A newsletter for students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends January 30, 2015

In response to the $40.3 million cut to the University System of Maryland budget announced earlier this month by the state Board of Public Works, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore will continue a hiring freeze, with unfilled jobs remaining vacant through June 30.

In addition, UMES’ share of the reduction will be met by suspending planned maintenance as well as expenditures on facilities upgrades.

Classroom instruction and emergency maintenance needs will be unaffected by the mid-year spending cuts, UMES administrators said.

“We are seeking a balanced approach to meeting budget reductions, while ensuring that our students continue obtaining a quality education.” UMES President Juliette B. Bell said.

Tuition and fees for in-state students for the spring semester at UMES are $3,643.50, one of Maryland’s best higher education values.

UMES budget amended

Caret to return to Maryland as USM ChancellorHe brings 20 years of successful higher education leadershipAfter a three-year tenure as president of the University of

Massachusetts system, Robert L. Caret returns to Maryland this summer to be the next chancellor of the University System of Maryland.

Caret was president of Towson University, one of USM’s 12 institutions, from 2003 to 2011. He succeeds William E. Kirwan, who announced in May 2014 his intention to retire after a 50-year career in higher education.

“The Board of Regents is very pleased that Bob Caret will take the helm as USM’s fourth chancellor,” said James Shea, chairman of USM’s governing board. “He brings years of experience as the outstanding leader of two public universities and a public system of higher education. He is adept at building partnerships that benefit institutions and the surrounding communities. And he is very familiar with USM and the state of Maryland.”

“We are confident he will provide the visionary and innovative leadership the University System of Maryland needs to continue to enhance opportunities for our students and our state,” Shea said.

Caret, 67, said he is “excited and energized to return to Maryland and the University System of Maryland.”As president of the five-campus UMass system the past three years, Caret was a leading spokesperson on

challenges presented by college affordability and student debt. He emphasized efficiency, rolling out several cost-saving initiatives and established productive working relationships with Massachusetts government and business leaders.

Before joining UMass, Caret led Towson for eight years, where he also was a member of the faculty, dean, executive vice president and provost.

At Towson, he created partnerships with regional business, non-profit and civic organizations; raised student graduation rates; and undertook a capital fundraising and building campaign to support campus infrastructure improvements. He oversaw an increase in Towson’s online courses and expanded the availability of its courses at regional higher education centers.

He was instrumental in establishing Towson University in Northeastern Maryland, which offers transfer students the flexibility to pursue a four-year degree after completing an associate’s degree at a community college. The facility is located at Harford Community College.

From 1995 to 2003, Caret was president of San Jose State University.He serves on the National Association of System Heads and American Council on Education boards. He also

is a member of the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board and the Government University Industry Research Roundtable.

Caret holds a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of New Hampshire and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Suffolk University in Boston.

INS

IDE Page 2

UMES Adds to Land HoldingsPassing of UMES Hall of

Famers

Page 3Artist Gives to CommunityResearcher Creates New

Antibioitics

Page 4-5Homecoming EventsBasketball Games

Page 6BHM ExhibitGourmet Luncheon SeriesStudent Author Contest

Page 7Class of 2014 Steps

into a Brighter Job Market

Page 8Calendar of Events

UMES Hall of Famers will be missed

Mack Alston Nelson Townsend

2 The Key / January 30, 2015 Circling the Oval

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s presence in the Stewart Neck area south of town has expanded to 385 acres.

The Maryland Board of Public Works recently OK’d the university’s use of funds available to it from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 1890 Facilities Grant program to acquire 20 acres from owner Perdue Farms.

The $550,000 purchase price includes a 10,098 square-foot warehouse and a 2,300 square-foot farmhouse. Two independent appraisals placed the property’s value at between $630,000 and $770,000.

Acquiring those structures will save the university the cost of building offices, storage, a garage, maintenance sheds, classrooms and research space, thereby enabling faculty-researchers to work and teach onsite immediately, according to Dr. Moses Kairo, dean of UMES’ School of Agriculture and Natural Sciences.

