By Robert C. Jones Jr.
UM News

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (January 30, 2014) — Watch out Burger King, Hardee’s and Sonic. The University of Miami’s Rathskeller is gaining on you in the onion rings department. The most underappreciated of fast-food sides is now back on the popular eatery’s menu, much to the delight of Coral Gables City Manager Pat Salerno, who unwittingly orchestrated their comeback.

“They’re excellent,” said Salerno. “If you like onion rings, these are as good as it gets.”

Onion ring lovers who agree with Salerno’s assessment of the Rat’s newest side dish can thank the 1973 UM grad. Near the end of a Development Agreement meeting between the University and City of Coral Gables last November, Salerno jokingly lamented that “those delicious onion rings that sustained me through my college years are no longer on the menu” at the new Rathskeller in the school’s Student Activities Center.

UM President Donna E. Shalala promised she’d look into the matter, and when students returned from holiday break in January, the Rat’s menu had an old offering with a new name: SalernOrings.

Salerno taste-tested the crispy delights two days after their debut, enjoying them so much that he ordered a second portion.

The deep-fried delicacy was the city manager’s culinary staple when he attended the U. “I would get a hot dog or hamburger and an order of onion rings. That was the standard for me, my favorite thing to eat at the Rat,” he recalled.

So how do SalernOrings compare to his undergrad fav? “From my recollection, they’re equal to or better,” he said. “If you’ve ever had onion rings before, some are good, and some of them are just bland. These have the right amount of sweetness, crunch, and flavor.”

Which is due in large part to the way they’re prepared. “We looked for a product and a recipe that would take the best advantage of our commitment to fresh cooked-to-order food,” says Rathskeller manager Everett Price. “We think these onion rings, made as each order comes in, provide a much better flavor experience than items that have been prepared in bulk and sitting under a warmer.”

By Robert C. Jones
UM News

Hundreds of students thronged to UM’s Whitten University Center on Wednesday for the first ’Canes Care for ’Canes Resource Fair, where organizations such as UM Police, the Counseling Center, and Pier 21 distributed information on the services they offer.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (January 29, 2014) – Hayley McPhedran showed up at the University of Miami’s Whitten University Center in search of career information. She quickly found what she was looking for at a table staffed by student ambassadors from UM’s Toppel Career Center, learning about an employment expo that will be held on campus later this semester.

“I’m planning to become a physician assistant, a field where there’s not a lot of shadowing opportunities,” said McPhedran, who graduates from UM in May with a psychology degree. “Perhaps there’ll be an opportunity I’ll learn about at the expo.’’ Read the full story

From left are Ph.D. students Ed Miller and Jeramy Baum, Dean Leonidas G. Bachas and post doctoral associate Elsayed Zahran.

UM News

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (January, 24, 2014) — The chemistry research lab of College of Arts and Sciences Dean Leonidas G. Bachas was named 2013 Lab of the Year on the Gables campus by the University of Miami Office of Environmental Health and Safety. Three labs tied for the same honor on the Miller School campus.

The Office of Environmental Health and Safety chose the four labs after conducting rigorous assessments of the more than 1,000 labs on all three campuses to ensure their compliance with federal, state, and local policies and procedures. Earning the top honor on the medical campus, home to the overwhelming majority of University labs, were Dr. Phillip Ruiz’s immunomonitoring and histocompatibility laboratory, Michael Kim’s molecular and cellular pharmacology laboratory, both at the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building; and Krishna Komanduri’s hematology and oncology lab at the Biomedical Research Building.

“The Bachas Lab was selected for exceptional cooperation and compliance with local, state, and federal regulations regarding laboratory safety, as were the labs on the medical campus,” said Jairo Betancourt, biosafety manager for the office, noting each of the labs have a history of excellent reviews, and of submitting paperwork well in advance of every deadline.

The office’s mission is to ensure the University’s compliance with health, safety, and environmental regulations, and provide support and training in an effort to avoid occupational, biological, and chemical hazards. Through its Laboratory Safety Program, the office has the responsibility of ensuring compliance with all applicable regulations and to ensure good laboratory practices are implemented for the protection of laboratory employees, the community, and the environment.

In addition to Dean Bachas, researchers in the Bachas lab include Elsayed Zahran, Megan Gillespie, Jeramy Baum, and Ed Miller. Their research focuses on the use of nanoparticles to break down environmental contaminates.

“I am honored to share this award with an exceptional team who works hard every day to ensure the lab environment meets the highest standards of safety,” Bachas said.

Komanduri’s lab is staffed by Despina Kolonias , Eric Wieder, Daniel Dammrich, Dietlinde Wolf, and Cara Benjamin. The Ruiz lab includes Nicole Lergier, Alex Amador, Yasmine Perez,  and Fola Amole. The Kim lab includes Kimberly Rowland.

For more information on the Office of Environmental Health and Safety, visit the office website.

From left, engineers David Frost, UM alumnus Brian Losch, and Tim Martyn won the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Classical, for “Winter Morning Walks.”

Special to UM News

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (January 27, 2014) — The Frost School of Music at the University of Miami was well-represented at the 56^th Annual Grammy Awards last week with alumni celebrating wins in categories ranging from classical and engineering to jazz and rock.

Brian Losch, a 2008 graduate of the Music Engineering Technology program, earned a Grammy in the Best Engineered Classical Album category for his work on singer Dawn Upshaw’s Winter Morning Walks (ArtistShare). The album also garnered wins for both Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Best Classical Vocal Solo for UM alumna Maria Schneider, who composed and orchestrated the record.

Frost alumnus Andrew Scheps, who earned a Bachelor of Music in 1989, was the engineer for Black Sabbath’s comeback album, 13 (Vertigo/Republic), which won the Grammy in the Best Metal Performance category for the track “God is Dead?” The album also was nominated in the Best Rock Album and Best Rock Song categories. In 2011 Scheps won a Grammy for Album of the Year for his engineering work on Adele’s landmark album 21 (XL Recordings).

Triple UM alumnus, Christopher “Kip” Sullivan, a partner with Summit Records who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music and his M.B.A. from the U in the 1980s, celebrated a Grammy win for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for his label’s Night In Calisia by winners Randy Brecker, Włodek Pawlik Trio, and Kalisz Philharmonic.

The University also earned nominations for Frost Dean Shelly Berg—a Steinway piano artist and critically acclaimed recording artist, composer, arranger, and orchestrator—who was nominated for his second Grammy in the Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist category for “What a Wonderful World” on Gloria Estefan’s The Standards (Sony Masterworks). Berg was nominated in the same category last year for his arrangement of “Out There” on Lorraine Feather’s release, Tales of the Unusual (Jazzed Media).  He also arranged, orchestrated, and performed on Lorraine Feather’s 2014 Grammy-nominated album, Attachments.

Estefan, a multi-platinum, seven-time Grammy winning international vocal superstar, was nominated again in the Best Traditional Pop Album category for her  critically acclaimed Standards album, which she produced with Berg and her husband, Emilio Estefan. A UM alumna and trustee, Estefan also presented at the awards ceremony, held January 26 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.