veterans Initiative of programs and

resources to serve the approximately

400 students on campus who’ve served

in the military. —LB

home, help, healing

A TEAm of mARylAnd students competing in the national Solar Decathlon is putting the interplay of sun, rain and wind under one roof.

Approximately 100 students and faculty from architecture, engineering, environmental science and technology, plant sciences, landscape architecture and other disciplines designed and are building WaterShed for the contest near the Washington Monument in September. The Decathlon showcases creative and affordable solar-powered houses.

WaterShed will draw attention to threats to the Chesapeake Bay and offer suggestions on living without harming the environment, says Amy Gardner, associate professor of architecture and one of the leaders of the project. Highlights include an edible wall and garden, a green roof and solar panels. A Web application will supply data on the house’s performance, which residents can use to decide such things as when to take a shower or water plants.

This is the fourth time Maryland has made it to the finals of the competition. Its last entry, 2007’s LEAFHouse, placed first in the nation and second overall. —MAB

Students Prep for WaterShed Moment

HO

US

E H

IGH

LIG

HTS

:

Members of the Terp community penned words of support for University of Maryland veterans on a giant red “M” (above) during the campus’ Veterans Day observance last fall.

A TEAm of mARylAnd students competing in the national Solar Decathlon is putting the interplay of sun, rain and wind under one roof.

Approximately 100 students and faculty from architecture, engineering, environmental science and technology, plant sciences, landscape architecture and other disciplines designed and are building WaterShed for the contest near the Washington Monument in September. The Decathlon showcases creative and affordable solar-powered houses.

WaterShed will draw attention to threats to the Chesapeake Bay and offer suggestions on living without harming the environment, says Amy Gardner, associate professor of architecture and one of the leaders of the project. Highlights include an edible wall and garden, a green roof and solar panels. A Web application will supply data on the house’s performance, which residents can use to decide such things as when to take a shower or water plants.

This is the fourth time Maryland has made it to the finals of the competition. Its last entry, 2007’s LEAFHouse, placed first in the nation and second overall. —MAB

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Page 5: Terp—Spring 2011

There’ll be no more pregame fist pumps from Gary Williams.

The legendary men’s basketball coach, who won a national

championship among many other accomplishments in 22 years

at his alma mater, announced may 6 that he is retiring.

“It’s the right time,” Williams said. “my entire career

has been an unbelievable blessing. I am fiercely proud

of the program we have built here. I couldn’t have asked

any more from my players, my assistant coaches, the

great maryland fans and this great university. Together,

we did something very special here.”

Williams ’68 led programs at American University, boston

College and ohio State before he returned to maryland in 1989

to turn around its troubled men’s basketball program. he went on

to compile a 461-252 record, earning 14 trips to the nCAA tourna-

ment and the title of national Coach of the Year in 2002, following

the team’s national championship.

he’ll stay on at maryland as an assistant athletic director

and a special assistant to Athletic Director Kevin Anderson,

and will continue fundraising for the university as co-chair of

the Great Expectations scholarship committee.

mark Turgeon, who won back-to-back big 12 Conference

Coach of the Year honors at Texas A&m, has been hired to replace

Williams. (See the Fall 2011 issue of Terp for more on Turgeon.)

Several thousand fans turned out at Williams’ press

conference at the Comcast Center, wearing yellow “Garyland”

T-shirts, chanting “GA-rY! GA-rY!” and wildly applauding him.

“Gary Williams is not just a basketball coach, but first and

foremost a member of the university community,” President

Wallace loh told the crowd. “he’s a passionate example of

what it means to be a Terrapin and a man who has touched

thousands of lives.”

Williams will never quite leave “the house that Gary built,”

either: The university is naming the court at Comcast Center in

his honor. —LB

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TERPspring2011 3

Garyland, My Garylandbeloved b-ball Coach retires

“ My entire career has been an unbelievable blessing.”

S11terp_deptsJN.indd 3 5/17/11 11:24 AM

Page 6: Terp—Spring 2011

photos by john t. consoli

big

pict

ure

Growthspurt

4 TERPspring2011

C�hoosing�modern,�comfortable�and�convenient�housing�has�never�been�easier�for�Maryland�students.�Or�maybe�it’s�never�been�harder,�amid�the�opening�of�a�new�high-rise,�a�building�boom�on�Route�1�and�a�new�option�allowing�mixed-gender�apartments.

Oakland Hall to open Oakland Hall will open as part of the Denton

Community on North Campus this fall, the first

new residence hall built at Maryland since New

Leonardtown in 1982. The nine-floor building will

house 700 students in two-bedroom suites. Oakland

Hall is expected to earn LEED Gold certification,

acknowledging its environmentally friendly features:

locally sourced building materials; energy-efficient

appliances and lighting; and water-conserving

kitchen and bathroom fixtures. Every floor features

laundry facilities, study areas and lounges, and

trash and recycling rooms, and the building’s HVAC

systems will also provide air conditioning to Denton

and Easton halls.

Route 1, reinvigoratedA remarkable spate of private construction along

Route 1 near campus is adding thousands of units

for Maryland students. University View, which

opened in 2005 with more than 1,000 beds, added

another 517 in the fall. The Varsity will open this

fall with 901 beds, while the Enclave at 8700 will

offer more than 400. And Mazza GrandMarc opened

last August with 627. Passarella-George says the

construction has helped meet the high demand for

undergraduate housing and allows commuters to live

close to campus. The growth, he adds, is a tribute to

cooperation between the university; the College Park

community; local, county and state officials;

and the developers.

Mixed-gender housing The university last fall officially rolled out a program

allowing male and female upperclass students

to share apartments in the Courtyards and South

Campus Commons. “It’s really designed for friends

to live together,” says Dennis Passarella-George,

assistant director of housing partnerships. Students

apply in groups to share units with individual

bedrooms and multiple bathrooms, and parents

serve as lease guarantors. Department of Resident

Life staff members help set residents’ expectations

about issues including guests, privacy and safety. In

Fall 2010, about 50 students participated.

S11terp_deptsJN.indd 4 5/12/11 12:17 PM

Page 7: Terp—Spring 2011

photos by john t. consoli; scarf knitted by mira azarm

right idea for leftovers

Quidditch, the

sport of wizards and witches in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, has cast a spell over a group of Maryland students—even if broomsticks don’t take flight in the Muggle (nonmagical) world.

About 30 Harry Potter junkies and athletes have formed a club team that competed last semester in the International Quidditch Association’s World Cup in New York City. Now members are looking to strengthen their roster while nurturing their Pottermania.

“It just brings the world alive,” says founding member Valerie Fischman ’11.

The sport, now sweeping across colleges and high schools, has been adapted for fans lacking flight skills. Players hold a broom between their legs, and those hit by “bludgers” run to and from their team’s goal hoops to simulate time lost by falling from a broomstick. The prize of the “snitch” isn’t a whizzing golden orb, but someone dressed flamboyantly who gets chased around McKeldin Mall by the “seeker.”

Maryland’s team practices three times a week and has bonded off the field, having weekly dinners, a Yule ball and a

planned outing in July to the final movie’s premiere.

“It’s great to make obscure Harry Potter references all the time,” says team President Logan Anbinder ’12, (above). “Everyone will get them and appreciate them.” —LB

A MArylAnd junior’s efforts to take leftover food from

the dining halls “to go” is helping to feed homeless

people in Washington, d.C.

Evan Ponchick, a double major in supply chain manage-

ment and operations management, and a small army of

volunteers delivered more than 5,000 meals this semester

to the nonprofit so others Might Eat after collecting unpur-

chased leftovers from the south Campus dining Hall.

Ponchick calls the donations, such as pizza, pasta and

vegetables, “unavoidable food waste” because dining

services reuses what it can. He credits its employees

with becoming more conscious about sustainability while

helping the hungry.

He began the initiative in the fall by dropping off

about 2,000 meals collected Friday nights with his service

fraternity, Alphi Phi omega. This past semester, Ponchick

welcomed student support from across campus, and he

hopes to next expand the effort to the diner. A new arm

is soliciting College Park restaurants to seek donations,

one more step in taking his Food recovery network

nationwide.

“The best part is hands-on seeing the impact i’m making

on the world, one chicken tender at a time,” he says. —LB

terp spring 2011 5

3050

7000

average meaLs

served in a day

@south Campus

dining haLL

@the diner

Evan Ponchick (right), with peers from service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, the Student Government Association, Hillel and the Love Movement, takes unpurchased food from the South Campus Dining Hall to a D.C. homeless shelter.

Quidditch Team recreates Potter Magic

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Page 8: Terp—Spring 2011

6 TERPspring2011 engagement photo by melissa manzione; inaUgURal plaCe setting photo by John t. Consoli

terp online terp.umd.edu

we’re curious. we’re creative. we’re critical thinkers. see our bonus web content to discover more on how our students, faculty and alumni are changing the world.

ask Anne

class notesLacy Gilmer ’10, a veterinary

student at the University of

Florida, went to Thailand and

Vietnam in May to visit veteri-

nary schools, clouded leopard

breeding programs and

elephant sanctuaries—and do

a little scuba diving.

