Last Saturday saw the finale of Series 7 of the revamped hit sci-fi series “Doctor Who.” In many ways, the episode met and even exceeded expectations, but was faulty in other ways that are congruent with problems from the season. The title of the episode, “The Name of the Doctor,” promised an answer to the question that has been kicking around for almost 50 years and promised closure to a story arc that has been seeded for and hinted at for ages. Reader beware – after this point, spoilers abound!

I’ll start with some of the good things about this episode. It started with an opening sequence that I freely admit go the nostalgic fanboy squeals out of me in a hurry. Although the quality of the splicing was somewhat questionable, it was wonderful to see Clara amidst all the Doctors of the past – her at the beginning of the First Doctor’s journey, her shouting at the Third Doctor and his beloved Bessie – it was brilliant. I thought things would only get better after that, when fan favorites Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax appeared onscreen.

Unfortunately, shortly after the episode hit a snag. Jenny is apparently murdered, but easily comes back to life midway through the episode. This is a problem that I think has been going on for most if not all of Moffat’s reign as “Doctor Who”’s head writer: death simply has no meaning anymore. It started off as a tongue-in-cheek kind of joke with Rory, but it seems to have continued on here. Death is no longer a threat that can be taken seriously on the show, which makes some of the dramatic gravity which it tries to employ (as it once did) a lot less effective.

I found River Song’s reappearance to be passable if not wholly good. I’ve always had the sneaking suspicion that she was a character that we’re supposed to like simply because the Doctor likes her, and I’m not sure that this episode has proven that suspicion wrong. Still, I thought Alex Kingston did an admirable job as usual, though the slight twist at the end seemed a little over-the-top, even for “Doctor Who.”

I also was not a fan of Clara’s ostensibly emotional sacrifice for the Doctor at the climax of the episode, and frankly, I’ve had the same issues with her throughout this season. In “The Rings of Akhaten,” when Clara gives up her dead mother’s ring for the Doctor after knowing him for all of two days, I damn near threw my laptop to the ground. Similarly, I feel that she has spent the entirety of her screen time this season being somewhat apprehensive or afraid of the Doctor, while the Doctor has kept her at arm’s length for the majority of their screen time together in an effort to figure out her “impossible girl” status. So when she suddenly makes this big sacrifice, I call bull.

That being said, I thought the finale’s ending was fantastic set-up for the next season’s start-up, the 50th Anniversary Special of “Doctor Who,” introducing John Hurt as the Doctor’s biggest secret – himself. Fans speculate that Hurt will be playing the incarnation of the Doctor that fought in the Time War, but we won’t know until November 23rd. Hang tight Whovians – for us, time may pass by slowly and in the right order, but we’ll get there eventually.

B+ 

Travis J. Brennan, a 23-year-old UConn senior, died on May 8 after over a decade of fighting brain cancer.
 Brennan was from Taftville. He attended Norwich Free Academy, where he played basketball and then Southern New Hampshire University before coming to UConn. At UConn, Brennan was a human development and family studies major. He was also an avid New York Yankees fan.
“Travis’s dream was to someday see all 30 baseball stadiums,” said a campaign site created by Brennan’s friend Tyler Laroux. The Make-A-Wish foundation sent his family to three stadiums on the west coast in 2003.
 Brennan is survived by his parents Doreen and Brian Brennan, his two sisters Brianne and Shalini, and his girlfriend UConn student Holly Korona. Condolences can be sent to the family though Office of Student Services and Advocacy, Unit Box 4062.
 Visitations with the family will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, May 13 from Guillot Funeral Home on 75 South B. Street in Taftville. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 14 at Sacred Heart Church on 156 Providence St. in Taftville. An outdoor reception will follow at the Dodd Stadium Pavilion at 14 Stott Ave in Norwich.
 

UConn will be a beautiful campus when they finally finish building it.

Thank god finals are over I can’t think of anything tougher than...oh wait now I need to find a job.

Do I really need to leave UConn or can I just stay here forever?

My final wish as a UConn student is to make it into the InstantDaily just one more time.

I spent more time watching hockey than studying for finals, oh well #BecauseItsTheCup

Got my first sunburn of the year outside Mirror Lake. I’d say it is officially summer time.

You know, that new Husky logo is not so bad after all.

Thanks for the memories UConn!  

Well, this is it: another school year finished. For you graduating seniors, this next step marks your first entry into the so-called real world. In the words of comedian Dave Barry when speaking at the University of Miami graduation: “The real world is nothing like this university. For example, in the real world you can find parking.”
The University of Connecticut has been your home for the last four years, but it is a slightly different university than the one you entered. The men and women’s basketball teams each have an additional championship banner in Gampel Pavilion. The most advanced and cutting-edge buildings like Oak Hall and Laurel Hall have debuted, while the decades-old asbestos-filled halls of Arjona are shuttered. McMahon Dining Hall now has more space and serves less food. The Husky logo used to be cuddly and cute before it became ferocious and animalistic. And the national unemployment rate is lower now than it was in September 2009. Not by a lot, but still.
What do you take with you from UConn? The answer will be different for every person, of course. For some of you, it will primarily be the courses, the professors and the knowledge. For most of you it won’t; it will primarily be the people you met, the connections made and the memories formed. There is no wrong answer.
We here at The Daily Campus have been happy to document your student journey along the way over the past four years. To those of you who submitted to the Instant Daily, we thank you. To those of you who would read the paper every day over breakfast, we thank you. To those of you who only picked it up to do the Sudoku or the crossword while you were bored in class, we thank you too.
The real world is a scary place. People are hurting out there. Fortunately, your UConn degree will help… somewhat. It’s not a cure-all by any means, but the numbers clearly show that the higher your level of education, the lower your odds of unemployment. And UConn – now ranked higher in the national rankings, and boasting a lower acceptance rate and higher retention rate than ever before – is also more helpful than ever in aiding the probability that your next 40 years will be as enjoyable as hopefully your last four were.
Congratulations, seniors. Have fun. And keep reading newspapers.

