1. Pop Parlour

Serving up sweets is practically in graduate Brandon Chandler 鈥�10鈥檚 DNA. In 2013, Chandleropened Pop Parlour, a shop offering fruity, creamy and boozy frozen treats as a tribute to his grandfather PopPop, who sold similar items after World War II. Pop Parlour has grown to two locations and serves coffee, tea, craft beer and wine, depending on which spot you visit.

尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍蝉:听4214 E. Plaza Drive on the 麻豆原创 campus; 431 E. Central Blvd., Suite C; ThePopParlour.com
(Pop Parlour’s 麻豆原创 location will be closed on Small Business聽Saturday due to campus closures, but you can still visit the downtown location or stop by another day.)

2. Six28 Boutique

Six months after graduating with a degree in elementary education, Rachel Ledbetter 鈥�16聽took a risk to pursue entrepreneurship by opening clothing boutique Six28. Located near 麻豆原创, Six28 sells trendy, affordable women鈥檚 clothing and accessories, which can also be purchased on the store鈥檚 online site.

Location:12082 Collegiate Way; 407-630-3890; Six28Boutique.com

3. Bikes, Beans & Bordeaux

Cycling enthusiasts Darrell Cunningham 鈥�93聽and Jen Cunningham 鈥�95 鈥�96MSW聽opened Bikes, Beans and Bordeaux to provide a space for people to bond over good food, drinks and company. With a commitment to health in mind, the shop sells breakfast items, sandwiches, soups, salads, desserts, beer, wine and more daily and at special events each month. While at 麻豆原创, Darrell studied civil engineering and Jen majored in social work.

Location:3022 Corrine Drive; 407-427-1440; BikesBeansandBordeaux.com

4. Deli Fresh Threads

Marketing major Anthony 鈥淏iggie鈥� Bencomo 鈥�98聽merged his love of sandwiches with another creative passion by opening Deli Fresh Threads, a clothing store? with designs inspired by what he considers the #KingOfMeals. You can buy foodie fashion in the form of T-shirts, hats, pins and stickers on the online shop. Bencomo also hosts a monthly #SandwichEatUp at local shops around Central Florida to help support other small businesses.

Location: 321-303-5129; DeliFreshThreads.com

5. Tactical Brewing Company

Owned and operated by veteran and psychology graduate Doug Meyer 鈥�14 鈥�16MBA, Tactical Brewing Company serves craft brews created on-site to veterans, first responders and all beer lovers alike.

尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍:听4882 New Broad St.; 407-203-2033; TacticalBeer.com

6. Retrolando

Retro Orlando captures the City Beautiful鈥檚 history while giving back to others. The online T-shirt company offers men and women鈥檚 clothing inspired by former iconic Orlando businesses, organizations and landmarks. Each purchase is something you can feel good about because owner and English major Shannon Flesch Couillard 鈥�04, donates a new shirt to a local homeless shelter for each shirt sold.

尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍:听Retrolando.com

7. Yaupon Brothers Tea Co.

Brothers 鈥� 麻豆原创 senior hospitality major Kyle White and legal studies graduate Bryon 鈥�09鈥� have revived an ancient Native American superfood with their yaupon holly tea company. The brothers sustainably harvest their organic crop and distribute their product at restaurants and shops. Online purchases can also be made on their official site and Amazon.聽Yaupon Brothers also offers sustainable agricultural consulting services for Florida farmers looking for alternative crops.

尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍蝉:听Various local shops such as Lucky鈥檚 Market, Credo Coffee, Infusion Tea and Dandelion Communitea Caf茅; YauponBrothers.com

8. A Piece of Work

Started by marketing graduate Curtis Young 鈥�04聽in 2007, A Piece of Work apparel company creates custom embroidery and screen printing. Through partnerships with companies such as the Orlando Magic, Funky Buddha and more, the online site offers quality work clothing. A Piece of Work also sells eco-friendly items such as recycled journals and organic cotton totes.

尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍:听321-662-3836; APieceofWorkGear.com

9. Just Save the Date

Whether you need to put together a small intimate gathering or a major extravagant event, Just Save the Date can help make any occasion special. Communication graduate and owner聽Kelly Erickson Fowler 鈥�02聽started the event planning company after planning her own destination wedding. Just Save the Date operates from two locations in the Orlando and Key West areas.

尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍蝉:听Orlando 鈥� 407-258-1944;聽Key West 鈥� 305-767-3774; JustSaveTheDate.com

Others regard the apostrophe, exclamation point and other handy devices as guardrails that keep our words from becoming a jumble of nonsense.

But to Jeff Rubin, founder of on Sept. 24, the symbols are necessities that do more than just separate sentences.

鈥淧unctuation marks tell a reader when to pause, when to stop, when something is possessive, and when emotions are expressed,鈥� he said. 鈥淧unctuation marks are guidelines that create sound in the written word. Without them, every sentence would run on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on…鈥�

Rubin, a former journalist who now runs a publishing business in Pinole, California, says he started the holiday in 2004 because he was concerned about the decline of language skills around the nation. The way we write 鈥� including the proper usage of punctuation 鈥� affects our appearance to others, acceptance at college, grades on papers, promotions and business deals, he says.

That鈥檚 why some writing instructors at the 麻豆原创 stress punctuation in their classes, especially around National Punctuation Day.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to honor National Punctuation Day by taking an adventure safari through the AP Stylebook鈥檚 Punctuation Guide,鈥� said Rick Brunson, an associate instructor in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media. 鈥淚 call the lecture, 鈥楧on鈥檛 Get Punc鈥檈d By What You Don鈥檛 Know.鈥欌��

He said punctuation is not merely cosmetic; it鈥檚 essential to making meaning of our thoughts.

“Sentences are a train wreck without proper punctuation.”

鈥淪entences are a train wreck without proper punctuation,鈥� he said. 鈥淯sing punctuation properly is critical to successful communication of our ideas. If we want to be understood, we have to know what we鈥檙e doing with punctuation.鈥�

Beth Young, an associate professor in the Department of English, said she will include a link to National Punctuation Day on her class calendar to help students understand the importance of proper usage.

She said her punctuation lessons focus 鈥渙n rules that I could see students had not yet mastered, and on rules they had questions about. Usually, this meant lots of time spent on commas.鈥�

National Punctuation Day celebrants at schools and other organizations, as can be seen on the website, celebrate with contests, baked goods, performances and other activities.

Rubin said he plans to observe the day with 鈥渁 bagel with shmear and coffee for breakfast, a CrossFit workout, and a search for incorrectly punctuated signs.鈥�

The Baker鈥檚 Dozen of Punctuation

According to the National Punctuation Day website, there are 13 punctuation marks commonly used in print.

Not necessarily in order of importance, alphabetically they are: apostrophe, brackets, colon, comma, dash, ellipses, exclamation point, hyphen, parentheses, period, question mark, quotation mark and semicolon.

Other commonly seen marks in writing, such as the asterisk, hashtag, slash 鈥渁nd their ilk are symbols that provide no insight into the thoughts of the writer or the meaning of his or her words,鈥� Rubin said.

Likewise, he said the interrobang 鈥� the combination of a question mark and exclamation point that is sometimes seen at the end of an exclamatory question鈥攄oesn鈥檛 qualify as a punctuation mark.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an illustration,鈥� Rubin chides.

Brunson calls the apostrophe 鈥渢he hardest-working punctuation symbol in our language. We ask an awful lot of it, and it does an incredible amount of heavy-lifting for us in our language. The apostrophe can form a contraction, indicate missing letters or numbers, show possession or indicate the plural of a singular object 鈥� depending on how we use it. Honor the apostrophe by using it properly.鈥�

Young, who also used to direct 麻豆原创鈥檚 University Writing Center, says the most common punctuation mistake she sees is an error of omission, when writers forget one comma from a pair of commas around a clause that adds extra or nonessential information to a sentence.

The next most common error, often seen on signs and menus, is the unnecessary use of quotation marks for emphasis that unwittingly cast doubt on something, such as our 鈥渄elicious鈥� meatloaf, she said.

The Future of Punctuation in the Age of Social Media

Rubin said it sometimes seems that punctuation has been forgotten by writers on social media.

鈥淭he errors I see are appalling,鈥� he said. 鈥淛ust last week I was reprimanded by the administrator of a Facebook group for admonishing someone who posted a single paragraph and misused “it’s” for “its” (he wanted the possessive but instead used a contraction).

