Saturday Morning Science is back for 2016 with five programs to give the community the opportunity to learn about hot topics in modern science.

The free, public talks are presented by the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and kick off Saturday with an astronomy presentation called, “Exoplanets: The Discovery of Alien Worlds and Habitable Planets,” by Dr. Steve B. Howell, a UT alumnus and project scientist for the NASA Kepler Mission. 

Each of the programs will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Wolfe Hall Room 1205 on The University of Toledo’s Main Campus.

“We tried to come up with topics that are of general public interest as well as interesting to us. Everyone should feel welcome to come,” said Dr. Joseph Schmidt, UT associate professor of chemistry and an organizer of the event.

Listed by date, the additional programs and speakers are:

• March 19: “Goghing, Goghing, Gone! The Analysis of Color Fading in Masterpieces by Vincent van Gogh” by Dr. Gregory D. Smith, Otto N. Frenzel III Senior Conservation Scientist for the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
• April 16: “The Human Microbiome: Good for What Ails You” by Dr. Patrick D. Schloss, associate professor in the University of Michigan Department of Microbiology and Immunology.
• April 23: “Green Chemistry: Making Better Molecules for a Sustainable Future” by Dr. Amy S. Cannon, executive director of Beyond Benign.
• April 30: “Deadly Doodle: How One Sketchy Sketch Led to Murder” by Kimberly Zebrowski, forensic scientist in the Controlled Substances Unit of the Michigan State Police Department.

“I really hope attendees learn something interesting and get a better understanding of science. Maybe some of the younger members of the audience will consider a career in science,” Schmidt said.

Free parking will be available in area 13 and the west parking ramp. A light breakfast provided by Barry Bagels will be available before the programs.

For more information about Saturday Morning Science, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/SaturdayMorningScience.

Click here to download the promotional poster.

Media Coverage
The Independent Collegian (Feb. 24, 2016)

A group of innovative University of Toledo students has taken the Redbox video kiosk idea and turned it green.

The project is attracting national attention and federal research money.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the team of UT undergraduate students a $15,000 grant to participate in a national competition to design solutions for a sustainable future.

The UT team’s proposal is to create a community-based garbage collection system called Greenbox which turns food waste into energy.

To understand the senior design project, it helps to be familiar with the Redbox video rental system.

“Instead of getting movies or video games on disc at an automated machine, you can drop off a three-gallon bag of food waste at a Greenbox kiosk and rack up reward points for gift cards or other perks,” mechanical engineering senior John Martillotta said. “It’s a new way to recycle that has not been done before.”

“If you’re not looking to compost, our system would be a good way to collect and store food scraps from households and restaurants and use it to generate energy in the form of methane gas or create fertilizers,” Matthew Franchetti, associate professor in the College of Engineering, said. “The garbage bags would be transported from the kiosks throughout the community to a large-scale anaerobic digestion facility.”

The EPA chose the UT team to compete with more than 30 other university student teams across the country in the 12^th Annual People, Prosperity and the Planet Student Design Competition.

In the spring, all teams will submit their reports and proposals for a chance to receive an additional $75,000 in grant funding for their project.

“This year’s P3 teams have created innovative research projects that tackle some of our most pressing environmental and public health challenges,” said Dr. Thomas A. Burke, EPA’s Science Advisor and Deputy Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “These students have the opportunity to bring their exciting new ideas for innovation in sustainability to life, by expanding their learning experience beyond the classroom.”

The U.S. generates more than 34 million tons of food waste each year and more than 97 percent is disposed of at landfills, according to Franchetti.

Greenbox would be a recycling option with reward incentives to divert food waste from the landfill.

“Greenbox also would reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with food waste rotting in landfills and lead to a cleaner environment,” Franchetti said.

The UT team says the Greenbox kiosks – standing six feet tall, four feet deep and five feet wide – would be located at convenience stores, fast food restaurants, grocery stores and pharmacies.

Somewhat similar to the US Postal Service automated postal centers, the Greenbox kiosks would include a touch screen and label printer. Once a kiosk is two-thirds full of food waste bags, a sensor would automatically notify a local hauler that the machine needs to be emptied. The bags would then be transported to a local waste-to-energy facility and weighed so customers could cash in on recycling incentives.

