Libraries for a new generation
Today's students may be computer savvy, but they often don't know good information from bad. The U libraries are trying to help them be "information literate" while respecting their style.

Clipping the wings of bird flu
Microbiologist and UMD graduate Terrence Tumpey has helped recover the 1918 flu virus which caused an epidemic that some experts believe took the lives of nearly 50 million people. Using this as a starting point, Tumpey and others hope to discover a vaccine to prevent another catastrophic flu outbreak.

Clearing the hurdles
Many students like Christina Fairbanks soon will enjoy better opportunities at the U, thanks to a recent gift from the William W. and Nadine M. McGuire Family Foundation. The gift provides nearly $4 million for scholarships at the University and for advising and mentoring programs to help students succeed.

A new angle on an old fishing record
This is the story of a really large muskie caught 56 years ago in Wisconsin that was a world's record, then wasn't, then was again. The hallowed record's authenticity is currently being debated, and the University's Doug Arnold has weighed in with some mathematical analysis using projective geometry. Fear not; this geometry lesson is easy.

Eyeing a virtual cure for anxiety disorders
Confronting your fears can help you get rid of them, but if you're afraid of things like flying, public speaking, or storms, you can't just go out and experience them several times a day. Unless, that is, you face your fears with virtual reality simulations like the ones at the Fairview-University Anxiety Disorders Clinic.

Looks like a home, feels like a home
Many people have a stigma concerning long-term care in America. Elderly people rarely want to be fostered in a nursing home, while few of their relatives want to visit them in such an environment. Now, however, a new alternative to traditional nursing homes has provided seniors with another choice.

Hollywood blockbuster apes African stories of old
While King Kong is certainly the most famous damsel-abducting great ape around, a University of Minnesota associate professor has uncovered a whole band of gorilla-related abduction stories in Central Africa, some dating back 150 years or more.

U researchers test pill for gambling addiction
University researchers may have found a way to bring relief to compulsive gamblers. An experimental medication has proven to be effective in curbing gambling urges and behaviors.

U hopes for good bonding experience with legislature
During this spring's legislative session, the University has requested $206.1 million from Minnesota's bonding bill. The majority of the request will go towards building upkeep, while the rest of it will be used to erect two new buildings and make additions to both the Twin Cities and Duluth campuses' business schools.

Saving the past
Students from the University's College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (CALA) are working with UNESCO to help save Icheri Scheher, and ancient city in Azerbaijan that came into its glory in the 12th century.

Watching wolves
It's not every day biologists get to watch an ecosystem over a long time period. But during the past 10 years, graduate students in the College of Natural Resources have had just such an opportunity as they've studied the restoration of the gray wolf to Yellowstone National Park. Now, a Colorado philanthropist is making it possible to continue this important work with a $1.4 million contribution to the University of Minnesota and the Yellowstone Park Foundation.

Beyond teeth-on-a-stick
More. Faster. Better--that's the kind of training School of Dentistry students will receive when a new Simulation Clinic debuts in 2007. Thanks to a $1 million gift from 3M Foundation, the school is well on its way toward raising the $10.5 million it will take to eclipse its competition.

Incentive to give
Just two years ago, the University made raising new gifts for scholarships and fellowships a priority. Nearly 36,000 alumni and friends stepped forward, and by the end of January 2006, a remarkable $111 million had been raised through the scholarship drive, toward a goal of $150 million. And the drive is going strong.

Zippies at the U
Those people on campus in need of fast, affordable transportation now have alternative to public transportation: Zipcar, a car rental program available to University faculty, staff, and students, is here.

Moving toward the top-three
According to schedule, 11 of 34 task forces working toward transforming the U into a top-three public research university submitted their revised recommendations on February 3.

Get connected, spring 2006
News from the University of Minnesota Alumni Association (UMAA) for spring 2006.

More than chitchat
Since 2002, nearly 15,000 Minnesotans have attended the College of Continuing Education's Great Conversation series. The living room-like tête-à-tête mesmerizes as a University faculty expert and his or her visionary or inspiring guest shed light on a timely issue.

Book reviews spring 2006
Three books by people with connections to the U.

Letters to the editor
Letters sent to the editor of M involving articles from the winter 2006 issue.

Newfound genetic mutation may have afflicted Lincoln
University researchers have located the gene that causes a specific type of ataxia, a degenerative disease that affects approximately 1 in 17,000 people, including several of Abraham Lincoln's descendents.