News University of Northern Colorado

UNC in Photos: An April Retrospective

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

A slideshow of events and activities on campus.

Weld Project Connect Volunteer Training Sessions This Week

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Members of the UNC community interested in volunteering with Weld Project Connect from 12-4:30 p.m. this Friday, Sept. 28, at Greeley's Island Grove Park (501 N. 14th Avenue) are asked to attend one of three training sessions this week:

Training Session #1
Tuesday, Sept. 25 from 6-7 p.m. in the University Center, Columbine A

Training Session #2
Thursday, Sept. 27 from 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Training Session #3
Thursday, Sept. 27 from 6-7 p.m.

Note: All training sessions will take place at the University Center in Columbine A.

Weld Project Connect provides on-site, one-on-one services for individuals and families in the Greeley area struggling with foreclosure, job loss, health and other issues. Those who volunteer will receive documentation on their Co-Curricular Transcripts under the Research and Experiential Learning category, if applicable.

For more information visit Weld Project Connect's website or contact Jimmy Kohles at (970) 351-2172.

Join the Bear Welcome Volunteer Crew

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Make sure new students living in residence halls start their school year off right by volunteering for the Bear Welcome Crew on Move-In Day, Thursday, Aug. 23. Friendly faces and positive energy from members of the campus community are needed to greet students and parents, help unload vehicles, answer questions and ultimately lend a hand whenever necessary.

Bear Welcome Crew shifts last three hours each, starting at 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning.

To sign up or for more information about this opportunity, contact Taja Werner in Housing and Residential Education at (970) 351-1274 or at taja.werner@unco.edu.

In the Summertime

Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

This summer, many University of Northern Colorado students will be applying what they've learned so far in their classes to real-world situations on international, national and local levels. Here are just a few examples.

A Peek into Politics
Conor McCabe, a senior Journalism major, is spending the summer as a press intern in U.S. Senator Mark Udall's Denver office. Although Udall still has two more years in office, McCabe says that with a general election just around the corner, his days are always busy, from beginning to end.

Each day for McCabe and 10 other interns begins with a briefing with Udall's communication director to discuss the day's objectives, which can include reaching out to various publications, following up on media advisories or press releases distributed to media, researching which outlets covered issues Udall's involved in and monitoring his Twitter and Facebook pages.

McCabe said he thinks the internship will help his future career plans by building his communication skills with the media, and seeing how a senator's office contributes to his relationships with both local and national media.

"I hope to gain experience interacting with the media, both face-to-face and over the phone," McCabe said. "I aim one day to work in politics, on the communication side, and I think this internship will help me reach that goal."

So far, McCabe has enjoyed the majority of his assignments, especially reaching out to news outlets, following up on press releases and brainstorming sessions with the other interns.

"At first, interacting with the press directly over the phone was difficult," he said. "I quickly realized writing down my talking points beforehand made the conversations much more comfortable."

McCabe will be working in Udall's office throughout the summer. He's currently working three days a week, but hopes to be offered a full-time internship sometime in the next few weeks.

More Than Just Numbers
Alison McBride, a senior Mathematics major with an emphasis in secondary education will spend June 10-15 working with and mentoring young women who want to build on their high school courses.

Las Chicas de Matemáticas, a weeklong, residential camp funded through UNC's Office of Enrollment Management and the Mathematical Association of America's Tensor Foundation, is free for the 30 young women who participate.

In addition to learning college-level math, the "campers" will experience college life by staying in a campus residence hall, eating in Holmes Dining Hall and hanging out with McBride and three other students working as camp leaders.

The math part of the camp Monday through Thursday includes morning sessions focusing on recreational math and how it relates to sports, taught by Professor Ricardo Diaz; and afternoon sessions highlighting complex functions and their relation to technology, taught by Hortensia Soto-Johnson, an associate professor of Mathematics and co-founder of the camp along with Assistant Professor Cathleen Craviotto.

On the last day of the camp, the girls will present their findings, and work together with a group to create a PowerPoint presentation for a banquet that evening. Friends, family and the teachers who wrote letters of recommendation for the girls' admission to the program are invited to the presentation and banquet.

Along with looking forward to mentoring the girls, McBride hopes they can see her and the other leaders as real-life models of what they have the potential to become by pursuing a math degree.

"I hope this camp shows the students how applicable math can be in a variety of fields, and how important it is to society," McBride said. "It's so nice to see these young women taking initiative and know they are already thinking about their goals for the future. I didn't realize I liked math until my senior year of high school. I'm glad these girls, especially the younger ones, are taking advantage of this unique opportunity."

Expedition Yucatan
Seventeen UNC students will spend the last two weeks of June in the Yucatan Peninsula with Michael Kimball, director of the Honors, Scholars and Leadership Center, and Gillian McNally, assistant professor of Theatre Education.

