Crystal clear: Water is emerging as the commodity of the future
All around the Earth, a dearth of clean, safe water affects billions of people. Even in the Land of 10,000 Lakes--where water is a principal part of our identity--issues such as loss of wetlands, invasive species, and global warming continue to be of pressing concern.

Hope and competition: The U.S. Transplant Games
The U.S. Transplant Games, which are coming to the University this summer, give transplant recipients a chance to compete... and to celebrate the second chance at life with donors, donor families, and friends.

'The Exonerated' : critically acclaimed play by U alum examines the death penalty
What does it feel like to be wrongly convicted of a crime and sent to death row? To "lose" years of your life? What is our obligation to assure that "justice for all" is justice for all? These are just some of the themes explored or inferred in The Exonerated, a critically acclaimed play written by University alum Jessica Blank and husband Eric Jensen.

It may not be 'The Show', but it's the best sideshow in town
University of Minnesota, Morris, grad Rusty Kath was chosen to be a public address announcer for the St. Paul Saints this year. Along with his own comedic touch, he brings a wealth of experience from his days as a PA announcer for Cougar baseball and basketball games.

Comparative oncology: pets help people in the fight against cancer
The University of Minnesota is on track to becoming a leader in comparative oncology, a relatively new field that looks at how cancer treatments for companion animals can help humans.

'Coexistence': Helping us understand 'the other'
Ignorance and intolerance led a museum in Israel to strive for change through art. This vision and the resulting exhibit, "Coexistence," is in Minnesota for several weeks this summer.

One is no longer the loneliest number
According to experts, adults today can expect to spend about 19 years unattached or in a non-cohabitating relationship. They say the rising number of single adults is due to many factors, including people choosing to remain single.

Fear and tolerance in America
The three-year American Mosaic Project looks at race and religion in the U.S. Preliminary results are surprising, like the findings that antisemitism is driven by competition, not religious intolerance, and that more African Americans than whites think discrimination is decreasing.

Premium vodka from the heartland
Shakers is the new, premium vodka taking its place beside top-shelf vodkas from Poland, Russia, and Scandinavia. University alum and master distiller Pat Couteaux determined that America should produce the next world-class vodka and that Minnesota wheat--with its soft and mild character--was the perfect ingredient.

Like mother, like daughter: young female chimps excel in tool use
Female chimps learn from their mothers how to insert sticks into termite mounds and pull out a tasty meal of insects earlier and better than males. Recent University of Minnesota findings imply that sex-based learning differences in humans have an ancient origin-a difference that may date back at least to the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans.

Book reviews
We highlight three books written or translated by people with connections to the University of Minnesota.

The spirit of a champion
Jenny Leuer, U of M senior and member of the award-winning Gopher Dance Team, is a Bailey Nutrition Scholarship recipient.

Starstruck
The Russell Penrose Fellowship in Astronomy helped U graduate student Clay Hogan reach for the stars.

Opening doors of opportunity
Alum Marian Cordiner gives to a scholarship fund to help Native American students.

Letters to the editor, summer 2004
Readers comment on the story "A Hard Pill to Swallow" from the spring issue of M.

Helping children read: the life-changing efforts of the literacy initiative
U of M students tutor nearly 3,000 children through the University Literacy Initiative

To make a gift to the U
teps for giving to the U

Scholarship challenge
Recent Carlson School alums Nick Richardson and Ryan Norine challenged their classmates to begin funding a scholarship now.

Investing for the future
U alum Herb Hanson credits the Carlson School for giving him his start in the financial world. He recently gave the school a $10 million gift for a new building to serve undergraduates.

A year of milestones
Throughout 2003-04, the University of Minnesota Alumni Association marked its 100th anniversary in many ways, from the Birthday Party of a Century to new resources for career networking.

Landmark art coming to Gateway Plaza
A landmark work of art will soon grace the southeastern corner of the Minneapolis campus, thanks to the talent of Antoine Predock and the work of the University Gateway Corporation. Predocks work will honor Minnesotas heritage, incorporating iron, the night sky, and inspiration from the cliffs of Lake Superior.

More than a 100th anniversary party
As the University of Minnesota Alumni Association began planning how to mark its 100th anniversary, Executive Director Margaret Carlson (Ph.D. '83) recalls thinking, "This has to be more than a party." And it was. The legacy of the UMAAs century celebration will be found in lasting monuments, in bricks and mortar, in spirit and song, and in student scholarships.

Extreme makeover: University standby gets a new look
The Minnesota Daily--the University's independent student newspaper--has been a fixture on and around campus for 104 years. In February, the daily converted to a broadsheet publication after 65 years as a tabloid-sized newspaper.

Against the odds: Hmong student success
While studying the effects of part-time work on high school students, U of M researchers discovered that Hmong high school students were succeeding at levels equal to and above their non-Hmong peers, despite such obstacles as early marriage, poverty, and teen pregnancy.