‘Dr. Pat’
 Dr. Patricia Rickels and her husband, Dr. Milton Rickels, were excellent professors in the classroom who also taught by example. They were both civil rights activists who treated everyone with dignity and respect. Before Milton's death in 1997, the couple often hosted parties and casual get-togethers for students and friends of all races and ages.
Ernest Gaines, writer-in-residence emeritus at UL Lafayette, was one of their frequent guests. He had a close relationship with both and wrote, “I am sure that I was invited to their home every week for years. Sometimes there would be just the three of us. Other times there would be many, sitting on the floor listening to Milt. Pat and Milt; Milt and Pat. You never thought of one without thinking of the other.” A webpage has been created to share memories of Dr. Pat, who died last week. Click below for more from Gaines and to leave a message of your own.
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Faster Computing
One way to make a computer faster: shorten the distance that information has to travel. That’s what Dr. Danella Zhao in the Center for Advanced Computer Studies is trying to accomplish through her study of wireless computer chips. The National Science Foundation gave her research a boost when it presented her with its prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award, along with $621,00 to continue her work. Zhao is the third faculty member at CACS to receive this award within the past five years.
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And, They’re Off
More than 300 well-wishers helped Team BeauSoleil celebrate the start of its journey to the nation ’s capitol. The team popped champagne corks and enjoyed great food and music during a celebration that marked completion of its solar home. The Louisiana BeauSoleil Solar Home will hitch a ride on a tractor-trailer Thursday to get to Washington, D.C. for the international Solar Decathlon. UL Lafayette’s team will be in good company. Fellow competitors include teams from Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Cornell and the last decathlon winner, Technische Universität Darmstadt in Germany. Team BeauSoleil is the only team from Louisiana and one of only two from the South.
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Rocket Man
Freshman Brad Truxillo spent part of his summer mixing oxygen and Plexiglas to make fuel for a hybrid rocket he built. He was an intern at NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for eight weeks. The UL Lafayette electrical engineering major also helped collect and catalog engineering data for NASA.
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Enrollment ‘On Track’
This fall’s freshman class confirms that UL Lafayette is becoming the “university of choice” for some of the brightest students. A record number of high school valedictorians – 87– became Ragin’ Cajuns this fall. And, 70 first-time freshmen scored a 30 or above on the ACT exam. That’s nearly nine points higher than the 2009 national average ACT score of 21.1. These numbers show that UL Lafayette’s plan to attract high-caliber students is right on track.
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Creepy Crawlers
Daniel Proud is always on the lookout for daddy longlegs. His most recent spider-gathering trip was to the tropical forests of Costa Rica.
The doctoral student in environmental and evolutionary biology is studying the diversity of the species. More than 6,400 species of these harvestmen exist.
“We are finding new species that have never been described before,” Proud said. Click below for a feature story about him that was published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
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