For many graduating seniors, there are many questions on your mind: can you find a job, where will you leave and can you deal with living with your parents again? Still, there are possibly bigger questions out there that you may have been confronting over the years, like what you want to do with your life. For some, picking a major might have been easy, while others struggled with making such an impactful decision. When making life decisions we have to wonder: is what I’m going to do make a difference anyway?
Perhaps you aren’t caught up with charity or saving the world, but you must find it true that our ego pushes us to be known in the world. Most people want to leave a strong legacy behind them and leave the world slightly better after they leave. When you’re on a planet with nearly seven billion people, most struggle with being unique and being special. To you, what will make you stand apart from the rest is making that difference.
Now, assuming you care, how can you change the world? It’s unlikely we will become the next Steve Jobs, Meryl Streep, Christopher Nolan or Tina Fey. Few of us will become presidents, researchers who find the cure for cancer or inventors. It’s even less likely that if we do, our impact and legacy will last. Instead, our impact on the world must be more measured and deliberate.
I don’t say this to dishearten you or to make you feel the way you will change the world will be unimportant or non-existent. If anything, the impact of the masses is greater than the impact of the few big names. Certainly the latter needs to exist, and often the masses require a leader, but a leader is nothing without followers. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi will be remembered, but their cause would not have been so championed without supporters of the cause.
You are really the impetus behind change and impact. You may be worried about changing the world as if it’s never been done by the average person. I am telling you that it has happened and that movements like the civil rights movement or causes such as marriage equality will gain no traction if we do not stand up. There is no question that numbers will move mountains and that we can all take a stand for the causes we find important.
It’s as simple as taking a stand on the large and smaller scales. Maybe we all can’t march in Washington, D.C. for marriage equality, but we certainly can individually change our own behavior first. It’s slow perhaps, to remove sexist, racist or homophobic ideas from one’s mind. It’s even more time-consuming to change the ideas of others. Taking a stand on an issue is important because it is truly the masses who will affect change.
Furthermore, the impact you have need not be as large. Perhaps this idea will bruise our egos, but we change the lives of those around us on a small scale with the simplest of actions. It’s asking how someone’s day is going, or why they’ve been down recently, and helping someone open up. Encouraging others can affect someone deciding to follow their dreams. We interact with so many people on a daily basis, and we should make these exchanges positive.
Yes, this is a pretty corny article, but you may need it. You’re graduating. I can only hope that you all will change the world, because you can do it on many scales. All Uconn graduates should leave this university knowing that there are problems in the world. It doesn’t just take Al Gore to stop our destructive environmental impact; it takes each person doing their part to recycle. Graduates, leave the University of Connecticut knowing that whatever your job status or living situation is, you can make a difference. In fact, you must be the one to take a stand for the causes that inspire you. 

I have never been one for team sports. My stint on the obligatory middle school soccer team hardly lasted a season. Growing up without the camaraderie and interdependence of a team, I have always worked as a bit of a solo act.
Until I joined The Daily Campus.
Ever since I started as a campus correspondent my first semester here, I felt like I was part of something bigger. Working for the paper felt like working as one small piece in a well-oiled machine. The Daily Campus is a collaborative effort of the whole team. The writers, copy editors, designers, photographers, editors and business staff all work in tandem daily to report the news for UConn. If one of these pieces falls out of sync production halts immediately.
My time as a writer, then associate editor and finally editor-in-chief taught me the importance of working together. It may sound corny that I learned about teamwork during my college years, but it’s the truth.
This year, there were many times when I tried to do something on my own, only to realized that when I asked one of my colleagues to help me, the result was far better. More often than not, working with someone else resulted in a more creative, innovative or streamlined idea than I would have come up with on my own.
There was the time that Dan Agabiti and Brian Zahn took it upon themselves to create a social media policy for the organization, which ended up being thoroughly researched and concisely articulated. And the time that Kevin Scheller helped me consolidate the paper’s branding by creating an eye-catching, crisp new logo. Then there was the time that Tyler McCarthy created a brand new weekly radio show featuring our content and staff, which is also a podcast on our website. Or the time that Jeff Fenster created a caption contest in the comics section.
The list could go on an on, so I will stop here before you switch to the sports section.
Basically, my point is that I have loved working for the newspaper, mostly because of the people I got to work with. The Daily Campus is my second home. I never dreaded Mondays because I looked forward to meetings filled with people I love. I could show up at the office any day of the week and a staff of talented people, who I am lucky enough to call my friends, was there to greet me.
Again, my apologizes for being cheesy (but it is my farewell column after all.) This newspaper was there for me during all of my falls and my successes. It showed me that I am passionate about journalism and made it clear that is where my future lies. Without The Daily Campus, I might still be struggling trying to find myself.
I learned how to be a writer, a copy editor, a designer and an editor. I became more self-aware and independent through my time here. I learned how to be a good friend and a leader. The Daily Campus helped me come into my own.
To all who I have worked alongside, I want to say thank you for your contributions, your time, your late nights, your dedication, your patience and your faith in me this past year. You made the experience unforgettable.

The 2011-12 season was one of great expectations. Entering the season as the reigning Big East and national champions, the Huskies were supposed to dominate the college basketball scene, led by freshman forward Andre Drummond.
Instead, a season that was supposed to end with UConn as a No. 1 seed cruising to a second straight title ended with the Huskies as a No. 9 seed and on the wrong end of an embarrassing performance against Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament.
As if Jeremy Lamb’s missed dunk attempt at the buzzer – which would have cut the deficit to 11 – was not bad enough, the hard times were just beginning for the Huskies.
Low APR scores under the new, retroactive NCAA standards led to a ban from the 2013 NCAA Tournament, and as a result, the Big East Conference voted to bar UConn from the conference tournament, which ended up being the last of its kind. As a result of these bans, Roscoe Smith and Alex Oriakhi transferred and Lamb and Drummond declared for the NBA Draft. The Huskies also lost Michael Bradley, who transferred to be close to his ailing grandmother.
Then came Jim Calhoun’s announcement in September that he was retiring, leaving his protégé Kevin Ollie to fill the shoes of an 800-win coach with three national championships.
Ollie delivered.
The Huskies went 20-10 during the 2012-13 season, which is something that UConn normally wouldn’t take pride in, but given the postseason ban and the adjustment to life under Kevin Ollie, it was an impressive accomplishment.
UConn’s grit and tenacity during the season were cause for celebration, as big wins were treated like national championship victories. No game more exemplifies this feeling than the 66-58 win over No. 6 Syracuse at the XL Center on Feb. 13 – the game that had Syracuse leaving the Big East “with a bad taste of UConn in their mouth,” according to Ryan Boatright.
Now the Huskies are tournament-eligible again, so just how far can they go? It depends on who is talking, as many early rankings have UConn looking in on the Top 25. ESPN’s Andy Katz is the biggest fan of the Huskies entering this season, and he has them at No. 14 in his early predictions.
The Huskies have all their big weapons back, as Shabazz Napier sent UConn into a frenzy on April 26 when he announced that he was staying. DeAndre Daniels and Ryan Boatright are both back, unsurprisingly. Talk of Daniels being the most pro-ready player on the Huskies’ roster, coupled with his performance down the stretch last season, makes it seem like Daniels is ready for a big year.
Omar Calhoun returns after his All-Big East Rookie Team performance last season. Calhoun struggled at times early on, but his ability to consistently hit threes, particularly late in games, makes him a dangerous swingman to play off of Napier and Boatright.
The big question mark for the Huskies is their frontcourt presence. There was a time when UConn had the most lethal frontcourt in the game; they led the nation in blocked shots every year for nearly a decade. But the physical inside game has not been a factor in recent seasons.
However, assuming Enosch Wolf and Tyler Olander are cleared to play, UConn returns three big men – Phil Nolan being the other – who each stepped up at points last season and showed that they can disrupt play under and above the hoop. UConn is also bringing in Ghanaian center Amida Brimah, who averaged over seven blocks per game in high school this season.
With all this talent available, it seems crazy that the Huskies are not being talked about as a serious contender for a run to the Final Four. A lack of postseason experience for most of the players, last season’s ban and the American Athletic Conference’s lack of firepower in relation to the old Big East will all be factors in UConn’s perceived minimal expectations outside of Connecticut.
The Huskies are quite content with flying under the radar. In fact, Wolf welcomes the lack of hype.
“Let us fly under the radar all year,” Wolf said. “We’ll go through our season without much attention, hopefully win the conference tournament, and then get to the NCAA Tournament and say, ‘Guess what? We’re here.’”
As UConn fans know well, you don’t need to go into March as the most dominant team in the country. You don’t need to be the overwhelming favorite.
You just need to get there. After that, anything can happen.
 