“Last semester, we developed the design and built the business plan.  It would be a franchise like Redbox,” Martillotta said.  “This semester we are building the Greenbox prototype. Our project is relevant on a large scale.  If it keeps moving forward, we could have a positive impact on preventing pollution across our country.  The byproducts of food waste are awesome. We’re just trying to find a good way to do it.”

Media Coverage
13 ABC (Feb. 16, 2016)

Marathon, Owens-Illinois, Dana Holding Corporation, Coca-Cola, ProMedica and Owens Corning are among the 110 businesses who will participate in The University of Toledo College of Business and Innovation spring job fair from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12 in the UT Student Union.

450 UT business students are expected to attend in search of internships and full-time employment.

More than 85 percent of UT College of Business and Innovation students participate in internships.  The job placement rate for Spring 2015 graduates was a record 88 percent.

“Once again we are excited and happy for our students that so many well-known companies are coming to the UT College of Business and Innovation to find the talent they need,” Dr. Terribeth Gordon-Moore, the college’s senior associate dean, said. “This reflects very positively on the quality of both our programs and our students. It also demonstrates the extremely dynamic and mutually beneficial relationship enjoyed by the college and recruiters for major national companies.”

Employers are looking for undergraduate students to participate in business internships and their leadership development programs, as well as for seniors and graduates seeking full-time employment, Gordon-Moore said, adding that freshmen students also are encouraged to attend the job fair to engage these company representatives and begin a relationship with these employers.

“This semi-annual job fair is part of what we do to prepare our students for their futures,” Gordon-Moore said, adding that the college’s Business Career Programs office works year-round to assist students in acquiring internships and jobs upon graduation.  “We strive to provide the necessary resources so our students can conduct their own tailored job searches.”

Media Coverage
The Blade (Feb. 12, 2016)

“The Vagina Monologues,” an emotion-packed journey through the female experiences of love, sex, rape, menstruation, birth and more, will return to The University of Toledo Friday and Saturday, Feb. 12 and 13, in the Driscoll Alumni Center Auditorium.

The play will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday, with a resource fair beginning an hour before the performances. The event is sponsored by the UT Sexual Assault Education and Prevention Program and brought to the community by V-Day UT.

V-Day is a global activist movement determined to end violence against women and girls. The campaign raises awareness and money for anti-violence organizations and works to regularly revitalize efforts.

Several UT students and a handful of community members will perform “The Vagina Monologues.” Eve Ensler wrote the play that premiered in 1996 after interviewing more than 200 women about their experiences and views on relationships, sex and violence against women.

Lily Ostrander, a second-year pharmacy major and director of this year’s program, said the monologues raise awareness about topics no one wants to discuss, like sexual assault and domestic violence, and show survivors they are not alone.

“To me, ‘The Vagina Monologues’ are about diminishing the stigma around women’s bodies by claiming the word ‘vagina’ as something we don’t have to talk about in hush-hush voices behind closed doors,” Ostrander said. “It’s about not feeling embarrassed or shamed about our bodies, and empowering women to acknowledge and claim their sexuality.”

The resource fair that precedes the event will include a number of local organizations and businesses that are run by women or empower women and other intersecting identities. Among the organizations scheduled to be at the event are the People Called Women Bookstore, UT Feminist Alliance, Spectrum, Women of Toledo, Khroma Magazine and others.

Tickets for the play are $5 for students and $10 for general admission and can be purchased at the door. Proceeds from this year’s event will go to Northwest Ohio’s YWCA Hope Rape Crisis Center.

If we’ve learned anything from the blackout at Super Bowl XLVII, it’s that lighting has a critical role in live entertainment.

Going into the NBA All-Star Game, a University of Toledo lighting designer has accepted the responsibility as part of the team in charge of lighting the stage for half-time performer Sting, the pre-game performance by Cirque du Soleil and other All-Star Game events.

Stephen Sakowski, assistant professor of lighting and sound design in the UT Department of Theatre and Film, will be working closely this week with Otis Howard, an Emmy Award-winning lighting designer who runs Otis Howard Design, Inc., a company that has lit the stage for TV shows on BET, VH1, MTV, HSN and more. Howard has been in charge of lighting the NBA All-Star events for the last five years.

Ring in the Year of the Monkey this week with a Chinese celebration.