Tricia (Burrows) Cecil ’04

and James Cecil ’02

announce the birth

of their son, Harrison

Lane, on Oct. 12, 2010.

His parents, who wed at

Memorial Chapel in 2005,

report that he can’t wait to

attend his first football game

this fall.

Two projects produced by

Todd Ehrlich ’86 have been

nominated for Emmy awards.

The specials “Tunnel to Tow-

ers” and “The Yankee Canyon

of Hero’s Parade” both aired

live on WCBS-TV. Ehrlich,

president of T-Line TV, has

won three other Emmys.

terp.umd.edu/classnotes

we swear, he’s inWallace D. Loh was sworn in as the

university’s president on April 28.

You can see the highlights of the

inaugural festivities at

www.terp.umd.edu/inaugural.

and the winners areAfter you’ve read our feature chroni-

cling how students learning about

philanthropy gave away $20,000 in

the fall, read our follow-up on the

choices made by students in the

spring class just a few weeks ago:

www.terp.umd.edu/winners.

Casey Rice ‘05 and

Jason Scott ’03 got

engaged in front of

the Testudo in front of

McKeldin Library.

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Page 9: Terp—Spring 2011

ask Anne

Questions for Anne Turkos,

university archivist for

University Libraries, may be

sent to [email protected].

Q. Do you know of any exam-ples of fictional graduates in books or movies? —Beth Cavanaugh

A. One character is “Jackie Vance,” wife of the director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, on the CBS show “NCIS.” Mr. and Mrs. Vance met at a Maryland basketball game where they saw Len Bias play. Also, “Emily Appleton,” played by actress Helen Mirren (right) in the 2007 movie “National Treasure II: Book of Secrets,” was a math professor at the university. That’s

why part of that movie was

filmed here.

Football photo courtesy oF university archives, nixon photo courtesy oF the nixon presidential library and museum

Q. How long has the Red and White Game been taking place, and how long has it been associated with Maryland Day?

—Amanda Parsley

A. Spring football games date to at least 1948, when then-coach Jim Tatum held four of them. In 1951, the scrimmage became a contest between current Terps and recent alumni. In 1963, the contest returned to being an intrasquad scrimmage, with the first usage of “red” and “white” to describe the teams appearing in 1964. Prior contests called the divided squads “Terps,” “Old Liners” or “Free Staters.” As for Maryland Day, the Red and White Game has been part of this celebration every year except 1999 and 2000.

Q. Do you know the history of David Simpson ’72 and Charlie Blocher taking down an im-properly displayed American flag during the 1970s Vietnam War protests and putting it up the correct way? —Betsy Turner

A. Turns out to be quite the tale! The pair of students faced down an angry crowd of about 300 students outside the Main Administration Building to turn the flag right-side up, winning praise from President Nixon and UM Chancellor Charles Bishop. Nixon hosted the two young men for a visit to the White House, and according to The Diamondback, gave each of them a pair of presidential cufflinks.

TERPspring2011 7

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Page 10: Terp—Spring 2011

burdett photo by phil hoffman; ravens logo courtesy of mark burdett

alumniprofileclassact

gala honoreesOn April 9, the Maryland family honored 20 individuals who have made their mark on the university at the 11th annual Alumni Association Awards Gala. They were:

president’s distinguished alumnus awardWilliam E. Mayer ’66, M.B.A. ’67

international alumnus awardAmbassador Jesus P. Tambunting ’60

outstanding young alumnus awardJoshua K. Goldstein ’05

tyser gottwals awardJohn M. Brophy ’71

spirit of marylandCharles ’65 & Judith E. ’66 Iager

honorary membershipGertrude H. Crist

college/school distinguished alumni awards

a. james clark school of engineeringAris Mardirossian ’74, M.S., ’75

agriculture and natural resourcesJohn F. Soper ’81, M.S. ’83

architecture, planning & preservationStephen T. Ayers ’85

arts and humanitiesDonald A. Ritchie M.A. ’69, Ph.D. ’75

athleticsRobert W. Smith ’63

behavioral and social sciencesEllen L.S. Koplow ’80

computer, mathematical and natural sciencesSimon A. Levin Ph.D. ’64

educationJody K. Olsen M.S.W. ’72, Ph.D. ’79

philip merrill college of journalismAmal Mudallali Ph.D. ’97

public healthJoy L. Bauer ’86

public policyJoan B. Rohlfing M.P.M. ’86

robert h. smith school of businessRobert L. Johnson ’80

undergraduate studiesMark Burdett ’81

For more information on the gala and honorees, visit alumni.umd.edu/gala2011.

Ravens Exec Plans Winning Experiences for Fans

The next time you’re hosting 70,000

of your closest friends for a cocktail party, consider

asking Mark Burdett ’81 for advice. As vice president of

corporate sales and development for the Baltimore Ravens,

Burdett ensures that each fan’s game-day experience is

memorable—and marketable.

Burdett’s career began in radio and TV sales, where his

responsibilities included selling sponsorship packages to

and setting up broadcasting deals with local sports teams.

When he transitioned from the broadcast to the sports

side—football specifically—this experience proved to be an

asset, along with his gregarious nature. And with the Ravens

coming off of a 12-4 season, he’ll be doing his part behind

the scenes to get them to Indianapolis next year.

“The point where you recognize the confetti is coming

down on you, it feels pretty special—and fleeting,” he says.

He joined the Ravens in 2000, when his lifelong friend Steve

Bisciotti bought the team.

Now his job covers everything from the generation of

business and broadcast partnerships to being on point for

non-Ravens events held at M&T Bank Stadium, including the

NCAA men’s lacrosse championship and Maryland football

match-ups against Navy.

But most importantly for him are Ravens game days.

“What we do to prepare for the fan experience is what

defines the brand. I’m not in the business of selling wins

and losses, but an attachment to our brand,” Burdett says.

An undergraduate studies graduate, Burdett was

recognized at the 11th annual Alumni Awards Gala. As an

alumnus who admittedly got a 4.0 in fun while a student,

he says, “I’m humbled and thankful to be singled out for

this award.” —MLB

8 TERPspring2011

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HeadsHot PHoto by bob toy; Runway PHotogRaPHy: Randy bRooke; styling: MicHael caRbaugH; sHow PRoduction: siMon ungless, aau; FabRic couRtesy oF caMilla olson

alumniprofile

With a background in life sciences and a successful career in business,

Camilla Olson ’75 didn’t think she possessed “the art gene.” Then she visited the Academy of Art University with her daughter.

Olson, then a biotech venture

capitalist, was smitten by the sewing labs in the San

Francisco school. The large spaces with sketches and fabric everywhere felt right. So at age 57, she—and not daughter Cate—enrolled.

On her new path as a designer, Olson specializes in clothing that “encourages women to experience their own exceptional presence,” she says. As part of her graduation, she was selected to present her first collection during New York’s famed Fashion Week at Lincoln Center last September.

“It was really cool, but getting there is just a toe in the door,” says Olson.

Her Spring 2011 dresses are classic, sleeveless sheaths created from hand-patterned, intricate prints on richly colored silk. For the show, hand-pieced “frames” draped over the dresses for a combination that was inspired by the 1980s sci-fi movie

“Blade Runner” and samurai culture. Simon Ungless, director of the academy’s

School of Fashion, sees promise in her work. “She understands that applying innovative textile treatments and fabrications to her classic style offers something unique and ultimately desirable.”

In fact, Betsy Franco, mom of 2011 Oscar co-host and nominee James Franco, wore an Olson dress to the awards ceremony in February.

Olson says her intense research training at Maryland as a microbiology major shapes her process. “I love doing visual research and I do it scientifically.”

Still, working long hours in a lab or even starting five companies couldn’t prepare her for the fashion world’s demands.

“This is harder. All my life I’ve kind of poked fun at artists: ‘That’s not really a job.’ But we never sleep. It takes a long time to create,” she says. Adding with a laugh,

“It’s a karma thing; this is my public mea culpa.” —MAB

To see Olson’s work, visit www.camillaolson.com.

a new career, all sewn up

9

S11terp_deptsCN_4.12.indd 9 5/11/11 10:47 AM

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credit

alumniprofile

clas

sact

a taste of revolution

Ori Zohar ’07 has discovered the coolest way

to support his favorite causes.

He and a family friend created

Guerrilla Ice Cream, a nonprofit venture

that unites their passions for social

justice and innovative, artisanal food.

“We’re taking a fun and interest-

ing approach to a food that you can get

anywhere,” Zohar says.

Combining Zohar’s business know-how

and partner Ethan Frisch’s confectionary

skills, they started selling their small-batch

ice cream from a cart at street fairs and markets

in Manhattan. Both have day jobs in New York City

(Zohar works in advertising, Frisch is a graduate student in

international conflict studies), but they put their social lives on hold to focus

on the business.