This year’s senior class is special for many reasons and will be remembered as the last graduating class from UConn when the Huskies still competed in the Big East.
It’s hard to imagine, but next season the Huskies will be in a new conference with a new name. The American Athletic Conference or “The American,” will be comprised of four former Big East teams: UConn, Cincinnati, South Florida, Rutgers and Louisville.
However, don’t get too used to the Scarlet Knights and the Cardinals being around as Rutgers is bolting for the Big Ten and Louisville the ACC after next season because the two conferences extended them invitations over the Huskies.
Recently, the 15 presidents of the ACC signed a media rights agreement to try and ensure that all current members will remain in the conference. The agreement stipulates that if a school were to leave the ACC for another conference, their broadcast revenue would remain in the ACC.
While conference realignment has been chaotic over the past couple of years, things seem to be settling down and it looks like the Huskies will remain in The American, at least for the time being.
A lot has been said this past year about what UConn President Susan Herbst and Athletic Director Warde Manuel should do in regards to conference realignment. At the end of the day, the Huskies are not in a bad position, but it could be better.
Both men’s and women’s basketball will not be affected at the national level. When it comes time for the tournament any team has a shot to make the big dance as long as they have performed well during the regular season.
The biggest aspect that will be missed next fall will be Big East basketball games against teams like Georgetown and Syracuse. However, I’m sure many UConn fans take solace in the fact that this year’s Huskies defeated Syracuse one last time in Big East play.
One area of concern about playing in conference like The American is what will become of our football program. Right now, UConn football is at a crossroads, as they have failed to record a winning season under Paul Pasqualoni.
With marquee matchups against solid Big East football teams like West Virginia and Pittsburgh now a thing of the past, one can’t help but worry for UConn due to the large emphasis that’s place on football in the current college athletics landscape.
Quite frankly, it’s too early to make any predictions as to what the future will hold for the Huskies on the gridiron, as a lot depends on the next few upcoming seasons. If UConn can make it back to a bowl game and can keep producing NFL-caliber talent, then maybe a power conference will come calling the Huskies’ name.
But if the Huskies continue to struggle, they might find themselves in the American Athletic Conference longer than they would have hoped for – only time will tell.
As this year’s class of seniors walks across the stage in Gampel to get their diplomas, take a look around at the banners hanging high above the court and remember the good times the Huskies spent in the Big East conference.
The Catholic Seven schools might have been able to take the naming rights to the Big East, but the memories are forever.
 

UConn is known for producing pro-caliber talent in multiple sports. During the 2012-13 academic year, several Huskies were drafted by their respective sport’s professional league. Here is a look at those draft picks, and some undrafted signees.
Women’s Basketball
Kelly Faris: One of just two players in UConn history to score 1,000 points with at least 750 rebounds, 500 assists and 250 steals, Faris will continue her basketball career with the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun. She helped lead the Huskies to two national championships during her time in Storrs.
Football
Dwayne Gratz: Gratz was the first Husky to be taken in the 2013 NFL Draft, when he was selected No. 64 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He had three interceptions in 2012, but his most memorable interception was the one he returned for a touchdown against Landry Jones and Oklahoma in the 2011 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, UConn’s only BCS bowl game appearance.
Jesse Joseph: An injury took Joseph off the field after only three games in 2012. In those three games, Joseph recorded 12 tackles and one sack for the Huskies. He was the 23rd overall selection in the 2013 Canadian Football League Draft by the Montreal Alouettes.
Sio Moore: NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper believes Moore, the 66th overall selection of the Oakland Raiders, will be one of the best players to come out of the 2013 Draft. Moore’s numbers in 2012 back that up. He recorded 72 tackles, 15.5 for a loss of yards, and eight sacks.
Nick Williams: Williams was UConn’s version of Wes Welker – short, quick, a desirable target and a fantastic punt returner. Williams caught 30 passes for 334 yards in 2012. He returned two punts for touchdowns last season and totaled 1,116 all-purpose yards. He was signed by the Washington Redskins after the NFL Draft.
Trevardo Williams: Williams was a fourth round selection by the Houston Texans (124th overall) in the 2013 NFL Draft. While at UConn, he broke the career sacks record. His 11.5 sacks in 2012 brought him to 30.5 for his career. He was a First Team All-Big East selection in 2012.
Blidi Wreh-Wilson: Wreh-Wilson made an immediate impact as a freshman in 2009, and stepped up following the death of Jasper Howard that season. The cornerback was a Second Team All-Big East selection in 2012. He was drafted No. 70 overall by the Tennessee Titans in the 2013 NFL Draft.
Men’s Soccer
Carlos Alvarez: Alvarez established himself as one of the best players in the college game during his four years at UConn. In 2012, Alvarez had seven goals and nine assists for the Huskies. He was selected No. 2 overall by Chivas USA in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, making him the highest-drafted Husky since Chris Gbandi went No. 1 overall in 2002. He scored in his MLS debut against Los Angeles Galaxy on March 17.

Following the 2010-2011 school year, some UConn fans half-jokingly called it the “Year of HAM.” A men’s national championship, women’s Final Four, Fiesta Bowl appearance and baseball Super Regional berth will do that to a fanbase.
So then, now it’s time to name the sporting year we’ve all just witnessed.
Unfortunately, nothing witty or all too clever springs to mind, but one theme seems to ring true.
Let’s call it the “Year of the Underdog.”
After all, few, if any, would have predicted the women’s basketball team to win the national title.
But that did not dissuade them from claiming the Huskies’ eighth national title.
In fact, they breezed through the NCAA Tournament and beat teams with ease, never allowing an opponent to get closer than Notre Dame’s 18-point margin.
Few, if any, would have predicted the men’s basketball team to win 20 games, despite a postseason ban.
But that did not convince them that their season was “lost,” even if they could not play for the ultimate prize.
In fact, they played harder and prouder than the year before, determined to make Coach Kevin Ollie’s first year at the helm a memorable one and repeatedly showing the country what they’d be missing come March.
Few, if any, would have predicted the football team to knock of Louisville at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.
But that didn’t mean they would let the naysayers and skeptics get to them.
In fact, they pounded Teddy Bridgewater and eked past the Cardinals in overtime to keep their bowl hopes alive.
Few, if any, would have believed that the women’s lacrosse team, typically a bottom-half-of-the-standings squad, would pose much of a threat.
But that didn’t stop them from turning some heads.
In fact, they secured the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament bid this season.
Few, if any, would have bought into the volleyball team, perennially a Big East struggler.
But they believed in themselves, and it showed en route to one of their best finishes in years
In fact, they climbed all the way up from No. 12 in the conference in 2011 to fourth this past fall.
Few, if any, would have picked men’s hockey, a program amid heavy transition, to do much of consequence this season.
But that didn’t matter to the guys in the locker room, as they broke the .500-mark for the first time in 13 years.
In fact, they came within two wins of the NCAA Tournament.
Other teams had their successes too – track and field, both the men and the women, had outstanding seasons.
Now, that’s not to say this year in sports was epic, or even among the top few greatest years in UConn athletic history. No, it was far from it.
The women’s basketball team still suffered heartbreakers to Baylor and the Irish, and failed to win a Big East title for the first time since 1993.
The men’s basketball team still fell agonizingly short against Marquette and Georgetown, to name a few, in thrillers that could have kept their conference title hopes alive.
The football team still dropped their final game against Cincinnati, locking them into a second straight season without a bowl game.
Both field hockey and men’s soccer came within a goal in the Elite Eight, just missing a trip to the Final Four.
So yes, this year had its black marks. But when all is said and done, we’ll look back on this Year of the Underdog fondly.
And, as always, we’ll cherish the memories of another great year watching our classmates compete with the best.
 