The University of Toledo’s Confucius Institute will present the 2016 Spring Carnival Wednesday, Feb. 10, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Student Union Auditorium.

“It’s always important to learn about different cultures,” said Xinren Yu, international programs coordinator in the UT Center for International Studies and Programs. “China is one of the largest countries in the world. We provide a great opportunity for our UT community to learn about the richness of Chinese culture. It also gives them something new that they’ve never experienced before.”

Traditional Chinese snacks will be provided, and there will be bracelet making, fan decorating, mask painting, pitch pot games, calligraphy lessons, New Year greeting card creation stations, and traditional Chinese hairdressing.

The institute also will present a traditional Chinese clothing catwalk during the festival.

“We do the real stuff. The way we do it here is the same way they do it in China,” Yu said.

The carnival, which is free and open to the public, is part of a two-week Spring Festival celebrating the Chinese New Year, an event marking the start of a year beginning on the second new moon after the winter solstice and ending on the full moon 15 days later. This year will be the Year of the Monkey, according to the Chinese 12-year animal zodiac cycle.

Free parking will be available in Lot 10, located north of the Glass Bowl.

For more information about the event and the Confucius Institute, visit utoledo.edu/cisp/Confucius_Institute.

Media Coverage
La Prensa (Feb. 9, 2016)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETINGS
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Radisson Hotel, Aspen Room
6:00 p.m. Board of Trustees Social Dinner

Monday, February 15, 2016
Driscoll Alumni Center, Schmakel Room
10:30 a.m. Clinical Affairs Committee Meeting
1:00 p.m. Board of Trustees Meeting

A luncheon will be held for the Trustees between meetings.  Any questions may be directed to the University Communications Office by calling (419) 530-7832 or via email at jonathan.strunk@utoledo.edu.

The time to dispose of your old, broken or unwanted electronics is now.

The University of Toledo’s Sustainability, Energy Efficiency and Design (SEED) Initiative will kick off Recyclemania, an eight-week recycling competition that draws participants from colleges across the United States and Canada, with a community electronics recycling drive.

The fourth annual electronics recycling drive will take place Saturday, Feb. 6, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Parking Area 25, which is located near Rocket Hall off Secor Road.

Community members are invited to drop off laptops, computers, printers, speakers, cameras, cell phones, VCRs and more. Any data-bearing devices will be wiped.

Televisions, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, and CRT monitors will not be accepted, as they have to undergo a different recycling process.

“Recycling electronics instead of sending them to the landfill has environmental, social and economic benefits, including conserving rare minerals currently mined unsustainably, often through poor working conditions,” said Neil Tabor, sustainability specialist for the UT SEED Initiative.

The initiative is pairing up with Affinity Information Management (AIMecycling), an R-2 Certified recycler located in Toledo, to handle items.

Last year, the University took ninth place in the electronics recycling category of Recyclemania, thanks in part to the success of the 2015 community electronics recycling drive.

Media Coverage
13 ABC (Feb. 4, 2016)
The Blade (Feb. 5, 2016)
13 ABC (Feb. 6, 2016)

The University of Toledo announced Wednesday four finalists for the position of provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.

“We are excited to announce four outstanding finalists who will be visiting The University of Toledo in the coming weeks to interview for the position of provost and executive vice president for academic affairs,” wrote Dr. Kaye Patten, senior vice president for student affairs and Dr. Christopher Ingersoll, dean of the College of Health Sciences and Interim Dean of the College of Social Justice and Human Service, in a letter sent the campus community.

In addition to meeting with faculty, administrators and academic leaders, the candidates will also each participate in two open forums — one on Main Campus and one on Health Science Campus — to provide an opportunity for the UT community to offer input.

The candidates are:

Wednesday, Feb. 10 — Dr. Christopher Keil McCord, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Northern Illinois University. Open forums for McCord will be:

• 1:15 – 2:15 p.m. — Student Union Room 2592 on Main Campus
• 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. — Health Education Building Room 100 on Health Science Campus.

