University of Massachusetts Boston - Beacon Yearbook (Boston, MA)

Page 24 text:

The Biology Department ffcr The UMassfBoston Biology Department offers a diverse and high quality degree program to one of the largest groups of majors at the Harbor campus. Graduates of the department have an excellent record of admission to medical and graduate programs. According to a recent survey, sixteen percent had entered medical, dental or veterinary schools, while another forty percent had been accepted into other graduate programs. Others entered the teaching profession, work for environmental agen- cies, or became lab technicians in area laboratories. The department, together with the Anthropology and Psychology departments, offers cross-disciplinary pro- grams in Biology of Human Populations and in Biobehavioral Studies. Within the department, students can take a double major in Biology and Medical Technol- ogy. Graduate students may choose Biotechnology and Biomedical Science, Applied Marine Ecology or more tra- ditional concentrations in Botany, Cell Biology, Physiology or Population Biology. Biology department chair, Dr. Christine Armett-Kibel, spoke at length about the department during a Iune in- terview with Tlze Beacon. She told us that a strength of the department and of the university in general is that the university provides an environment that encourages close working relationships between students and faculty. She points out that upper level classes are gener- ally small and that students are required to take a large number of lab courses. These lab courses provide valu- able exposure to current techniques and allow students a chance to meet and know their professors on a personal level. Dr. Kibel believes that the faculty enjoys a sense of accomplishment when they observe the intellectual development of their students, who move through in- creasingly demanding biology courses, often to the point of undertaking independent research projects . Later we learned that motivated students in the undergraduate program were given every opportunity to work as assistants in the research projects of their professors. This was surprising, for at most schools, these opportunities are reserved for graduate students. The department has been successful in obtaining funding from a special program of the National Science Foundation for Undergraduate Research Institutions like UMass!Boston. Through such funding, the Federal government hopes to encourage students to continue their education at a graduate school level, and also hopes that exposing undergraduate students to actual research projects is a good way to accomplish this goal. In an age of endless budget cuts, it is encouraging to note that the UMass!Boston Biology department has been able to compete successfully with some of the best universities in the country for sponsored research funding, and it seems to be getting better at doing so with each passing year. Currently, faculty members receive research grants from a wide variety of sources, including the National Institute of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agen- cy and the Agency for International Development. A list of significant funded projects underway at UMass this year would include the following: an impor- tant study on the immune systems of insects as it relates to disease control being conducted by Dr. Sugumaran, an investigation of the mechanism of RNA synthesis in eucaryotic organism by Dr. Ackerman, and a study on curiously low natural fertility among natives of High- land, New Guinea, by Dr. Campbell. Dr. Wilkes, a world renowned corn specialist and consultant for the Maize Seed Bank in Mexico, is conducting research on domesti- cated seed plants, whereas pollen analysis and archae- ological botany are subjects being investigated by Dr. Kaplan. Two other funded research projects of interest are a study on insect visual systems by Drs. White and Bennett, and research on the behavior and ecology of seabirds being conducted by UMass's resident ornatholigist-Dr. Hatch. In conclusion, Dr. Christine, Dr. Armett-Kiebel had these words to say to graduating seniors- We congratu- late the graduating class! We always remain interested in our alumni and hope that the members of this class will keep us informed of their progress after leaving UMass!Boston. I -Steve Gyurina

Page 23 text:

di. ,ik N ,,.,'..-u . ' ma f .Q rg, .2 1i ' I ,1,,,,w.. 3 'K 1 A 2 Law , 100' , 1 I r 4 1.1 'Wk XA' I 'gl' t' . ,..----4-l ,,,,0w, V , 5 ,f.g,g--f - My , .Q M: I fy,-Qsglil' f 4 ., ,:' , 'f , f- ' A 5 Y Q' I - A , 3-zulu-f'Q fl: ,' ' k 'z'f'v,f?fw-fi'i'ffff'S?'A J. ... A, AM, A .wg , Q, ,. W' 1 .1 I Y A .,J X 1-ss,- ff ' S , w?aQ'1 ' ., -- ' , , U ' ,. 1 v , ,4 ' LM 1 3' A- '-1,1-33, ' . pg ,115 :,,, ' W -K A A il A '. - ' F1 P' .C,..-. j' ' 5 ' .. f' ,V via. ,. .15-,..,,.... I 3,5-.,,y1r ,Q .Qf-2 f ,ww-ff , ,X 4- n ,- M, f Ffa . LA - ' . ,4'?:?,:-, 5, . A- .. Li' -.V f' N' V , Q B' ggi- V .CL ' 5.1 ' -x ,J Bus ' 4 ' .- 4 V' , Photos by Kurt David Hogan

Page 25 text:

ECI-105 I don't think things are ever the way one expects, and I don't think things are ever the way one assumes they are at the moment. What I actually think is that one has no idea of what things are like, ever.-Deborah Eisenberg, Critically acclaimed author ' The building is horrible, it's falling down. I think it's because of the separation of the Harbor Campus from CPCS. We're neglected.-A CPCS student, commenting on the condition of the Downtown Campus building One thing for sure is that nobody wants to be a stranger.-Vietnamese freshmen Trung Dong in a Mass Media Stranger in a Strange Land column They have struggled, they have perservered, they have succeeded, and today, they come before you in ' triumph!-UMB CAS Dean Richard Freeland introducing the' CAS graduates at 1986 commencement The court would not do to heterosexuals what it has done to homosexuals. Many of the justices are heterosexuals themselves.-Art Buchwald column, commenting on Georgia passing a law making sodomy a crime, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court M If we don't have a source, are American women willing to give up their diamonds?--White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan, attempting to alibi for why the Reagan administration refuses to impose' sanctions on the racist re- gime of South Africa, the world's largest source for diamonds . 4 ' fEd's note: Congress overrode -a Reagan veto and imposed the sanctionsj One day, my boss, from Greece, asked me to do some job. I couldn't hear a word of what he was saying. I questioned, What? It was like I started the Third World war. That guy exploded, gesticulating, Why don't you look for another job? I am sick and tired of explaining or repeating everything to you. I got mad inside that day and I cried and cried and cried.-Haitian freshman Gerard Iean-Leger, describing his first work experience as a dishwasher-busboy in a restaurant. lean-Leger was a doctor in his native Haiti before coming to the U.S. in 1975 I The Mass Media.l When we reached 'zilch' and 'zillionaire', it was like havingthe finishing tape in sight in a marathon.-Robert Burchfield, editor of the just completed fafter 29 yearsj supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary QTIME, 51191852 v We could hear the sound of the gunfighting from the villages. More and more soldiers came to our town. For the first time in our lives, we understood the real warp it was quite different than our fighting games.-Southeastasian UMB student Em Truong recalling wartime childhood 6 The Mass Medial I worry about whether there will be enough .rice on the table, enough milk for my grandchildren, real basics. All the little details. Where do we buy the rake?-Imelda Marcos, wife of exiled Phillipine President Ferdinand Marcos, commenting on life in new home of' Hawaii. Mrs. Marcos is said to'have had as much as 2000 pairs'of shoes during her time as First Lady of the Phillipines , The lady has a problem . . . but then again, what 100 year-old lady does not have an age spot here and there?-From American notes of TIME, regarding the 566.3 million restoration of the Statue of Liberty