Gampel Pavilion held this year’s Senior Design Demonstration Day where engineering students showcased their finalized projects.
The projects are the results of a yearlong course where seniors are assigned a design project for their clients. The clients sponsor the projects, providing funding for materials and advisors. When the product is finished the sponsors sign off on them, sometimes patenting them or even hiring the engineering students that designed them.
“The Senior Design course is unlike any other” said Kevin Wei, a Physics Engineering senior with a concentration in electrical engineering, “It was pretty intense.”
Kevin Wei was part of a group of four electrical engineering students that designed an indirect adaptation for wireless connections from a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) device to a TechLink Software program on the computer. Their project was sponsored by Lenze, a company that specializes in Motion Centric Automation products. They produce and sell products all over the globe.
The students found this project challenging.
“We needed to use coding and none of us knew how so one of our group members had to learn how to code,” said Wei.
A VFD is a speed control device that is used to control AC motor speeds. They are used in industries for manufacturing and machinery equipment. The students’ development allowed for a lower cost wireless application called ZigBee that also stays connected from 100 meters away, which is further than other wireless connectors like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
There were engineering students from concentrations ranging from Chemical Engineering to Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Biomedical Engineering seniors Casey McDermott, Andrew Carney, and Kyle Ward designed a biodegradable plate that would be used to hold together bone grafts.
“If you have a disease where you are trying to overcome a slip disk or a hernia disk you need to take the damaged disk and replace it with a bone graft,” explained Andrew Carney.
Usually the plates that hold it together are made of titanium so that you have to go back and get it removed once the bone graft becomes part of the natural bone.
“With our biodegradable plate, it will simply dissolve and you won’t have to get it removed,” said Carney, “We also had to make sure that it meets FDA standards and optimize its strength.”
The group’s sponsor has signed off on the new material. Next they will review it and the group may have their work published.
“It feels great to finally take my engineering skills and everything I’ve learned and see a final project,” said Carney.
 

Over the past four years, UConn athletics has continued to maintain a standard of excellence that makes it one of the top athletic programs in the country. Several seniors on UConn athletic teams have been recognized among the best of their respective sports, and some have written themselves into the UConn history look.
Here is a look at some seniors who in their four (or more) years become recognizable names in their sport.
Baseball
LJ Mazzilli: Mazzilli opted to stay in school for his senior season after being selected by the Minnesota Twins in the ninth round of the 2013 MLB draft. A Greenwich native and career .339 hitter, Mazzilli ranks second all-time in UConn history in career hits (72).
Women’s Basketball
Caroline Doty: Despite battling ACL injuries in her left knee for much of her career, Doty managed to play in 131 games during her UConn career. She was a part of three national title-winning teams in her five-year tenure.
Field Hockey
Alicia Angelini: Recorded 37 points while starting every game of her UConn career. Angelini was selected to play in this year’s 2012 National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Senior Game for her accomplishments.
Men’s Ice Hockey
Garrett Bartus: 2012-13 will be remembered for the emergence of Matt Grogan for UConn, but Bartus leaves the Huskies with some memorable numbers to brag about. Bartus broke the school records for career wins (40) and saves (3,293). He finished just 68 saves shy of the all-time Atlantic Hockey Association record for career saves.
Sean Ambrosie: Ambrosie finishes his UConn career as one of the program’s all-time leading scorers with 105 career points. The Huskies may not have reached the AHA Semifinals without their co-captain Ambrosie, who led the team with 22 assists and six game-winning goals.
Women’s Ice Hockey
Muade Blain: Blain played defense for the UConn Huskies for four years. She netted 11 goals during her time in Storrs and registered 37 points. One of Blain’s highlights of her senior season was converting UConn’s first penalty shot goal in program history.
Lacrosse
Morgan O’Reilly: O’Reilly played in 63 games for UConn, and started all 17 games as a senior. She scored 83 points in her career, recording 29 goals and 16 assists in her final season as a Husky.
Men’s Soccer
Carlos Alvarez: Alvarez finished his career at No. 3 all time in assists at UConn with 42. The team’s second leading scorer, Alvarez was the Big East Midfielder of the Year, a second team All-American and the No. 2 overall pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft by Chivas USA.
Jossimar Sanchez: Sanchez played midfield and center back for the Huskies, and was effective wherever he played. A broken leg kept him to only 12 games in 2012, but he was still named to the All-Big East First Team. He was drafted by the New England Revolution in the 2013 MLS Supplemental Draft.
Max Wasserman: Wasserman was selected by Real Salt Lake in the MLS Supplemental Draft. After tearing his meniscus in the 2011 Big East Tournament, Wasserman played in all 22 matches for the Huskies. Both his goals in 2012 came from free kicks – a golden goal in overtime against Washington and another in a 6-0 win over Harvard.
Women’s Soccer
Linda Ruutu: Ruutu has been a dynamic midfielder since arriving on campus from Finalnd four years ago. In her freshman campaign, she led the team in goals (8) and points (20), and she continued to be a pivotal part of the offensive attack throughout her career, recording 17 goals, 13 assists and 47 points. She nailed a 24-yard game winner as time expired in double overtime in this year’s regular season finale against Providence to clinch the No. 4 seed in the Big East tournament for the Huskies.
Danielle Schulmann: Schulmann only had two years of eligibility for UConn due to transfer rules, but she established herself in those two years as one of the most prolific offensive players in program history. In 2011, she started all fifteen games and led the team in points with 15 on seven goals and one assist. In her senior season, she was one of the top players in the conference as she paced UConn in virtually every offensive category, including points (27), goals (10), assists (7), shots (49) and shots on goal (25).
Softball
Kiki Saveriano: The ace of the UConn pitching staff, Saveriano kept opponents at bay, allowing her offense to take care of business for the Huskies. Saveriano was busy this season, tossing 21 complete games and pitching a total of 194 innings. She went 16-13 with a 2.67 ERA and 158 strikeouts.
Dana Hughes: Hughes committed to play at UConn while in high school, but during her senior year, she was the passenger in a fatal car accident that took the life of her best friend. Spinal cord injuries from the accident prevented her from every being cleared to play for UConn, but she stayed with the team as a student assistant coach. On May 1, Hughes and Dwayne Gratz of the football team were presented with the Kinsman Award, the highest honor presented by UConn’s CPIA. The Kinsman Award recognizes academic excellence, performance on the field and activity in the community.
Volleyball
Kelsey Maving: Maving was named UConn’s Co-MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in 2012 after posting 602 digs, the second most by a Husky in a single season. The defensive specialist finished her career with 1,881 digs, which ranks second all-time for the program.
Mattison Quayle: Quayle finished her career at No. 9 on UConn’s all-time list with 1,077 career kills. She was named UConn’s Co-MVP and Offensive Player of the Year and was named to the All-Big East First Team in 2012 with 372 kills, 269 digs and 76 blocks.
 

