In This Section:
UConn offers assistance in hurricane relief efforts
Scott Cowen '68 (BUS) leads Tulane through Katrina crisis
125th anniversary celebration set for 2006
Former GE chairman speaks at UConn
Stwalley receives Connecticut Medal of Science
Traveling down Husky Way
Calhoun enshrined in Basketball Hall of Fame
Campus going wireless
Class of 2010 is tops in UConn history
Cosby on campus
African presidents visit
Kinesiology program ranks No. 1 in U.S.
The transformation continues

40 displaced students spend fall on UConn campuses

Photo: Peter Morenus

Joseph Briody, associate director for leadership development, helps to load a UConn bus with disaster relief donations.

UConn offered a quick response to Hurricane Katrina in September as it opened its doors to students affected by the far reaching devastation. Forty students from Connecticut who attend five New Orleans-area colleges and universities affected by the hurricane were invited to spend the fall semester at a UConn campus. Students from those institutions are taking classes at the main campus in Storrs, at UConn campuses in Stamford, Waterbury, as well as at the UConn School of Law.

Most of the students are undergraduates from Tulane University, but some are from the University of New Orleans, Xavier University, and other colleges and universities in the affected area. There are eight law students.

“I was surprised how quickly UConn got me situated,” says Randy Sorge, a sophomore from Tulane who arrived at UConn two weeks after classes began. “My professors were very accommodating in working with me on a individual basis to get me up to speed. I’m happy to be here for the semester, but we’re all very eager to get back to Tulane.”

The UConn community also participated in hurricane relief through the Office of Community Outreach, which set a goal of $75,000 in relief contributions for the fall semester. As of press time, nearly $60,000 had been contributed from faculty, students and staff, including $30,000 collected from Husky fans and ­alumni attending the Sept. 10 football game at Rentschler Field.

UConn is participating with the redevelopment effort in Mississippi, which was also severely affected by the hurricanes. UConn engineering professor Norman Garrick, who is part of the Connecticut Transportation Institute within UConn’s School of Engineering, is one of 100 experts participating in the Mississippi Renewal Forum, which was created to recommend the best avenues of redesign and redevelopment for the state’s coastal cities in the aftermath of the hurricanes.

Photo: John Everett

Tulane University President Scott Cowen '68 (BUS), with staff members, works from an office suite in a Houston, Texas, hotel.

While some alumni may have been personally affected by Katrina, perhaps no one connected to UConn is more directly involved with the situation than Scott Cowen ’68 (BUS), who is president of Tulane University, which was evacuated as the storm approached.

  Cowen and other Tulane administrators evacuated the university’s main campus and relocated to a hotel in Houston to plan a return to New Orleans for the spring semester, even as Hurricane Rita caused further concerns.

  “The response of the higher education community to Tulane University in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was  overwhelming,” Cowen says. “Knowing that a number of our students were taken in by my alma mater, UConn, was truly touching. I knew they were in good hands.”

The University of Connecticut will celebrate its 125th anniversary during 2006 with a series of events and activities highlighting the institution’s history since its founding as Storrs Agricultural School in 1881.

“We’ve grown from a small agricultural school to one of the nation’s premier public universities, and along the way we’ve become one of our state’s great assets,” says University President Philip E. Austin. “This is a story that we’re eager to tell our own community and the people of Connecticut.”

A steering committee comprising more than 40 representatives of the University and the town of Mansfield has been formed to plan campus and University-wide activities and to serve as a resource for others planning anniversary events.

The committee is discussing the creation of four major events during the year: a kick-off event, a Founders Day celebration in April, a University program in the early fall, and a closing event at the end of the fall 2006 semester.

“We hope this anniversary year will serve as a platform for us to reach out to the public, to let our legislators know about our growth and accomplishments, and—through our regional campuses—to engage communities across Connecticut in the celebration of UConn and its significance to the people of our state,” says Scott Brohinsky, director of university relations.

Activities already planned for the 125th anniversary include a visual display in the Wilbur Cross atrium celebrating the University’s history; anniversary banners to be hung on Hillside Road; and the release of a special anniversary Dairy Bar ice cream flavor.

Members of founding families, town representatives, and past University presidents will be invited to participate in anniversary events and activities.

Jack Welch, the former chief executive officer of General Electric, answered questions from students in the School of Business during a stop on his national tour of top business schools to discuss his new book on business management, Winning.

UConn physicist William C. Stwalley won the Connecticut Medal of Science, the state’s highest award for scientists and engineers.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell presented William C. Stwalley, chairman of the UConn physics department, with the Connecticut Medal of Science, the state’s highest award for scientists and engineers, during Alliance for Connecticut Technology Innovation Day at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford on Sept. 28. The award, modeled after the National Medal of Science, recognizes extraordinary achievements in scientific fields crucial to Connecticut’s economic competitiveness. Stwalley has played a seminal role in the creation of a new subfield of physics that bridges atomic and molecular physics, condensed matter physics, and the evolving field of nanoscience.

Photo: Peter Morenus

Amarjit Buttar, a member of the Vernon Board of Education and a Husky fan, holds one of the signs designating the portion of Route 195 from Tolland to the main campus as UConn Husky Way. He suggested the designation to Rep. Claire Janowski (D-Vernon), a member of the state House Transportation Committee, who introduced legislation in the General Assembly to gain approval for the designation. Buttar is the parent of two UConn alumni — Gursimrit Singh Buttar ’95 (CLAS), former sports editor of The Daily Campus, and Angad S. Buttar ’02 (CLAS).