Their flavors are inspired by global political movements and

their interest in unusual taste combinations. Libertação—a

chocolate and port wine ice cream topped with brûléed frozen

bananas and cashews—gives a nod to Guinea-Bissau’s fight

for independence. Another hit, 8888 Uprising—a mango,

lemongrass and palm sugar sorbet topped with coconut

and lime zest—references the pro-democracy movement

in Burma. All profits go to support organizations working for

social justice, and Zohar (inset, right) and Frisch (inset, left) use

organic and sustainable products whenever possible.

Zohar says his marketing background has helped him communi-

cate the products in a way that resonates with people. During his years

at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, he founded the Maryland

Undergraduate Society of Entrepreneurs and, with support from the

Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, started a business that sells

slightly used commencement regalia to graduating seniors.

With Guerilla, he and Frisch weren’t expecting to turn a profit last year,

so they were pleased to give $4,000 to the Street Vendor Project, which

promotes the rights of New York’s street vendors.

Guerrilla Ice Cream was also a finalist for the 2010 Vendy Awards, New

York City’s annual competition for the best street food vendors, and has been

invited to create special flavors for events like one hosted by celebrity chef

Bobby Flay.

Now, Zohar and Frisch are looking to expand their reach beyond the

street cart and their ice cream-making classes. Next stop: restaurants and

grocery stores. —KB

www.guerrillaicecream.com

10 TERPspring2011

One of Guerrilla Ice Cream’s most

popular flavors last year was

Libertação—a chocolate and port

wine ice cream topped with brûléed

frozen bananas and cashews.

One of Guerrilla Ice Cream’s most

popular flavors last year was

Libertação—a chocolate and port

wine ice cream topped with brûléed

frozen bananas and cashews.

S11terp_deptsCN_4.12.indd 10 5/11/11 10:27 AM

Page 13: Terp—Spring 2011

TERPspring2011 11optimal resume illustration by brian g. payne; guerrilla ice cream photos courtesy of ori zohar.

byalumni

Using engaging text and colorful illus-trations, the children’s book Jemma’s Got the Travel Bug by Susan Glick ’76, M.A. ’82 introduces us to a young diamondback terrapin who leaves her familiar cove and swims into the open waters of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay.

David Biespiel M.F.A ’91 cracks open the creative process and invites readers to take a fresh look at the mysterious pathways of the imagina-tion in Every Writer Has a Thousand Faces. Based on his 2009 lecture at the Rainier Writing Workshop, the book offers a captivating glimpse into the inner life of some gifted writers and painters.

In The Grand Hall Character Ball, Lynmarie McCullough ’94 invites young readers to join Emily and Kogel, a friendly elf, as they make their way to the ball. First, though, they have to make their way past interesting char-acters including an indifferent rabbit, the Imagination Fish and an evil witch who attempts to lead them astray.

Career Tool Makes Good Impression

Objective: To write a compelling resume and cover letter that will captivate potential employers and land that dream job.

Problem: Where to begin?The Maryland Alumni Association offers a

solution in Optimal Resume, its newest benefit for members. “It is a great starting point for entry-level professionals, or for anyone who is preparing for a career transition,” says Kourtney Kleine Temple, coordinator for student and young alumni programs.

Optimal Resume is a central portal to resume management: The software includes coaching, style features and samples for building professional resumes, cover letters and resume websites.

Alumni association members can browse resumes based on career field and experience level (early, mid-level and experienced). They can receive tips on writing engaging letters depending on the stage—application, thank you or follow up—of their job search. From choosing among sample templates, they can develop websites that include their resumes, cover letters and links to networking sites like LinkedIn.

The options are plenty—and convenient. Members can work from any computer with an Internet connection.

The University Career Center, which collaborated with the alumni association on the software program, offers Optimal Resume accounts to Maryland students, and Kleine Temple looks forward to students transitioning their accounts from the university to the alumni association after they graduate. “It’s the beginning of a lifelong connection to the university,” she says.

For more information about career services and to join the alumni association, visit alumni.umd.edu. —BAM

“Itisagreatstartingpointforentry-levelprofessionals,orforanyonewhoispreparingforacareertransition.”

—kourtney kLeine teMpLe,

ALuMni ASSoCAtion

S11terp_deptsCN_4.12.indd 11 5/11/11 10:27 AM

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12 TERPspring2011 Biotracker illustration By catherine nichols; refrigerator illustration By christie liBeratore

m-file

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.

tracking biodiversity for fun and scienceMaryland researchers seek to capitalize on human nature in order to provide a detailed accounting of Mother Nature.

Faculty and graduate students in the College of Information Studies, Maryland’s iSchool, and the Department of Computer Science are developing Biotracker, a National Science Foundation-funded project that encourages everyday citizens to snap digital photos and collect other data on flora and fauna worldwide.

Assistant Professor Derek Hansen says Biotracker will help merge “people’s innate desire to hunt down and collect things” with the precise rules used in computer calculations, called algorithms. He compared it to geocaching, a game that uses hand-held global positioning devices to find hidden objects, except Biotracker has the added “cache” of benefiting science.

“We want to develop technology-based motivational tools that inspire people to collect information useful for other scientists in identifying new species, or in tracking the migration patterns of known ones,” he says.

The Maryland team expects the unique data from Biotracker to be incorporated into the Smithsonian Institution’s Encyclopedia of Life, an online repository that aims to document all of the Earth’s estimated 2 million living organisms.

Plans call for testing a prototype of Biotracker in India, where the population is already inclined to use technology and a rich diversity of plants and animals can offer troves of information. —TV

“We had heard every-one saying this stuff is going to be too diluted to get to America, but we wanted to check ourselves. Basically we think this is quite benign for North America, and unless the situation on the ground changes dramatically, there is no reason to change that.”

Ross J. salawitch, atmospheric

and oceanic science, on the risk

of radiation from Japan reach-

ing the U.s., washingtonpost.

com, march 23, 2011.

“Global competitiveness [in the tax code] will boost U.S. job creation, but one-off is not the way to do tax policy. Think about what’s good policy and do that, don’t just do this one-off.”

PhilliP swagel, pUblic policy,

on tax “holiday” proposals

for large companies, NatioNal

JourNal, march 25, 2011.

newsdesk

“It used to be only college kids did it,

but people are increas-ingly finding that the

only way to live is with roommates. I don’t

think that it means that we’re getting along any

better, or that we like each other any more. It’s a response to the

current squeeze.” FRances goldscheideR, sociology, the

minneapolis Star-tribuNe, april 9, 2011.

“It’s like you are saying, would you like to have some cake? Yes. Would you like to eat your cake? Yes. Ah, they want to have their cake and eat it too!”

steven Kull, center on policy

attitUdes, on its stUdy finding

most polls on the national

deficit don’t ask respon-

dents to make tradeoffs, in

realclearpolitics.com,

april 25, 2011.

S11terp_deptsCN_4.12.indd 12 5/11/11 10:27 AM

Page 15: Terp—Spring 2011

tracking biodiversity for fun and science

Teaching the Lessons of HistoryBruce VanSledright, an 18-year profeSSor

in the college of education, haS Spent hiS

career rethinking the teaching and learn-

ing of american hiStory in puBlic SchoolS.

he adVocateS replacing the traditional

reliance on textBookS and memorization

with a more inVeStigatiVe approach, and

hiS reSearch haS State and national reach.

Terp talked to him aBout it, and the hoBBy

that he SayS keepS him Sane.

TERP: you started out as a middle and high

school history and social studies teacher

before earning your graduate degrees. how did

that experience influence your research focus?

VANSLEDRIGHT: I got my bachelor’s in

American history, and my classroom experience

was not turning out like I wanted. I had a lot

of questions, so I went to graduate school. But

I found a lot more questions there, and I kept

going back to American history (education)—

I couldn’t get away from it.

terp: you say in your latest book that the way

we typically teach history to schoolchildren

“is largely broken.” why?

VANSLEDRIGHT: America is a conflicted

place. In telling a story about who we were,

we’re conflicted about what it says about

who we want to be. Instead of fac-

ing those conflicting forces,

we’ve tried to sanitize the

American “story” into one

narrative with right and wrong

answers. The consequences are

that kids dislike history, they don’t

remember history that well, and kids

of color get turned off by the story,

which tends to be whitewashed,

almost literally.

terp: why is the reform model, of having

students analyze accounts of events in u.S.

history, rather than hear a lecture or read a

textbook, more effective?

VANSLEDRIGHT: It puts kids in charge of

their own learning by having them consider

important questions: What caused the

American Revolution? Why did people starve

at Jamestown? Rather than consuming others’

ideas, they’re producing their own.

terp: you’re juggling several research projects

with colleagues and graduate students, includ-

ing studying the effectiveness of the national

park Service’s educational programs and

web content for teachers. what do they have

in common?

VANSLEDRIGHT: We’re trying to understand the

degree to which teachers’ epistemic beliefs—

such as their insistence that a textbook

is right—get in the way of their

understanding. We confront

these beliefs with some intel-

lectual tools. It’s been a

lot of fun.

terp: you’ve been handcrafting wooden desks,

end tables and chairs since working at a high-

end furniture manufacturer in college, and you

still accept occasional commissions. what’s

the appeal?

