Fill 'er up!
(12/19/2008) "Creative" is the operative word in University of Minnesota professor Brad Hokanson's "Creative Problem Solving" course. And the 84 students in his class were faced with a unique final assignment: to creatively fill, in 15 minutes, the four-story McNeal Hall atrium in any way imaginable.

Upgrading ... the healthy way
(10/22/2008) A recent survey by the University of Minnesota Boynton Health Service finds that lack of sleep, excessive computer time, and stress--among other things--can negatively affect a college student's grades.

Where politics and psychology intersect
(10/22/2008) The U's political science faculty are looking behind the voting booth curtain and inside the oval office to examine how we vote and how the people we elect make decisions.

Zip a doctor
(9/24/2008) Forget about fighting traffic or taking the day off to visit a doctor; the 2008 Minnesota Cup student winner is developing a way for us to get a diagnosis and treatment decision via cell phone.

U student presented scholarship by Apollo 15 astronaut
(9/10/2008) Andrew Jones has been awarded a $10,000 scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. His scholarship is the largest monetary award given in the United States to science and engineering undergraduate students based solely on merit.

Mining the census data
(9/3/2008) This year, four people have been elevated to Regents Professor, the highest faculty rank at the University. They include historian Steven Ruggles, whose most important contributions have focused on the transformation of the American family over the past 150 years.

Former dean honored
(8/27/2008) Neal Gault, dean of the U's Medical School from 1972-1984, was recently honored with the University of Minnesota Alumni Service Award.

New Twin Cities faculty get a U welcome
(8/26/2008) More than 230 faculty are new to the Twin Cities campus this year. Through three days of orientation, they began to get to know the U and each other with opportunities designed to help connect them to their new home.

An economist for the ages
(8/20/2008) The passing of retired Regents Professor Vernon Ruttan leaves the world minus one of its most versatile and insightful economists. For the University, it means the loss of a true intellectual giant.

Freedom School students visit Twin Cities campus
(7/23/2008) For a second year, the University of Minnesota's Konopka Institute for Best Practices in Adolescent Health has partnered with Kwanzaa Church and the Nia Imani Youth Development Center in north Minneapolis to bring students from the Kwanzaa Freedom School to the University of Minnesota campus.

A gathering place for great minds
(7/23/2008) The U's William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute has had a distinctly cosmopolitan flavor since it opened more than 20 years ago. Its leading researchers come from Russia, and they study mathematical models and abstractions of physics that lay the groundwork for advances in a large number of technologies that affect our lives.

Centaurus on the road
(7/14/2008) The University of Minnesota's solar car, Centaurus, is on its way to Calgary, Alberta, with stops in Sioux Falls and Fargo. The vehicle is one of 26 competing in the 10-day 2008 North American Solar Challenge.

Physicist Allen Goldman, three others named Regents Professors
(6/25/2008) Four faculty have just been elevated to the rank of Regents Professor, the highest at the University. They are Allen Goldman, physics; Steven Ruggles, history; Eric Sheppard, geography; and Madelon Sprengnether, English. Goldman, an expert in superconductivity, is the first to be profiled.

Cheering the hero and booing the bad guys
(6/20/2008) Vaudeville-style theatre rules on the Minnesota Centennial Showboat. This summer, The Count of Monte Cristo and eight crowd-pleasing olios mark the showboat's 50th anniversary season.

Timing is everything
(6/19/2008) Trout need water, but does summer flooding threaten their food supply? A University graduate student studied how last August's floods in southeastern Minnesota affected insects called midges, an important source of protein for trout.

Aerospace careers off to a flying start
(6/16/2008) Students from the University of Minnesota's Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics (AEM) fared very well at Aero Design West.

Hope for Haiti
(6/16/2008) The University's chapter of Engineers Without Borders is helping Haiti recycle plastic waste into useful products.

U reaches milestone in student support
(6/13/2008) In 2008-09, more than $200 million in grants and scholarships will go to support 40,000 U students. That's a good 60 percent of the student body.

Language program opens university study to international students
(6/11/2008) The Minnesota English Language Program at the College of Continuing Education works with foreign universities, schools, and businesses to tailor intensive courses for specific groups of students.

Embedded at Camp Ripley
(6/10/2008) Last week, six journalism students from the U joined Minnesota soldiers in training exercises at Camp Ripley. Like embedded journalists, the students signed safety waivers and contracts restricting what they could report.

Help for struggling readers
(5/28/2008) The percentage of struggling readers has scarcely decreased over the last decade despite extensive research and interventions undertaken to help them. University professor Paul W. van den Broek and his colleagues set out to reverse this trend.

Smaller schools and shared facilities
(5/28/2008) Smaller schools produce higher graduation rates and test scores, as well as fewer discipline problems, according to University of Minnesota researchers.

A failing grade for exit exams
(5/16/2008) In 23 states, including Minnesota, high school students must pass a special exam to graduate. But the U's Rob Warren has found the exams don¿t boost student achievement--just the dropout rate.

The price of high school exit exams
(5/14/2008) New research coauthored by a University of Minnesota professor finds that state high school exit exams harm those who fail and provide no benefit for those who pass.

