‘Connected.’ – Oct. 1, 2009

In this week’s edition of ‘Connected.’, St. Thomas H1N1 cases continue to grow, Knights of Columbus install pro-life monument, new observatory atop Anderson Parking Facility is dedicated, more students interested in on-campus interviewing and women’s soccer is tied for first place in MIAC.

Sky’s the limit for classes, community events

The dedication of the new observatory atop the Anderson Parking Facility Tuesday initiated new advances in both the science and educational programs at St. Thomas.

“The primary mission of the St. Thomas physics department observatory is science education,” physics professor Gerry Ruch said. “We want to use this facility to reach as many people as we possibly can and get them excited about science and the natural world.”

Portal users nearly double since last spring

Portal, a Web application that combines elements of Blackboard, Murphy Online and Outlook e-mail, is growing in popularity. Since its launch last spring, the number of daily visits has nearly doubled.

When Portal was initiated last semester, it averaged 1,800 visits per day, said Elizabeth Houle, Web and media services director for Information, Resources and Technologies. This fall, Portal has received an average of 3,500 visits a day and 14,000 page views per day. But IRT is unable to discern what portion of the students using Portal are undergraduates or graduates, Houle said.

St. Thomas magazine halts profile of Saudi alum

A University of St. Thomas alumnus from Saudi Arabia said Friday that the university president blocked a school publication from running a profile about him out of concern it would harm efforts to recruit Saudi students.

Ali al-Ahmed, 42, who earned his master’s in international management from St. Thomas, is director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington, which describes itself as a nonpartisan think tank on Mideast and Islamic issues. The profile was written for B., the magazine of the St. Thomas’ Opus College of Business, and had been in the works for more than a year, al-Ahmed said.