Photo: Stephen Slade

Jim Calhoun addresses an audience that includes a number of UConn alumni and friends during his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2005.

UConn men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun received his sport’s highest honor on Sept. 9 when he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

Calhoun was presented to the Hall of Fame by one of the sport’s legendary players, former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy.

“The game has taken me to places I’d never dreamed of, and to places I never knew existed,” Calhoun said during the ceremonies.

Near the conclusion of his remarks, Calhoun asked his former players from UConn, Northeastern and Dedham (Mass.) High School to stand, adding, “If you ask me how I got here and why I coach, there is your answer.”

He later told reporters, “I wanted to make the statement at the end that any coach getting any award is a direct result of the kind of kids [he has].”

Other members of the Hall of Fame Class of 2005 included Calhoun’s longtime friend and Big East coaching rival Jim Boeheim of Syracuse University; Brazil’s legendary star Hortencia Marcari; Sue Gunter, the late women’s coach of Louisiana State University; and former professional player and coach Hubie Brown.

Wireless technology is now available on the Storrs campus in more than a dozen buildings in several different areas, with more wireless zones being added monthly.

By next summer, wireless networking will be available in nearly three dozen locations, in more than 20 buildings.

The Wilbur Cross Building, Student Union, and Babbidge Library currently offer the most hot spots, with wireless access available in coffee shops, reading rooms, lounges, and lobby areas. A handful of academic buildings are also offering wireless zones, as are several of the student dining halls.

The UConn wireless project is part of a five-year, $40 million technology upgrade at the University’s Storrs-based and regional campuses. The wireless project was initiated as University officials recognized the growing importance of the technology to increasingly computer-savvy students and the soaring popularity of laptops.

The 2005 freshman class of the University of Connecticut represents the most academically successful and diverse class in UConn history.

With 3,260 students enrolled at Storrs, the average SAT score is 1189, up 76 points since 1995, with 280 honors students averaging 1397. The entire class includes 112 valedictorians and salutatorians, nearly triple the number who enrolled in 1995.

The class was selected from 19,763 applications. Applications for admission have nearly doubled in the last 10 years, from 9,874 applicants in 1995. Minority enrollment across UConn’s six campuses now accounts for 23 percent of the undergraduate population. Since 1995 the number of out-of-state freshman students enrolling has increased 110 percent.

“There is unprecedented demand among both in-state and out-of-state students for admission to UConn,” says Dolan Evanovich, vice provost for enrollment management. “There has been a tremendous increase in our standing among prospective students. This is an indicator of the growing recognition of UConn’s quality and value.”

	Bill Cosby returned to UConn during this fall’s Family Weekend to offer his humorous insights on college life and parenting as part of the 50th anniversary season of the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts.
Photo by Al Ferreira

Two African nation presidents took part in a University lecture series at the Student Union Theatre sponsored by UConn’s UNESCO Chair and the Institute of Comparative Human Rights. Paul Kagame, president of the Republic of Rwanda, discussed “The Challenge of Human Rights in Rwanda After the 1994 Genocide.” John Agyekum Kufuor, president of the Republic of Ghana, spoke on “Human Rights and the Democratic Transformation of Ghana.” Both presidents traveled to UConn while they were in the United States to attend the 60th anniversary General Assembly celebration at United Nations headquarters in New York City.

Photo by Dollie Harvey	Photo by Jordan Bender
John Agyekum Kufuor, president of the Republic of Ghana, left center, and Paul Kagame, president of the Republic of Rwanda, right, visited UConn in September while attending meetings at the United Nations.

Photo by Melissa Arbo

Doug Casa, associate professor and director of athletic training education, conducts research on exercise in UConn’s Human Performance Laboratory.

UConn’s doctoral program in kinesiology in the Neag School of Education was named as the No. 1 program in the nation after a first-ever ranking compiled by the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education through a two-year, independent review process.

Kinesiology is the scientific study of physical activity or movement. In addition to physiology, it includes biochemistry, biomechanics, medicine, and nutrition components. UConn’s department of kinesiology offers three areas of study: athletic training, exercise science, and sociology of sport, each with their own research laboratories.

“It is particularly satisfying to be ranked at the top the very first time objective standards are used to compare kinesiology programs,” says Carl Maresh, department head, who was recently named a Fellow of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education.

Two new buildings opened this fall while work continues toward completion of two more facilities as part the ongoing transformation of the University and its campuses. The Pharmacy/Biology building on the main campus and the Medical Arts Research Building at the UConn Health Center opened for the beginning of the 2005-06 academic year. Meanwhile, the final phase of renovations to the Student Union continues and construction began for the Mark R. Shenkman Training Center and the Burton Family Football Complex.

Photo by Peter Morenus	A state-of-the art lecture hall and expanded research facilities highlight the School of Pharmacy in the new Pharmacy/Biology building, which also unites all three biology departments in College of Liberal Arts and Sciences facilities for the first time in more than a decade.
The four-story UConn Health Center Medical Arts & Research Building, right, provides modern diagnostic and treatment facilities for problems affecting bones, joints and connective tissue.
	Photo by Al Ferreira
Photo by Peter Morenus	Left: An expanded Student Union will be nearly double the size of the existing building and host a variety of restaurants and new facilities for each of UConn's cultural centers. It will also house mailboxes for 15,000 students.
Right: Foreground - The Burton Family Football Complex, the on-campus home of UConn football. Background - The Mark R. Shenkman Training Center will be used for student recreation and intramural activities and provide the UConn football team with the most technologically advanced training equipment. The facilities are scheduled to open in the summer	Photo by Peter Morenus

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