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Campus News Announcements Scholarly and Creative Accomplishments Upcoming Events Campus Happenings Study Abroad—Foreign Correspondence Sports Update Arcadia in the NewsLinks
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The Macchi family in front of an F-1 Saturn engine. |
Memories from the Apollo Launch and the Summer of ’69
By Tom Macchi, Associate Vice President for Facilities Management and Capital Planning
On this 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, I am reminiscing about our family trip down to Florida in the summer of '69. This trip was planned as my dad felt that the Apollo moon shot was destined to be one of the most significant events in history and that it was something we as a family needed to witness. So seven kids, two adults and four cats were all packed like sardines into a 1968 Chrysler Station Wagon, outfitted with the latest in tire technology, the Goodyear Polyglass tires, all of which blew out every other day, on the way down to Fort Pierce! Four days, multiple stops for bathroom breaks, sleeping in Holiday Inns, reading what seemed like hundreds of billboards along the way that allowed us to countdown the miles before we hit "South of the Border," and finally, we reached Florida and cheered! Then dad stated that we still had another long day in the car before we reached our summer home. Read more.
Sumitro Helps Sei with Spider Research in Desert
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Sumitro examines a skink. |
Biology major Alexander Sumitro '10 has spent his summer gathering spiders in the desert in New Mexico and Texas and then extracting and sequencing their DNA in a lab with Dr. Makiri Sei, Adjunct Professor and Research Associate in the Biology Department.
Sei is a co-PI (principle investigator) of a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded research project that aims to document species and genetic biodiversity of benthic macroinvertebrates found in springs in the northern Chihuahuan Desert. “This summer, the PI at another institution and I were awarded two REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) supplements, so I was able to recruit Alex," says Sei. Read more.
Curotto, Musah Research Storing Hydrogen Energy
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Musah and Curotto at work in a lab. |
The road to new sources of energy will be paved with the work of many researchers, including some students and faculty here at Arcadia. Abdul Razak Musah '10, majoring in Mathematics with minors in Physics and Economics, is working this summer with Dr. Emanuele Curotto, Associate Professor of Chemistry, to investigate the possibility of storing hydrogen in water molecules.
“It is a wonderful learning experience for me,” says Musah. “I had the opportunity to apply most of the higher-level calculus and physics courses I took here in Arcadia University. Not only that, but also I had the chance to experience how graduate-level research works are carried out. I received all the attention I needed from Dr. Curotto, who is always dedicated and willing to teach us new things.” Read more.
Nine Students in Summer Research Housing Program
Nine Arcadia students are spending their summers working with faculty in research projects involving algae, monkeys, hydrogen, the Feynman Path integral and other math and science topics as part of Arcadia’s Summer Research Housing Program.
"These impressive works demonstrate the kind of exceptional active learning that students can expect from Arcadia University. The wide range of research interests and the level of student-faculty collaboration reveal our comprehensive yet personal engagements with real-life problems, says Dr. Steve O. Michael, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. "In the coming years, we will see a significant increase in teaching that is informed by active research and in students collaborating with seasoned faculty."
“The students are all working with Arcadia faculty members this summer and in return received free housing at the University’s Oak Summit Apartments,” says Dr. John Hoffman, Dean of the College of Business, Health & Sciences. “This is the third year of the program supported by a direct mandate from President Greiner, and it’s a great opportunity for faculty-student engagement.”
- Maame Dankwa '09, Biology, is working with Dr. Naomi Phillips, Assistant Professor of Biology, on Molecular Systematics of brown algae.
- Daniel Dotse '09, Chemistry, is working with Dr. Emanuele Curotto, Associate Professor of Chemistry, on Discrete Variable Representation to compute a thermally averaged position.
- Katherine Kelly '09, Biology, is working with Phillips on a Study of Bioko Island Monkeys using microsatellites.
- Christian Lubombo '11, Chemistry, is working with Curotto on the Stereographic Projection mapping of the real time Feynman Path integral.
- Sanket Patel '12, Chemistry, is working with Curotto on in the development and exploration of a new potential energy surface model for para and ortho hydrogen-ammonia dimer as part of the current PRF proposal.
- Russell Schneider '11, Biology, is working with Dr. Sheryl Smith, Adjunct Professor of Biology, on the Evolution of Insulator Sequences in Drosophila: Implications for Phenotypic Diversity.
- Rediet Sebsebie '10, Mathematics, is working with Curotto on Testing Parallel Tempering.
- Alex Sumitro '10, Biology, is working with Dr. Makiri Sei, Adjunct Professor and Research Associate in the Biology Department, on Patterns of Biodiversity of Benthic Invertebrates in Chihuahuan Desert Springs.
- Musah Abdul '10, Electrical Engineering/Mathematics, is working with Curotto on Investigating Variational Monte Carlo.
E-Refund Begins With Fall Semester
To help give students quicker access to their refunds, Arcadia University introduces Arcadia E-Refund, powered by PNC Payment Portal, beginning with the Fall 2009 semester. "Beginning Aug. 21, all refunds will be issued by direct deposit or check mailed to a student's primary address by PNC," says Dennis Darvas, Director of Arcadia's One-Stop Shop. "Students will be able to get school disbursements faster online through Arcadia E-Refund, the convenient new online tool that automates student refund payments, at paymentportal.pnc.com/arcadia."