After two and a half decades at the University of Connecticut, Wayne Worcester, a journalism professor and instructor of the journalism department’s foundational news writing course, has retired from teaching with tenure.

Hewas born on Sept. 5, 1947 in Keene, N.H. and described his time in Keene as “nothing remarkable” until he reached high school. When Worcester was just 15 years old, his father died, leaving him to become the “man of the house.” He graduated from high school and went on to attend the University of New Hampshire for two semesters, where his GPA never climbed above 2.0.

After his first year, he knew he needed to take a break from education and opted to work at a furniture factory for the next year of his life. During this time, he was almost drafted to serve in Vietnam. The only reason he did not serve was because of an oddity in his shoulder causing it to disjoint easily.

Worcester described his experience in the factory as the primary motivator to return to UNH and complete the quest to “redeem” himself from past mistakes.

It was during his time at UNH that he discovered his passion for journalism. He spent time on campus writing for the student-run newspaper and wanted to pursue a graduate degree following the completion of his bachelor’s degree. He not only salvaged his academic career, but he also set himself on a path that would take him to Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Worcester said meeting Donald Murray at UNH and Melvin Mencher at Columbia ¬– the two men he considers mentors in his life – served as his inspiration to go into teaching, saying it was “always ... in the back of my mind” after learning from them. But before he would enter the field of education, he first spent 16 years practicing journalism.

The Providence Journal immediately hired Worcester when he graduated from Columbia in 1971. Worcester spent the next 13 years of his life writing, reporting and editing in 11 different capacities at the Journal. One of his most memorable experiences came from covering the “heart attack” beat.

“It wasn’t a medical beat,” he said. “It was called ‘heart attack’ because you were liable to have one. You had to come in about 8 o’clock in the morning and find, from the wires and any notes from dayside, what would likely be the best page one feature story for the following day, and then go write it.”

Worcester worked 16-hour days while on beat and stayed with it for nine months – which was the longest anyone had ever stayed with that beat at the time – before finally moving on to his next assignment.

After 13 years in Providence, he took a nine-month excursion in the corporate world before returning again to the Journal.

“The money was good and the status was fine,” Worcester said about the corporate job in Boston. “It was fun for nine months, and I liked a good many of the people I worked with and for. I just discovered after a while it just bored me and didn’t have the appeal that newspaper did.”

Then, in 1986, Worcester knew it was time to leave his full-time job at the Journal. He decided to respond to a blind ad for a journalism professorship, which eventually led him to UConn in 1987. He continued to work at the Journal’s copy desk and city desk part time for five more years, until he earned tenure and completed the transition to the Storrs campus.

Worcester taught “Newswriting I,” a core class in the journalism department, while at the university. The class consisted of time split between a group lecture and small writing labs in order to provide students with hands-on experience in the journalistic process. He also said the course was one that always needed to be “tweaked” and “tinkered with” to keep it relevant.

During his time teaching news writing and magazine writing courses, Worcester found that few students were aware of many of the literary journalistic endeavors of the past. He believed this was preventing students from reaching a full understanding of the kind of writing they were doing. Thus, “Literary Journalism” was born.

“It’s the course I’ve most enjoyed teaching,” he said. “How can you be good if you don’t know what good looks like? You should know that Hemingway was a reporter, Charles Dickens was a reporter, Martha Gellhorn, Lillian Hellman, Joan Didion – just some incredibly gifted writers – were reporters, and that they added so much to the craft that it’s just immeasurable. Because once you understand that, you can see yourself as some small part of the continuum.”

The course, which Worcester believes would be better titled “Journalism’s Greatest Hits,” covers approximately 100 pieces of journalism that define and exemplify the standards to which journalists should be held. The class focused on the discussion of these works as a means of understanding their full significance.

Introducing “Literary Journalism” to the course directory was only a small part of bigger changes going on in the department. Spending two and a half decades on campus, Worcester watched UConn’s journalism department blossom into the one of the best programs in New England and enter the realm of national significance.

He said constant improvements make the department stronger, adding “every year it feels a little more dynamic.” Worcester believes upgrades to the technology and curriculum along with an emphasis on double majoring have greatly contributed to the department’s success.

Six years into his time at UConn, Worcester worked with Croteau to co-author “The Essential Researcher,” a reference book for journalists. Two years after that, he married Croteau.

“Professor Croteau and I…had worked together,” Worcester said. “We’d known each other for years. We worked together in Providence at The Providence Journal. So, we were friends. ... [The relationship] developed the way these things develop. So, yeah, I work for my wife. She’s a great person to work for. She really is.”

Part of the arrangement, however, is that outside of the office, they will not talk about the office unless it is necessary. “It’s shouldn’t be all work,” Worcester said.

Worcester also has four children: a son who is a behavioral psychologist, daughter who is an elementary school teacher, a second daughter who has just received her doctorate degree in nursing and a third daughter who is finishing her freshman year of high school.

Worcester has been known to write fiction in his spare time. In the late 1990s, he wrote two Sherlock Holmes novels, both becoming well known in the Sherlockian community. The first novel, “The Monster of St. Marylebone,” was published in 1999 and garnered significant attention for his use of modern adaptations of Holmes and Watson.

“I was way out ahead of the curve in terms of trying to make Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson palatable to a modern audience,” he said. “I was about 10 years ahead, and I’m very proud to be able to say that.”

His second Holmes novel, “The Jewel of Covent Garden,” was published in 2000.

Around the same time these novels were being published, Worcester’s life was rocked by circumstances beyond his control. He found himself growing increasingly tired. He had several instances of falling asleep at the wheel at traffic lights only to be awoken by the sound of a car horns.

In 1999, after a number of tests were performed, Worcester was diagnosed with narcolepsy, a neurological disorder that affects a person’s sleep-wake cycle.

“I had no idea I had narcolepsy,” Worcester said. “It turned out it’s a little bit like gradually losing the breaks on a car. You don’t realize it, but you keep adjusting for it.”

But when it came to describing what it feels like in its most severe stage, Worcester painted a clear picture: “Imagine you’ve been up for 36-48 hours and then imagine you feel like that all the time.”

The disorder is incurable, and Worcester takes medication to combat the exhaustion. He sleeps regularly in his office to combat tiredness and will not allow himself to drive for more than 45 miles, especially on highways.

In 2003, he fell asleep at the wheel again, resulting in an accident that “miraculously” did not involve any injuries. He had been on medication for four years, which raised questions about what his future would hold. With increased doses and new prescriptions, he was finally back on track, and has driven safely ever since.

Recently, however, Worcester has had to battle with a new enemy: misinformation published on his Wikipedia page.