The trip is part of MIND Global, a new initiative in UNC's Life of the Mind interdisciplinary studies program that promotes MIND courses taught in international locations. MIND is the course prefix for interdisciplinary courses offered as part of the Life of the Mind program.

Expedition Yucatan is a hybrid online MIND course that incorporates international service learning experience. Unlike most study abroad opportunities, Expedition Yucatan is just two weeks long, instead of an entire semester or summer.

"One of the benefits of this program is it allows students to experience a different culture in a short period of time," Kimball said. "It's the best of both worlds; the trip is short, yet the students are immersed in the culture from the moment they arrive and begin to understand what community life is like for people in the Yucatan Peninsula almost right away."

Students in the course this summer will be involved in service learning projects in the Mayan village of Yunku. One of the projects will be joining McNally in helping the children in the village put together a play, which will be performed for everyone in the village to see.

Students will have time for some sightseeing outside of the village toward the end of their expedition.

Seth Morones, a senior Sociology major, said he's most looking forward to exploring global education with the village youth.

"I have always had a passion for working with at-risk youth and homeless students, which had stemmed from my own experiences in homelessness when I was younger," said Morones. "I'm hoping this trip will be like kindling the flame for me, and enhance my desire to learn about people and cultures - building connections with them and seeing what's out there."

In the International Spotlight
Students in UNC's Prima Voce Chamber Choir spent the first 10 days of their summer break performing concerts and competing in an international competition.

The ensemble was selected to compete at the International Choral Competition Ave Verum in Baden, Austria, May 10-13, and squeezed in concerts before and after.

Led by conductor Jill Burleson and assistant director Karen Lange, the choir toured Austria and the Czech Republic, performing at venues that included the Stephansdom and Stift Klosterneuberg in Vienna; Saint Vitus and St. George's Basilica in Prague; and Haydn Hall at Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt.

Prima Voce's repertoire is a cappella, and comprises an array of choral chamber literature ranging from Renaissance to 21st century.

Acceptance into the prestigious international competition was based on the submission of performance recordings, repertoire lists, and a proposed competition program.

Read about and view photos of the recently completed trip - and find out how the ensemble fared in the competition - on Burleson's blog.

- Katie Owston, senior Journalism major

Building Nursing Students' Confidence Academically and Professionally

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

A UNC Nursing professor who set up a program for students to gain real-world experience and hone their professional skills by volunteering at local health fairs used her connections and creativity to keep the program going after the fairs changed their requirements for volunteers performing blood draws.

Deborah Rojas came to UNC six years ago from College America, a technical college in Fort Collins, where she coordinated volunteers from the nursing program to volunteer at local 9Health Fairs sponsored by KUSA-TV.

When she told her classes at UNC about volunteering at the health fairs, several students seemed interested, and Rojas took eight students to a fair, however many of them had never drawn blood before.

"They just hadn't had the opportunity to practice phlebotomy," Rojas said. "We paired one UNC student with an experienced student from College America, and they acted as mentors to each student throughout the day."

Following that first year, 9Health Fair officials changed the requirements for volunteer nursing students; a minimum of 25 successful, documented blood draws was required of each student who wished to participate.

"I went back to my friend at the technical college and asked her if she would be willing to do a phlebotomy class for UNC students," Rojas said. "It was different for our students because they had already taken anatomy, along with several other nursing courses. All the students needed was an opportunity practice."

Rojas and her colleague condensed a 40-hour phlebotomy course into a 12-hour course taught at College America, giving students with no experience the chance to practice phlebotomy and meet the minimum number of blood draws required to volunteer at the health fair.

Thirteen UNC students took advantage of the first condensed phlebotomy course and volunteered at that year's health fairs. The year after, 60 students took the class. This year, 110 students took the class and worked at the health fairs.

Teresa Vanderford, a senior Nursing major, first heard about the health fairs in one of Rojas' courses and has volunteered at the 9Health Fair in Mead the past two years.

"Many of the people who come to these fairs are underinsured or uninsured," said Vanderford. "I enjoy being able to help them, and I enjoy working with so many people throughout the community."

Building good rapport with patients is key, especially in an environment where volunteers may only have 20-30 seconds to do so.

"At the health fairs, you see a wide spectrum of people; some people are terrified and others are casual and calm," said Todd Bohling, a junior Nursing major. "We have to pick up where a person is mentally and align our attitude with their needs in order to make them as comfortable as possible."

The health fairs not only build confidence in nursing students, they also provide the opportunity to enhance communication skills with patients, network with local health professionals and help students see themselves as part of a bigger picture.

"They don't go into the fairs as UNC students, they are community volunteers," said Rojas. "When the participants - the people who come get their blood drawn - don't see them as students, they talk to them is if they are already health professionals."

The last fair in northern Colorado this year is from 7 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 5, at the Library's Children's Room in Red Feather Lakes. For a list of tests and screenings offered thorough the health fair and to see how to register, go to the 9Health Fair website. http://www.9healthfair.org/find/screenings.aspx.

