UCF awarded grant to stay green

At least 50 native cypress, pine and palm trees will be planted on UCF’s East Orlando campus as part of a federal grant aimed at improving forests’ health.

The project began in September with the pruning and remediation of more than 100 young native hardwood trees inside the campus core. The second phase of the $18,860 grant from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is expected to start with next week’s plantings.

The grant was awarded to UCF as part of the 2010-11 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Forest Health Improvement Initiative Program.

The grant supports UCF’s long-term landscaping goals, which include having a mixed-species urban forestry canopy. This project brings connectivity to the canopy and beautifies the campus.

The project also promotes the planting of native trees, which play an important role in protecting the habitats of Florida’s wildlife. Native tree species will be planted at two campus retention ponds, which will increase air and water quality.

UCF’s East Orlando campus is home to 1,400 acres of natural lands and manicured landscapes. The university is committed to ecosystem health and preservation. The Arbor Day Foundation recently recognized UCF as a Tree Campus USA.

The university’s Landscape & Natural Resources department supports the university’s mission through its comprehensive outdoor laboratory that creates opportunities for relevant, experience-based learning, urban ecology research and human connection with ecosystems and landscapes.

The department seeks to enrich the community by creating and maintaining an inviting outdoor environment, providing high-quality service for operational activities and generating research and educational initiatives that guide stewardship of natural resources.

Source: http://www.cos.ucf.edu/content/news/index.html#loader=http%3A//www.cos.ucf.edu/content/news/index.html%26articleId%3D707%26view%3Ddate

Also check out UCF's green initiatives here http://green.ucf.edu.

OMGraduation

Are you a senior and still not sure how to write a resume? Do you think getting a root canal sounds more appealing than going to a job interview? Have you always meant to come into Career Services but never was able to fit the time into your busy schedule?

OMGraduation is a free event hosted by Career Services, which will take place this Saturday, April 16th from 8:30 a.m. -3 p.m. at the new Career Services Experiential Learning building on Memory mall (next to the Psychology building).

This program will cover everything from resume and cover letters, dining etiquette, networking, salary negotiation and more. Get all the information you need to know before you graduate in one stop, during a time that is convenient for your schedule. There will be activities, prizes and free food so don’t miss out.

RSVP by email or phone to Laura Crouch, Laura.Crouch2@ucf.edu, 407-823-1365.

Social media aids stalkers

According to an internationally recognized communications scholar, social media and new technologies are providing new tools to a stalker's repertoire while legal remedies like police response and restraining orders are doing little to stop stalkers.

"I'm sorry to say but if you really want to engage in stalking, there is an app for that," William Cupach, an interpersonal communications professor at Illinois State University said during a speech on April 12.

Cupach spoke at UCF as part of the College of Sciences' Distinguished Speaker Series.


To read the continuation of this article by my classmate, Ryan Little, click on the link below.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/community/ucf/orl-ucf-speaker-says-social-medi-aids-stalkers,0,3195553.story

UCF receives a victory in national ethics bowl

The tensions were high at the National Ethics Bowl. Senior ethics bowl team member Catherine Perrault checked her pulse; it was at a constant 80 BPM. She knew she was ready. An hour and a half filled with arguing and critiquing had passed and after discovering the judge’s scores, the team discovered they had won.

This year marks UCF’s first national victory. In the past three years, UCF has qualified to be in the competition and last year it placed second in the Southeast Regional Ethics Bowl.

“It feels great to win, each year we’ve gotten a little bit better and honed the delivery, focus and research that we’ve done,” said senior philosophy major and team member Alexander Kaplan.

The competition took place at the Hilton Netherland Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati, Ohio, as part of the meeting of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics.

According to the UCF College of Arts and Humanities website, the team consisted of Perrault, Kaplan, Jessica Fears, Stephen Oldham, Kevin Dupree and Ramon Lopez. All members of the team are part of the Burnett Honors College and five of the six members are taking the Case Studies in Ethics honors class at UCF.

The team was coached by Nancy Stanlick, associate professor and assistant chair of the department of philosophy; Michael Strawser, an assistant professor in the philosophy department; and Madi Dogariu, director of student services at the Burnett Honors College.

Read more from the article via The Orlando Sentinel http://www.orlandosentinel.com/community/ucf/orl-ucf-students-win-national-ethics-bowl,0,4616723.story

UCF students continue the fight to save Arboretum

UCF has requested the release of 7.85 acres of land protected by a conservation easement from the St. Johns Water Management District. This area is a portion of the 82-acre Arboretum that educates students and the community about nature and protects the environment.

Patrick Bohlen, Arboretum director since the fall of 2010, said this area was chosen for the easement release because it is inside the Gemini loop and is suitable for future building in the core of campus.

The request includes a proposal to transfer the current conservation easement to another parcel of land on campus.

Read full story here
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/community/ucf/orl-ucf-students-fight-to-save-arboretum,0,4308688.story

Mysterious sea creature found in Indian River Lagoon

 An unknown creature finds a way to make Indian River Lagoon in Brevard County its home. It is prompting scientists to ask questions.

The creature that looks like bunched up bright red daisy petals is an ascidian, better known as a sea squirt. But exactly how it gotinto the lagoon and where it came from has researchers puzzled.

The only thing scientists know for sure is that it is overgrowing native oysters, a keystone organism for the health of the waterway as well as an important part of the local economy. 

University of Central Florida biologist Linda Walters has been monitoring the lagoon and helping to restore its oyster population for the past 14 years. She has since seen three other non-native species invade the lagoon putting it at risk.

Global warming may be partly to blame as water temperatures rise and create inviting environments for species that typically stay in tropical climates farther south. Some states are spending millions of dollars battling invasive marine creatures that use interconnected waterways to spread.

“This is not unique to Florida,” Walters said. “We’re seeing more and more aquatic nonnative species across the United States. They compete with native species and can disrupt the natural ecosystem. And that can have very real consequences.”

In Brevard, for example, if oysters can’t grow because of an invasive species, they can’t clean the lagoon. It’s estimated that one oyster filters five gallons of water a day.

The oysters also provide refuge to native species such as blue crab, shrimp and red fish that locals catch and sell. Without them, many other creatures’ food sources disappear. In the Indian River Lagoon, Walters has identified 149 species that rely on native oysters in a balanced ecosystem.

Read full story here http://today.ucf.edu/mystery-sea-creature-invading-indian-river-lagoon-threatens-oysters/

Physicist Garrett Lisi “A Geometric Theory of Everything”

Everything in our universe is composed of elementary particle fields interacting according to the laws of quantum physics. These balanced physical interactions correspond to the geometry of elegant mathematical structures twisting over spacetime. By examining the pattern of particle interactions we see that these structures describing our universe appear to be parts of a larger structure, long revered by mathematicians for its complex beauty.

Physicist Garrett Lisi will be presenting “A Geometric Theory of Everything” at UCF on Thursday, April 14 at 5:30 p.m. in Engineering Bldg 2, Room 102.

Garrett Lisi will describe the fundamental geometry of our universe and some new ideas about unification.

Click here for more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_Garrett_Lisi

http://www.ted.com/talks/garrett_lisi_on_his_theory_of_everything.html