VANSLEDRIGHT: The nature of research is it

never has a conclusion. There are always more

questions. Furniture is not like that. I know

when it’s done. It keeps me mentally balanced.

photo by John t. consoli

Bruce VanSledright sits behind a chest

he crafted from butternut (walnut) wood

given to him by a close friend and olive ash

burl veneers that his late father rescued

from a burn pile. Though he juggles

teaching and several research projects, he

still occasionally takes commissions.

Bruce VanSledright sits behind a chest

he crafted from butternut (walnut) wood

given to him by a close friend and olive ash

burl veneers that his late father rescued

from a burn pile. Though he juggles

teaching and several research projects, he

still occasionally takes commissions.

TERPspring2011 13

S11terp_deptsCN_4.12.indd 13 5/11/11 10:27 AM

Page 16: Terp—Spring 2011

14 TERPspring2011 need photo credit info

m-fi

le

Maj. Gen. GeorGe G. Meade took command of

the Union army of the Potomac just three days

before the Battle of Gettysburg, yet his troops

faced no crisis of leadership. In the midst of the

Civil War’s bloodiest confrontation, Meade’s

decision to call a war council and allow his top

generals to help shape strategy changed the

course of history.

a new partnership between the robert H.

Smith School of Business and the Gettysburg

Foundation recalls the challenges facing Meade

and other battlefield commanders to provide

executives with leadership lessons that apply in

the modern workplace.

“We have so many characters to build

on,” says Greg Hanifee, executive director of

the office of executive Programs at the Smith

School. “It’s an emotional experience. If people

internalize what happened at Gettysburg, they

gain a new perspective on their own challenges

and obstacles.”

The customizable “In the Footsteps of

Leaders” curriculum builds on a 4-year-old

foundation program by adding the expertise of

business school faculty. Smith sessions last from

two days to a week and the content depends on

goals—including improving teamwork, conflict

management and innovation—identified by each

client. all programs start with a seven- to eight-

hour battlefield tour, followed by a chance to

tour the museum and visitor center, as well as

the national cemetery where abraham Lincoln

delivered the Gettysburg address. Participants

also reflect on the lessons from the classroom.

Leadership Program Manager Sue Boardman,

a licensed battlefield guide, helps Smith faculty

determine which leaders to highlight. on a

given day, she might talk about Confederate

Gen. robert e. Lee, who failed to adapt his

communication style when two of his top three

commanders were replaced and missed an

opportunity to gain the high ground, or Union

Col. joshua Chamberlain, whose empathy

convinced potential mutineers to remain

committed to the cause.

Boardman says witnessing these decisions as

a corporate unit brings co-workers together in a

new way: “They’re a ‘regiment’ by the time they

march across Pickett’s Charge.”

james M. Sullivan ’81, senior vice president of

IT solutions provider Force 3, brought more than

20 employees to Gettysburg in 2009 and 2010 to

study strategic thinking, leadership style, team

building and communication.

“Making parallels to how these same

processes affect our business environment was

an extremely enlightening and effective learning

experience,” he says. —KM

From Battlefield to Boardroom

S11terp_deptsCN_4.12.indd 14 5/11/11 10:27 AM

Page 17: Terp—Spring 2011

TERPspring2011 15

new center to examine the new america

off & running

WhenkinesiologyAssistAntProfessorJae

kunshimandresearchfellowPrabhavsaraswat

goontheirdailyruns,they’rethinkingaboutwork

witheverystep.Canabettersneakerprevent

runninginjuries?Andwhyaren’tthespecialized

athleticshoesalreadyonthemarketdoingthat?

theanswer,sayssaraswat,liesinresearch

thatgoesbeyondimprovingperformancetofocus

onshoe-relatedinjuries.heandshimaredoing

suchworkthroughacollaborationwithathletic

apparelpowerhouseUnderArmour,foundedby

kevinPlank’96.

througha$100,000gift,thecompanyis

sponsoringsaraswat’stwo-yearfellowship.Under

Armourdonatedanother$489,000inshoesand

equipment.shim’sneuromechanicslaboratory

received$100,000fromtheuniversity’sMaryland

industrialPartnershipsandatotalof$90,000

fromtheDepartmentofkinesiology,Divisionof

researchandschoolofPublichealth.

shimsaysothercompaniesinthe$3.1billion

runningshoeindustryhaveapproachedhim.

“ButUnderArmourappreciatesthe

biomechanicsandphysiologyofit,”hesays.

Aspartoftheresearch,100testsubjects

wearingdifferenttypesofshoesdesigned

byshimandUnderArmourdasheddown

a25-meterwoodenrunwaywith12

infraredcamerasrecordingtheir

everymove.sensorsinthefloor

capturedtheimpact.theresults

created3-Dimagesandotherdata

forshim’steamtostudy.

hislabcolleaguescomefrom

mechanicalengineering,electrical

engineering,roboticsandbiomechanics,

andthere’sanorthopedicsurgeoninthemix,

too.shim,whosebackgroundincludescomputer

scienceandengineering,saystherangeof

disciplinescreatesricherresearch.

thegoal:sneakersthataccommodaterunners’

differentfootstrikingpatterns.shimandsaraswat

wouldbeamongthetechnology’sbeneficiaries:

“i’vegonethroughalotofthekneepainandshin

splints,”sayssaraswat. —MAB

Nearly 250 years after this nation was founded as an immigrant soci-ety, the latest U.S. census shows that immigrants and their children made up three-fourths of the last decade’s population growth.

A new university initiative, the Center for the History of the New America, will explore this phenome-non, looking at who we are by exam-ining who we were.

“Understanding the United States as a nation of immigrants is critical to any appreciation of the new America,” says Ira Berlin, distinguished university professor of history and co-founder of the project.

The center hopes to bring in scholars, students and policymakers from around the world interested in how a resurgence of American immi-gration interconnects with the under-lying currents of global social change, Berlin says.

Closer to home, an array of immigrants in Prince George’s County—with large local communi-ties from El Salvador, Nigeria, the Philippines and Ethiopia, to name but a few—offers ample opportunity to gather a rich library of oral histories and other data, says Julie Greene, pro-fessor of history who helped launch the center.

Greene expects the project to draw strong interest from across academic disciplines, with proposed graduate fellowships attracting not only history majors, but also research-ers and scholars from disciplines as diverse as anthropology, public health, economics and more to get involved.

“Looking at how Americans relate to one another and how society should function in a way that treats everyone with respect and dignity is important,” she says. —TV

U.S. table-and-chair illUStration by brian G. Payne; civil War Photo coUrteSy of the library of conGreSS, lc-b817- 7252; Photo illUStration by catherine nicholS; rUnninG Shoe coUrteSy of Jae KUn Shim

S11terp_deptsCN_4.12.indd 15 5/11/11 10:28 AM

Page 18: Terp—Spring 2011

16 TERPspring2011 coach edsall and american voices photos by john t. consoli

No more scooters. No earrings, do-rags or ball caps.

No tardiness. And no excuses.

maryland football players started spring practice with

a new head coach and a set of stiff new rules. randy edsall

hopes his military approach to coaching will lead to wins on

the field and higher standards for academic performance.

“I demand a lot from players because I want them to

achieve and succeed at the highest level,” edsall says. “I

don’t believe you can be successful without preparation,

dedication and hard work.”

though edsall grew up 70 miles from campus in Glen

rock, Pa., he says his fan allegiance has always been with

maryland. He saw his first college game at Bryd stadium 40

years ago.

“It was raining like crazy that day,” he recalls of the 1971

home opener against Villanova. “I remember Larry marshall

took a punt back,” he says with a grin.

While edsall appreciates his maryland memories—as

a kid in the ’70s, he also attended Lefty Driesell’s summer

basketball camps—he’s planning on making a lot of new

ones for terps fans. Building aggressively on a 9–4 program

ranked No. 23 in last year’s Associated Press poll, he plans

to recruit local players who fit his ideal profile: bright, ethi-

cal, driven athletes who like to work hard.

It’s a formula edsall has been developing since he

launched his coaching career in 1980 at syracuse, his

alma mater. He spent three seasons as secondary coach

for the Jacksonville Jaguars, then took the University of

connecticut’s football team to five bowl games and a Bcs

contest.

A former all-state high school athlete in football, basket-

ball and baseball, edsall stresses fundamentals and holds

his players accountable.

the coach’s biggest challenge for the coming season?

“to get everybody to be a team. You have to create trust,

enthusiasm, make sure they have the right attitude, and

be mentally tough. If you’re going to do something that’s

worthwhile, it’s not going to be easy.” —MLB

play-by-play

edsall shares playbook for success

“�If�you’re�going�to�do�something�worthwhile,�it’s�not�going�to�be�easy.”

—Randy Edsall

S11terp_deptsJN.indd 16 5/4/11 5:33 PM

Page 19: Terp—Spring 2011

TERPspring2011 17

WhatWouldyouaskhenryFord,dolley

Madison,Jamesdeanorlenahorneifyouhad

thechance?

