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It’s a common thought in educational circles that learning to improvise with jazz is a lot like learning a foreign language. Â鶹ÊÓƵ senior Kaitlyn Fay wanted to find out how, and her undergraduate research is the first to be featured this year in a series of E-net profiles on Lumen Scholars in the Class of 2011.

The National Science Foundation has awarded Â鶹ÊÓƵ chemistry professor Joel Karty a three-year, $181,000 research grant to work with undergraduates assisting him in his ongoing study of two types of molecular phenomena that govern chemical stability.

Two Â鶹ÊÓƵ students had their original screenplays selected to be produced and filmed as part of the nationwide Sprite Refreshing Films™ contest, a program "that gives future moviemakers a chance to create real films with industry pros and celebrities." Eleven additional Â鶹ÊÓƵ students were also selected to serve as staff interns.

Campus Kitchen at Â鶹ÊÓƵ, a community program to serve meals to those in need in Alamance County, opened for the first time on Tuesday when top university leaders prepared lasagna dishes during a special College Coffee in the 1889 Grill Room.

Emily Delaplane figured a video she created for her fall semester global experience course was just for a grade. When her relatives forwarded a link to her YouTube project to colleagues and friends, the Â鶹ÊÓƵ freshman found herself with more than an “A” – and Delaware’s Office of the Child Advocate couldn’t be happier.

Three Â鶹ÊÓƵ students in an environmental communications course have had a class video project named a finalist for a PBS television special in April, and if their work receives the top number of votes in an online contest, the network may show the project this spring to a national audience.

A record-breaking number of Â鶹ÊÓƵ students leaped into the frigid water of Lake Mary Nell on Thursday in the 8th annual Polar Bear Plunge. Just shy of 150 students registered for the community event, with organizers awarding more than two dozen gift cards to area merchants and participants walking away with free T-shirts.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ has been included in the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology 2010 campus sustainability case studies, the only database of its kind in the United States to highlight campus climate and sustainability efforts ranging from recycling and energy efficiency to alternative transportation systems and green jobs training programs.

The Southern Conference announced this week its Academic All-Conference Team for the 2010 fall season, with Â鶹ÊÓƵ at the top of the list of conference schools for the number of student-athletes who excelled in the classroom.

The Â鶹ÊÓƵ Board of Trustees voted Oct. 22 to designate a 56-acre undeveloped tract north of University Drive as the Â鶹ÊÓƵ Forest, a dedicated land preserve and natural area. The action protects the largest remaining intact forest in the Town of Â鶹ÊÓƵ and safeguards thousands of species of plants, animals and other organisms.