Home is where the farm is
(5/13/2008) UMC professor Harouna Maiga returns to his native Mali every other summer to teach.

Pelletier honored at UMM
(5/13/2008) The UMM alumni association honored professor Julie Pelletier for outstanding contributions to undergraduate education.

Empowered by the sun
(5/9/2008) After a nail-biting year waiting for funding, students at the U will once again be able to compete in the North American Solar Challenge, July 13-22, with their handsome, high-tech car.

U names 2008 McKnights
(5/6/2008) The University has named four Distinguished McKnight University Professors and 13 McKnight Land-Grant Professors for 2008. The Distinguished McKnight award rewards mid-career faculty of note like Judith Berman, and the McKnight Land-Grant award supports promising junior faculty such as Katsumi Matsumoto.

U student wins medal for bravery
(5/2/2008) A rare display of courage, heroism, and selfless action earned Nate Lund the Soldier's Medal, one of the highest honors bestowed by the Army. The award was presented Thursday during a special ceremony at the University of Minnesota.

Guggenheims galore
(4/29/2008) Three U faculty are among the 190 artists, scientists, and scholars to win Guggenheim fellowships this year. Past winners include Martha Graham, Linus Pauling, and Ansel Adams.

One village at a time
(4/22/2008) University of Minnesota student Katie Nelson has established the Nafula Foundation to help Kenyan families achieve self-sustainability.

When physics is a social science
(4/18/2008) A University-sponsored program helps families discover the joy of science together. Through PACES (Parents And Children Experiencing Science), parents model scientific curiosity for their kids.

Ruby red slippers and Yellow Brick Road, with a twist
(4/16/2008) The University Theatre and Dance explores the universal themes of courage, intelligence, love, and the importance of home in its version of "The Wiz," a 1975 Broadway musical adapted from L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Regents approve contracts with food and beverage vendors
(4/11/2008) On April 11, the Board of Regents approved four long-term contracts with vendors for food and beverage service on University of Minnesota campuses.

U inaugurates Rochester chancellor
(4/4/2008) Stephen Lehmkuhle was formally installed as the first chancellor of the University of Minnesota, Rochester on April 4. He took over the reins of the downtown Rochester campus in fall 2007.

UMM chancellor speaks to Congress
(4/4/2008) Chancellor Jacquie Johnson was chosen to testify before the U.S. Congress because of her leadership at the Morris campus, which is nearly energy self-sufficient.

Filling the need
(4/2/2008) A new dental clinic--a partnership between the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry and Rice Memorial Hospital--offers students learning opportunities while bringing needed care to patients in west central Minnesota.

Ralph Rapson dies at 93
(4/1/2008) Ralph Rapson, University of Minnesota's School of Architecture for 30 years, introduced Modernism to the U's program and left a legacy of integrated architecture.

March Madness goes hi-tech
(3/28/2008) On March 28 and 29, Williams Arena is hosting the first-ever Minnesota Regional FIRST Robotics Competition from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) competition attracted more than 50 teams of students from the six-state region.

Every napkin counts
(3/28/2008) Last fall, University Dining Services collected 78 tons of compost material from its kitchens and restaurants, and the UDS Green Team played a big role--helping the lunch crowd identify its compost-friendly waste.

Conscious collaborator
(3/18/2008) Some rock bands, like Black Eyed Peas, are known for espousing green causes. Others, for gas-guzzling tour buses and over-the-top consumerism. University of Minnesota student Erick Boustead is helping rock bands keep their shows as green as their words.

Collaborating to lead
(3/11/2008) A new series of workshops--organized by the Graduate School's Office of Interdisciplinary Initiatives--aims to develop the collaborative leadership skills of those engaged in scholarship, research, creative work, and education and training programs. Mentoring is the theme of the next session on March 25.

A sickle-cell sleuth
(3/7/2008) He was a political science major--until he discovered medical research. Now, Regents Professor of Medicine Robert Hebbel is a leading authority on sickle-cell and other blood-related diseases.

U professor dies at 65
(3/6/2008) Stephen Feinstein, who died on March 4, built the U's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies into a premier educational, research, and outreach institution of international renown.

Water works
(2/29/2008) The U's student chapter of Engineers Without Borders brings hope to small villages around the world.

Lecture-free biology
(2/19/2008) In the new freshman biology sequence, students must master text material on their own and think for themselves--with a little help from their friends.

Their votes count
(2/8/2008) Nationwide, the turnout by young people on Super Tuesday was unprecedently high. UMD students added to that number and their enthusiasm for the presidential race runs high.

Putting women in the spotlight
(1/15/2008) Regents Professor Sara Evans helped found the field of women's studies. Now she is one of its most prominent scholars.

Bridging languages, bridging cultures
(1/9/2008) Pui-Fong Kan, a University of Minnesota Ph.D. candidate, is studying the relationship between language acquisition and culture, especially in bilingual children.

Delving deeper
(1/8/2008) The U's the Borchert Map Library--with its more than 350,000 sheet maps, 9,600 atlases, and 415,000 aerial photos--is the place to go for the histories of towns, neighborhoods, and individual properties, as well as for information about wetlands, lakes, and streams that have been altered or destroyed by urban growth.