Friday, Feb. 12 — Dr. Andrew Hsu, dean of the College of Engineering at San Jose State. Open forums for Hsu will be:

• 10 – 11 a.m. — Health Education Building Room 105 on Health Science Campus
• 3 – 4 p.m. — Student Union Room 2592 on Main Campus

Wednesday, Feb. 17 — Dr. Donald Siegel, dean of the School of Business at the University of Albany. Open forums for Siegel will be:

• 1:15 – 2:15 p.m. — Student Union Room 2582 on Main Campus
• 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. — Health Education Building Room 100 on Health Science Campus

Thursday, Feb. 18 — Dr. Charles Robinson, vice chancellor for diversity and community at the University of Arkansas. Open forums for Robinson will be:

• 1:15 – 2:15 p.m. — Student Union Room 2592 on Main Campus
• 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. — Health Education Building Room 100 on Health Science Campus

Finalists’ curricula vitae are available at the provost search website, utoledo.edu/offices/provost/provostsearch.

Additionally, all of the open forums will be streamed live at video.utoledo.edu and archived on the provost search website for those unable to watch live.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Feb. 3, 2016)
NBC 24 (Feb. 3, 2016)
13 ABC (Feb. 4, 2016)
The Blade (Feb. 4, 2016)
Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette (Feb. 4, 2016)
Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette (Feb. 6, 2016)

The University of Toledo’s celebration of Black History Month will inspire students to be active in shaping the world they want to live in.

This year’s theme is “Live for the Moment, not for the Movement: Black Activism in the 21st Century” and will kick off with a keynote address by Tuskegee University President Brian J. Johnson. 

The kickoff luncheon will be Saturday, Feb. 6, from noon to 2 p.m. in the Student Union Auditorium when Johnson will discuss recent events happening around the country and the need for action to address issues continuing to impact the African-American community.

“UT students want to get involved. As a college student, this is the time to learn, to grow, to develop, and to do your part to shape the world you will live in,” said Henderson Hill III, UT assistant dean of multicultural student success. “Be part of the conversation, but also be intentional and mature in how you handle activism.”

Henderson joined UT in January from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn., where he was the director of the Wilbur N. Daniel African American Cultural Center. In the newly created position, Henderson leads the UT Office of Multicultural Student Success in the Division of Student Affairs.

Johnson has served since 2014 as the seventh president of Tuskegee University, one of the nation’s leading historically black institutions of higher education founded in 1881 by Booker T. Washington.

“We are honored to have Dr. Johnson begin our celebration of Black History Month that gives us the opportunity to recognize cultural history and honor the contributions of African Americans who have contributed to our global society,” Hill said.

This event is free to all UT students, faculty and staff, and community members can reserve tickets for $20 by contacting the Division of Student Affairs at 419.530.2665.

Listed by date, additional Black History Month events will include:

Wednesday, Feb. 10

• “We’ll Have No Race Trouble Here: Memphis Politics and the 1940 Reign of Terror” by Dr. Jason Jordan, UT visiting assistant professor of history, 4:30 p.m., location to be determined.

Wednesday, Feb. 17

• “We Are STEMM: A Celebration of African-American Accomplishments in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine” by Dr. Emanuel Rivers, vice chair and research director of Henry Ford Hospital’s Department of Emergency Medicine, 6 p.m., Health Education Building Room 110.

Friday, Feb. 19

• African-American Children’s Books Read-In, noon, Robinson Elementary, 1075 Horace St.

Saturday, Feb. 20

• Student trip to the Motown Museum in Detroit sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Student Success. Open to the first 42 UT students to RSVP to omss@utoledo.edu or 419.530.2261.

Thursday, Feb. 25

• Africana Studies Brown-Bag Lecture, 12:30 p.m., location to be determined. Dr. Rubin Patterson, professor and chair of sociology and anthropology at Howard University, will present “Preparing African Americans for Environmental and Climate Stabilization Leadership.”
• Screening of the film “Fruitvale Station,” 5:30 p.m., location to be determined.

Monday, Feb. 29

• The Men of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. (Lambda Epsilon) and the Ladies of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. (Alpha Pi) will present “We Shall Overcome,” 7 p.m., Student Union Room 2582.

Throughout the month of February, The University of Toledo Libraries will have displays of books by African-American authors in Carlson Library and Mulford Library. To view the “Activism and Civil Rights: 20th Century Activism” library guide, click here.

For more information, contact the Office of Multicultural Student Success at 419.530.2261 or omss@utoledo.edu.

Click here to download photo of Johnson.

Media Coverage
Lima News (Feb. 6, 2016)
The Blade (Feb. 7, 2016)