Oscar-winning alum urges high self-expectation
The 1,471 undergraduate and graduate
students who received their degrees at the
105th University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
commencement this spring were urged by
1983 alumnus and Academy Award-winning
screenwriter Brian Helgeland to "know who you
are, and have expectations of yourself that are
much greater than what is expected of you by
others."
Helgeland, a New Bedford native, sprinkled his speech to graduates, parents, friends, and faculty with humor, childhood memories of finding frogs and playing frisbee on the campus, and undergraduate recollections. "I always thought that if I appeared on an amphitheater stage with thousands of people around me, I would absolutely be holding a guitar in my hand," he said. "Instead, here I am wearing a funny hat. At least I’m not alone.
"Today is graduation day," he said. "Everything up to now has been testing one, two, three; but the sound check is over. Your performance is about to begin."
Helgeland won the 1997 Academy Award for the screenplay of L.A. Confidential, and most recently wrote the highly acclaimed film adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel, Mystic River. Other screenwriting credits include Conspiracy Theory and Assassins, and he has directed hits such as A Knight’s Tale and Payback.
Helgeland told graduates the story of Professor Wu, his organic chemistry teacher who convinced him to drop out of the class, in which he was struggling, and pursue another field. "He was wise enough to know that sometimes it’s more important to guide someone away from the wrong path as it is to lead them toward the right one," he said.
Helgeland joined author Diane Wood Middlebrook and Portuguese-American entrepreneur and philanthropist Luis Pedroso in receiving honorary degrees.
UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack urged the graduates to "go forth and continue to break new ground in whatever endeavor you choose. Keep looking for the better way. Have the courage to try a new way.
And continue to seek knowledge for the rest of your life."
UMass Board of Trustees Chairman James Karam, a 1971 alumnus, asked graduates to "become a well-informed voice for this university as an investment in our collective future."
Portuguese-American archive receives $1.5M endowment
In April 2005, UMass Dartmouth received a $1.5 million endowment to support the development of the Portuguese- American Archives, one of the nationÃs largest collections documenting the three waves of Portuguese immigration to America.
"The archives will
be a valuable resource
for anyone wishing to
study the social history
and culture of immigrant
communities, or to
understand the politics
and economics of this
region," said Professor Frank
Sousa, director of the Center
for Portuguese Studies and
Culture.
The Boston Globe in a front-page article recently highlighted the UMass Dartmouth contribution to the study of Portuguese culture, and the emerging trend of Portuguese-Americans re-connecting with their heritage.
The lead contribution to the endowment was made by Otilia Ferreira whose father, Affonso "Ferreira Mendes" Ferreira, was a Portuguese-American radio pioneer of the early 1930s. The archives are to be named in his honor.
Cranberries go to the dogs?
A recent UMass Dartmouth
study concludes that the nation’s
377 million cats, dogs,
and other pets represent a potentially
explosive new market
for the cranberry industry, in
part due to the health benefits
offered by the tiny red berry.
“As the nation’s love affair with its pets grows, the cranberry industry has a golden opportunity to stake out a strong position in the $14 billion pet food market, which is responding to consumer demands for higher quality, healthier options,’’ said Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes, director of the Center For Business Research at the Charlton College of Business.
The study notes that the cranberry industry needs to find new markets for the fruit as annual harvests now outpace consumer demand. The study included in-depth interviews with 42 pet food manufacturers and surveys of dozens of other companies.
Changing lives for 15 years 
English Professor Robert Waxler’s “Changing Lives Through Literature” program, which uses great books to transform the lives of criminal offenders, has gone national and is the subject of a soon-to-be-published book.
The program, which will be entering its 15th year in 2006, is a proven success, sharply reducing recidivism rates for offenders. It can now be found across the nation, from progressive states such as Massachusetts to the heartland of Kansas to death penalty states such as Texas. It is also being used in England.
“The program promotes a substantive conversation about the kind of society we want to live in, the values we respect and embrace, the way we judge ourselves as well as others in the community,” Waxler said. “An engagement with language could help us find our voices in a world increasingly distracted by cold facts, ratios, and abstractions. Reading good stories, we believed, could re-awaken the interior life and bring us all closer to the beat of the human heart.”
Making machines like animals
What's in a name? A lot if you
are talking about the newly
monikered Textiles and Materials
Department at UMass
Dartmouth.
Formerly the Textile Sciences Department, the name change reflects the evolution of a science that once focused on creating better clothing but now, as Prof. Paul Calvert puts it, will "bridge the divide between natural and synthetic engineering so that our machines become more like animals."
As the apparel industry has gone oversees, U.S. textile firms and their partner research laboratories are transforming themselves into high-tech centers of smart textiles and materials that will someday carry health sensors, flexible photocells and batteries, artificial muscles for robots, and perhaps components of artificial hearts and livers.