“This morning I looked up my own name in Wikipedia, and learned things about myself I did not know,” Worcester said in his final lecture. “For example, I was born in Oklahoma but moved to New Hampshire when I was only a year old. The truth is, as far as I know, I’ve never set foot in Oklahoma. Never.”

He also talked about how his page attributed two awards to him that may not even exist.
One of those two awards was supposedly given to him for teaching a class that has certainly never existed, “The History of Weather Reporting in America,” though Worcester suggested it could make a good HBO series.

Other incorrect information includes his birthday and the publication years of his books.

Fortunately for Worcester, the archives of Wikipedia will not define his legacy. Instead, for this professor, his former students will serve as the living definition of his legacy.

But for Worcester, now it’s time to turn the page.

His first project in retirement will be writing a book he and three other journalists have been piecing together for the better part of almost 40 years. The working title for the nonfiction story is “The Last Great Heist.” It will detail the 1975 Bonded Vault Heist, the greatest heist in mob history, which took place in Providence.

Initially, three journalists began gathering the information following the event: Jack White, Randall Richard and Worcester, who was the first reporter to cover the event. While they were able to find new details, they were never able to complete the story, leaving the book unwritten.

A break in the story came unexpectedly following the death of White in 2005, when White’s son, Tim, found a letter among his father’s possessions and began investigating.

Taking his father’s place in trio, Tim White worked with Worcester and Richard to compile the story. A full investigative piece on the incident was broadcast on WPRI in 2010. All that remains now is for the story to be transcribed by Worcester, a project he is excited to undertake.

“I hope to always be working on something,” Worcester said. “It’s an awful lot of fun to be in the middle of a project and carried away with it. ... When you’re in the middle of a good, what seems to be developing as a good book, it seems to carry you along with it. It has a momentum of its own. Just keeps pulling you.”

But what the retirement ultimately holds for Worcester is still undetermined. While he will spend a significant amount of time completing “Heist,” he also plans on spending more time with his family.

His post-UConn agenda includes an assortment of woodworking projects, photography and kayaking. Additionally, he expressed an interest in using his time to learn horseback riding, stained glass window artistry and pottery. He also hopes the journalism department will allow him periodically to return and teach “Literary Journalism” as a professor emeritus.

“I expect in September it’ll feel a little bittersweet,” Worcester said about the prospect of retirement. “Life is all about change, fortunately. Can’t stay in the same place. If you do, you start to rot.”

For a world full of questions, Worcester seemed excited about what lies ahead. Many think of retirement as a time to settle down, but he is planning just the opposite. There is some comfort in having the biggest question answered, but he will certainly hear many more questions from others about what the future holds.

Just don’t ask him any questions about his Wikipedia page.
 

Over the course of this summer, UConn expects to complete eight construction projects and begin work on the new basketball development center, which is projected to be completed in April 2014.

By the end of this month, the Benton sundial restoration and the water reclamation facility will be completed. The water pollution control facility will be able to reuse industrial process water and use it for irrigation.

The goal of this project is to “reduce the University’s dependence on conventional water sources,” as noted in the Quarterly Construction Status Report.

June will see the end of the Shippee dining hall services renovation and the Arjona and Monteith renovations. Shippee dining hall will enjoy a new catering kitchen and
staff offices, and Arjona will receive an exterior makeover as well as indoor mechanical, plumbing, electrical, fire alarm and telecommunications systems renovations.

The Avery Point camp student center, Young Building addition, Psychology Building addition, and Babbidge IT and phone function areas are all scheduled to be completed by August. The renovations to the student center at Avery Point include the addition of an auditorium as well as renovations to the theater wing of the academic building.

These improvements are “intended to form the gateway to campus, student dining, event and lounge/game areas,” according to the quarterly report.

Renovations to the Young Building are part of a goal to receive the LEED Silver Certification by the US Green Building Council.

During the summer construction will also begin on the new Basketball Development Center. This project, budgeted for $33,000,000, will include practice, strength and conditioning, therapy, teaching, administrative offices, dining facilities media rooms, and practice courts for the men’s and women’s basketball programs. It will be located next to Gampel Pavilion. The basketball center is estimated to be completed by April of next year.

“We are also currently concluding a campus-wide pedestrian safety improvement project in preparation for graduation,” said Brian Gore, the director of project and program management.

Phase I and II of those projects include a major restoration of the Whetten/ITEB/Babbidge/School of Business Quadrangle as well as the restoration of Academic Way, the Art Woods Quadrangle, and the reconstruction of the east portion of Glenbrook Road. In addition to these “Pedestrian Safety Improvements” will be the masonry restoration project at Hale and Ellsworth dorms and an East Campus window replacement.
 

As the University of Connecticut’s 132nd year draws to a close and a new batch of graduates prepare to leave college life for a new chapter, a slate of successful professionals, researchers, educators, humanitarians and artists are lined up to bestow their parting words of wisdom.

Dr. Frank Torti, the vice president for health affairs and dean of UConn’s School of Medicine, will address the graduates in the first College of Liberal Arts and Sciences ceremony on May 12 at 12:30 p.m.

Before coming to UConn, Torti served as the director of Wake Forest’s Comprehensive Cancer Center. A recipient of a BA and MA from Johns Hopkins University and a cum laude graduate of Harvard Medical School, Torti said his path has had “lots of twists and turns,” but his desire to make a difference in the field of cancer research and care has kept him driven.

Though an unpredictable field, Torti said the graduates planning to work in the medical field have novel challenges to meet.

“This is an extremely exciting time,” Torti said. “We’re at the cusp of taking an enormous growth of basic knowledge and turning it into useful information for patients with disease.”

Denise Merrill, who now serves as Connecticut’s 73rd secretary of the state, will speak at the second CLAS ceremony on May 12 at 5 p.m. Merrill was first elected to public office in 1994, and during her stint in the General Assembly, where she represented Mansfield, she was instrumental in passing “UConn 2000,” a piece of 1995 legislation that has since funded campus improvements and faculty expansion.

Merrill’s advice to a new generation of workers is to keep an open mind about the future.

“Be open to anything. A lot’s going to happen that you never planned on,” Merrill said. “I wound up at UConn through serendipity and that liberal education informed me in ways I never could have known.”

Betty Shanahan, the executive director and CEO of the Society of Women Engineers, will address the School of Engineering graduates on May 11 at 9 a.m. The Chicago-based organization promotes engineering as a career opportunity for women, who are traditionally underrepresented in the profession and has over 21,000 members.

Shanahan said that more important than brining technical skills or knowledge to the table, the most important thing for graduates to remember is to offer uniqueness and authenticity.

“Be creative and innovative,” Shanahan said. “Each of us, no matter who we are, has unique experiences. We each provide different perspectives and approaches. That’s the value of diversity.”

Shanahan will be among seven other recipients of honorary UConn degrees. Among the other recipients are the CEO of General Electric Jeffrey Immelt, actor and award-winning theatrical director Jerry Adler, Federal Office of Management and Budge Director Charles Zwick, Simmons School of Social Work associate professor gary Bailey, former elected USSR parliament member and Professor of Sociology at Yerevan State University Lyudmila Harutyunyan, award-winning author Wally Lamb, and 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recipient Dr. Ferid Murad.
 