“americanVoices,”acollaborationbetween

theuniversityandtheNationalPortraitGallery,

providedjustthatopportunitytomuseumvisitors

inapril.Marylandtheatrestudents,professional

actorsandWashington,d.C.,highschoolstudents

teameduptostageinteractiveperformances

featuringadozennotableamericanswhose

portraitsareondisplayatthemuseum.

theactors,infullcharacter,stoodinfront

oftheirrespectivecharacters’portraitsand

banteredwiththeaudience,streettheater-style.

thentheyconvenedinthegallery’sGreathallto

discusscontemporarysubjectsrangingfromthe

incivilityofamericanpoliticstohowtechnologyis

contributingtosocialisolation.

thedirector,leslieFelbain,anassistant

professorinthedepartmentoftheatre,joined

forceswiththegallery’syouthandfamilyprogram

coordinator,GeriProvost-lyons,tocreatethe

programwithaseedgrantfromtheuniversityand

thesmithsonianInstitution.ItintegratesFelbain’s

collegecourseincharacterdevelopment,inwhich

studentsstudyandportraynoteworthyamericans,

withthegallery’sPortraitsalive!programthat

bringsinlocalhighschoolstudentstoperform

monologuesasfiguresinthemuseum.

theactorsspentayeardevelopingtheir

characters,researchingtheirlifehistory,legacy,

appearance,mannerismsandvoice.their

preparationincludedstayingincharacter15

minuteseachday,combinedwithninemonthsof

rehearsalsoncampus.“Itisthismagicalprocess,

aconnectionofbodyandmind,”Felbainexplains.

“Whenthebodyshiftstobecomesomeoneelse,

peopleactuallystartthinkingasthecharacters.”

kiaratinch’12,whoportrayedhorne,said,

“Ifeellikelenaisapartofmyfamilynow.”

Conversely,professionalactorMattsparacinosaid,

afterprobingFord’svalues,“IdonotthinkIwould

havelikedhim.”

IfonlyFelbaincouldaskthewealthy

industrialistforpatronage:she’snowexploring

waystofundaninternationaltouroftheshow.

“Ihopepeoplesawhowsimilarthingsstill

are,”scriptwriterZacharyFerneboksaidofthe

d.C.performance.“Whetherit’sthethreatstothe

environmentorobstaclestogayorcivilrights,

thingshaven’treallychangedthatmuch.” —KB

If These Portraits Could Talk

spotlight

Maryland students recreated historical American figures (from top, left) Lena Horne, Rachel Carson, Dolley Madison and Charles Lindbergh. The entire group (left) posed before one of its performances.

S11terp_deptsJN.indd 17 5/11/11 11:40 AM

Page 20: Terp—Spring 2011

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Page 21: Terp—Spring 2011

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by tom ventsias

live.

think.move.

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the simplest of physical tasks, such as turning the page to read this article, requires an intense burst of brain activity that rivals the information-driven flurry on Wall Street or a space shuttle mission. it happens in millisec-onds and requires little conscious thought. But for stroke victims and amputees with diminished motor-sensory skills, this process can be difficult or impossible.

An electrical engineer in the School of Public Health, in conjunction with a top national lab and a medical school in Baltimore, hopes to offer these people newfound mobility and dexterity. He’s conducting pioneering research using data gleaned from electroencephalography, or eeG, to develop a brain-computer interface that could soon control modern prosthetic devices.

eeG externally measures electrical activ-ity in the brain, and Associate Professor of Kinesiology José “Pepe” contreras-Vidal says his team is the first to reconstruct voluntary natural movement from eeG signals in real time, “essentially decoding human brain activ-ity that is used for physical movement.”

While similar technology under develop-ment allows users to “think” commands that are sent to sophisticated upper- or lower-limb prosthetics, the device that contreras-Vidal is building will be the first that is noninvasive, requiring no surgical implants.

“Our interface requires only a fabric cap and maybe some goo on your head from where the sensors are attached,” he says.

maryland researcher “decodes” the thought process used for physical activity

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there are more than 1.8 million amputees in the United States, according to the National Limb Loss information center. At least 1,600 of them are U.S. veterans wounded in iraq and Afghanistan, and their rehabilitation is a prior-ity of the defense Advanced research Projects Agency, or dArPA, the military’s research and development entity known for advancing far-reaching science, including an early version of the internet.

contreras-Vidal and his team are in the preliminary stages of pairing their eeG-based findings with research at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. there, engineers and medical experts are work-ing on the dArPA-funded Modular Prosthetics Limb, or MPL, a next-generation robotic arm that functions like a normal limb.

“they are building the arm, and we will work on one of the options for the control system,” says contreras-Vidal.

though eeG monitoring is safer than other approaches, scientists had deemed it unreliable for a brain-computer interface, mainly because they believed the human skull blocked much of the detailed brain activity needed for precision-controlled prosthetics.

A paper contreras-Vidal published in the Journal of Neuroscience last March turned that notion on end, showing that he could capture and decode the lower frequencies of eeG signals ema-nating from the scalp, producing data comparable to almost any invasive method—data that could drive complex robotic devices like the MPL.

“People were reluctant to believe that eeG had new things to offer because it had been studied for so long,” says Jacob Vogelstein, a senior biomedical engineer at the Applied Physics Laboratory who is leading the MPL research. “But Pepe had a different viewpoint, and in that it somewhat matched my own, i was very interested in talking once i read his study.”

contreras-Vidal’s journey began when he was 21 and an engineering undergraduate in his native Mexico. His mother suffered a brain aneurism and fell into a coma for almost a year before passing away. “it was hard on the family, and frustrating that you felt like you couldn’t do anything,” he says.

University researchers are developing noninvasive brain-computer interface that could soon control sophisticated prosthetic devices. Shown are bioengineering doctoral student Steve Graff ’10 (seated, with cap), kinesiology doctoral student Alessandro Presacco (background) and lead researcher José Contreras-Vidal (left).

photography by John t. Consoli

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contreras-Vidal decided to focus his gradu-ate studies on neuroscience, using his skills in signal processing to develop detailed computer models of the brain. His postdoctoral clinical research focused on movement disorders, mostly Parkinson’s disease, and he began to learn advanced brain imaging techniques.

He arrived at UMd in 1999, and later was granted a yearlong sabbatical to go to France and study the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMri, to help develop real-time models of brain activity. He contemplated how to use his distinctive blend of scientific skills—engineering, neuroscience and brain imaging—to make a difference.

“i knew i wanted to develop a brain-com-puter interface that could help people,” he says.

to make that happen, the main challenge—what sets his research apart—was not recording the brain data, which the fMri and eeG do eas-ily, but analyzing it in relation to movement.

Back at Maryland, contreras-Vidal enlisted the aid of a half-dozen doctoral students from kine-siology, bioengineering and the neuroscience and cognitive science program. they devised a set of experiments in which subjects walked on tread-mills or touched random buttons on a computer screen while wearing a fabric cap with 64 sensors recording eeG data, while other sensors picked up arm, leg, hand and foot motion.

“We were able to match specific brain activ-ity with specific motor functions without any time delay,” says Alessandro Presacco, a second-year doctoral student in contreras-Vidal’s Neural engineering and Smart Prosthetics Lab who is developing the algorithms to decode the voluminous data.

contreras-Vidal says his brain interface will come in “two flavors.” One is for restoration of function and includes robotics work with the Johns Hopkins lab. the other is for rehabilitation, specifically for stroke victims with brain injuries that affect motor-sensory control.

“there is a big push in brain science to understand what exercise does in terms of motor learning or motor retraining of the human brain,” says Larry Forrester Ph.d. ’97, an associ-ate professor of physical therapy and rehabilita-tion at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.

For the past year, Forrester and the UMd team—funded by a seed grant program between the two institutions—have tracked the neural activity of people on a treadmill doing precise tasks like stepping over dotted lines. Once again, the researchers are matching specific brain activity recorded in real time with exact lower-limb movements.

this data could help stroke victims in several ways, Forrester says. One is a prosthetic device, called an “anklebot,” that stores data from a normal human gait and assists partially para-lyzed people.

People who are less mobile commonly suffer from other health issues such as obesity, diabetes or cardiovascular problems, Forrester says, “so we want to get [stroke survivors] up and moving by whatever means possible.”

the second use of the eeG data in stroke victims is more complex, yet offers exciting possibilities. “By decoding the motion of a normal gait,” contreras-Vidal says, “we can then try and teach stroke victims to think certain ways and match their own eeG signals with the normal signals.” this could “retrain” healthy areas of the brain in what is known as neuroplasticity.

One potential method for retraining comes from the Maryland research team’s newest mem-ber, Steve Graff ’10, a first-year bioengineering doctoral student. He envisions a virtual reality game that matches real eeG data with on-screen characters. “it gives us a way to train someone to think the right thoughts to generate movement from digital avatars. if they can do that, then they can generate thoughts to move a device,” he says.

Graff brings a unique perspective to the Maryland team: He has congenital muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair. the advances he’s working on could allow him to use both hands while operating his motorized chair, whether putting on a jacket, dialing his cell phone or—he hopes—clutching a football.

“i see the research we are doing as giving people like me hope,” he says. terp

Part of the research involves matching EEG data in real time with specific motor-sensory control points.

