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President Bruininks and others honor the Minnesota Masonic Charities for their record donation.

The state bonding bill signed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty April 7 included $105.9 million in bonding projects across the University system. The major addition in the Twin Cities will be the Science Teaching and Student Services building. (See a video description of the project here.)

The Minnesota Biomedical Research Program was granted authority for up to $219 in state bonds over the next eight years. For background on the program, click here. For thorough legislative background, click here.

Although state funds for the Central Corridor light rail transit project were vetoed, hope remains that it could be reinstated. Because of that, U of M Regents voted to reaffirm their support for routing the line to the north of campus, along existing rail beds and a former railroad bridge. The current metropolitan Council proposal is to route the line down Washington Avenue, an alternative U officials see as costly, disruptive and potentially unsafe. Click here for the story.

TCF Bank Stadium is beginning to look a lot like a stadium. The first brick was laid in a ceremony in early April. Click here for a report and photos. Click here for a video of the event.

Three U professors were among the 190 world-wide recipients of Guggenheim Awards: Douglas Arnold, mathematics, director of the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications; Regents Professor Kathryn Sikkink, political science; and Robin Stryker, sociology. Click their names to see their faculty Web pages. Click here to read a news release on the awards.

U student Angela Holmberg won a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. The sophomore chemistry and chemical engineering student is one of 321 students nationwide to earn the honor this year, but only the second in her family. Her brother, Vincent, won the award in 2004. Click here for more.

Research

More girls than ever are participating in sports, but their general overall activity level continues to drop. Click here for a report on the study from the Tucker

Oh, that's the letter O!

Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport.

Cool hits

University of Minnesota computer science graduate student Jesse Vig's Web site, GeoGreeting.com, has been nominated for the Best NetArt Web site as part of the 12th annual Webby. The site uses satellite photos to spell out greetings. Click here to see the site, which includes a demonstration. Click here to vote for the Webby Awards.

The U’s School of Public Health is a leader in multimedia Internet postings. Click here to see their audio, video and student blogs.

Don’t forget the University’s main audio and video news pages, as well as the U’s YouTube channel.

Upcoming Events

Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: Cultivating Inner Conditions for Genuine Happiness is coming this Friday. Special happiness: it’s free.

Beautiful U Day is Thursday, April 17, and includes a ReUse Warehouse aution and compact florescent light giveaway. Click here for more.

The Seeing Climate Change film festival is coming April 24-27. Click

New grads still dig Goldy at Senior Send-Off 2008.

here for info on the Bell Museum sponsored event.

The final discussion in the series celebrating Minnesota's 150^th anniversary is set for Thursday evening, April 24. A Changing World: Past and Present Threats to the Public’s Health will feature a panel of U experts. The free events are held in the Campus Club. For more, click here.

Alumni News and Events

Senior Send-Off kicked off April on a fun note. Click here to see pictures of soon-to-be grads enjoying their free welcome to the ranks of alumni.

U alumnus Ulric Gibson was honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award on April 10 for helping develop safe drinking water system through the developing world. Click here for a Minnesota magazine profile.

The Distinguished Teaching Awards are coming April 28. The event is free and open to the public. It celebrates the U’s greatest teaching professors. Click here for event details and bios of the 2007-08 recipients.

Program-only tickets are still on sale for the Heart of Discovery: University of Minnesota Alumni Association 2008 Annual Celebration. Click here for more.

The U’s fabulous Showboat is getting ready to launch and Alumni Association members have two special events just for them. A package gets members a ticket to the show, The Count of Monte Cristo, and an exclusive post-show dessert reception with cast and crew. Click here for more.