In the spring of 2013, UMES received the state’s OK to use USDA program funding to buy 365 acres of farm and wooded land fronting the east side of Stewart Neck Road between Jones’ and King’s creeks. That larger tract purchased with $1.55 million in federal funds surrounds the additional 20 acres.

“The purchase … will greatly enhance UMES’ capacity to fulfill its mission of teaching, research, extension and outreach,” a university report compiled for the state says.

Kairo said UMES plans activities at “the farm (that) will support research focused on specialty-crop production and precision agriculture,

UMES adds to its Stewart Neck Road land holdingsand natural resources and environmental sustainability.”

One UMES chemistry professor is conducting lab research on the medicinal benefits of the aronia berry, so Kairo said the Stewart Neck farm eventually may be a place where it can be grown under controlled conditions and cultivated to augment her work. He also doesn’t rule out growing a broad spectrum of what he describes as “ethnic crops,” such as hot peppers often imported from other states or countries.

“Some overarching themes of the research, extension and teaching efforts will be climate and energy,” Kairo said, adding, “The farm will provide a significant resource to enhance both undergraduate and graduate research.”

The farm also could be a site where theories on improving drought management, developing nutrient management strategies and crafting precision agriculture strategies could be carried out. Kairo said he envisions the Stewart Neck property becoming a demonstration site for farmers to learn more efficient and productive ways to operate their businesses.

Tyson Foods currently rents the 20-acre property from Perdue and will become UMES’ tenant until the lease expires in August 2015.

The land’s condition and its location about two miles from the main campus is characterized as a modest commute for faculty and students, and “facilitates easier farm operations and management,” the university report notes.

Two popular UMES alumni who made their marks on the world of athletics died over the holiday break, leaving voids in the lives both men touched.

Mack Alston died unexpectedly Christmas Eve. He was 67.

Nelson Townsend, who was serving as Florida A&M University’s interim athletics director, succumbed to heart failure on Jan. 8. He was 73.

Both were members of the UMES athletics Hall of Fame and frequent visitors to the campus.

Alston parlayed a reputation as a stellar two-way player on the gridiron at then-Maryland State College into an 11-year career in the National Football League, where he played tight end for three franchises between 1970 and 1980.

A 1984 Hawk Hall of Fame inductee, he was a college teammate of Art Shell, a fellow South Carolinian and NFL Hall of Famer. As a freshman and sophomore playing alongside Shell, Alston helped the Hawks go a combined

10-4-1 in the final two seasons of Hall of Fame coach Sandy Gilliam’s tenure.

Alston, who grew up in Georgetown County, S.C., remained an imposing presence well past his playing career and was a loyal alumnus who actively supported his alma mater’s athletic and academic endeavors. He earned a degree in business administration in 1971.

A generation earlier, Townsend earned a bachelor’s degree from Maryland State (1962) and went on to a long, successful career as an educator and administrator, including two stints as athletics director of his alma mater.

The Horntown, Va. native served in the same capacity at the University of Buffalo and at fellow MEAC schools Delaware State and Florida A&M, where in mid-December he agreed to fill in temporarily as the top athletics administrator when he was stricken.

Their deaths shook the UMES community.

UMES People The Key / January 30, 2015 3

“The struggle” to overcome drug-resistant bacteria in the vernacular of today’s college student “is real,” and a UMES pharmacy professor is about to try his hand at solving that vexing health care challenge.

Dr. Madan Kharel won a “New Investigator Award” worth $10,000 from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy to launch his search for new medications he hopes can replace antibiotics rendered ineffective by new strains of bacteria.

“I know the issue,” Kharel said. “I know the challenge.”Kharel is UMES’ second School of Pharmacy faculty member in as many years to

receive a research grant from AACP. His across-the-hall colleague, Dr. Patrice Jackson-Ayotunde, received a grant in 2014 to support her work researching new medications to treat epilepsy.

The association has long supported a program that “provides start-up funding for new pharmacy faculty’s research programs.”

Kharel, who joined UMES’ faculty in 2013, was one of 15 collegiate educators selected this year to receive seed funding for new research initiatives.

