News briefs and announcements

Teagle Foundation grant will look at economics education

Dr. KimMarie McGoldrick, associate professor of economics, is one of two lead researchers on a $74,500 grant from the Teagle Foundation. The grant, awarded to the American Economics Association, will fund a study of the purpose and practice of economics education as it relates to the goals of a liberal arts education.

McGoldrick and her colleague Dave Colander, professor of economics at Middlebury College, will investigate how economics coursework can more effectively support the goals of a liberal education, such as deductive reasoning, decision-making, understanding complex relationships, creativity, and acquiring and using knowledge that cuts across disciplinary boundaries. 

“The core content and techniques of economics are drawn from, and directly related to, disciplines in the humanities, mathematics and the natural sciences,” said McGoldrick. “At many liberal arts schools, economics majors represent 20 percent or more of all graduates. Economics is also a central part of many interdisciplinary majors, such as environmental studies, international studies and women’s studies.”

Some of the key issues McGoldrick and Colander will investigate include graduate student training, the skills students acquire in entry level economics courses, and the use of interactive teaching practices designed to personalize economics for students and promote habits of lifelong learning. In addition, since many students in undergraduate economics classes are not economics majors, the study will also look at best practices in economics courses for those students.

Summers will study at Mayo Clinic under full-tuition award

Matt Summers, a senior biochemistry and molecular biology major from Madison Heights, Va., has won a full-tuition Dean’s Award to study medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minn.

The Dean’s Award is made to students based on their potential for success in the study of medicine. It is renewable for each year of study subject to continued meritorious performance. The medical school is one of the most selective in the country, accepting only 2.3 percent of applicants.

Summers is interested in several areas of medicine, including oncology, infectious disease and global health. He worked last summer at the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute doing lung cancer research.

“I am really excited about going to Mayo because there are only 40 students in the class and we will get extensive contact and exposure to some of the best physicians,” said Summers.

Currently, University alumna Tara Arness is in her last year of study at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, where she received Dalkin and Schilling scholarships totaling full tuition for all four years.

Summers is president of the Richmond chapter of the American Medical Student Association and helps raise money for World Tuberculosis Day. He also has volunteered in the emergency department of St. Mary’s Bon Secours Hospital in Richmond and conducts biochemistry research at Richmond on a DNA lesion that has been linked to cancer. He is a member of Mortar Board, Phi Beta Kappa, Gamma Sigma Epsilon chemistry honorary society and Golden Key Honor Society.

Summers traveled to Peru in March as part of an independent study course on infectious disease, global health and human rights. He visited health care facilities in Lima and volunteered at an orphanage in Pampas Grande.

Forum design wins merit award

Draper Aden Associates Inc. of Blacksburg has won a merit award for the design of University Forum. The competition was sponsored by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Virginia. The Forum connects the arts, scientific, spiritual and student life areas of campus in a broad circular brick plaza with two levels that overlook Westhampton Lake. The plaza serves as a center for gatherings and social events, often having large tents erected for special events. Draper Aden Associates provided surveying, grading and drainage designs in conjunction with Higgins & Gerstenmaier, which provided planning and landscape architecture services.

Mock trial teams advance

Two University of Richmond undergraduate mock trial teams earned bids to national tournaments sponsored by the American Mock Trial Association, marking the first time the University has qualified multiple teams for national competitions in one year.

Richmond’s first team, which placed second to defending national champion University of Virginia at a regional event in Washington, D.C., will compete for the national championship this month at Stetson University in St. Petersburg, Fla. A second team placed fourth in the regional tournament and qualified for the Silver Flight Tournament with a chance to qualify for the national championship. In addition, two students, Michelle Beach, ’09, and Leslie Gleue, ’07, won best witness awards.

“This is the first time we’ve received two bids to national tournaments in a single year,” said Trent Taylor, adjunct instructor of political science and team advisor. “It is also the first time in the last five years, and only the second time ever, that we received a bid to the National Championship Tournament.”

AMTA competition gives undergraduates firsthand knowledge of work as a trial attorney, understanding of the judicial system, and highly developed critical thinking and communication skills.

Books donated to city jail

University of Richmond Libraries has donated a dozen boxes, or more than 115 individual volumes, of reference books to the Richmond city jail for use in the inmate library.

The books included biographical dictionaries and encyclopedias recently replaced by online versions at the University. One set of particular interest to the jail was the Encyclopedia of Religion, which costs around $500 in the print version.

Lucretia McCulley, head of outreach and instruction, presented the books to Sgt. John Oast and Sgt. Robert Brawley for delivery to the city jail.

Biography Reference Bank available on library’s Web site

Biography Reference Bank is the latest online reference source added to the library’s growing collection of electronic resources. This database includes biographical articles of more than 500,000 people, including full text articles and over 30,000 images. It includes biographies from Current biography, World Biography series and over 100 other major biography reference works.

Visitation programs scheduled for April

The Office of Undergraduate Admission has scheduled visitation days in April for accepted and prospective students. Realize Richmond days, which provide an in-depth program for accepted students, will be held Mondays, April 9, 16 and 23; Wednesdays, April 4, 11, 18 and 25; and Friday, April 6. An accepted student open house will be held Saturday, April 21.

High school sophomore and juniors will have a chance to see the University during Preview Richmond days, Monday, April 2, and Friday, April 13.
 
Teeter for Tots holds annual see-saw

Alpha Phi Omega, Richmond’s co-ed community service fraternity, held its 13th annual Teeter for Tots fundraiser Feb. 6–9. Teeter for Tots is a 48-hour see-saw marathon to raise money for the Richmond Friends Association for Children. Along with allowing students to see-saw on giant teeter-totters for $3 per half hour, APO hosted nightly events, including a game night, an a cappella concert and a bachelor–bachelorette auction. Children from the Richmond Friends Association attended the opening ceremony in Tyler Haynes Commons and helped members of Alpha Phi Omega kick off 48 straight hours of teetering.