鈥淚 was told, and I quote, 鈥楾his is social media…鈥� by the administrator, who removed my post.鈥�

Brunson agrees that the rise of text messaging has created a 鈥減unctuation crisis鈥� because of the lack of understanding as to what the symbols mean and convey.

“People randomly and carelessly sprinkle punctuation into their writing as if they were adding fake bacon bits to a salad.”

鈥淧eople randomly and carelessly sprinkle punctuation into their writing as if they were adding fake bacon bits to a salad,鈥� he said.

Punctuation is definitely changing, Young said.

鈥淲e may be more likely to use punctuation in creative ways, such as adding a period. after. every. word. for emphasis. These changes are a natural part of language change,鈥� she said. 鈥淭o some extent, they reflect a longer trend of colloquialization 鈥� written language becoming more like speech 鈥� that linguists have observed.鈥�

Many punctuation “rules” are not as straightforward as people imagine, Young said. 鈥淲riters often have legitimate choices about when to use which mark,” she said. “Just because you would punctuate differently doesn’t necessarily mean that someone else did it wrong.鈥�

Rubin concedes that someday other marks may find their way into mainstream usage.

鈥淟anguage evolves. Merriam-Webster adds new words every year,鈥� he said. 鈥淪tyle guides, such as those published by the Associated Press and the Chicago Manual of Style, occasionally change usage guidelines. I expect that one day there will be more accepted punctuation marks.鈥�

Meanwhile, properly using the symbols we have now goes a long way to improving communication skills.

鈥淣ext to boosting your vocabulary, learning how to properly use punctuation is the one thing anyone can do to single-handedly get people to understand what you鈥檙e trying to say and write,鈥� Brunson said. 鈥淧unctuation is power.鈥�

Poissant鈥檚 first book, released in March, is a collection of tales about families and relationships published by Simon & Schuster.

This weekend, Poissant will join more than 30 authors from around the country at the 麻豆原创 Book Festival, which will be held Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the CFE Arena. The festival is free and open to the public.

Read on for more about Poissant, a winner of the Playboy College Fiction Contest whose short stories have appeared in The Atlantic and in the New Stories from the South and Best New American Voices anthologies, among many other publications.

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I didn鈥檛 figure out that I wanted to be a writer until after college. I was in my early 20s. I taught high school English and wrote during the summers. Once I figured out that the summers weren鈥檛 enough for me, I knew that I needed to make a major life change. I applied to MFA programs, got into the University of Arizona, and my wife and I traded Atlanta, Ga., for Tucson, Ariz. I鈥檝e been writing seriously ever since, about nine years now.

How did you end up teaching at 麻豆原创?

After Arizona, I went to the University of Cincinnati to earn my PhD. As I was finishing up at UC, I applied to creative-writing jobs around the country. I was very happy to accept the job at 麻豆原创, and I鈥檓 thrilled to be a part of the MFA faculty where I get to mentor and work with graduate students.

What鈥檚 your favorite part about being a professor?

The students! Their passion for reading and writing is contagious. And their exuberance helps me to stay motivated. It鈥檚 easy to forget when you鈥檙e lucky, and having students who are so excited about writing reminds me not to take what I have for granted.

Your most recent book, The Heaven of Animals: Stories, is a collection of stories centering on family and relationships. What inspired the subject?

I wanted to write a book about love, but I wanted it to be full of stories that most people would never call 鈥渓ove stories.鈥�

These are stories about guilt and atonement, about hurt and redemption. We love the people who make up our families, but we hurt those same people, too (sometimes on purpose, and sometimes without meaning to), and I wanted to explore both sides of that difficult equation.

Did you face any hurdles in writing the stories?

Every story presented a hurdle in one way or another. Some were easy to write but hard to publish. Others found homes in magazines, but only after I鈥檇 revised them many times over the course of four or five years.

For the 15 stories in the collection, another 20 published stories were left on the cutting-room floor, and who knows how many more remain unfinished or finished but requiring a few more revisions. I think that the trick was not to think too much about the end product of 鈥渁 book鈥� along the way, but to try to make each story as strong as it could be.

What do you like to read?

I love to read fiction, poetry and essays.