- Katie Owston, junior Journalism major

Telling Tales

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

With the help of a group of UNC students, a local public school district program for immigrant and refugee students and their families has published a book that's bridging gaps in the families - and in the community.

Telling Tales: Immigrants' and Refugees' Stories of Transition, Resilience and Hope is a compilation of 40 stories and photographs of 30 families that immigrated to the Greeley area from Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, Somalia, Kenya, East Africa, Burma and Thailand.

The genesis of the book was El Teatro, a theater program that's part of Weld County School District 6's Newcomers program. El Teatro offers students of refugee and immigrant families a chance to share their life stories - and improve understanding of their native cultures and the challenges they face living in a new one.

Those stories, often handwritten by students and parents as part of a family literacy project incorporated into the El Teatro program, prompted Greeley West High School teacher and Newcomers facilitator Jessica Cooney to propose that each family's story be photocopied into a book.

When UNC Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies Deborah Romero heard the idea, she proposed taking things one step further with the creation of a professionally published book.

"As part of the Newcomers program, the teachers had begun to develop a series of family literacy events following the El Teatro program," Romero explained. "Teachers would work with parents to help them better understand American culture and as part of that, the families shared stories about their journey to the United States."

Undergraduate students from Romero's classes at UNC attended the family literacy events, recording each family's story on paper. Depending on each family's level of English, students would either help the family write the story or simply act as a scribe.

Romero, who served as the book's editor, said that UNC students served as a "real" audience for the families - the more interested in the stories her students were, the more each family opened up to share more information.

Parents and students worked together throughout the literacy events, which ultimately brought the families closer together.

"Teenage kids oftentimes pull away from their parents, no matter what culture they're in," said Cooney. "But with refugee and immigrant students, their parents represent the old culture. Students become Americanized, and this book was a way to connect parents and students together again."

At first, many of the high school students couldn't quite grasp the concept of their stories being published into a book people could actually buy. Now that they've seen the finished product however, more and more students are writing stories to also share with the community.

"I have had several students come up to me with their story already written, asking if they can be in the next book," said Cooney. "The level of enthusiasm the kids are showing towards the book is really amazing."

The book allowed the students to express themselves in ways they weren't able to before; to share what it's like to leave your home because of war, to learn a new language, to face discrimination.

"There is sometimes racism towards us and our families because people don't know about where we come from," said Juan Moncada, a senior at Greeley West. "Everyone has a right to say what is right, which is one of the reasons why we chose to write the book."

Amina Abdi, a junior at the school, found writing the book to be therapeutic for herself, her classmates and their families.

"We hope that once people read our stories, they will finally know and understand who we are."

To purchase the book, go to http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2894879. Proceeds will be used to help fund the school district's family literacy projects and classes in its Newcomers program.

- Katie Owston, Junior Journalism Major

A Different Take on Spring Break

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Last year, University of Northern Colorado student Lauren Koppel spent a week working on an Indian reservation through the university's Alternative Spring Break program, and while she expected to give her time; what she didn't expect is how much she would get back.

"When we entered the reservation, we drove by a park that was totally neglected," Koppel said. "Seeing that level of poverty opened my eyes and gave me a different perspective on access to education."

Koppel, a junior working on a self-designed major in Women's and Ethnic Studies, returned to the program this year as a student coordinator.

The ASB program gives students the chance to give back during their spring breaks through service projects. This year, 29 students will be working with four social issues around the country: poverty and homelessness in Washington, D.C.; women's rights in Los Angeles; elementary education on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana; and an animal sanctuary in Kanab, Utah.

Ria Vigil, an assistant director in the Office of Student Activities , participated in a similar program at her alma mater and began overseeing UNC's program last year with a goal to strengthen the program for everyone involved so "… in five years, when somebody goes back, they can see what we have done."

"I tell every student not to look at this experience as an opportunity for someone who is better off to help someone who isn't, but to go into this experience to understand what it's like to live as they do," Vigil said.

Koppel can relate to that message. She remembers learning to live on "Crow time," which focuses on building relationships instead of rushing through the day to meet time constraints.

"These trips give a good understanding of self, living in the moment, trusting the process and appreciating the experience," Koppel said. "This is an intense experience but it's an amazing opportunity."

For more information, visit the Student Activities website or contact Vigil by email or at 970-351-1365.

- Elizabeth Same, Senior Journalism Major

UNC Photography Club to Offer Free Portraits Saturday

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

A University of Northern Colorado photography club will provide free holiday portraits to more than 400 low-income Weld County families Saturday.

UNC's Behind the Lens photography club will host the second annual Help-Portrait event from 7 a.m.-9 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10, in the University Center, intersection of 10th Avenue and 20th Street.

Club members have collected donations and also will use an allocation from UNC's Student Senate to help fund the effort.

Help-Portrait is a global event where photographers, photo editors, hair and makeup stylists, and general volunteers get together to provide free photos for families and individuals.

