PG-2006: Parental Guidance Accepted
Since the late 1990s, parents have been increasingly invoved with their children who are in college. A host of factors are influencing this trend, including college students giving more respect to their parents' advice.

Freshmen shining brighter at the U
The University of Minnesota is attracting more and better-prepared students, as measured by enrollment, high school rank, and ACT scores. Of this year's crop of freshmen on the Twin Cities campus, 73.8 percent were in the top 25 percent of their high school class, and the average ACT composite score was 25.14 out of a possible 36.

Fortune far from outrageous
At age 23, Santino Fontana has been tapped for the title role in the Guthrie Theater's production of Hamlet, its last before moving to downtown Minneapolis next year. Fontana, who received a BFA from the University in 2004, trained in a University-Guthrie acting program. The prospect of playing the melancholy Dane has him on cloud nine.

Bookwork
When it comes to studying, college students come in all sizes: brilliant slackers and not-so-brilliant slackers, industrious types, incorrigible procrastinators, and those maddeningly perfect ones who study hard and play hard. What really counts is finding what works for you in order to make at least a modest success of your college career.

Many ways to heal
To celebrate its 10-year anniversary and a new program called the Purpose Project aimed at aging boomers, the U's Center for Spirituality & Healing will host health and wellness expert and Harvard-trained physician Andrew Weil at St. Paul's Fitzgerald Theater on Thursday, December 8.

Putting lampreys on the lam
Like salmon, the destructive sea lamprey follows its nose as it migrates from oceans or lakes and up streams to spawn. University of Minnesota researchers have found the odorous attractant that drives them, and hope to turn it into a chemical siren song to lure the fish into traps. Insights gained from this discovery should also prove useful in controlling other unwelcome fish such as carp.

Why the tundra is transforming
The retreat of Arctic sea ice has long been known, but it can't account for rapidly rising summer temperatures over Arctic land masses. Now, a University researcher has helped explain how spreading vegetation, notably shrubs, contributes to an escalating cycle of warming that is profoundly changing the character of the northern polar regions.

The heat is on
If you think your heating bill is frighteningly high this winter, just be glad you're not heating the University of Minnesota. Granted, the Twin Cities campus alone has 253 buildings and roughly 19 million square feet of "heatable" space. Which is precisely what makes the rising cost of fuel so chilling.

An energizing collaboration
Norway's Crown Prince Haakon traveled to Minnesota in October to make a gift: $750,000 from the Norwegian government to the University of Minnesota to help fund the Norwegian Centennial Interdisciplinary Chair in genomics and renewable biofuels. The award coincided with the 100th anniversary of Norway's split from Sweden.

Concert accessories: earplugs are in
Recently, University of Minnesota researchers determined that concerts--with their combination of loud music and crowd noise--can damage hearing, and that wearing earplugs can help if people are convinced to wear them. Yes, despite the risk of long-term hearing loss, many of us choose to forgo earplugs.

Embryonic stem cells made to produce cancer-fighting cells
In a major breakthrough, U researchers have coaxed human embryonic stem cells to generate "natural killer" cells that are able to treat and fight cancer, especially leukemias and lymphomas. As part of the immune system, natural killer cells normally are present in the bloodstream and play a role in defending the body against infection and against some cancers. The research was done in the laboratory, but it paves the way for future use in humans.

How you cook makes a difference
University researchers find that eating fried, grilled, or barbecued meat or fish that is well-done and burned or charred can increase your risk for pancreatic cancer.

Scholarships open the door
The Promise of Tomorrow Scholarship Drive was launched in part to help cut down on the hours that students need to work outside of class, and helping them succeed while they're at the U. Here are the stories of two beneficiaries.

3M grant supports diversity in engineering
Faced with a nationwide shortage of engineers, 3M and the U are intensifying programs to increase the number of engineering students and foster more diversity.

Kresge funds green design
Thanks to a planning grant from the Kresge Foundation's Green Building Initiative, the Bell Museum's hoped-for new facility, now in the design phase, will incorporate sustainable building design (or green building), adding dimension to the Bell's mission to deepen understanding of the natural world.

Committed to elders
Now pursuing a Ph.D. in social work, Rajean Moone has received the first Shelley Joseph-Kordell Scholarship, given to a student committed to working with seniors.

Get connected, winter 2006
A compendium of events and opportunities for alumni of the University of Minnesota.

A good judge of character
The honorable Diana Murphy (B.A. '54, J.D. '74) has been on the bench for three decades, currently serving for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Letters to the Editor, winter 2006
Letters in response to M, fall 2005

All-nighters, senioritis, and apple crisp for dinner
Follow the thoughts and activities of Adrienne Baker, a University of Minnesota senior, through her online blog.

Book reviews winter 2006
Three books written by people with connections to the U are reviewed--essays on the Anoka Sand Plain and oak savanna, a trip planner for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Wilderness, and an illustrated history of the 100-year-old Minnesota state capitol.

Recess: not just fun and games
Trends to cut recess times or eliminate recess altogether frustrate University of Minnesota researcher Anthony Pellegrini. While some people view recess as trivial and unnecessary, such breaks foster children's development, Pellegrini says in his new book, Recess: Its Role in Education and Development.

She still loves maroon and gold
The Even Mother Nature Loves Maroon and Gold series returns for a sixth straight year. The image for this year's poster and note cards features Thunbergia mysorensis, a large woody vine from the tropical mountains of southern India.