Students present research at national health technology conference

Thawda Aung '13 and Jim Kwon '14 recently went to a national conference to talk about a technology they are developing with a Randolph College professor.

The two students traveled with Katrin Schenk, a physics professor, to the 2011 mHealth Summit, an annual conference that focuses on using wireless technology to improve medical care. This year's event brought together leaders in government, the private sector, industry, academia, health care providers and nonprofit groups from across the country. 

Kwon gave a talk about using cell phones to measure gait speed. Aung presented a poster about using cell phones to monitor patients and motivate them to increase physical activity.

Kwon and Aung have collaborated with Schenk, as well as researchers from other institutions, to develop cell phone programs that measure a medical patient's activity, giving doctors better information about how to treat various illnesses. Their project won a grant from the Alzheimer's Association to study its application to Alzheimer's disease.

NAACP honors Hermina Hendricks for community service

Earlier this month, the Lynchburg Unit of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People honored a Randolph College staff member for her service to the community.

Hermina Hendricks, the College’s multicultural student services director and a music instructor, received the organization’s Citizen Achievement Award, an annual award that recognizes people who have contributed much to the community.

Hendricks said she was surprised to learn that she would receive the award, but it recognized that she had met a long-held goal. “One thing I always wanted to do was make a difference in my community,” she said.

Hendricks has served the community in numerous ways while teaching music in the public schools, and working at the College since 1997.

She has served on grant review panels for the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. She has held leadership positions in the Lynchburg Chapter of the Links, Project LEAD, National Committee for Services to Youth, Lynch’s Landing, the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, and more.

She recently conducted a choir for a holiday concert benefitting the Dunbar High School Memorial Wall Committee. She is conducting research on the life of Clarence Seay, who worked for 30 years as principal of Dunbar, Lynchburg’s African American high school in the days of racial segregation.

The endless service came naturally to Hendricks. “One thing led to another. When I was asked to serve on a committee or board, I would just say yes and try to give my time, my talent, my energy, or my voice, to whatever the community needed,” she said.

At the College, Hendricks teaches music history classes, such as jazz history and popular music in America. She also plans multicultural programming and leads initiatives to strengthen diversity on campus.

A few years ago, she was one of the organizers of Lynchburg’s first Get!Downtown Festival, an annual event that draws thousands of people, including many local college students. She said the idea came about as she and others were trying to help more people get to know Lynchburg.

“I wanted people to like the city and to see the city the way I see it,” she said.

Winter break in the U.S. Virgin Islands? Yes, please.

What are you doing for winter break?

Six Randolph College spent finals week and the first part of the break on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. They conducted research that could be useful to people working to save the beautiful coral reefs there. (They soaked up rays in 80-degree December weather, too.)

This fall, they took an environmental forensics class taught by Kathy Schaefer, a biology professor, and Brad Bullock, a sociology professor. Then they went to St. John applying what they learned.

They tested water in the streams and bays around the island, looking for coliform bacteria, such as E. Coli. They hope to discover whether such bacteria are causing damage to the coral reefs.

The coral reefs are an important part of St. John’s ecology and economy, but they have experienced significant damage in recent years. Knowing whether coliform bacteria contributes to the damage could influence interventions designed to protect the reefs.

The research trip was funded partly by the Randolph Innovative Student Experience, a program that allows each student to apply for up to $2,000 to fund research projects, creative projects, and other projects and activities that give them hands-on experience and skills that apply what they learn in the classroom.

This research trip is one example of how Randolph students are gaining experience that is unique for undergrads. It also is a great reason to spend a couple of weeks travel to the Virgin Islands—in case you need an excuse to go there.

Much thanks to Danielle Robinson ’12 for sending the photos!

Tips for a sustainable, environmentally-friendly holiday season

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,

A donation to a charity—and a card on recycled paper, along with a basket of local produce.

The holidays are often associated with plenty of activity involving buying, sharing, and throwing away. But the celebrations can become more friendly to the environment by rethinking a few traditions.

Ludovic Lemaitre ’11, Randolph College’s sustainability coordinator, and John Abell, a Randolph economics professor who studies sustainability, recently created a list of ways to make the holidays more friendly to the environment and the community.

From local food to recycled giftwrap, here are 12 ways to make a more sustainable season:

1.      When you prepare for holiday dinners, stop by your local farmers’ market. Greens, meat, fruit, and dairy products are in season and often of better quality than similar supermarket items. At the market, you get fresh produce and invest in your local community.

John Abell

Even if you are traveling out of town for a holiday dinner, you can contribute to the sustainability of the meal by bringing locally-produced food from growers you know. A cooler and ice will help you transport produce, turkey, chicken, or a ham.

2.      Use reusable plates and cups. They are classier than disposables, and cut down on landfill waste.

3.      Look for recycled, fair trade, or locally-made gifts. Yard sales, antiques, and thrift stores are also great places to find quality, meaningful, and low-impact gifts. Gifts without batteries are a bonus, because the recipient will not have to buy batteries nor throw them away.