For more information, contact Whitney Hight at (303) 618-3989 or uncbehindthelense@gmail.com.

Women’s Resource Center to Hold ‘Take Back the Night’

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Women's Resource Center at the University of Northern Colorado will hold the 18th annual "Take Back the Night" march and rally against violence and sexual assault at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6, at the Garden Theater on the UNC campus.

About 600 UNC students and members of the Greeley community participate in the event every year. The rally will consist of survivor stories and information about resources for those affected by violence and sexual assault.

A candlelight march from the Garden Theater will wind through campus and end the University Center after the rally.

Also, an open-mic session will begin at 8:30 p.m. at the Fireside Lounge in the University Center. Participants will have the opportunity to share their stories and ask questions related to the topics of violence and sexual assault.

Other participating organizations include the Sexual Assault Victims Advocate Center, A Woman's Place and the Assault Survivors Advocacy Program.

For more information, visit: http://www.unco.edu/wrc

Bears PAY It Forward to Their Neighbors

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

University of Northern Colorado students and staff joined local residents and community organizations on Sept. 17 to clean up neglected areas of the University District neighborhoods surrounding campus.

PAY (Parks, Alleys and Yards) It Forward was organized to beautify parts of the district prior to UNC's homecoming. The district is an initiative focused on strengthening the sense of place and identity in the area around the university and is led by the city of Greeley and UNC.

More than 120 UNC students, approximately 50 community members and several university staff members spent three hours in what organizers said was the largest-ever turnout by students for a community service activity.

While one group cleaned up Glenmere Park, others descended upon alleys and yards, picking up trash, pulling weeds, removing tall grass and stuffing all of it into huge orange garbage bags.

Afterward, the volunteers gathered at UNC's Garden Theatre for lunch, music and prize drawings while they chatted with new friends.

According to Ria Vigil, assistant director of student activities for UNC, there's still work to be done.

"The alleys in particular were really a mess," Vigil said. "The district is by no means completely clean, but it was a great start. We'll definitely do it again."

By the Numbers
Vigil said that with upwards of 170 volunteers spread out over a several blocks, it was difficult to keep tabs on everything.

Trash bags filled: approximately 200
Alleys cleaned: At least eight, probably more
Parks cleaned: one; Glenmere
Yards cleaned: three
Types of trash removed: tires, couches and other broken furniture, fallen tree limbs

A Growing Community

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Greeley farmers market has been a way for the community to come together and show off the fruits of their labor since 1993. This year, a project spearheaded by the University of Northern Colorado hopes to bring some new members of the community to the market to sell produce.

The new community members are documented immigrants and refugees who are growing vegetables and herbs as part of the Fresh Food Initiative, a project coordinated by the Women of Realizing Our Community program.

Women of the ROC is an offshoot of Realizing Our Community, a partnership between UNC and more than 20 local civic and non-profit organizations that offers programs to help immigrant and refugee newcomers integrate into the community.

WROC teaches refugee women - who are usually left at home during the day while their husbands work - skills such as cooking, sewing and basic English.

UNC faculty members and students joined with volunteers, sponsors and local governmental bodies in May to develop a community garden in which 10 ROC participants, mostly from Burma, are nurturing a variety of plantings.

"It's really more than just about community gardens," ROC director Maria Sanchez said. "It's about working together with the community."

Sanchez said the refugees look forward to working in the garden.

"Their apartments are crowded, so they like to come to the garden as much as possible," Sanchez said. "Whenever they are here, they want to water and weed everyone else's plots too."

According to Sanchez, UNC Dietetics Professor Jamie Erskine has been teaching the women how to use everything in the garden to make nutritious meals for their families.

"They eat the onion stems, the zucchini leaves, everything," Sanchez said.

The main purpose of the garden is to teach the women how to be self-sufficient. So, until they have enough vegetables to sell, all of their produce will be taken home to their families.

Everyone involved with the project is excited about the potential of the farmers market, although they are expecting some hurdles as well.

Between the language barriers and the fact that the women are not familiar with our currency, selling at the farmers market may prove challenging.

But, considering how many challenges they have overcome so far, these learning experiences have become part of the daily routine for everyone involved.

Carolyn Wright, a junior majoring in Elementary Education, has been involved in the program since January.

"We're helping them with their vocabulary, but I ask questions, and they teach me too," Wright said.

After the farmers market, the women will work on projects inside. They'll continue working on their English skills, and they're also learning how to sew scrubs, which they will sell later this year.

This sewing project, started by Anthropology professor Sally McBeth, is being run by community volunteer Sheila Bolsover, who herself is an immigrant from England.

For more information about the Women of the ROC visit its website.

Women of the ROC will be at the farmers market at 3 p.m. Wednesday, August 24th. The farmers market is located at 902 7th avenue.

