NEWS BRIEFS

Fulbright Scholar grants awarded to four at UM
Four academic scholars have been honored with Fulbright Scholar grants at UM for the 2004-2005 academic year. Gregory A. Castillo, assistant professor at the School of Architecture and Martin B. Garrison, professor of journalism and photography at the School of Communication will be lecturing abroad, while two visiting grantees, Hassane Bouzahi, assistant professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics, Ibn Zohn University and Eduardo M. Ramirez, doctoral candidate in the Department of Evolutionary Ecology, University of Mexico, will be received. Dr. Castillo will be participating in a Fulbright German Studies Seminar sponsored by the Commission for Educational and Cultural Affairs between the U.S. and Germany in Berlin. Dr. Garrison will be lecturing at Shanghai International Studies University in China on newsgathering and new computer-based technologies in journalism and mass communication. Visiting scholar Dr. Bouzahir is conducting research on functional differential equations and applications to population dynamics and Eduardo Mendoza is conducting research on the factors underlying the population variation of Rain Forest herbs and the effects of human disturbance. Approximately 800 U.S. and foreign faculty and professionals travel abroad through the Fulbright Program, and these four distinguished scholars are among them.

U. Nebraska’s business school uses pagers to reduce long advising lines
(U-WIRE) LINCOLN, Neb. – As Jessica Fleming took notes on economics, she felt her sleek, box-shaped pager vibrate from its place on her hip.
The junior looked down to the pager, which the College of Business Administration had given her and saw “ROOM 138,” indicating it was her turn to meet with her academic adviser.
Growing lines of impatient students and congestion in the advising center pushed CBA to a more efficient way to handle traffic. Three years ago, they began issuing pagers to students waiting to meet with their advisers.
The pagers allow students to travel anywhere in the building.
During one day of priority registration last semester, 81 students came into the advising center for academic help, according to data gathered by the college. In one week, data showed more than 300 students visited the academic advising center.
The average waiting time to see an adviser is one hour, but can be up to a two-hour wait. Davis attributed long wait times to the large number of students enrolled in the college. Currently about 3,000 undergraduate students call CBA their academic home.
With so many students, it’s hard for the advising staff to accommodate all of them at the same time.
CBA has four professional advisers and six student advisers who help students select classes, declare another major or minor and keep them on road to graduation.
“We don’t like students to feel pushed,” Davis said. “We want to get them all the time they need to ask questions.”
Davis said some students were irritated by the wait, but “we haven’t had anybody throw rocks at us, they just realize they have to wait.”

The Architecture of Miami, ARC 323/584, is a three -credit course from December 16-29, reviewing Miami’s architectural styles, from the simple wood structures of early settlers to reinforced-concrete tropical high-rise towers. For additional information please call 305-284-5253; please also consult you academic advisor.