“our interface requires only a fabric cap and maybe some goo on your head from where the sensors are attached.”

—josé contreras-vidal

illustrations By Brian G. Payne TERPspring2011 23

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Antoine-Louis Barye’s 1865 “Walking Lion; Striding Lion” sculpture at the Walters Art Museum could one day benefit from the new treatment, says Walters conservation scientist Glenn Gates.

labElinGGriEf

by lauren bro wn

Maryland Interns Archive Mementos Left at Vietnam Veterans Memorial

CataloGinGGriEf

by lauren brown

Maryland Interns Archive Mementos Left at Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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by lauren bro wn

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One day in 1989, grief came in the shape of a plastic Snoopy doll. The Marine Corps

sergeant rank insignia had been drawn on its arms, and the names of the cities Da Nang and

Phu Bai had been scrawled on Snoopy’s feet. On the belly were the words, “To John Thothland,

Thanks for being there. —Dan.” It was left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in

Washington, D.C., with a letter about the good-luck piece that read in part: “He belongs

here with my fellow brothers.” Snoopy spent the next 22 years in a plastic blue storage

container, until Janet Donlin ’09 pulled it out and took the first steps in sharing its story.

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The Wall, as it is known, appears to rise out of the earth itself, the starkest and darkest among the memorials in the nation’s capital. Smooth, impen-etrably hard and harshly angled, it doesn’t inspire hope so much as evoke sadness. The polished black granite bears a grim catalog: the names of 58,267 men and women in the U.S. military who died or went missing in the war zone.

Since 1984, survivors and strangers alike have come here to pay their respects, to mourn, to say they haven’t forgotten what sacrifice looks like. The Wall draws 4 million people each year, and some of them leave things there: flower bouquets, POW-MIa bracelets, medals, battered helmets, letters that make your heart hurt.

The National Park Service, or NPS, quietly retrieves these items. except for the flowers and other perishable items, the agency doesn’t discard the artifacts, but stores and archives them. That’s where the University of Maryland comes in.

The NPS awards grants to Maryland and a handful of other colleges to hire interns to identify, label and catalog these mementos, giving them a unique experience in museum archival work while providing a service to the federal government.

Paul Shackel, Department of anthropology chair, has worked with the Park Service for more than five years on this project. he says it’s about how people recall the past, which is key to under-standing how people think about and remember the Vietnam War.

“There’s a lot to be learned from material culture,” Shackel says. “This project can help students under-stand the trauma involved in the war, and they’re also learning about collections—what happens to an artifact, how to care for it.”

The work takes place at a NPS museum storage facility that looks like the inspiration for the final scene of “Raiders of the lost ark.” Blue plastic boxes stacked 12 high line shelf after towering shelf, each carefully labeled and filled with a week’s worth of Wall mementos. Under the care of curator and Vietnam veteran Duery Felton, they share space

26 TERPspring2011

Janet Donlin ’09 (above and below, left) says her archival work with the National Park Service is giving her a better under-standing of veterans’ sacrifices.

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America, so he also appreciated the opportunity to work with contemporary artifacts.

He and Sonderman note that the items people leave at the memorial have evolved over time. In the first years, veterans spontaneously set down key chains or can openers or letters they’d kept since the war, but as years have passed, the personal connection has grown more distant and the items are left more symbolically. One group rec-reated a tiger cage, or bamboo cell where American POWs were tortured. A group of veterans from Wisconsin parked a gorgeous Harley-Davidson motorcycle, custom airbrushed with war images on its shiny paint, at the Wall after consulting with the Park Service on the donation.

The Harley regularly goes on exhibit with other haunting and touching Wall mementos at places

such as the Office of Veterans Affairs in New York City or the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

The inventory the NPS interns are

developing will make it easier than ever to select which objects to exhibit publicly—particularly at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Education Center planned next to the Wall. The foundation behind the Wall’s funding and construction is raising money to support “telling the story behind every name” of the fallen. It’s a story told through the mute testimony of the offerings left at this somber shrine.

They range from the prosaic—beat-up boots, baseballs, high school yearbooks—to the poignant, like the “return to sender” care package from 1972 that was left at the Wall with a note reading

“Charles Stewart—Mom & Dad want you to have these cookies and Kool-Aid. It’s time they gave these to you. They send all their love. — Gary B.”

“You never know what you’re going to pull out of a box,” Singer says. terp

with thousands of other items from the NPS and Department of the Interior collections—items that could go back on public display anytime: Gen. Robert E. Lee’s rusty bathtub, Frederick Douglass’ personal library and countless pieces of furniture, artwork and textiles that have a place in American history.

Everything in the repository, from the lowliest Budweiser can left at the Wall to the most fragile Colonial spinning wheel, is stored in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment to protect their conditions.

It reflects a respect for the usually modest Wall artifacts. Bob Sonderman, director of the 60,000-square-foot facility, even now chokes up when he shows visitors a selection of notes and other items now encased in glass.

“The objects can really talk to you,” he says. “They really can.”

Most of the artifacts in the collection, however, haven’t been handled or catalogued since being removed from the Wall. The intern program allows the NPS to reduce that backlog.

Janet Donlin, who majored in anthropology and history at Maryland, takes personal photos of many of the items she enters into the NPS database,

“just to remember them.” Her parents, grandfathers, uncle, sister and cousins have served or still do serve in the military.

“This makes me feel like I understand their experience more,” she says of her internship. “My grandfather doesn’t talk about his time in Vietnam at all. I like to think that the letters I read here are kind of like his stories.”

Donlin also likes thinking that the items she catalogs—such as the Snoopy, the Texas flag paired with plastic yellow roses and the helmet decorated with aces and spades that shared one bin—will resonate with others who may someday see them.

Zachary Singer ’10, who finished his internship in January and is now a doctoral student in anthropol-ogy at the University of Connecticut, was grateful to be a part of a project “saving America’s culture history.” He normally studies the prehistory of North

“�The�objects�can�really�talk�to�you.”

BoB Sonderman

The National Park Service’s Sonderman says the Wall artifacts (below) that the interns are cataloging make up “one of the finest contemporary museum collections in the United States.”

VIETNAM WALL PHOTO BY VINCENT RUSH; OTHER PHOTOS BY JOHN T. CONSOLI AND COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

TERPspring2011 27

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Learning to

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By Priya Kumar

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illustration by patti look

Giving away $20,000 isn’t as easy as it sounds.

A group of Maryland students real-ized this after debating for 20 minutes whether two-thirds or three-fourths of them had to agree on worthy recipients.

The 60 undergraduates voted on that point, then continued the discussion over dinner at the Diner. Though this exchange appears ridiculous in hindsight, it reflects how seriously the students took their task, says sophomore Zach Cohen. “This wasn’t an academic exer-cise,” he recalls. “This was real.”

A university course on philanthropy, “How Will You Make a Difference: The Art and Science of Philanthropy,” is introducing students to its importance in society and in their own lives. The course not only focuses on the latest research in this emerging field, it also supplies the students with cash to support an organi-zation in the local community.

A gift from Bruce and Karen ’76 Levenson funded the first course, which launched last spring for students in the College Park Scholars Public Leadership program. A second course for Honors College students was offered this spring, thanks to financial support from the Levensons and the Cora and John H. Davis Foundation.

“This has so surpassed any of our ini-tial expectations,” Karen Levenson says.

“I think [the experience] really changed them in terms of being able to take these skills and apply them to school and then again in the workplace.”

Besides its obvious social value, phi-lanthropy plays an important part in the nation’s economy. The nonprofit sector grew 31 percent from 1998–2008, and last year, nonprofits received more than

$300 billion in philanthropic donations, according to the Urban Institute.

“We spend a lot of time studying busi-ness and the role of government, but indeed nonprofits and philanthropic organizations are a key player in how all aspects of public life play out,” says Professor of the Practice Robert Grimm, who teaches the course and runs the new Philanthropy and Nonprofit Management Program in the School of Public Policy.

And what better way to learn than by doing? “If you just study philanthropy but you don’t actually engage in it,” says Grimm, “it’s like having a science class with no lab.”

In class, students first reflected on their personal experience with giving. A class debate pitted different philan-thropic philosophies against one another: Andrew Carnegie sought to build institu-tions allowing people to help themselves, while Jane Addams donated directly to the poor.

They then researched social issues plaguing local communities. As stu-dents, they found common ground in education, but narrowing the idea into a

“If you just study philanthropy but you don’t actually engage in it,” says Grimm, “it’s like having a science class with no lab.”

By Priya Kumar

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concrete goal was harder. They wrangled for nearly an entire session over their 32-word mission statement.

They settled on middle-school youth empowerment and sought grant proposals from Prince George’s County nonprofits. Guest speakers offered advice: Keep an open mind. Trust each other. Scrutinize organizations. Talk to the people the nonprofit helps.

“There were days when this seemed impossible,” says sophomore Devon Brunson. “There were times when I walked out of the class trying to figure out, OK, how are we going to make a deci-sion on this?”

