Work has begun on a new 1,000-bed, $70 million residence hall complex to replace the 12 Pencader dormitories and three commons buildings known as the Pencader Residence Hall Complex.

Construction of a 509-bed dormitory has started on the site of the current playing courts in front of the Christiana Towers. The playing courts will be relocated.

President David P. Roselle announced plans for the new complex at the semiannual meeting of the Board of Trustees in December.

The Pencader complex currently houses 750 students between Clayton Hall and Christiana Towers on UD's Laird Campus.

Roselle said the new buildings were needed to address several issues associated with the 33-year-old Pencader complex.

"The Pencader dormitories were built inexpensively with the corridors outside. One thus enters directly into the dormitory room. This has real disadvantages. One is security, and another is that there is decreased interaction among students," he said.

Designed to resemble the more traditional buildings on the main campus, the new residence halls will reflect a modern interpretation of the Georgian style.

"When that first building is constructed, we will then go in and tear down eight dormitories and two meeting places," Roselle said. "Then, we will start the construction of the other two dormitories there and that will add 502 more beds."

An eight-foot-wide pedestrian footbridge will connect the area to Ray Street.

Retention rates for UD freshmen continue to be strong, according to a study by UD's Office of Institutional Research and Planning.

Retention rates show a college's ability to retain students from one year to the next. The study tracked retention rates and graduation rates for first-time, full-time freshmen from fall 1993 through fall 2002.

According to the study, the first-year retention rate for freshmen entering in fall 2002 was found to have increased to an all-time high of 90 percent.

The report also showed a continuous rise since 1993 in the four-year graduation rate for freshmen, with the freshman class entering in 1999 reaching a 75 percent graduation rate.

Retention rates for different ethnic groups entering as freshmen over the same 10-year period also were tracked. Graduation rates for each category--Caucasian, Asian, African-American and Hispanic--continue to be higher than similar statistics from a sample of highly selective, public university competitors.  

"Names on a List: Caught Up in the Holocaust," an exhibition of public documents collected from 1933-45, was on display in the information room at the Morris Library this semester.

The exhibit featured books, government documents, videos and other research materials that list the names of victims and survivors of the Holocaust.

Earning its name from the record-keeping policies of Gestapo authorities, the exhibit gave biographical details of some of the 6 million individuals who died in the Holocaust.

Faculty support for study abroad programs noted

UD is one of nine American institutions of higher learning nominated for recognition by the Association of International Educators in the category of "Faculty Support for International Activities."

The nomination, according to Lesa Griffiths, director of UD's Center for International Studies, gives well-deserved recognition to enthusiastic support staff as well as to innovative faculty members--the key players in the study abroad program.

"The University's study-abroad program has become part of the campus culture," Griffiths says. "Many students choose to attend the University specifically because of the study-abroad opportunities. The way a campus becomes internationalized is through faculty, however, and the way a college can encourage those internationalizing efforts is through support of that faculty.

YoUDee takes 3rd, dance team 5th, cheerleaders 6th in competition

University of Delaware mascot YoUDee took third place nationally, the dance team placed fifth in Division I and cheerleaders placed sixth in Division I at the College National Championships held Jan. 15-19 at Walt Disney World in Florida.

U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden Commencement speaker

U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., ranking Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a 1965 UD graduate, will speak at the University's 155th Commencement, scheduled at 9 a.m., Saturday, May 29, in Delaware Stadium on the Newark campus.

The outdoor ceremony, which is held rain or shine, is open to the public.

First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972, Biden is known for his leadership role in foreign policy. Instrumental in crafting virtually every major piece of crime legislation over the last decade, he is the author of the Violence Against Women Act of 2000, which contains a broad array of ground-breaking measures to combat domestic violence and provides billions of dollars in federal funds to address gender-based crimes. As chairman of the International Narcotics Control Caucus, he also wrote the law creating the nation's "Drug Czar," who oversees and coordinates national drug control policy.

In 1998, he introduced a Senate resolution addressing the problem of binge-drinking on college campuses and cited UD as a leader in efforts to solve the national issue.

A strong advocate for protection of the environment, Biden's work has led to the return to Delawareans of more than 1,180 acres of beach shoreline formerly under federal control. In 2000, his decades-long efforts culminated with establishment of Delaware's first and only National Wild and Scenic River--the White Clay Creek Watershed.

To prepare today's students to meet the technology challenges of tomorrow, Biden's "Kids 2000" legislation establishes a public/private partnership to help provide computer centers, teachers, Internet access and technical training to young people across the nation, particularly to low-income and at-risk youth.

Biden lives in Wilmington and commutes daily to Washington, D.C., when the Senate is in session.

UD sophomore Melissa Martinez was in high spirits after she was crowned queen of New York City's Hispanic Day Parade in September, but the fashion merchandising major said that the honor came as a shock.

"I had no idea whatsoever that I was going to win, so when they called my name I was very surprised," the native of Queens, N.Y., says. "It was the greatest feeling ever and a once-in-lifetime opportunity. I'm glad I got to experience it, but I never knew it would be so emotional."

Crowned during a televised judging on Sept. 27, Martinez honored her title and Guatemalan heritage in the Hispanic Day Parade on Oct. 12 in New York City.

"I think my biggest duty is representing all Hispanics in New York," Martinez says. As a first-generation, Hispanic-American whose parents were both born in Guatemala, Martinez says she also hopes to bring greater visibility to the small Central American country.

"I'd like to give it a bigger voice," she says. "I'm also the first Guatemalan girl to be elected queen in the Hispanic Day Parade's 39-year history, so I feel it's an honor to have the opportunity to give the country more visibility.

I grew up with a lot of cultural pride, and all through high school it was a goal of mine to raise awareness about Guatemala."

Martinez says both the pageant and the parade keep the accent on cultural pride rather than on physical appearance. The judging process, which lasts two days, assigns contestants points on traditional outfits and cultural knowledge. "I described my traditional outfit right down to its borders," she says. "I explained how certain things represented certain concepts in the culture."

Construction of UD's new, 146-foot coastal research vessel was launched Feb. 17, when President David Roselle signed a symbolic "keel"--a four-foot-long metal beam that will become part of the ship.

The new ship will replace UD's 120-foot research vessel Cape Henlopen, which has been in service to the oceanographic community since 1976.

Years ago, when ships were made of wood, the laying of the keel--the long timber forming the ship's "backbone"--was the first step in building a new vessel. In modern ship construction, the keel is no longer the principal structural component. However, shipbuilders still honor the keel-laying tradition. Provost Dan Rich and Carolyn Thoroughgood, dean of the College of Marine Studies, also participated in the signing, which was held at the Goodstay Center in Wilmington.

Heralded as the "first in the next generation of coastal research vessels," UD's new ship will feature a state-of-the-art modular design and clean, quiet operation. It will be the first ship in the U.S. academic research fleet to meet international underwater noise standards, which are based on the hearing ability of fish.

The total cost of constructing the vessel and outfitting it with scientific instrumentation and communications systems is estimated at $17.6 million. Funding for the new ship will be provided by the University of Delaware, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Office of Naval Research and private donations. Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes, Wash., will build the new ship, which is expected to be delivered in autumn of 2005.

While UD's new vessel will assist scientists in the College of Marine Studies, it also will play a major role in helping scientists at other U.S. institutions accomplish their ocean research.

--Tracey Bryant