4.      If you want to offer an electronic or electric appliance as a gift, select s product with the Energy Star certification. It will cost less to operate and will be more friendly to the environment in the long run.

5.      When you wrap gifts, use reusable cloth, personalized brown paper grocery bags, or the comics section of your newspaper.

6.      Your gift doesn’t have to be something you can hold in your hand. Go for services such as dance lessons, performance tickets, whitewater rafting trips, camping trips, etc. Also, consider giving a financial gift to a charity in the name of your family and friends.

Because people wish for their charitable contributions to be used wisely, you might want to peruse Charity Navigator, where you can learn about how charities use their contributions.

7.      Go light on lights! There are many ways to decorate without making the electric meter go round. Look for LED lights and other reusable decorative items. Check out décor from fair-trade suppliers like Ten Thousand Villages, make your own decorations, or buy local.

8. Try a potted Christmas tree that you can use for several years, or a plastic one made of recycled content that you can use for a lifetime.

Ludovic Lemaitre

9. Donate items you don’t use anymore. It will open up space in your closet or living room, make other people happy, and give new life to your unwanted items.

10. Save paper by sending electronic greeting cards. It will save on paper. However, if you feel paper cards have an irreplaceable feel to them, use recycled and FSC-certified paper.

11.   When the holiday season is over, recycle everything you do not need: plastic bottles, aluminum cans, wine bottles, gift packages, etc. Compost food leftover from holiday parties.

12.   Give the gift of time. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, nursing home, homeless shelter, or another community organization.

Abell pointed out that a change in gift giving habits could be met with some surprise as it departs from traditions. Therefore, the sustainable holiday habits might require careful consideration, conversation, and role modeling.

What do you think? Have you and your family made any changes to limit the environmental and social impact of your holiday celebrations? Tell us in the comments below.

Astronomy students study cosmic radio waves in West Virginia observatory

Some of the most important signals stars send through the universe are invisible, so a group of Randolph astronomy students traveled to West Virginia to study the heavens with a radio telescope this month.

Starting at 4 p.m. on Dec. 2, the 30 students worked for 12 hours at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, W.Va. They steered a 40-foot radio telescope, collected information from cosmic radio sources, and analyzed the data. The process gave them experience with the kind of work professional astronomers do.

The observatory houses the world’s largest steerable radio telescope with a 100-foot diameter, as well as a 40-foot telescope that is used for educational purposes.

Katrin Schenk, a professor of physics and astronomy, said this was the first time she knows of the College taking students to the Green Bank observatory. While controlling and monitoring a large radio telescope is not an everyday experience, students regularly have the opportunity to study the skies in Winfree Observatory, the College’s star gazing facility featuring a computer-controlled 14-inch telescope.

The observatory also is open to the public for occasional Star Parties, which are listed in the College’s events calendar.

Green Engineering students use physics principles to build solar and pinewood cars

Another group of Randolph College students has learned how to apply engineering principles to build their own solar-powered cars and help local Cub Scouts improve Pinewood Derby car designs.

The Green Engineering Design course explores how engineers can increase energy efficiency for power plants, manufacturing facilities, and vehicles. Peter Sheldon, a physics professor, developed the course after Edison2, a Lynchburg-based automobile design firm, won $5 million from the X Prize Foundation for building a car that gets more than 100 miles per gallon.

This fall, the students in the class built miniature vehicles powered by solar panels. That project culminated in a race, where the team Stagnetti’s Revenge—consisting of Pujan Shrestha ’15, Alex Kwakye ’15, and Mark Patterson ’15—won first place.

The next day, the class traveled to a church in Lynchburg where they helped local Cub Scouts design, build, and improve Pinewood Derby cars. The same type of engineering that can increase a car’s gas mileage can also help a wooden car speed down a track more quickly, so Randolph’s physics students have built a partnership with local Cub Scout groups to practice engineering principles.

In fact, the Randolph College Society of Physics Students hosts a Pinewood Derby race for the Cub Scouts at its annual Science Festival. The next Science Festival slated for March 22-25 in 2012.

In addition to teaching physics and the Green Engineering course, Sheldon coordinates the College’s dual degree program allowing students to study physics and engineering at Randolph for three years and then complete an engineering degree at a partner institution in two years.

Because engineering can help find solutions to many of the world’s problems, Randolph gives students the chance to learn the concepts of the science in an environment of accessible professors and small classes.

Student Center Renovation Update December 13

What a difference a few weeks can make! The $6 million renovation project has now fully moved from the demolition phase into the building phase. The structural steel beams are in place in the main area of the Student Center. In fact, you can see the framework for the multi-level open space that will make it possible to see below from the WWRM's new DJ booth. Workers are also installing the flooring systems, which will soon lead to more visible changes.

In addition, what is now an opening in the side of the building will soon be transformed with large windows. Some brick is being removed to accommodate the materials.

Construction is also continuing in the back area of the facility, which previously housed the Skeller and other offices and spaces. The concrete floor has been laid and steel beams are also in place.

Construction will continue while the Randolph is closed for winter break.

It is an exciting time to be at Randolph College!