Habitat for Humanity House Sponsored by UNC Students to be Dedicated Sunday

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:00:00 GMT

A Habitat for Humanity house in Greeley sponsored by a group of University of Northern Colorado students will be officially dedicated at 1 p.m. July 17.

Students from the Bear Catholic campus ministry at UNC provided the majority of volunteer hours building the Almaraz family's home at 1911 Habitat Lane between last October and early March.

According to Michelle Valoris, volunteer/development coordinator for the Greeley Area Habitat for Humanity office, 56 different students worked a combined total of 800 hours on Saturdays over the five months.

The students also spent numerous hours raising more than $19,000 toward the home's $70,000 cost of construction, Valoris said.

The project was the students' annual mission for the academic year, according to Rick Hoines-Brumback, who serves as their campus advisor. Students performed volunteer work with the poor in Central America during previous years' missions, he said, and decided it was time to do the same thing for a local family.

He said that additional volunteers and fundraising assistance came from members of St. Peter's Catholic Church, with which Bear Catholic is affiliated.

Valoris said that as is the case with all Habitat for Humanity building projects, the Almaraz family was responsible for 500 hours of work on the house, and volunteers from the community also helped.

Hoines-Brumback said that he and five or six students will represent Bear Catholic at the dedication ceremony, which is open to the public.

UNC Students Receive $1,000 Grant to Benefit a Kid’s Place of Weld County

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Four University of Northern Colorado President's Leadership Program students were selected by their peers in the El Pomar Scholars Program to earn one of three $1,000 state grants from the El Pomar Foundation.

The funding goes toward a project by juniors Katy Nikkel, Gena Sturgon, Lexi Ververs and sophomore Lauren Koppel that will benefit A Kid's Place of Weld County, a Greeley nonprofit organization that provides advocacy and support for abused or neglected children.

Nikkel, Sturgon, Ververs and Koppel joined fellow El Pomar scholars from 11 different Colorado universities in presenting nonprofit projects at a year-end banquet at El Pomar's headquarters in Colorado Springs. For the second consecutive year, student scholars attending the banquet voted to award a grant to a nonprofit organization represented by President's Leadership Program students. Last year's $1,000 grant was awarded to the Community Foundation serving Greeley and Weld County.

During the 2010-11 academic year, the four El Pomar scholars have volunteered their time at A Kid's Place of Weld County to learn about the nonprofit sector and develop an understanding for working in a nonprofit organization.

The students collaborated with the executive director to design a project that will benefit the organization. Their research of various funding methods in similar nonprofits resulted in potential fundraising options that A Kid's Place can create and implement.

The students created blueprints for each of the options, which include event planning details, an outline of potential sponsorship levels for donors, and ideas regarding community involvement and funding requests to execute the fundraising activities.

Koppel, Nikkel, Sturgon, and Ververs hope these new fundraising initiatives will increase support and funding for A Kid's Place of Weld County.

El Pomar provides grant and programming opportunities to support non-profit organizations and activities in Colorado. Nikkel, Sturgon, Ververs and Koppel were recognized as El Pomar Leadership scholars and participated in the foundation's Student Leadership Experience Program. As part of the scholarship program, El Pomar scholars are instructed to work with a nonprofit organization in their region.

For additional information regarding the El Pomar Foundation or UNC's President's Leadership Program, please contact Catie Rohloff, Associate Director of Leadership at the Center for Honors, Scholars, and Leadership at catie.rohloff@unco.edu or 970-351-1619.

Coping when Disaster Strikes

Fri, 20 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

UNC faculty will travel to Italy this summer as part of an ongoing research project that aims to document how victims of natural disasters cope with the psychological trauma afterward.

Professors Sherilyn Marrow (Communication Studies), Nancy Karlin, (Psychological Sciences) and Joyce Weil (Gerontology) are investigating psychosocial factors (self-confidence, mood, perceived social support and the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events) that affect natural-disaster survivors' resilience - their ability to bounce back mentally in the wake of a hurricane, earthquake or similar event.

The team and 12 students' in Karlin's Community Psychology course will be in Italy May 25-June 5 to interview and collect data from survivors of a 2009 earthquake in the city of L'Aquila. They'll also talk to elderly citizens in Rome, where a rumor of an impending cataclysmic earthquake incorrectly created city-wide panic earlier this month.

The study started in 2005 when the researchers decided to collect data from a group of 38 elderly survivors after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.

"My initial inspiration for the research came from a lecture on the topic of resilience in my Family Communication course in fall 2005," Marrow said, explaining that the class was watching TV coverage of families that were affected by the disaster. "We wondered how these families would ever have a chance to rebound."

The second opportunity for research and data collection came in 2010, following the earthquake that affected residents of Vina Vieja, Peru.

Survivors from both Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Peru provided the team an opportunity to observe and better understand what victims experience during times of crisis. The different cultures that the survivors came from were also taken into consideration when added to the model of resilience being developed.

