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(DAILY_WILDCAT)

By Jennifer Sterba
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 25, 1997

Ranking allows more student research


[photograph]

Robert Henry Becker
Arizona Daily Wildcat

Aaron Battraw, biochemistry senior, attaches strain sensors to a bone as part of his orthopedic research. Battraw said he hopes to work for a biochemical company after graduation.


UA research colleges' high rankings are giving undergraduate students the chance to do plenty of hands-on research.

The University of Arizona ranked 10th for the first time in publicly funded research universities last year after bringing in about $292 million in research grants and contracts for 1996, according to the National Science Foundation.

Aaron Battraw, a senior biochemistry major, is one of many undergraduates benefiting from the more than $5 million the university spent last year on students' hourly wages in research laboratories.

"It's not like working at Burger King," Battraw said.

He transferred from Eastern Arizona College through the Arizona Space Grant Consortium, which provides students the opportunity to do space-related research, said Jonathan Lunine, a professor of lunar and planetary studies, who also works with the grant program.

One of 51 NASA-funded programs in the nation, the grant allows students to do research in a variety of fields, from space medicine to engineering, Lunine said.

When Battraw transferred to the UA, he wanted to go to medical school.

"You need research experience to go to medical school," he said.

Battraw was assigned to the orthopedic biomechanics laboratory at the College of Medicine, where strain sensors are being attached to bone. The sensors then measure the amount of pressure the bone can handle, he said.

Battraw's job was to determine how to attach the sensor to the bone with a kind of "superglue," by placing calcium on the sensor.

He will graduate in August with a bachelor's of science in biochemistry and research experience on his resume. He will apply to the American Graduate School of International Management.

Battraw said he hopes to go to Taiwan or China to work with a biochemical company, where he said he feels his research experience will be beneficial.

Nearly 28.9 percent of the UA's research awards last year were secured by the College of Medicine, about $20 million was given to cancer research.

Michael Cusanovich, vice president for research and graduate studies, said the increase in UA's ranking is due largely to the "substantial successes in research" the colleges have made.

NICMOS, the Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer designed by the UA optical sciences department and installed on the Hubble Space Telescope in January, is an example of the UA's participation in successful research.

The College of Medicine was responsible for findings in the effects of selenium in preventing cancer and for a new method in diagnosing Parkinson's disease.

Charles Geoffrion, associate vice president for research, said being competitve is crucial to getting funding.

"Money is tied to excellence," he said. "All of this is based on the good work our faculty is doing."

The National Science Foundation releases a list of the top-ranked research universities each year based on research expenditures. The foundation is the national award-making agency on behalf of the federal government, Geoffrion said.

Two lists are released. One is comprised of both private and public universities, while the other list consists only of public universities. Research expenditures are based on how much money the university receives from grants and contracts.

The UA ranked 14th in both private and public universities, and 10th in public universities, moving up two places from last year in public universities and three places in the private and public ranking.

UA passed up Harvard and the University of California at Berkeley, Geoffrion said. He said four colleges can be credited for the improvement in the UA's ranking: the College of Science, College of Medicine, College of Agriculture and College of Engineering and Mines.

Geoffrion said he thinks the ranking released by the National Science Foundation has a big impact on student enrollment.

"I want to go to the best school I can afford to go to," is what students think, he said.

The ranking suggests faculty are doing their jobs and that there is a "hand-holding" between research and teaching, Geoffrion said.


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