North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 2, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 21, 2009 Page: 5 of 8
eight pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Wednesday, January 21,2009
Page 5
o
News
Bryan Shettig & Shaina Zucker
News Editors
news@ntdaily.com
Professors get $400,000 for grant research
By Chris Speight
Staff Writer
The National Science
Foundation awarded almost
$400,000 to two NT depart-
ments to assess how federal
science foundations improve
their research.
Robert Frodeman of the philos-
ophy and religion studies faculty
is the principal investigator at NT
for Comparative Assessment of
Peer Review Study
The study's goal is to deter-
mine the best process to decide
who receives a grant for specific
research and who does not,
Frodeman said.
Currently, grants are awarded
through a peer reviewprocess, at
grant hearings.
Among the science agen-
cies being examined are the
National Science Foundation,
the National Institutes of Health
and the National Oceanic and
AtmosphericAdministration, the
Natural Science and Engineering
Research Council of Canada
and the Dutch Technology
Foundation.
"We're trying to make sure that
research gleaned from grants are
going to impact society in the best
way possible," Frodem an said. "If
you have better researchers at
one school, but research would
impact society in a broader way if
the grant is awarded to a different
school, you have to decide where
the best place for the grant is."
Since the allocation of the
second and most recent grant
of $393,688, awarded on Oct. 1,
2008, NT's researchers said they
decided to expand the project
to include more collaborations,
namely in Europe.
J. Britt Holbrook of the
Philosophy and Religion Studies
faculty and co-principal inves-
tigator on the grant said the
comparative study will include
researchers in Europe, Canada
and the Netherlands.
"We'll be going to the
Netherlands and Brussels
in March to discuss different
methods used by European
scientists in deciding who is
the best candidate for a grant,"
Frodeman said.
Frodeman said that it's diffi-
cult to conduct tests like they
do in a normal science experi-
ment because of the nature of
the study.
"We have to figure out how to
decide, with a greater degree of
certainty, how the money can
be better spent," Frodeman said.
"Also, we have to know who is the
most qualified for the nature of
a specific grant and geograph-
ically where is the best place
humanity will benefit most from
the grant."
Neither running tests nor
polling people gives researchers
enough information, Frodeman
said. This is why they must run
a comparative study that is also
interdisciplinary, he added.
"The point of UNT's Science
and Innovation Policy is to
improve science and make
sure whatever investments the
government makes in science
will prove more fruitful,"
Holbrook said.
The second grant awarded to
NT last October by the National
Science Foundation was a
follow-up for an original grant
of $25,000.
Katrina work garners student award
By Kara Fordyce
Senior StaffWriter
Seeing Hurricane Katrina's
impact on her hometown left
Alesha Harris with a compul-
sion to return to New Orleans
and make a difference.
After being in a devastated city
for two years, the NT chemistry
graduate student was rewarded
with a $500 scholarship from
the Texas Environmental Health
Association for her public health
work in post-Katrina New
Orleans at the group's annual
Christmas luncheon at the Fort
Worth Zoo.
Krista Pender, the scholar-
ship committee chairwoman
for the association, said the
environmental health group is
a statewide, nonprofit profes-
sional and educational orga-
nization for people who work
in the field of environmental
health.
Susan Yates, the associa-
tion's NT chapter president,
said the scholarship awarded
to Harris relates to students in
the area who are pursuing a
degree in areas such as envi-
ronmental science, environ-
mental or community health
and nursing.
Yates said the assocations
selected Harris for this award
because her academic qualifi-
,.%JL
Harris
cations were
strong, her
essay was well
written and
her letters
of recom-
mendation
reflected
dedication,
passion and a
commitment
to the public health profes-
sion.
"I do not know many young
adults, or adults for that matter,
that have given so much of
themselves as [Alesha] has,"
Yates said. "From what Alesha
has done already, I believe that
she has a great future in public
health."
Harris said she has always
had a giving heart and an
interest in health. She attended
Dillard University in New
Orleans during her undergrad-
uate career before Hurricane
Katrina.
"Once the hurricane
happened and I saw just how
much everyone in the city had
lost, I felt compelled to make a
difference," Harris said.
When she went back to New
Orleans, she decided that she
would help anywhere she could
and spent two years helping
with the Katrina aftermath,
she said.
She participated in Medical
Recovery Week, which offered
free health care to the hurri-
cane victims. The most satis-
fying part was being hands-on
to make someone's day easier,
she said.
"I got to know citizens who
were having health problem
after health problem, those who
never had health insurance and
those whose doctors weren't
returning to the city," Harris
said. "I hope that when I run my
own health clinic, I'll be able to
make that kind of difference all
the time."
Harris said her most memo-
rable moment was visiting a
school with New Orleans doctor
Mosanda Mvula's Head-off
Environmental Asthma in
Louisiana program. The partic-
ipants in this program visit
elementary schools to speak
with students about signing
up if they had asthma, Harris
said.
The mold that was growing
in New Orleans was dangerous,
she said, especially to children
with asthma, and if the students
got sick, they wouldn't be able
to attend school and continue
learning. The program was
trying to do something about
the problem, she said.
"One day, Dr. Mvula put me
in charge of trying to rally a
group of students, and I was
nervous because I had never
done that before," Harris said.
"But they were excited to hear
what I had to say."
She said that as she was
looking around the room at
the projects the students were
working on, she realized they
weren't much different than
the types of projects she used
to work on.
"I thought, 'Flow ironic that
I was here helping kids who
were just like me when I was
younger,"' Harris said. "I started
to think, where would I have
been had people not come to
my school and shown concern
for me?"
Yates said Harris also partici-
pated in Rebuild New Orleans,
where she painted the main
room of an elementary school
after Flurricane Katrina, as
well as election campaigns
and HIV/AIDS Review, where
she helped Mvula make sure
that quality care was given to
those with AIDS and FIIV in
New Orleans.
Yates said Harris expressed
what she gained from her expe-
riences best in her essay: "I now
have a greater understanding of
what really matters: the impor-
tance of preparation and not
taking anyone or anything for
granted."
N watches economy
Photo by Khai Ha / Staff Photographer
After a replay of Obama's inaugural address Tuesday, students discussed
theirthoughts about the state of the economy with Danielle Champagne,
assistant director of the Student Money Management Center.
Continued from Page 1
stands the fragile state of
the economy and that after
hearing Obama speak, he has
more hope for the country
"I don't know if the word
fix is really the best word
for it," he said. "I think he'll
do well depending on how
long he is going to have, four,
eight years, it's going to take
a long, long, long time to fix
the issue."
Bradbury isn't the only one
feeling the tight pinch of the
economy.
LeighAnne Berges, a junior
elementary education major,
said that though she hasn't
been directly affected by the
economy, her parents are and
have been advising her to save
money and be cautious with
her spending.
Berges is also a resident
assistant at Flonors Hall and
organized the event. She said
she wanted the event to be
more than just watching the
inauguration and wanted to
bring it back to the residents
and see how the economy
and government is affecting
them.
"I knew it was very impor-
tant to the residents and young
Americans," she said.
BACK-TO-SCHOOL
SAVINGS
UP TO 25% OFF SELECT TEXTBOOK TITLES*
25-75% OFF ALL APPAREL & GIFTS*
PURCHASES OF $10
VOERTMAN'S
1314 WEST HICKORY | 940-387-1313
WWW.VOERTMANS.COM
SPECIAL SEASONAL HOURS
OPEN 'TIL
•LIMITED TIME ONLY. SEE STORE FOR DETAILS. NOT VALID WITH ANY OTHER OFFER.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 2, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 21, 2009, newspaper, January 21, 2009; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145647/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.