Data collected from the Katrina survivors suggested a relationship between resiliency and overall positive mood states after a natural disaster. However, the Peruvian earthquake survivors, who came from a lower socioeconomic status, demonstrated a greater level of mood disturbance and weaker feelings of being able to bounce back.

"The most important variable in resilience is that of emotional support," Marrow said. "The next phase of our data analyses from both (Italian) sites will be to consider the overall findings and create a system for classifying resilience."

Ultimately, the team's published research and presentations will include development of a pamphlet to facilitate the coping process for natural-disaster survivors and aging populations experiencing adversity.

- Fiza Johari

Examples of Other Faculty Endeavors this Summer

Barb Hawthorne (Cultural Anthropology) will spend her summer in New Mexico researching, interviewing and photographing women artists who reside there. "We often see books about male artists or male and female artists, however, hardly any are dedicated to women," Hawthorne said. Her research will look at both well-known artists and up-and-comers. She hopes to include women from all walks of life.
Bob Brunswig, professor of Anthropology, is coordinating an archaeology field school with community volunteers participating in excavations at Dearfield, the once-flourishing Black agricultural community east of Greeley. The multidisciplinary research program will conduct new field, laboratory, archival and historical document and photographic studies to generate new knowledge and assemble a master archival database on Dearfield's social, economic, political and environmental history.
Bil Hoyt, professor of Oceanography, is continuing work with the Poudre Learning Center. He's part of a study using ground-penetrating radar to survey subsurface layers on 45 acres at the Greeley site. "We want to know the variability of depth to bedrock and the nature of the materials so that we can intelligently site about three wells that we plan to dig for educational purposes and research on the site," Hoyt said.
Stephen Mackessy, professor of Biological Sciences, will continue investigating snake venoms as a source of anti-cancer compounds. Several graduate and undergraduate students will participate on his research team over the summer. More information
Kevin Pugh, associate professor of Educational Psychology, will research how to make learning transformative by using teaching methods that help students see and experience the world in new and exciting ways. He'll examine the research on the effect a subject matter has on a student's everyday experience outside the classroom.
Flo Guido, associate professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs Leadership, will participate as an artist-in-residence (photographer) at a three-day conference in Luxembourg for student affairs professionals from Europe and the United States. She will be living in medieval abbey for a week and is considering turning her photography into an exhibit upon her return.
James Gall, professor of Educational Technology, will be in Taiwan conducting the research project, "Examining the relationships of videogame preference/experience, personality trait, and attitude toward educational technologies in Taiwanese college students." The project is funded by the Cultural Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office.
Mary Sean O'Halloran, professor of Counseling Psychology, will travel to Thailand in August to conduct two workshops for mental health professionals on eating disorders. One workshop will be for counselors at the International School of Bangkok and the other one at Assumption University will be for area psychologists.
Russell Guyver (Music), Director of UNC's Orchestras will return to work with the Orquestra de Cordas da Grota in Niteroi, as well as other orchestral groups in Tatui and Barra Mansa, Brazil. Guyver has been a visiting performing guest artist since the last decade, at a large music festival in Rio de Janeiro.

- Compiled by Brittany Sarconi

Journeys to Graduation

Fri, 06 May 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Students’ paths to earn their UNC degree take many different twists and turns. Four students walking in UNC’s spring 2011 undergraduate commencement ceremonies share their unique journeys.

Whitney Henry: Driven to Get Her Life Back
Whitney Henry’s life was rolling along at 15 years old. She was ahead on credits and on track for early graduation. She made the cheerleading team, even though she didn’t expect to. And she was close to getting her driver’s license.

Then came a July day at Fossil Ridge High School cheerleading camp in Fort Collins. A freshman girl launched into the air and Henry was among the girls in spotting formation. Continue reading

Nicole Vincelette: Fighting through Cancer, Twice
Nicole Vincelette has worked really hard the past four years, but she says it’s been worth it. With a Biological Sciences degree in hand from UNC, she’s headed next to Rochester, Minn., to begin research in the Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics track of the Mayo Clinic’s graduate program, one of the best programs in the country.

The road that led Vincelette to where she is today is one she never expected. She was diagnosed with and recovered from Hodgkin’s lymphoma when she was 5. When she was 17, her father was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and a series of successive moves to six different states with her four younger siblings and her mother resulted.

They ended up in California, where after earning her associates degree, Vincelette worked as a firefighter for several years. She then spent 45 days hitchhiking throughout Alaska before deciding she wanted to and earn a bachelor’s degree.

Vincelette moved to Greeley in time to start school in the spring of 2007, but then was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Determined to finish her education, Vincelette took only one semester to complete treatment and was back in school in spring 2008, despite the autoimmune disorder she developed from the cancer treatments.

She is proud to have finally accomplished what she set out to do four years ago.

“My goal was to finish my education,” Vincelette said. “That goal never changed; the route that got me here, although unexpected, has made me realize just how much I have to offer to the scientific community.”

