Financing July 2016

Mosquito Traps to Be Deployed by New Mexico State University to Study Possible Zika Impact

New Mexico State University researchers plan to place mosquito traps across roughly two-thirds of the state to map the range of two species known to transmit Zika virus. Biologist Kathryn Hanley says researchers asked to do this project four years ago but funding agencies had little interest. The Albuquerque Journal (http://goo.gl/3iAygn ) reports that changed when Zika was linked to severe birth defects in Brazil and other nations in the Americas.

Financing July 2016

Michigan State University Gets $2M to Boost Bridge Research

Michigan State University is getting $2 million to enhance research on the nation's transportation infrastructure, specifically its bridges. The East Lansing school says a Lansing-area couple designated money from their estate to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to fund an endowed faculty chair with an emphasis on bridge research.

Financing July 2016

UC Davis Receives Unique, $1.5 Million Gift from Aggie Couple

The University of California, Davis, today announced a $1.5 million commitment from alumni Michael Hurlston ’88, M.B.A. ’90, M.S. ’91, and Joelle Hurlston ’89 to establish a first-of-its-kind endowed chair position benefiting three colleges and schools. The UC Office of the President will also provide a $500,000 matching fund through the Endowed Faculty Leadership Initiative, bringing total funding for the Presidential Chair to $2 million.

Technology July 2016

IURTC reports 43 licensing agreements in 2015-16 fiscal year

Officials at Indiana University Research and Technology Corp., which protects, markets and licenses intellectual property developed at Indiana University so it can be commercialized by industry, have reported a year-over-year 72 percent increase in licensing agreements. From July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016, IURTC completed 43 licensing agreements. There were 25 licenses in the previous fiscal year.

Administration July 2016

Hillary Expands Debt-Free College Proposal

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on Hillary Clinton’s announcement that she is expanding her New College Compact: “The AFT has long pressed for breaking down barriers that prevent students from attending college, and for a far broader and deeper investment in postsecondary education..."

Global July 2016

UC Berkeley admit class includes 1,000 more Californians

More than 14,400 high school students have been offered admission to the UC Berkeley's 2016-17 freshman class, and the group includes 1,000 more California residents than last year's admitted class. State lawmakers provided the University of California system with additional funding to grow the number of UC students who are California residents, and to help fulfill a commitment by UC officials to increase California-resident enrollment on all 10 campuses.

Health Care July 2016

University of Louisville Awarded Pediatric Research Grant

Norton Healthcare is giving a $1.25 million grant to the University of Louisville for pediatric research. About $400,000 will go to the Kosair Children's Hospital Research Institute for research into multi-organ diseases that stem from diabetes or obesity; $300,000 will go to the Child and Adolescent Health Research Design and Support Unit to reduce the number of psychiatric prescriptions that give too much medicine to children; and $250,000 will go to the University of Louisville Autism Center at Kosair Charities.

Health Care July 2016

Oklahoma State Receives $11.3 Million for Children's Health

An $11.3 million grant has been awarded to Oklahoma State University to create a program designed to eliminate disparities in children's health due to race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. The grant from the National Institutes of Health will create the Children's Health Equity Solutions Center through OSU's Center for Health Sciences. The research will be conducted by a multi-institutional group of OSU and University of Oklahoma-Tulsa researchers.

Arts and Media July 2016

Two Henry Ford College Acting Students Earn Nominations for Prestigious Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship

Two officials from the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) nominated Henry Ford College (HFC) acting students Zach Ross and Samantha Kenbeek for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Auditions. Based on their performances in Pulitzer-Prize winner Tracy Letts’s play “Bug,” Ross and Kenbeek will compete at the regional level in January 2017. If successful, they will showcase their talents at the national festival in Washington, D.C. “Bug” recently finished its run at HFC and was directed by Dr. George Popovich, HFC director of Theatre.

Technology July 2016

USC Marshall Partners with National Nonprofit Organization to Close the Gender-Gap in Technology

The USC Marshall School of Business will partner with Girls Who Code, a national nonprofit organization working to close the gender-gap in technology, in hosting a summer immersion program for local high school girls June 27-August 12, 2016. Forty 10th and 11th-grade girls from area schools will attend the seven-week session, which will be held in the dedicated classroom space of USC Marshall’s Centers of Excellence, in the USC Building in downtown Los Angeles.

Technology July 2016 Premium

From Los Alamos to Texas, DCCCD students use mechatronics to study STEM

Eight Mountain View College students, including seven who are studying mechatronics, are enjoying a dream internship this summer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico. Their studies in mechatronics – a discipline that combines mechanics, electricity, electronics and computers – secured their place on the team.

Arts and Media July 2016 Premium

LA POET LAUREATE Luis J. Rodriguez Teaches as Scholar-in-Residence at CSUN, By California State University, Northridge

Aspiring writers and poets at California State University, Northridge had the opportunity to learn from the ultimate mentor this spring. None other than the Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, Luis J. Rodriguez, a lifelong Angeleno and self-proclaimed “Valley Guy,” is serving as scholar-in-residence this semester and teaching a literature course in the Department of Chicana/o Studies. The class, “The Heartbeat at the Periphery: How Marginalized and Oppressed Literature is Moving the Culture,” focuses on works by people of color and labeled as “other” in the United States, including Chicana/o, Native American, African-American and LGBTQ writers, Rodriguez said. The graduate-level class includes undergraduates and graduate students. “I link literature to real life, to the world we’re in —poetry and its various rhythms, and its impact on people’s lives,” Rodriguez said. “Most of the time, young people are not exposed to great literature any more. Often, the canon is narrowed to white writers. My goal is to connect this great literature to the real world.”