Among the 11 applications they received, the Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection stood out. Hillside pairs at-risk youngsters with professional youth advocates who keep them on track for graduation. Another organization, the Cultural Academy For Excellence, or CAFE, intrigued the students with its student steel drum orchestra but left them unsure how the music tied into academics.

A Saturday visit to CAFE changed everything. Upon entering the church basement three miles from campus, Maryland students saw children

playing chess, learning how to create a budget and practicing for a mock trial competition.

“All of the kids were either way too engaged to notice us, or they would be coming up to us, wanting to talk to us,” says sophomore Ryan Steinbach.

“Everyone was just so happy to be there.”CAFE’s award-winning Positive

Vibrations Youth Steel Orchestra then serenaded the visitors with three songs.

“It was almost like all of us got hit on the head with that moment of clarity,” says sophomore Aaron Fagan.

Twelve days later, the students ham-mered out a final proposal to award $9,000 to Hillside and more than $11,000 to CAFE. Forty votes were needed for it to pass. The final tally: at least 50 hands up.

But more important, their vote would help the youth orchestra use music as therapy for wounded veterans.

“We are just very excited. It goes way beyond the funding,” says Lorna Green, CAFE’s executive director, who was impressed by the students’ professional-ism and engagement. “They came on a site visit. They spoke with our students. They spoke with our tutors. Oftentimes, we don’t see that with our other sponsors. They bought into it.” ­—TERP

what students saidExcerpts from the HONR349I blogcollegeparkphilanthropy. wordpress.com

“I believe that this is the appropriate approach to being a philanthropist because a true philanthro-pist not only gives the gift, but also walks the walk as well.” —Jong P.

“How many college students get to say that they have played a part in donating nearly twenty thousand dollars towards a good cause? That’s pretty sweet.”

—Stephanie B.

“Through this experience we have become good deed doers and now, my friends, we must go forth and do good deeds.” —Pam B.

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Anniversary

th

Ben ‘39 and Betty alperstein

Hotsy alperstein ‘42

William ‘69, ‘76 and Frances apollony

roBert a. ‘70 and marjorie

deck ‘72 BedingField

joHn and mary BenisH

lance ‘61 and carolyn ‘61 Billingsley

espey jr. ‘74 and deBoraH BroWning

roBert Butman ‘77

ann ‘68 and roBert Byrd

a. james ‘50 and alice B. clark

William e. jr. ‘71 and angela a. cole

Francis ‘68 and Betty contino

alan cornField ‘83

B. gary ‘64 and marilyn s. ‘64 dando

edWard ‘52 and loretta doWney

micHael and katHleen eidsness

m. jean Farrell

a. tHomas jr. ‘76 and roBin B. Finnell

alBert Folop ‘69

joHn Ford ‘64 and sandra poster ‘64

William and constance Fourney

dennis ginsBerg ‘72

Francis j. govan ‘75

William ‘66 and carol ‘66 gross

joHn jr.* ‘47 and jacqueline ‘49 Heise

leroy j. HerBert jr. ‘50

edWard Herring

jack kay ‘47

oscar line ‘50

roBert ‘59 and marlene mitcHell

marvin* ‘53 and carol perry

jane pFeiFFer ‘54

roBert p. pincus ‘68

erWin* ‘56 and Bonnie raFFel

Warren k. ‘49 and mary* reed

joHn ‘60 and victoria ‘61, ‘66, ‘83 rymer

roBert ‘62 and marilyn ‘65 scHaFtel

adele cHidakel scHWartz ‘55

and david scHWartz

cHarles ‘90 and juditH sturtz

donald ‘68 and BarBara sWeeney

cHarles F. WellFord

Learn how you can become a member of the Colonnade Society. Visit www.colonnade.umd.edu or call Deb Rhebergen at 301.405.4630.

Since 1991, 68 loyal Terps have stepped up every year with gifts of $1,000 or more to support the University of Maryland. They are among the founding members of the Colonnade Society, setting the pace for the 5,200 members who have joined them.

As the Colonnade Society celebrates its 20th anniversary, it offers a special thank you to these pioneers for their yearly commitment. Annual giving like theirs is critical to Maryland’s success.

a traditionof giving

*Deceased

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photos by john t. consoli

A Passion for Growing Big Ideas

“Issues involving energy, clean water, land use, urban design and monitoring and protecting resource use are going to be solved by fundamental research.”—Warren Citrin

think small gifts can’t make a difference? Ask the Mighty Sound of

Maryland about that.

The three-month TerpsChoice initiative, which pooled together gifts of

less than $250 and awarded all donations to one of five causes that gar-

nered the most votes from donors, ended with the band marching to victory.

The Mighty Sound of Maryland inched out other worthy causes includ-

ing Keep Me Maryland, the Veterans Initiative, the Solar Decathlon and

Mtech’s Entrepreneurship Program. Though the band earned the collective

gifts totaling more than $6,000, each of the other programs received

$1,000 for participating.

The band, seeking to refurbish its uniforms, used its grassroots

approach to drive donations and votes. Members tapped family and

friends to support the cause and distributed a video showing the

shabby condition of the uniforms, which resonated with many.

Brodie Remington, vice president for university relations,

thanks the everyone who donated. “Your participation in

TerpsChoice demonstrates your commitment to the worthy

causes featured in this program, and shows your affinity for

the University of Maryland,” he says. —BU

Band Plays Victory Tune in ★TerpsChoice★

Warren Citrin wants budding entrepreneurs to turn to the A. James Clark School of Engineering for the technical education and mentorship to develop big-impact ideas like clean water technology or local power generation.

His recent gift of $560,000 to establish the Warren Citrin Graduate Fellowship program is just his latest effort to help young people in the school take on society’s biggest challenges. The fellowships, to be awarded for the first time this fall, will provide significant funding for graduate assistantships and other support to attract talented master’s and doctoral students with ideas for sustainable solutions. Individualized mentoring will help them to complete their degrees and launch businesses that boost Maryland’s economic development. 

“Issues involving energy, clean water, land use, urban design and monitoring and protecting resource use are going to be solved by fundamental research,” says Citrin. “To the degree that we can get candidates here who focus on some aspect of these pressing problems, it will be very gratifying.”

Citrin, founder of software engineering firm Solypsis and media-application company Gloto, is also supporting a new part-time employee to help the fellows create viable businesses. Maryland’s Mtech Venture Accelerator will  provide business professionals to coach students on setting goals, raising capital and marketing.

David Barbe, Mtech executive director and professor of electrical engineering, says the fellowships will also help keep top undergradu-ates in the state. Applicants must show a history of business involve-ment—whether through a childhood lemonade stand or a lucrative Web endeavor—and present a new business concept.

“This program will continue to put the Clark School on the map as a college of engineering that highly values the entrepreneurial spirit,” Barbe says. —km

Warren Citrin has a history of supporting Maryland students focused on developing in-novative businesses with social impact. He sponsors pre-seed grants for undergraduate entre-preneurs as well as the social impact award presented each year at the university’s $75K Business Plan Competition.

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squarespace creates and maintains websites that

get millions of hits. Alertus makes and installs emer-

gency alert systems for colleges, military bases and

government buildings. Zymetis is on the cutting edge

of the alternative energy field, producing biofuels from

Chesapeake Bay plant waste.

All of these companies were founded by Maryland

alumni and faculty, and the university hopes to

launch 100 more such successful ventures in

the next eight years through a new Center for

Innovation and Entrepreneurship, or CIE.

The center, planned for development over the

next four years with substantial private support,

will bring together the A. James Clark School of

Engineering and the Robert H. Smith School of

Business to enhance the university’s ability to drive

innovation, entrepreneurship and technology commer-

cialization across the region.

“Who is going to be the new person that revolution-

izes technology, that launches a name-brand firm like

Google? I think that person is going to come out of the

University of Maryland,” says Darryll Pines, dean of

the Clark School.

The CIE will house the array of entrepreneurship

activities in a central facility and serve as a bridge to

the venture capital and larger entrepreneurship com-

munities. Plans call for streamlining existing activities,

creating new opportunities for undergraduate and

graduate students and providing assistance to com-

mercialize discoveries, inventions and business ideas.

The university is committed to infusing the spirit of

entrepreneurship in students across the campus, and is

doubling its annual investment in these programs, says

G. “Anand” Anandalingam, dean of the Smith School.

“We’re seeking the support of alumni and friends to

share our vision of this institution as a major source of

enterprise generation and economic development for

the state and region.” —CR

new center to expand entrepreneurship opportunities

The university hopes to launch 100 successful ventures in the next eight years through a new Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

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Albert Folop ’69 plays music and instruments from the

1600s, but his support for budding young musicians at

Maryland makes clear that he is focused on the future.

Folop, who for more than 30 years has made an

annual gift to benefit Maryland students, is a charter

member of the university’s Colonnade Society, now

celebrating its 20th anniversary.

“This kind of consistent giving has enabled Maryland

to now compete for the best students and faculty and is

essential if the university’s ambitions goals for the future

are to be realized,” says Colonnade Society Council Chair

John H. Axley III.