Janelle Johnson: A Global Path to an International Job
Janelle Johnson, who’s receiving a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies – Elementary Education, was born in Turkey and grew up like any other Turkish child. Her family moved back to the United States when she was in fourth grade, and the bilingual Johnson finished her K-12 education in Longmont. She never lost the language, though, and traveled to Turkey almost every summer to visit old friends.

She became an English as a Second Language tutor during her sophomore year at UNC, and has continued tutoring through her senior year. She studied abroad during her junior year, the same year her parents moved back to Turkey. Although unplanned, she wouldn’t have had it any other way; re-visiting Turkey gave her the opportunity to experience the culture as an adult. She noticed little pieces of everyday life In Turkey that, as a child, she had been oblivious to.

For example, Middle Eastern traditions in how people greet and get to know each other are different than in the U.S. Everything has meaning. For example, in Middle East it isn’t uncommon to invite someone newly met over for a cup of tea. The first cup of tea serves as an act of hospitality; all guests receive this offering. A second cup of tea symbolizes growing friendship; by the third cup of tea, a person has practically become part of the family.

Johnson’s life experiences will give her the opportunity to use her language skills for international work after graduation. She’ll work for an international student recruitment program recruiting Turkish students to UNC’s Center for International Education programs.

Tracey Lancaster: Monkeying Around in the Yucatan
Tracey Lancaster chose to attend UNC to pursue an interest in theater, but after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology, she’ll travel to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula for a five-month study on spider monkeys.

Lancaster didn’t take any theater classes her freshman year and before she knew it, an introductory physical anthropology class had her interested in paleoanthropology. During a three-week visit to a paleoanthropology research program in the Yucatan last summer, she met the head researcher and arranged an internship that will begin in January.

The internship in Punta Laguna, a small Mayan village in a government-established nature reserve along the Gulf Coast, will involve studying the social networks of spider monkeys and how they differ from those of other primates.

Lancaster is looking forward to gaining field experience in an area that is different from her undergraduate emphasis and that will benefit her when she begins graduate school to study biological anthropology.

Jessica Rice: More Volunteerism in Her Future
Jessica Rice, who’ll receive a Theatre Arts - Design Technology degree, will spend a month in Thailand this summer volunteering in rural communities

Rice will be part of International Student Volunteers, a non-profit organization that sends students around the world through a unique volunteer and adventure program. Half of the trip is spent volunteering; the other half is spent traveling around the country.

Student volunteers have a variety of projects to complete within two weeks. Projects vary from country to country. Volunteers in Thailand will work on preserving wildlife through the care and rehabilitation of rescued monkeys and elephants.

They’ll also help develop eco-tourism practices within communities, teach English to orphaned or underprivileged children and build playgrounds and schools in underdeveloped communities.

Rice has previously done volunteer work in Mexico, where she helped build three houses for families previously living in cardboard shacks. She says the physical labor will most likely be the same as her previous projects, but is looking forward to working in a completely different country and culture.

- Katie Owston

More information about commencment and the spring 2011 graduating class

Twins Team Up to Help Cancer Survivors

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

UNC students and twin sisters Nicole and Ashley Larson didn’t let setbacks in their family life while growing up in Greeley stop them from realizing their dreams of attending college, and of helping other people.

In fact, those setbacks brought them even closer together than most twins inherently are. Through good times and bad times, they always knew that they could depend on each other. That sense of trust serves them well in a variety of situations, including when they’re organizing a major event like the March 26 Spring Swing dance event to benefit UNC’s Rocky Mountain Cancer Rehabilitation Institute.

Their father was no longer a part of their lives when their mother died of a drug overdose when the sisters were 13. Fortunately, an aunt and uncle also living in Greeley were glad to take them in, so their lives weren’t disrupted further.

But then the aunt and uncle divorced, and the girls’ future seemed uncertain again until arrangements were made for them to live with their aunt.

The girls – determined to not let the twists of fate overwhelm them – threw themselves into sports at Greeley West High School – track, cross-country and volleyball – and into living healthy lifestyles – running in recreational 5K races, bicycling and healthful foods.

When they were seniors, the Larson sisters’ penchant for running in 5K races and a desire to do something to help others led them to organize their own 5K race to benefit the cancer treatment unit at Children’s Hospital in Denver.

With no experience other than as runners, the pair pulled off the race and raised more than $1,500.

Earlier this year, Nicole, a junior double majoring in Sport and Exercise Science, and Psychology, started thinking it was time to organize another fundraiser to help the less fortunate out. Over a short period of time, an idea came to her.

“I realized that cancer was affecting the lives of several people in my life,” Nicole said. “The wives of a couple of my professors, a friend, a family member, and then it hit me that we could raise money for university’s cancer rehabilitation center and honor cancer survivors at the same time.”