Frank Cervo studied saplings in the rainforests of Costa Rica. Brian Osborn researched knee replacements in Germany, and Ethan Sarnoski collaborated with students from around the world at an undergraduate research conference in Tokyo. From biology to engineering to environmental studies, UConn seniors are expanding their educations through scientific research conducted not just at home in Storrs, but around the globe.

From the moment he set foot on the UConn campus, Osborn knew he would pursue an engineering degree. Yet as his UConn experience unfolded, so did a wealth of new opportunities.

In 2011, Osborn took part in Eurotech, a program that enabled him to study abroad in Germany while working with a team of researchers at the Laboratory for Biomechanics and Implant Research in the Orthopedic University Hospital to study the implications of Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) in knee replacements. While the polyethylene material has been used in knee replacements for decades, it is prone to oxidation that can cause the replacement product to fail.

The goal of Osborn’s research was to determine the amount of oxidation knee replacements produce.

“My research involved first developing a method of measuring this oxidation using Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy based off of other research,” Osborn said. “Once this was completed, I moved on to testing the effects of acids on the polyethylene using several common acids. I then began investigating the role of a naturally occurring chemical in the body, squalene.”

While Osborn and his research team didn’t discover the effects of acids on polyethylene, they did confirm how to measure the oxidation created.

Osborn’s experience overseas was successful in more ways than one. When he arrived in Germany, he couldn’t utter a word of German, but now he’s fluent at a professional level. He has since translated fellow students’ engineering research to English so that their research could be shared in the United States. This effort marked a significant achievement for Osborn, who values cooperation amongst researchers not only in the United States, but throughout the world.

“The sharing of information across academia is extremely important for any research lab. It gives researchers new ideas, fosters collaboration and advances the research field,” he said.

Ethan Sarnoski, a pathobiology major, is also a supporter of worldwide research collaboration. He presented his vaccinia virus research at Tokyo’s 2012 Universitas 21 Undergraduate Research Conference, where he was the only representative from a U.S. university.

Sarnoski’s research focuses on new ways to make genetically modified vaccinia viruses to use as viral vectors for vaccines and oncolytic therapies. The lab work Sarnoski is performing now will position him for his upcoming graduate study at Yale University in microbiology, where he plans to concentrate on human life spans and aging.

Sarnoski said his motivation to study the human lifespan is driven by a desire to help others.

“I chose to start research in the field of biology because I feel this vocation has a great potential for sweeping improvements in many lives,” he said. “Specifically, I will be directing my career toward therapies to slow or reverse the process of human aging and to extend the human healthspan.”

Sarnoski’s passion for improving human lives is echoed by environment studies major Frank Cervo’s commitment to preserving the outdoors.

“For most of my life, I took the beauty that nature offers all of us for granted,” Cervo said. “When I began to see that humans are putting our cherished environment in danger, I realized that I want to make a career out of conserving it.”

At UConn, Cervo followed his own path to fulfill this dream. Working with Vanessa Boukili, a UConn PhD student, Cervo is studying the functional trait variation over the course of a tree’s life time. However, his specific focus is the functional trait variation of a tree’s intermediate life stage, the sapling.

The study of saplings and trait variation is a groundbreaking topic, and has taken Cervo to the rainforests of Costa Rica. It was in Costa Rica, at La Selva Biological Station, that Cervo examined the role traits play on a sapling’s recruitment, growth and survival.

Cervo will return to Costa Rica to present his findings at the Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation's 50th Anniversary Conference this summer.

“This opportunity will allow me to share all of my hard work with the rest of the world, and hopefully to make them realize what I now know about the importance of second-growth forest in the big picture of world ecology,” he said.

Looking back on his experience in Costa Rica, Cervo is reminded of the satisfaction of working with others for a worthy cause.

“People come from all over the world to study the tropical rain forest. I met people studying anything and everything from ants to frogs to soil and poop,” Cervo said. “Though the actual studies are incredibly different, we were all there for the same thing: to help save the rainforest.”
 

Aug. 20: UConn releases the official myUConn App for iOS and Android devices, giving students the ability to track buses, search the campus directory and view dining hall menus among other features.

Sept. 10: Carriage House begins a partnership with Mansfield State Troopers to create a healthier and safer environment, trying to break away from the parties the complex is known for.

Sept. 11: ITE is evacuated after a student accidently discharges a can of pepper stray during a lecture.

Sept. 14: Coach Jim Calhoun retires after 26 years as UConn men’s basketball head coach. Kevin Ollie, a former UConn player who spent 13 seasons in the NBA before taking an assistant coaching job at UConn in 2010, is announced as his successor.

Sept 20: The Undergraduate Student Government passes An Act Regarding Tier II Funding Policies, overhauling how the organization funds clubs on campus. Members hope the act will lead to more efficient use of USG funds.

Sept. 29: FroyoWorld has its grand opening and becomes the first food venue to open its doors in the first phase of Storrs Center, a $60 million effort to give UConn a pedestrian-oriented downtown.
Oct. 6: UConn football starting running back Lyle McCombs is arrested for his involvement in a domestic dispute. Coach Paul Pasqualoni benches McCombs for the first quarter of the team’s next game before allowing him to play again.

Oct. 10: A transformer in front of the Charles B. Gentry School of Education Building explodes and catches fire, leaving several buildings on campus without power and leading UConn emergency response personnel to block off parts of Glenbrook Road.

Oct. 11: Senate candidates Dem. Chris Murphy and Rep. Linda McMahon discuss how to address the economy, jobs, women’s access to contraceptives and the Affordable Care Act in a heated, rapid-fire U.S. Senate debate at Jorgensen.

Oct. 17: The Student Union celebrates its 60th birthday.

Oct. 25: UConn officials are barking mad when they find a high school in Clinton has copied the logo for Jonathan, the beloved Husky mascot. The Morgan School is issued with cease-and-desist letters from UConn’s lawyer. After negotiations, the university allows The Morgan School’s mascot to stay, but the design has to be changed.

Oct. 30: Hurricane Sandy makes landfall.

Nov. 7: Obama wins re-election with 51.1 percent of the popular vote in a closely contested race against Mitt Romney. He plans to focus on bipartisan compromises, healing the economy, and immigration reform. Democrats retain control of the Senate while Republicans take the House.

Dec. 14: Gunman Adam Lanza opens fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, killing 27 people, including 20 children. The tragedy sparks national outcry and reinvigorates the debate on gun control laws. UConn establishes a scholarship for those affected by the event, raising over a million dollars.

Feb. 8: Winter Storm Nemo pounds the northeast. The major winter storm is a Category 3 Nor’easter with heavy snowfall and hurricane force winds. Many are left without electricity or heat and a reported 15 deaths from the Northeast and Canada are blamed on the storm, including a death in Mansfield.

Feb. 11: UConn men’s basketball center Enosch Wolf is arrested for third degree burglary, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct two days before the team’s game against Big East rival Syracuse. Coach Kevin Ollie suspends him from the team indefinitely following the incident. The charges against Wolf are dropped after he completed court-mandated counseling.

Feb. 24: “Bigggggg Mike” causes the UConn email alert system to go into effect after he steals students’ belongings in an on-campus apartment while they are sleeping. He was wanted in three states for sexual assault and burglary, and is arrested the next month in Iowa.