The last great book I read was a collection of essays by Ryan Van Meter called If You Knew Then What I Know Now. My favorite poets include Sherod Santos and Louise Gluck. My favorite short story writers include Brad Watson, ZZ Packer, Karen Russell, Chris Adrian, Bret Anthony Johnston, Raymond Carver, Amy Hempel, Christine Schutt, Rick Bass, Ethan Canin, Lorrie Moore, Denis Johnson, and Ron Carlson. My favorite novels include The Great Gatsby, Franny and Zooey, Marilynne Robinson鈥檚 Home, Frederick Barthelme鈥檚 Bob the Gambler, and Magnus Mills鈥� The Restraint of Beasts.

How do you like to unwind when you鈥檙e not teaching or writing?

When I鈥檓 not teaching or writing, I love to read, and I love movies. I also like to go on long walks by myself or with my wife and daughters.

What鈥檚 your top piece of advice for an aspiring writer?

Read! Sure, you鈥檙e going to have to write a lot in order to get good at writing, but I鈥檇 argue that you should be reading even more. Read everything. Read widely. Find an author you love, then read everything that he or she has written. Find an author you don鈥檛 love and try to figure out why. Sometimes the fault is with the writer. Sometimes the fault is your own.

Students sometimes worry that if they read too much, they鈥檒l start to sound like the writers they read. I鈥檝e found that the opposite is typically true. The more you read, the more likely you are to find that the multiplicity of voices will coalesce into something you鈥檒l one day call your own 鈥渧oice.鈥�

What鈥檚 next for you?

Currently, I鈥檓 at work on a novel under contract with Simon & Schuster. The novel borrows a couple of the characters from the collection and picks up 30 years after where their story leaves off.

This spring, Jessica Walker, Elizabeth Maldonado de Segura and Laura Estupi帽an are living at the New York Mets baseball academy in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, preparing about 80 players for life in the United States.

The 麻豆原创 students, all part of The Burnett Honors College, spend an hour each day teaching players basic English, including baseball and cultural terminology that will help them understand their coaches and fellow players and adapt to a new life.

To supplement the players鈥� English lessons, their 麻豆原创 teachers also host activities to familiarize the athletes with American customs, foods and hobbies. Since the students live at the academy, they eat all of their meals with the players and constantly work on the players鈥� conversational English.

Walker, a junior studying marketing and nonprofit management, said she鈥檚 inspired by the willpower the players put forth every day.

鈥淓ach day the players continue to give 100 percent, and even after hours of practice come to my class ready to learn, because they know English is necessary to succeed in the United States. They never give up,鈥� Walker said. 鈥淚 have tried to embody this same mentality so that I can be a positive role model for my students, and I walk home each day in awe of their persistence and dedication in bettering themselves.鈥�

Like many MLB teams, the Mets were previously using a consulting company to teach English to their academy players but said they weren鈥檛 seeing much in terms of academic structure or results.

鈥淚鈥檓 very excited about our unique partnership,鈥� said Jon Miller, director of minor league operations for the Mets. 鈥淗aving 麻豆原创 students teach English to our players in the Dominican Republic and helping them understand the culture and customs of the United States will be of tremendous help to them as they aspire to succeed in our organization.鈥�

Estupi帽an, Maldonado de Segura and Walker are preparing players at the New York Mets baseball academy in the Dominican Republic for life in the United States.

Kelly Astro, director of research and civic engagement for the honors college, said the social activities are beneficial because they introduce players to cities where the Mets have minor league clubs.

鈥淎long with basic American cultural training, our students host events to familiarize the players with life in Las Vegas, Tennessee, Savannah and New York, all places where some of these players may end up while part of the Mets organization,鈥� said Astro, who hopes to have 麻豆原创 students at the Mets academy every semester.

The 麻豆原创 students say they鈥檙e getting a lesson of their own. The players have reciprocated by giving them 鈥淪panish class鈥� and sharing their language with them. They鈥檝e also learned baseball history.

Maldonado de Segura, a graduate student in the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages program (TESOL), said she and her fellow Knights have been fortunate to meet and speak with Ozzie Virgil Sr., the first Dominican to play in the major leagues.

鈥淗e has the best stories of playing with Jackie Robinson and other baseball legends,鈥� she said, adding that they even got to attend the ceremony for his induction into the Latin American Baseball Hall of Fame.

