Summer Research Opportunities Program-
SROP UW-Madison

The University of Wisconsin-Madison offers a number of Summer Research Opportunities to undergraduate students. It is a unique chance for undergraduates to work closely with faculty mentors and graduate students in their major discipline. Students accepted into research programs are matched with faculty whose expertise and interests match the student’s research interest. Students gain valuable skills for success in post-graduate studies and careers in their chosen field. Upon completing their summer research, students have the opportunity to present and receive reviews of their individual work.

By Carrie Wells, The Baltimore Sun

Morgan State University has opened an investigation into a student's allegation that members of a fraternity he wanted to join rejected him because he is gay.

Brian Stewart said he dreamed of joining Morgan's chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and thought members would be impressed by his academic accomplishments — Stewart said he was a White House intern — but he was rejected the day after his interview.

He believes it is because of his sexual orientation, citing social-media messages using an anti-gay slur that someone sent him and told him were between fraternity members.

"I couldn't even be angry because I was so hurt," he said.

Members of the fraternity chapter and the national organization did not respond to requests for comment.

A Morgan State spokesman, Jarrett Carter Sr., said the university opened an investigation into Stewart's allegation after he lodged a complaint last week.

"The university doesn't tolerate or accept any kind of discrimination," Carter said. "It's something that the university takes very very seriously."

Carter said that discrimination — in Greek life or elsewhere — is against university policy and that those found in violation can face disciplinary action after a review by a panel of students, faculty and staff.

Stewart, a 20-year-old senior business major, said he wanted to join Kappa Alpha Psi — Morgan's chapter is called Alpha Iota — because his pastor and mentor from his youth was a member. He said he grew up poor in Annapolis and that his mentor had a major influence on his life.

"What he offered to me, I wanted the ability to offer that to someone else," Stewart said.

Stewart said he is no longer interested in pledging the fraternity but that he filed a complaint because he wanted to raise awareness.

"I didn't know I was going to have no control — that my interview meant nothing, my achievements meant nothing, because they had already made up their minds," Stewart said.

cwells@baltsun.com

twitter.com/cwellssun

Meet Christine. She is a history major and current Undergraduate Research Award (URA) Scholar. Her research examines the Lost Colony of Roanoke as an historical and cultural phenomenon, specifically looking into the origin of the Dare Stones in order to define the root of the Lost Colony’s appeal to Americans and as a part of North Carolinian folklore. 

How did you find your mentor for your research project?
I had taken Dr. Bouton’s 342 history class on the American Revolution as a freshman and loved the passion he had for American history. When I began looking for a mentor, he was one of the first professors who came to mind; I knew he would have invaluable insight into not only the research process, but into the specific research I hoped to carry out.

How did you know this was the project you wanted to do?
The Lost Colony is a story I grew up with, having spent much of my time growing up at the Outer Banks, North Carolina. During a stay there September of 2012, I visited Manteo and was intrigued even more by the mystery of the missing colonists. Interestingly enough, however, few people I spoke to outside of North Carolina had ever heard of the story – and as a born and bred Southerner, and an historian as well, I knew I had to do what I could to help preserve not only the legacy of the Lost Colonists, but their continued influence through myth, legend, and fact upon the American conscience.

Is this your first independent research project?
This is my first funded independent research; however, I’m simultaneously continuing to do research on Civil War-era Virginian plantations that grew out of a history class taken during my sophomore year at UMBC.

Do you get course credit for this work? How much time do you put into it?
I am not conducting this research for course credit. I spend about 20 to 30 hours a week on the project; during late July, I am spending ten days traveling to Manteo, North Carolina, as well as visiting Brenau University, Emory University, and East Carolina University in order to interview folklorists, historians, and locals of the Manteo (originally Roanoke) area.

How did you hear about the Undergraduate Research Award (URA) program?
I was aware of the URA program through attending the URCAD presentations each spring.

Read her abstract here...

On Monday, November 4^th, UMB is hosting Nobel Prize Laureate Dr. Craig Mello for a lecture followed by a Q&A session.  Dr. Mello is the Blais University Chair in Molecular Medicine and Co-Director of the RNA Therapeutics Institute at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.  He has been a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator since 2000.  His pioneering research on RNA interference, in collaboration with Dr. Andrew Fire, has been recognized with numerous awards culminating with the prestigious 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

When:                  November 4^th, 2013 @ 9:30 am – 11:00 am

Where:                 Medical School Teaching Facility Auditorium

                              685 West Baltimore Street

                              Baltimore, MD 21201

 

The lecture is being sponsored by The Nobel Prize Inspiration Initiative, AstraZeneca/MedImmune, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.  This interactive session will be filmed by The Nobel Prize Inspiration Initiative as part of its global program to help Nobel Laureates share their inspirational stories and insights.