If a student has a credit balance due to student loans, scholarships or overpayment, it is still necessary to complete a Refund Request Form on the One-Stop Shop Web page.
Student instructions for activating E-Refund: During the last week in July, you'll receive an activation letter from Arcadia/PNC Payment Portal. Once you get it, just go to paymentportal.pnc.com/arc, enter your activation code and follow the instructions to set up your preferences. Activate as soon as you get your letter so that any Fall Semester refunds you may be owed can be processed directly. In the meantime, if you have any questions call 1-800-745-7577 or visit paymentportal.pnc.com/arc. Read more about Arcadia's student refund policies.
PNC Bank to Provide Personal Banking Services to Students, Employees
Arcadia University and PNC Bank, N.A., have announced a new five-year contract with an emphasis on money management and financial responsibility for Arcadia's nearly 5,000 students, faculty and staff. The alliance school agreement will include financial education workshops hosted by PNC on the Arcadia campus, covering basic banking, credit management and identity protection.
Faculty, staff and students who have existing PNC accounts or who open new accounts will be able to get a newly designed Arcadia-branded Visa check card featuring Arcadia's Grey Towers Castle. These affinity cards will be available in August. Students and employees also will have the option of linking their ID cards to their PNC accounts.
"Through this relationship with PNC, which is highly regarded as the nation's fifth largest bank, we are able to offer our campus community convenient money management solutions, including the education necessary to develop good financial habits," says Dr. Jan Walbert, Arcadia's Vice President for Student Affairs. Read more. Read the brochure.
Introducing Arcadia’s Business Alumni Association
Arcadia’s Business Alumni Association (ABAA), founded by Ed Welch '08M.B.A., provides a venue for undergraduate and graduate business students to network, stay connected and share resources. ABAA fosters connections between students, graduates and the community by hosting and organizing networking and charitable events, and informational lectures. “The benefit of ABAA is a community that you have an affinity to that becomes a tremendous resource after graduation,” says Welch. Read more in the M.B.A. Newsletter.
The ‘Instinct’ of Giving Back
"Sometimes I think 'giving back' is just an instinct some people are born with," says Barbara Osinski '89. Osinski and her husband, Frank, certainly have that instinct, as they have assisted many organizations over the years, including giving generously to support Arcadia's new University Commons.
"Prospective students look for facilities like the Commons, and the competition for student dollars is fierce," says Osinski. "The University Commons is an essential element to campus life. Arcadia has expanded and improved in so many ways, and it needs and deserves this addition." Read more.
Upcoming Events
Celebrate Arcadia Events, Nov. 12-19
Arcadia is hosting a weeklong celebration to launch At Home & In the World—The Campaign for Arcadia University and to honor the people who make it possible for our faculty and students to contribute to the world in notable ways. View the full schedule of events at www.arcadia.edu/celebratearcadia.
Sports Update
Curreri, Champi Selected to the Inquirer Academic All-Area
John Curreri and Anthony Champi were two of eleven Philadelphia area student-athletes recently named to the 2009 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Baseball Team, which is voted on by the sports information offices of the 28 area institutions from the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Both Curreri and Champi recently concluded their collegiate playing careers for the Knights. Read more.
In the News
Arcadia in the News
Arcadia University’s announcement of three new colleges organized around strengths in study abroad and a global classroom was noted in the following publications on July 9: Business Wire, Philadelphia Inquirer, Forbes, Yahoo! Finance (Sunnyvale, Calif.), Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.), and Digital50.com (Annapolis, Md.).
The July 14 Philadelphia Inquirer mentions Arcadia University in a story on Undergraduate research growing in popularity. The article reports that undergraduate research is being done by an English major, [Dana Dilliplane '10] who is verifying and supplementing the research done by an author of a young−adult historical novel set in Bucks County and Philadelphia during the influenza epidemic of 1918.
Students in the News
Who Studied Abroad? Arcadia University was mentioned in the July 9 Zionsville (Ind.) Times Sentinel as study abroad student Maritza Katherine Webb graduated from Denison University Class of 2009 with a psychology and theater double major and studied abroad through Arcadia University’s Center for Education Abroad, now known as The College of Global Studies. Webb studied at the Royal Holloway in the United Kingdom.
Who Received a Scholarship? The Hunterdon County (N.J.) Democrat Online Edition reported in its July 13 edition that Voorhees High school senior Lauren Altera was awarded an Arcadia University Distinguished Scholarship Award in the amount of $15,500 a year.
Faculty in the News
Larry Atkins, who teaches journalism at Arcadia, wrote an article July 9 for Knight Digital Media Center’s The Online Journalism Review “Don’t dismiss journalism schools just because newspapers are in trouble,” he says. Atkins writes about other merging trends in teaching global journalism, including Arcadia’s Visual Culture in India Project where Communications students travel to India and then create multimedia projects that are posted on a Web site.
Look Who's Coming to Arcadia University
Are you a new first-year or transfer student headed to Arcadia this fall? Send your note and photo for the Bulletin to feedthebull@arcadia.edu.
Publication Information
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Contributors: Donna Whitlock '05, University Relations, Joy Zazzera, Athletics, Purnell Cropper, University Relations, and Michelle Tooker '07, University Relations. Photos: Joshua Blustein. Web Producer: Purnell Cropper, University Relations. Managing Editor: Lori Bauer, University Relations.
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