“We’re investing in the scientists. We see potential,” said Kirsten F. Block, AACP’s associate director of research and graduate programs. “We want to give them the push to that big grant down the road.”

Dr. Victor Hsia, a faculty colleague, said Kharel’s “accomplishment … puts UMES on the national stage of pharmaceutical research. Winning this award for the second straight year shows the scholarly commitment of our faculty.”

UMES pharmacy students will benefit being around a faculty-researcher who will be working on the front lines of shaping new classes of medicine that someday they will dispense.

Veronique Diriker, director of development at UMES, is emerging on the local art scene with a recent “Best in Show” award from the “All About Color” exhibit Jan. 16 at the Art Institute and Gallery in Salisbury.

Diriker’s “La Cage aux Folles” depicts a “very stylish and flamboyant rooster,” she said. “I love using humor and wanted to do a fun piece using all the color markers I received for Christmas.”

A Parisian by birth and heart, Diriker’s works are often inspired by her love of “The City of Lights.” She enjoys drawing or painting cityscapes and animals and creates “a world of wonder where anything is possible—where butterflies fly off the page, giraffes swim with the fish and cherry trees dance with weeping willows.”

UMES staffer uses artistic talent to give to the community

The AIG award comes on the heels of her first solo show Dec. 19 at Tony Weeg Photography on Salisbury’s Downtown Plaza during the popular 3rd Friday events. Twenty-three original works were sold with $5,000 in proceeds being donated to the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore’s “Arts and Abilities Fund.” The fund provides support to artists with physical, emotional or intellectual disabilities, Diriker said.

“I feel it is important to have a positive impact in the community in which I live and work,” Diriker said. “I have established endowments with several organizations, including UMES, as a way to connect with and help other artists.”

RESEARCHER continued on page 7

Researcher looks for new path in creating antibiotics

The Key / January 30, 2015 54 The Key / January 30, 2015 Homecoming 2015

It’s that time of the year for “birds of a feather to flock together” as

the old adage says as UMES presents a line-up of Homecoming events for

students, alumni and guests.

A free event open to all, the Homecoming Worship Service, gets

the week started Sunday, Feb. 8, at 6 p.m. in the Student Services Center. The

beginning of the week also caters to “students only” events with a Black

Light Glow Social Monday (9th) at 6 p.m. in the Student Services Center

game room, the Official Homecoming Kick-Off Tuesday (10th) at 8

p.m. and a Talent Show Wednesday (11th) at 8 p.m., both in the Ella

Fitzgerald Center.

Headlining recording artist, August Alsina, along with openers, Shy

Glizzy and the TOB Band, arrive Thursday (12th) for the Homecoming

Concert. Doors open at 6 p.m. in the William P. Hytche Athletic Center with

the performance starting at 7 p.m. Doors close at 10 p.m. The cost is $45

for UMES students with ID, $55 for the general public in advance and $65

the day of and at the door.

Alumni swoop in for weekend events. Visit Alumni Central from 9 a.m.

to 5 p.m. in the Students Services Center Greek Lounge or visit www.umes.

edu/alumni for a complete list of activities.

Always a favorite, the National Pan-Hellenic Council Step Show,

entertains Friday (13th) with doors opening at 6 p.m. and the action starting

at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door of the Hytche

Center. The Homecoming Party at 10 p.m. in the Tawes Gymnasium

keeps the momentum going. Tickets are $15 in advance for students and

$25 the day of and for the general public.

Saturday (14th) is Valentine’s Day and time to show a little love for the

home teams as they take on the Delaware State Hornets in Homecoming

Basketball action. The women’s game begins at 2 p.m. followed by the

men’s game at 4 p.m. Tickets are $25, which includes both games, and

free for UMES students with ID. A pep rally at noon in the Student Services

Rotunda gets everyone fired-up for the tip-off.

Visit UMEStickets.com for all ticketed events on campus during

Homecoming or call 410-651-6434 for more information. UMES students

can get tickets online by visiting Auxiliary Services’ Hawk Campus Center.