Feb. 25: UConn senior running back Martin Hyppolite is hospitalized after being involved in a fatal car accident in Durham, N.H.

Apr. 9: The UConn women’s basketball team defeats the Louisville Cardinals at the NCAA championships in New Orleans to win its eighth national title.

Apr. 12: The Jonathan Husky logo gets a new more serious and aggressive look in April as part of the university’s rebranding itself

Apr. 15: Two explosions shock the Boston Marathon finish line injuring close to 300 people and killing three. Police identified two brothers as suspects. One of the brothers and a MIT police officer are killed in a fire fight with police, while the other is taken into custody after a massive manhunt through the Boston area. 

Apr. 23: Shiv Gandhi is disqualified from the USG Presidential race for campaign rules violations, leaving Edward Courchaine as student body president. Charges were filed against Gandhi for aggressive campaigning and campaigning at USG funded events. The judiciary board ruled that the Gandhi campaign is guilty of reckless negligence.

Apr. 27: UConn hosts its annual “OOzeball” tournament as a part of a revived Spring Weekend. The wild parties and swarms of students from all over New England that used to characterize the event are replaced by a community-service oriented weekend under the slogan “UConn Learns, UConn Serves, UConn Cares.”

May 11: The School of Engineering, doctoral and undergraduate schools of pharmacy, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, School of Fine Arts, School of Socialwork, and the Graduate School hold their commencement ceremonies.

May 12: The School of Business, Neag School of Education, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and School of Nursing hold their commencement ceremonies.

May 13: The School of Medicine and Dental Medicine and School of Law hold their commencement ceremonies.
 

Check out the photos from the 2013 Graduation Issue of the Daily Campus! 

If you’ve already landed the job, hopefully in an industry and field that you wanted, you might be thinking that the hard part is over. But imagine actually walking into the office on your first day. Are you going to be able to handle the work? Do you understand the job you’re going to be doing? Will your co-workers like you? The first 90 days in a new job can be some of the most stressful because you’re still trying to feel your way around the company. They are also one of the most beneficial times to create a strong impression and set yourself up for success. But how do you do it?
Step one is observation. Take a look around the office and take note of the company culture. How to employees like to communicate? Through IMs? Email? Take note of whether or not they like to chitchat at the beginning of meetings or if they’re more of a get to the point kind of group. Try to mimic their preferences and follow suit. It’ll show that you can fit in with the group and that you understand what is important to them. This can also help others in the office actually get your message. If you send an email to everyone, but no one responds to interoffice emails, it’s likely that most employees won’t even read it.
You’re also probably tired of hearing this by now, but network, network, network. Never say no when a co-worker or manager asks to have lunch with you because they can offer a wealth of information. By creating strong relationships early on, you’re more likely to be offered promotions and to rise up the company ladder faster. It can also make work more enjoyable because having a friend at work is one of the key ways to increase job satisfaction.
If you’re worried about doing the actual work, make sure you’re actively listening, especially during the first two weeks of typical training time. Don’t just nod along but take notes so that you can remember how to do it on your own later. Also, questions are a good thing! If you don’t ask in the beginning, problems will only grow larger as your time at the company goes on. It is also helpful in the early stages to be honest about your prior training and experience. It’s not worth faking that you know how to use a certain software program to look good in front of your boss, because he or she will only give you projects using that software that you won’t know how to do.
Some other small but meaningful tactics can be to get the manageable details right. If a meeting starts at 10:30, make sure you’ve put it in your calendar and that you’re there on time! Try to learn everyone’s name quickly so that you can address people when talking and working with them. It’ll show that you respect them and their time. Also try to be there every single day of your first three months. It might be hard when your friends are planning a beach day on a beautiful Friday, but the time you spend in the sand won’t be worth it. You would be missing training moments and it sends the message to your employer that you’re not as serious about your job.
Finally, the best way to set yourself up for success in the first 90 days is to exceed your boss’s expectations. Know what he or she expects from you on a daily, weekly and monthly basis and try to go beyond that. Show initiative by taking on extra work and doing a thorough job on all of your projects.
 

With graduation comes a mixed bag of emotions. There’s the happiness of all the nights spent in the library slaving over organic chemistry finally coming to an end with a neat and impressive diploma, the sadness of leaving behind the spirited blue and white adorned streets of UConn, the fear of what lies ahead of you. The summer, which was once anticipated with delight, now looms in front of many graduates, a symbol of their foray into the “real world.” While the work force is an excellent goal for many graduates, many students are unprepared to jump right in or need a little time for self-discovery before committing to a lifetime of work. Enter the Gap Year. The Gap Year, a traditional British convention of encouraging students to travel and volunteer abroad, is a saving grace for many a graduate. Instead of going home, spending all day searching for jobs that can’t be found, one can travel and experience different cultures, or spend a year volunteering their efforts to make the world a better place. The Gap Year provides the worldly experience one might not have been able to attain during college, and the time to figure out what the next stage in life will bring.
The first name that comes to mind when anybody even mentions a Gap Year is the Peace Corps. Founded in 1960 by the federal government after a challenge made by John F. Kennedy to students at University of Michigan to serve their country and promote global peace, the Peace Corps gives college graduates the opportunity to volunteer in 139 different locations around the world. Over 210,000 people have participated in the Peace Corps, going to countries such as Ghana, Moldova, Fiji and Colombia. While on location, volunteers do a variety of community service on a diverse range of topics including, HIV/AIDs education, environmental sustainability, micro-finance solutions, food security, malaria, education and agriculture. These topics aim to help communities become better and generate positive change through education and opportunity. For graduates interested in service and global travel, The Peace Corps provides both experiences and the satisfaction of becoming a global citizen.
The traditional American perspective of a Gap Year includes a group of recent graduates, backpacks, a handful of Euros and EuroRail pass. Backpacking around Europe is an excellent way to see the world on a budget and pass a year. The endless wonders of Europe can easily be reached on foot and with the help of the public transportation services. For example, one can go to London from Paris in approximately two hours for only 50 dollars. While staying in hotels is expensive in Europe, hostels and campsites are inexpensive, especially in a group. Furthermore, plane tickets from one European country to another can cost only 100 dollars, which makes the prospective of transcontinental travel affordable and appealing. Even cheaper than flying, is the European Rail System with a 4-10 day ride pass averaging about 178 US dollars. A 15 day-3 month pass costs 500$, which is reasonable if you plan to use the system frequently. With limitless sights and places to see, travelling in Europe for a traditional Gap Year would provide invaluable global experiences.
While teaching is certainly a job, Language Corps is a program that hires college graduates to teach English in foreign countries. Graduates need not be English or Education majors, but selected applicants will need to complete a course that certifies them to teach English as a second language. Language Corps sends graduates to places such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Russia, Greece, The Czech Republic, Hungary, Turkey, Chile, Morocco, Cost Rica, Argentina and Brazil, among others. The aim of Language Corps is to empower others through the learning of the English language, as well as to provide graduates with broader horizons about the world.
With many other options to consider, a Gap Year could be a wonderful way to begin the rest of your life and discover something new about yourself that UConn could not have taught you.