"New materials are near the start of the research food chain," Calvert said. "Typically, the development of a new material is 20 years from start to finish. With its new name and funding, the Department of Textiles and Materials has entered, and is ready for, a new era of sophisticated and challenging instruction."
More information about the Department of Textiles and Materials is available online at www.tesumassd.org.
Collaborating on Indian natural hazards center
Oceanographer Avijit Gangopadhyay recently
returned from India, where he helped
establish a new center for addressing natural
hazards. The new Center for Oceans, Rivers,
Atmosphere and Land Sciences (CORAL) is
located at the Indian Institute of Technology
in Kharagpur, India's premier institution of
technical research and higher education.
The Center will focus on the prediction and damage mitigation of earthquakes, floods, tsunamis and other natural disasters. The planned work will include collaboration with the School of Marine Science and Technology and other research institutions.
Projects include development of a travel time atlas for a tsunami warning system; a study of the socio-economic impact of four major disasters, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami; and the development of high-resolution three-dimensional ocean circulation, cyclone, storm surge, and wave forecasting models.
Electronic Imaging grads go Hollywood
Recent graduates of the UMass Dartmouth Electronic Imaging program are "going Hollywood."
Nick Bruno '02 works for Blue Sky Studios, which created Robots, Ice Age, and Ice Age II. Some of Bruno's own work, including the test for his interview with Blue Sky Studios, can be viewed on his website at www.bruno3d.com. Hope Gunston, '05, was recruited by Walt Disney Studios even before she could complete her undergraduate work, and is now teaching both third party and Disney proprietary software to employees, as well as managing the daily figure drawing classes. Gunston's work can be viewed at www.hopedesigns.com.
In November, the Electronic Imaging program will host its 12th annual festival on the Friday before Thanksgiving. The festival, which is open to the public, will include studentsà interactive projects such as a virtual reality animated trip to the lost city of Atlantis.
UMass Dartmouth alumna using Mrs. Massachusetts platform to advance adoption rights
A 1987 UMass Dartmouth alumna, who has become a strong advocate for adoption reform since she and her husband
adopted two children,
was named Mrs. Massachusetts
in May.
Judith Lima, a Dartmouth resident and business education teacher at New Bedford High School, has made adoption her platform. She and her husband, John, adopted Colby-Jae, age 6, and Hannah-Min, age 1, both of Korea. She has been working with Sen. Mark Montigny, D-New Bedford, on legislation that would provide maternity leave rights for adopting parents equal to those afforded biological parents.
"State and federal support of adoption can make a critical difference for these children and for parents who build their families through adoption," Lima said, adding that adopting children from another country has helped her family establish cross-cultural friendships that it may not otherwise have experienced.
Alum elected world president of Textile Institute
Gerald Mauretti ’65 has been named the world president of the Textile Institute, a United Kingdom-based professional organization for the worldwide textile industry.
Mauretti is founder and CEO of Engineered
Yarns, a Fall River custom-engineering
firm serving textile manufacturers
that require innovative industrial yarns.
Engineered Yarns employs over 50 people
in a modern 40,000 square foot building
that includes manufacturing equipment
and a laboratory for the research and development
of new products. The company’s
products are designed for end use in electrical
equipment, paper machine clothing,
telecommunications, and transportation industries,
including aircraft manufacturers.
His company is a participating member in a National Science Foundation Grant on university/corporate technology advancement. He also serves as chair of the UMass Dartmouth Foundation.
UMass Dartmouth competes in Solar Decathlon competition
A UMass Dartmouth team of faculty and student architects and engineers will be competing in the 2005 National Solar Decathlon September 26 through October 19 in Washington, D.C. The UMass Dartmouth solar home is the only Massachusetts entry in the competition.
The team recently completed a uniquely designed solar home on the campus for transport 500 miles by highway to the National Mall. Once the competition is done, the home will be turned over to Habitat for Humanity.
Through research, testing, and experimentation, the UMass team’s design resulted in a predominantly solar-powered home that will provide its future residents with affordable electricity and hot water. More information about the Solar Decathlon Project can be found at www.umassd.edu/solar/welcome.cfm.
US News & World Report ranks
UMass Dartmouth top New England
public university of its kind
College of Engineering cited as one of the best undergraduate programs
U.S. News & World Report’s 2006 “America’s Best Colleges” issue has ranked UMass Dartmouth the best public institution of its kind in New England and cited the College of Engineering as having one of the best undergraduate programs among similar universities.
Overall, the university was the highest ranked “masters” level public institution in New England. It was ranked 12th in the entire north region, which also includes New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington D.C. UMass Dartmouth has 8,300 students and more than 70 academic programs; conducts nearly $20 million in research; and is deeply engaged in service to the surrounding community.
The magazine ranked the College of Engineering 32nd among masters level schools. The ranking is based on ratings by deans and senior faculty.