Make your plans for Hawk Homecoming 2K15The current edition of the UMES men’s basketball has accomplished

something no Hawks’ squad has been able to do since Bill Clinton was

president – flirting seriously with a winning record.

Monday night’s victory over Florida A&M gave the Hawks 12 wins in

their first 22 games, the first time the men’s team has amassed double-digit

wins this late in a season since 1993-94, when UMES finished 16-12. This

also is just the second time in 13 years the UMES men have won at least 10

games in a season.

The 72-65 win against FAMU was UMES’ eighth away from home. A year

ago, the Hawks won only one road game.

UMES, 5-2 in league play, is currently in third place in the 13-team

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference standings with a home game at the Hytche

Athletic Center this Saturday (Jan. 31) afternoon following the Lady Hawks’

tilt at 2 p.m.

Coppin State University is the opponent for both squads, the only time

the two universities will play in the regular season this year. A win by the

men’s team over Coppin will give the team a 5-0 mark against other Division

1 teams from Maryland on the Hawks’ schedule this season.

UMES’ athletics department has had to go back into its record books

to find superlatives to provide comparisons for what the 2014-15 squad has

accomplished under first-year coach Bobby Collins.

A few weeks ago, an influential online college basketball writer wrote

that Collins has already done this season’s best job of coaching as any of his

Division 1 peers who also are in their first year.

Senior forward Mike Myers of Camden, N.J. has emerged as the

team’s cornerstone and is among 40 players on the Lou Henson Award Mid-

Season Watch List, an honor given to the nation’s top mid-major player of

the year. Myers is leading the team in scoring with 15 points per game and

rebounding at 6.8 boards per game.

Following Saturday’s home game, the team plays three road games

against Howard, Hampton and Norfolk State before returning Feb. 14 for a

homecoming matchup against Delaware State.

UMES’ Rating Percentage Index among 351 institutions fielding Division

1 teams is 193.

Homecoming eventsin the works

Hawks’ basketball continues winning ways

August Alsina

6 The Key / January 30, 2015 School News

Illustrator returns to Shore for Black History Month exhibitBryan Collier, an

award-winning illustrator and writer, brings his unique style of watercolor and collage to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore for a Black History Month exhibit.

Collier will be on hand for a meet-the-artist opening reception, Thursday, Feb. 12, from 4-6 p.m. in the university’s Mosely Gallery. The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, will remain on display through March 12.

“Bryan Collier is a wonderful artist who developed a unique style of combining collage with realistic illustration,” Susan Holt, the Mosely Gallery director, said. “His work is often compared to the innovative African-American artist Romare Bearden.” Collier, she said, depicts African-Americans in history and his life experiences in many of the children’s books he has illustrated.

Collier, who grew up in Pocomoke City, said, “Collage is more than just an art style…it’s all about bringing different elements together. Once you form a sensibility about connection, how different elements relate to each other, you deepen your

Gourmet luncheon series

tickets on saleTickets are now

on sale for the much anticipated luncheon series on select

Mondays and Wednesdays throughout the spring by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Hospitality and Tourism Management program.

Served at noon in the Bailey Thomas Room of the Richard A. Henson Center, the gourmet meals feature an appetizer, entrée and dessert prepared by students and faculty of the program. Tickets must be purchased in advance.

The lunches are Feb. 9 (pan roasted filet mignon), 11 (maple-Dijon salmon filet), 16 (Cajun gumbo with crab, shrimp and oysters), 18 (island style center cut pork chop), 23 (chicken breast parcels with sweet peppers, ham and cheese) and 25 (southeastern pan seared New York strip steak); March 4 (orange glazed mahi-mahi) and 30 (shrimp crusted beef tenderloin); April 6 (braised Mediterranean lamb) and 8 (Creole crab and southwestern grilled flank steak) and May 4 (seafood Newburg) and 6 (mushroom-parmesan crusted beef tenderloin).