Folop, who retired from a 27-year career in the Navy

and 15 years as a computer programmer, says when he

started giving, he kept it up every year, giving at the

Colonnade level since 1982. “My education was paid for

by the government and I felt I ought to give back to help

other students.”

Today, Folop is doing his part to preserve Renaissance

and Baroque music, playing the viola da gamba, recorder,

krummhorn, rauschpfeife, cometto, lute and baroque

flute and creating an online archive of some 3,000 viol

music scores available for free download.

A member of the School of Music Board of

Visitors, Folop frequently attends student perfor-

mances. He even sits with nervous families to

cheer students during the early stages of the

annual concerto competition.

“College is there for the young people,”

Folop says. “I’m supporting the School of

Music in developing high-caliber students

who are destined to become the professional

artists of tomorrow as well as those who will

keep music alive in local communities.”—CR

a renaissance man of giving

Colonnade Society Marks 20 YearsThe Colonnade Society recognizes donors who make annual contribu-tions of $1,000 or more. Membership reached 5,212 in 2010. For more infor-mation, visit www.colonnade.umd.edu.YEARS

photo by john t. consoli

GREAT ExpEcTATions progress

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Page 37: Terp—Spring 2011

Human Hair. Mother of pearl. Some of the earliest photos of middle-class Americans. Pickle advertisements. They’re all part of a new University Libraries collection highlighting the role of the humble—and sometimes bizarre—postcard in recording more than a century of illustration and communication.

Historian Donald R. Brown, a retired librar-ian and professor and founder of the Institute of American Deltiology, has agreed to donate the bulk of his one-million-card collection to the National Trust Library, housed in Hornbake, to encourage the use of postcards in schol-arly research. About 66,000 postcards from 18 Southern states arrived at Maryland in November; Brown and volunteer curators are preparing more boxes for shipping this fall.

“Postcards capture the tastes of an age, the interests, the work habits, as well as communities,” Brown says. “They document our heritage.”

The Myerstown, Pa.,-based insti-tute is housed in a former general store built in 1849; many of its contents are nearly as old. Postcards dating to the 1890s were valued more for their aesthetics—unique colors created in a photomechanical printing process—than for their messages. Postal regulations prohibited messages on the cards’ backs until 1907. Doug McElrath, the university’s curator of Marylandia and rare books, calls the resulting, often pithy messages scribbled on the fronts the “tweets of 1900.”

Brown’s overflowing card catalogues, sorted topically and geographically, fill nine rooms in his home. The “D”s alone range from disasters to dis-tilleries to dogs. Many cards emphasize American architecture and emerging skylines.

The collection joins an already substantial 18,500 postcards in the National Trust Library. Once Brown’s collection has been transferred, Maryland’s postcard archive will be the second-largest in the U.S.

“We anticipate that we’ll be offered more now that we’re seen as a center for postcard collec-tions,” says McElrath, who plans to put the cards into an online database.

Meanwhile, more postcards continue to pour in to the institute—a good sign in Brown’s eyes.

“Yesterday’s postcards are today’s history,” he says. “And today’s postcards are tomorrow’s history.” —KM

The Gift’s in the Mail:Libraries to Receive 1 Million Postcards

81%

campaign total

$810 millionas of May 4, 2011

TErPspring2011 35postcards courtesy of the NatioNal trust library historic postcard collectioN

Donald Brown has agreed to donate as many as one million postcards to University Libraries because of its connection to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

GREAT ExpEcTATions progress

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Page 38: Terp—Spring 2011

photo by mike morgan 36 TERPspring2011

Interpretations

New Priorities, New OpportunitiesOn APRil 28, I formally accepted the honor and the responsibility to serve as the 33rd president of the University of Maryland. My wife Barbara and I are proud to be Terps, and thrilled to be residents of College Park. We are touched by how warmly you have embraced us.

I assume this office with humility, because I stand on the shoulders of the giants who preceded me, Dan Mote and Brit Kirwan. They led the university in its remarkable rise in stature and impact. I thank them for their leadership.

Your charge to me is not only for me to accept. It is for all members of our uni-versity community to accept together with me, because the university’s future rests upon all of us. This is the symbolic signifi-cance of the inauguration ceremony.

I first came to America at the age of 15, to a field of dreams called Iowa. I was born in China and raised in Peru, speaking Chi-nese at home and Spanish in school. I came alone, without friends or family, with lim-ited English, and with $300 in my pocket, the life savings of my parents. But I was sustained—as generations of immigrants before and after me have been sustained—by an unwavering belief that this is the land of liberty and opportunity, that with hard work, scrappy determination, perseverance and education, I could realize my dreams.

My four years in college transformed me and set the stage for my life’s journey. My personal story is of no consequence other than as a story of the importance of education and the promise of America.

It’s a story for every young person who can grow up thinking, “If he can make it, so can I.” It’s the story of our nation’s evo-lution toward a more inclusive society that makes it possible for this Asian-Hispanic

American to stand here today as the presi-dent of the University of Maryland. It’s the enduring story of the American dream.

If there is one message I want to get across to you, it is this: We will continue to rise in prominence and impact. We will be relentless in our drive to the next phase of greatness in all that we do: in academics, in the arts and in athletics.

As your new president, I will continue our ascent by focusing on four strategic priorities:• student opportunity and achievement• innovation and entrepreneurship • internationalization• service to the people of Maryland.

These priorities express the dreams, the hopes and the goals that many of you have shared with me in my listening ses-sions over the past six months. They build on our values and our strengths, and are grounded in our strategic plan, “Trans-forming Maryland.”

These four strategic priorities of my presidency are not promises that I make to you. Rather, they represent opportunities for us to pursue together.

There is a saying from where I was born: A village comes of age when its elders plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.

You and I are the elders of the University of Maryland. Together, let us plant trees—of student opportunity and achievement; innovation and entrepreneurship; interna-tionalization; and service to the people of Maryland—trees that will provide shade for generations of Marylanders to come.

—Wallace D. Loh, President

Four strategic priorities:

m Student opportunity and achievement

m innovation and entrepreneurShip

m internationalization

m Service to the people of maryland

Come home to the convenience and elegance that is your Samuel

Riggs IV Alumni Center, a conference facility for business and

campus leaders, a gathering place for alumni and friends and a

special setting for family events.

Explore each of our unique rooms and you are certain to find

one or more that will fit your needs. Our spaces are designed for

intimate groups to large gatherings. The possibilities are endless!

Alumni association members enjoy a 5% rental discount,

and lifetime alumni association members receive a 25%

rental discount! Your 100% tax-deductible membership also

supports alumni and student programs, including workshops,

networking events and scholarships. Visit alumni.umd.edu to

join today!

Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center

The Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center is the perfect location for your next event. Contact us today!

301.405.9756 • 800.336.8627 • [email protected] • www.riggs.umd.educollege park, md 20742

Leave your Legacy on the grounds

of the Riggs Alumni Center through the

Legacy Brick Campaign. Thanks to early

support from loyal alumni, we have

recently lowered our giving levels. Visit

riggs.umd.edu/brick.html to learn more

about brick and paver donations, and

check out our new souvenir brick.

Vertical 3 color - Pantone 186 (Red), 116 (Gold), & Black

Vertical - Grayscale

Vertical for Embossing/Die Cut

S11terp_deptsJN.indd 36 5/5/11 1:16 PM

Page 39: Terp—Spring 2011

New Priorities, New Opportunities

Come home to the convenience and elegance that is your Samuel

Riggs IV Alumni Center, a conference facility for business and

campus leaders, a gathering place for alumni and friends and a

special setting for family events.

Explore each of our unique rooms and you are certain to find

one or more that will fit your needs. Our spaces are designed for

intimate groups to large gatherings. The possibilities are endless!

Alumni association members enjoy a 5% rental discount,

and lifetime alumni association members receive a 25%

rental discount! Your 100% tax-deductible membership also

supports alumni and student programs, including workshops,

networking events and scholarships. Visit alumni.umd.edu to

join today!

Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center

The Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center is the perfect location for your next event. Contact us today!

301.405.9756 • 800.336.8627 • [email protected] • www.riggs.umd.educollege park, md 20742

Leave your Legacy on the grounds

of the Riggs Alumni Center through the

Legacy Brick Campaign. Thanks to early

support from loyal alumni, we have

recently lowered our giving levels. Visit

riggs.umd.edu/brick.html to learn more

about brick and paver donations, and

check out our new souvenir brick.

Vertical 3 color - Pantone 186 (Red), 116 (Gold), & Black

Vertical - Grayscale

Vertical for Embossing/Die Cut

S11terp_deptsJN.indd 3 5/11/11 12:04 PM

Page 40: Terp—Spring 2011

Division of University RelationsCollege Park, MD 20742-8724

Change Service Requested

Nonprofit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit No. 10

College Park, MD

We take the status quo, crumple it into a ball and throw it in the trash. We embrace challenges. We take what is undoable and do it. If a problem seems too big to overcome, we’re already working on the solution. That’s what it means to be a Terrapin.

www.umd.edu

S11terp_deptsJN.indd 4 5/4/11 5:35 PM