Ashley, a Nursing major, was all for it. They mentioned their plan to a few classmates and before they knew it, they had a team of 20 classmates and friends eager to help them. An idea to hold a relatively low-key dance turned into a night of free swing dance classes, dancing to Big Band music provided by the UNC jazz band followed by dancing to contemporary country, rap and hip hop music played by a DJ, complimentary hors d’œuvres donated by a local eatery and a cash bar, and a ceremony recognizing cancer survivors.

“It just sort of snowballed as people came up with ideas and offered to act on them,” Nicole said. “It was definitely a team effort.”

Even before the Spring Swing had been held, the Larsons were already thinking about their next fundraiser. They hope to organize another benefit-for-cancer 5K run this fall that will allow at least the fastest runners to finish to the cheers of the crowd in Nottingham Stadium during halftime of a Bears football game.

“Finishing a race in front of that many cheering people would be pretty inspiring,” Nicole said. “So would honoring cancer survivors, which is also part of the plan.”

- Gary Dutmers

About the Spring Swing
About the RMCRI

Miracle Worker: Update

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In a March 16 Skype interview with The Pulse Network, UNC student Rachel Rose Jackson, the subject of a Feb. 4 Spotlight feature and runner-up in the national Students in Service Awards, provides details of how during a 2009 study abroad trip to Ghana, she co-founded a nonprofit organization that provides ongoing relief and support to women and children living on the streets of the city of Accra.
View the 10-minute video.

Read the Feb. 4 Spotlight.

UNC Student Who Founded Ghana Nonprofit Earns National Service Award

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

University of Northern Colorado junior Honors student Rachel Rose Jackson has been awarded a $2,500 scholarship as one of three winners among hundreds who applied for the 2011 Students In Service Awards, which recognize college students for their commitment in addressing social and environmental challenges.

Jackson will be honored for her work, establishing a nonprofit organization that serves women and children living on the streets in Ghana, at a national conference on service and civic engagement April 28 in San Diego.

In addition to the scholarship, the Students in Service Awards program will award the university a $2,500 grant to support civic engagement programs for students.

The three winners were chosen by a national selection committee of civic leaders and more than 714,000 online votes for projects up for the awards, sponsored by Washington Campus Compact and Inspireum. Stories, videos and photos of the winners are available at www.serviceawards.org

As a sophomore studying abroad in Ghana, Jackson co-founded the nonprofit organization Kayalei Association, which provides assistance to women and children living on the streets of Accra. To date, the association has helped educate more than 500 Ghanaian women and children, and more than 150 have received medical treatment that they wouldn't have otherwise. Many of the women have received vocational training that allowed them to leave their former lives working on the streets. Others have been provided housing in the underdeveloped country.

For more about Jackson, read her Spotlight.

Math Major Heads to Moscow

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

UNC senior Ethan Twisdale, who’ll graduate magna cum laude May 7, won’t be able to walk the stage at commencement. He’ll be 6,000 miles away finishing an advanced course of study in mathematics offered at an elite Russian university for future research mathematicians.

Twisdale, a Mathematical Sciences major, is one of 12 students from North America selected for the spring semester of the Independent University of Moscow’s prestigious Math in Moscow program. The 15-week program of graduate-level math courses, taught in English by some of Russia’s leading mathematics educators and researchers, runs Feb. 3-May 20.

Twisdale is joining undergraduate and graduate students from schools like Swarthmore College; the University of California, Berkeley; University of Texas, Austin; Virginia Commonwealth University; and the University of British Columbia.

At 25, he’s the oldest student in the program, the result of a four-year break from education he took after attending Colorado State University from 2003-2005.

“I enrolled at CSU as a math education major, didn’t like the large class sizes in the general ed courses and decided to take some time off,” Twisdale explained. “I worked odd jobs while I tried to decide if teaching and/or math were going to be part of my future.”

He finally realized that given his aptitude for the subject – math has always come easy for him – he decided he owed it to himself to continue pursuing his education, but in a different environment.

So he checked out UNC, and impressed with the smaller classes, enrolled in as a Mathematical Sciences major in the 2009 spring semester. He has no regrets.

“UNC has been a great experience,” Twisdale said. “The math department is just great; you get a lot of attention.”

In addition to his coursework, Twisdale has served as president of the UNC Math Club the past year, which has included organizing student trips to various national meetings such as MathFest and local club events.

According to Anton Dzhamay, one of Twisdale’s professors and Math Club faculty advisor, Twisdale is a good choice for the Russian program.

“Ethan is one of our strongest math majors,” Dzhamay said. “He has excellent problem-solving and communication skills. The small and stimulating atmosphere of the program should suit him very well”.

Twisdale said he’ll use his trip to Russia to “find out how the rest of the world runs,” as well as for preparation for graduate school and a final reality check to make sure that math is the right path for him to continue on.

Of Note
Twisdale is the second UNC student to attend Math in Moscow. Brian Shourd, who attended in spring 2009, is now in his second year in the doctoral math program at the University of Notre Dame, one of the top programs in the country, and according to Dzhamay, is doing very well.