Tickets are $12 per person and must be purchased in person. Ticket sales are Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Henson Center, Room 2100. Check or money order should be made payable to UMES. No cash sales.

understanding of yourself and others.”A fortuitous moment for the emerging artist some 30 years ago was

winning first place in an art contest placing his work in the nation’s capital and gaining him the attention to earn a scholarship to the Pratt Institute in New York. Collier graduated with a bachelor of fine arts in 1989.

While in school, Collier volunteered at the Harlem Horizon Art Studio in the Harlem Hospital Center discovering a passion for children’s books. He served as program director for 12 years before focusing his full attention to his art.

Collier’s work has earned Caldecott Honors, Coretta Scott King awards and the 2014 U.S. nomination for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award.

The Mosely Gallery is located in the Thomas Briggs Arts and Technology building

on UMES’ campus. The gallery is open Monday

through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 410-651-7770 or visit www.moselygallery.com for more information.

For more information, call 410-651-6563. No reservations will be taken by phone or mail.

“Blessings are Free”

School News The Key / January 30, 2015 7

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore awarded 314 degrees at winter graduation, sending the Class of 2014 into a vastly improved job market.

Shelton Handy of Centreville, Md., the graduate who delivered the student commentary on behalf of his classmates, has a job as a math teacher at nearby Washington High School.

Monica Dore of Parksley, Va., a Richard A. Henson Honors program scholar, started work with the National Atmospheric and Space Administration’s Wallops Flight Facility. She’ll be putting what she learned as an engineering student to work on designing aircraft systems.

“I’ve always been interested in math and science,” Dore said. “I find it challenging and fulfilling to take on difficult problems and to find solutions.”

Chidi Omerennah of Upper Marlboro received a degree in criminal justice with honors and has been accepted in the Howard University law school’s next class.

“I really want to help others and make this world a little better place,” she said. “I feel like I can do that if I become a lawyer.”

Blessing Aroh of Berlin received her second UMES degree, but has the distinction of being the university’s first graduate to earn a Master of Science in chemistry.

Aroh’s goal is to go to medical school, where she wants to train as a pediatric researcher focusing on finding cures for infectious diseases such as HIV. Her next stop is being a lab assistant at Howard University, where she will be involved in prostate cancer research.

Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele delivered the commencement address at the 18th December graduation ceremonies held in the William P. Hytche Athletic Center.

Steele gave perhaps history’s shortest college commencement speech – six words.

“It’s ugly out there. Good luck,” he said and sat down.He waited a moment, smiled, and then stepped back to the podium.“You just got your first lesson in what comes next – the unexpected,”

Steele said.

UMES’ Class of 2014 stepping into a brighter job market

Steele then delivered a traditional commencement address, infusing his remarks with anecdotes of his own experiences as a pioneering African-American and Republican who was the first to win statewide office.

Handy, the student speaker, set a high standard for Steele to follow with an energetic speech clearly well-received by his peers.

“Take what the University of Maryland Eastern Shore has taught you – to be attentive when we had to abide by those not so friendly deadlines,” he said. “Be punctual, because being on time is essential in everything we do. Be committed; whenever you start something … you must complete it.”

Physicist Gurbax Singh and chemist Joseph Okoh, two retired UMES professors who were fixtures on campus for several decades, were awarded faculty emeritus status in recognition of their service.

And UMES President Juliette B. Bell awarded a presidential medallion, the university’s highest civilian honor, to Ronnie Holden, the institution’s long-time vice president of administrative affairs.

Holden announced this fall his intentions to retire Dec. 31, ending a 37-year career overseeing the university’s day-to-day business operations. Holden’s colleagues and co-workers earlier in the week surprised him with a retirement party that featured a video with heartfelt tributes and in-person testimonials offered by peers.

“It’s wonderful he is receiving this recognition,” said Cynthia Boyle, interim dean of UMES’ pharmacy school. “It is unprecedented for a new school of pharmacy to have faculty members designated as new investigators in successive years.”

Kharel toiled almost a dozen years in a University of Kentucky research lab, where he utilized his training in biochemistry and molecular biology to work on antibiotic research.

