News in brief

Remembering an alumnus

Several dozen Pitt students set out to raise money in…

Remembering an alumnus

Several dozen Pitt students set out to raise money in the memory of a Pitt alum Saturday. Jared Beiswenger, a Pitt 2006 graduate, died in May 2008. His parents endowed a scholarship in his name last year. The fund will give a scholarship to one Pitt student each year.

About 50 runners and walkers participated in the Jared Beiswenger Memorial 5k run/3k walk on Saturday in Schenley Park. The event, sponsored by Delta Phi fraternity, raised more than $1,000 for the Jared Beiswenger scholarship fund, Joe Madar, one of the organizers, said.

The race started at 8:30 a.m. and lasted until noon. The walkers circled the Schenley Oval three times, while the runners took on a hilly course that wound through Schenley Park.

A ray of sunshine

Bruegger’s will host a fundraiser for Project Sunshine, a national nonprofit group that seeks to give children a sense of normalcy while they’re being treated for severe medical conditions.

Bruegger’s will donate 15 percent of each sale it makes to a person with a Project Sunshine flier between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. today.

Fliers are available on the Facebook event called “Project Sunshine Bruegger’s Fundraiser.”

People seeking more information can visit www.projectsunshine.org or e-mail pitt.project.sunshine@gmail.com.

Reading Three Rivers

The Three Rivers Review of Undergraduate Literature, a compilation of student writing, will hold a release reading of its newest issue from 8:30 to 11 p.m. Wednesday.

Free copies of the Review will be available at the party, which will be at the Frame Gallery, a student-run art space, on 5200 Forbes Ave.

The new issue features work from the following people:

Photography — Chris Neverman (Pitt).

Poetry — Hannah Aizenman (Pitt), Madeleine Barnes (Carnegie Mellon), Austin Moyer (Carnegie Mellon), Grettelyn Nypaver (St. Vincent College), Alicia Salvadeo (Pitt).

Fiction — Sarah Hogg (Pitt), Scott Krzywonos (Pitt), Christina Seymour (Penn State Altoona), Liam Sweeney (Pitt), Christopher Stokum (Pitt), Greg Trietley (Pitt).

Scarbrough wins national scholarship

Amy Scarbrough, a junior majoring in ecology and evolution and bioinformatics, received a Morris K. Udall Scholarship.

The scholarship, initiated by Congress in 1992 to honor former Arizona Congressman Morris K. Udall, honors people who are committed to careers concerning the environment, tribal public policy or Native American health care. Eighty people across the nation received the scholarships of up to $5,000 this year.

Scarbrough said in a news release that she hopes she can combine her studies of ecology and bioinformatics to “one day join pioneering scientific efforts in the field of computational ecology.”

Adding to the Goldwater list

Nicholas R. DeStefino, a junior majoring in neuroscience and history, was named a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship winner earlier this month, making him the 42nd Pitt student to receive the honor since 1990.

DeStefino plans to pursue an MD/PhD and study the neural bases of mental health diseases, according to a news release.

Edlyn Levine, a junior majoring in physics and science, and Heather Duschl, a junior majoring in computer engineering and Japanese, were honorable mentions in the competition.

Alumnus abroad

Zachary Morris, who graduated with a bachelor of philosophy degree last May, received a scholarship to study in England.

Morris, who graduated summa cum laude and majored in urban studies and politics and philosophy, was named a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar by the Pittsburgh Rotary Club. He will study comparative policy at Oxford’s Green Templeton College in hopes of earning a master of science degree.

Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarships give recipients $25,000 to study in another country for one year.

Seniors win awards to study abroad

Seniors Michael Freedman and Matthew Perich received an award to study biomedical engineering abroad.

Freedman and Perich both received the 2010 Whitaker International Fellows and Scholars Program award. This is the first year Pitt students have applied to the program, according to a news release.

Freedman, who will attend the University of Cambridge in England to work on a master of philosophy in bioscience enterprise, will receive four degrees at commencement Sunday — a bachelor of science in bioengineering, a bachelor of science in chemistry, a bachelor of arts in music and a bachelor of philosophy from the Honors College for his thesis on the electronically controlled release of dopamine from conducting polymers.

Perich will receive a bachelor of science in bioengineering. He will begin working on the Blue Brain Project, at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, in September. While at the Swiss school, Perich will work on the Blue Brain Project, an attempt to reverse-engineer the mammalian brain in hopes of better understanding brain function.

Learning to save lives

The American Red Cross will offer lifeguard training classes on campus next month.

The Red Cross will offer two sessions of the classes, which run for four days and cost $210 each.

Session A runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. May 13, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 14, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 15 and 16. Session B runs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. May 20, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 21 and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 22 and 23. Both sessions will be held in the Trees Hall pool.

To qualify for the sessions, students must be 15 or older and must be able to swim 300 yards continuously — 100 yards of the front crawl, 100 yards of the breaststroke and 100 yards of either the front crawl, breaststroke or a combination of the two.

To register or for more information about the American Red Cross Aquatics School, call 412-263-3100 or visit www.swpa.redcross.org. Proceeds benefit the Red Cross’ local disaster relief efforts.