When offered a faculty position in UMES’ upstart pharmacy program, he saw the move as a way to teach and forge a new path where he could take the lead in research into health care challenges.

“That has been my dream,” Kharel said, “… to be an independent faculty member doing research.”

Officially, Kharel’s winning grant application was called “Rational Design of Thiopeptide Antibiotics through Biosynthetic Pathway Engineering.”

One strain of bacteria on his radar is Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, better known as “MRSA.” The acronym strikes fear

in those diagnosed with the infection and the health care professionals who treat it.

“Bacteria are growing more and more resistant to antibiotics,” he said. “The challenge we are facing is: ‘How do we bridge the gap?’.”

Theories abound in the lab and on paper on how to design new treatments, but finding practical, safe applications that make complex molecules in new medication safe to treat a sick human – or mammal – is a daunting and time-consuming task.

Large pharmaceutical companies are increasingly moving away from exclusive reliance on in-house research to develop new drugs, particularly new antibiotics, so higher education researchers are filling the void.

Kharel is anxious and excited to become part of that trend.“Finding the pathway to synthesize these compounds and make them

effective is possible, but,” he noted, “it is very, very difficult.”“I’m looking forward to seeing if some of the ideas I have might work,”

he said.

RESEARCHER continued from page 3

Handy, Aroh and Dore

8 The Key / January 30, 2015 Calendar

Editors

Gail Stephens, Assistant Director of Public Relations and Publications Manager

Bill Robinson, Director of Public Relations

Ashley Collier,Public Relations Assistant

Design byDebi Rus, Rus Design Inc.

Printed by The Hawk Copy Center

First Look Fair (UMES Students)11 a.m.-2 p.m.Student Services CenterStudents can learn about student organizations on campus along with Black History Month “Fun Facts.”410-651-6434

Black History Month Movie Series (UMES Students) 7 p.m.Student Services Center410-651-6434

Homecoming Worship Service6-9 p.m.Student Services Center, TheaterA night of worship and fellowship.410-651-6434

Meet the Artist Opening Reception4-6 p.m.Mosely GalleryUMES features “The Art of Bryan Collier” for its Black History Month exhibit. Show on display through March 12.410-651-7770 or www.moselygallery.com

Homecoming Concert*7-11 p.m./Doors open at 6 p.m. William P. Hytche Athletic CenterAugust Alsina with Shy Glizzy and the TOB Band. $45 UMES students, $55 public, $65 day of and at the door.410-651-6434 or UMEStickets.com

february

812

12

National Pan-Hellenic Council Step Show*7-9:30 p.m. /Doors open at 6 p.m.William P. Hytche Athletic CenterGreek organizations display their skills in the art of stepping.$12 in advance/$15 at the door.410-651-6434 or UMEStickets.com

HawkMania Pep Rally Noon-1 p.m. Student Services Center, RotundaGet ready for the game with the Thunderin’ Hawks Pep Band.410-651-6277

Homecoming Game*2 p.m. Women’s4 p.m. Men’sDoors open at noonWilliam P. Hytche Athletic CenterHomecoming basketball games vs Delaware State Hornets.$25 includes both games/free for UMES students with ID. 410-651-7747 or UMEStickets.com

13

Submissions to The KEY are preferred via email. All copy is subject to editing. The Key is written according to the Associated Press stylebook.

The KEY is published by the Office of Public Relations in the Office of the President

410-651-7580 FAX 410-651-7914 www.umes.edu

Gourmet Luncheon Series*

Noon Richard A. Henson CenterA series of gourmet lunches by the students and faculty of the Hospitality and Tourism Management program will be held February 9, 11, 16, 18, 23 & 25. $12. Advanced tickets required. 410-651-6563

*Unless stipulated (*) all events listed are free and open to the public.

56&7

Submission dates:Jan. 21 for Jan. 30 issue

Feb. 4 for Feb. 13 issue

Feb. 18 for Feb. 27 issue

March 4 for March 13 issue

March 18 for March 27 issue

April 1 for April 10 issue

April 15 for April 24 issue

April 29 for May 8 issue

14