Estupi帽an, a senior studying psychology, said her favorite part of the experience is witnessing the students making progress firsthand.

鈥淪eeing where they started and where they are now is amazing,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l personally come up to us and tell us they love the way we teach and that they learn a lot. It is very rewarding to hear that.鈥�

Originally written more than a decade ago, the film about a curious computer hacker is debuting at the festival on Sept. 2. Directed by Terry Gilliam, it stars Hollywood heavyweights Christoph Waltz, Matt Damon and Tilda Swinton.

Rushin started teaching at 麻豆原创 in 1983. 鈥淭he Zero Theorem鈥� is scheduled for wide release in 2014.

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I was always a voracious reader鈥擨 learned to read from comic books before I went to kindergarten鈥攁nd even as a kid I was writing stories. My parents bought me a second-hand Underwood upright typewriter when I was in first or second grade, and I wore that thing right out.

My dad, a civil engineer, had a real literary bent and a fairly extensive library, and he told me I could read anything I wanted. What freedom. What a world opened up for me. I was 鈥渁 skinny little kid from Cleveland, Ohio,鈥� but with a library card I was a world traveler.

How did you get involved with teaching?

I was not a natural teacher. I was not born to be a teacher. In fact, from childhood to this day, I鈥檝e suffered from a debilitating fear of public speaking. Every time I have to give a reading or a speech, I die a million little deaths right up until the time I open my mouth to speak. And the first thirty seconds are a horror show inside my beating heart. But if I push through that first thirty seconds, I鈥檓 OK if not golden.

But I wanted to study English Lit and Creative Writing, and the only way to pay tuition and rent was to get teaching assistantships, first at Ohio State, then at Johns Hopkins. So I got into teaching by鈥� teaching. And then I discovered that, once the nerves wore off, I was pretty good at teaching, since teaching is all about questioning. And I鈥檝e always been good at asking questions.

What inspired you to write 鈥淭he Zero Theorem鈥�?

The Book of Ecclesiastes. Seriously. That鈥檚 the book in the Old Testament that asks the major questions. What is the value of life? What is the meaning of existence? What鈥檚 the use?

So yeah, there was the original inspiration, but once I got working on it, I just had to make the script funny. There鈥檚 no use in living a life you can鈥檛 laugh at.

You sent your script to producer Dean Zanuck 10 years ago. What has the process been since then?

It鈥檚 been a real roller-coaster ride of high hopes followed by dashed dreams. First Dean鈥檚 father Richard Zanuck got Ewan McGregor onboard to play the lead, but then EwMac dropped out. Then it was Billy Bob Thornton with Terry Gilliam slated to direct, but the plan was to shoot in London, and BBT nixed that, as he has a phobia of antiques, and London is apparently full of old stuff. Really. Then it was the same players ready to shoot in Vancouver, but then Terry Gilliam pulled the plug, as he was still working on his 鈥淚maginarium of Doctor Parnassus鈥� after Heath Ledger鈥檚 untimely death put that show behind schedule.

And during all of this, it seemed like an endless cycle of rewriting. But through all the ups and downs, Dean Zanuck has been a champion of this project from day one till now. He never lost faith, even when I did. He truly deserves all the credit for this movie coming to fruition.

What is it like to see your idea turn into a film featuring Hollywood stars such as Christoph Waltz and Matt Damon?

It鈥檚 been a real trip. My wife Mary and I flew to Romania for a week of shooting, and the first thing Terry Gilliam did was send us to wardrobe so we could serve as extras in this one scene鈥攐ne of my favorite scenes, in fact. We worked two days straight, me actually doing some rewrites on the set as I was being filmed sitting at a park bench in the background. It was the best way for me to feel truly involved.

And everyone there, cast and crew alike, treated us like royalty.

Meeting Christoph Waltz and Matt Damon was a dream come true. Christoph was a real gentleman and a tireless worker. He was in every scene, and he still made time to talk to everyone on the set. And Matt Damon鈥� well, he shook my hand and said, 鈥淕reat script, man!鈥� So now I can die and go to heaven. My wife and I have a picture standing with Matt Damon and Terry Gilliam that will go on my Facebook page just as soon as the movie is released. I鈥檓 such a fanboy!

What was the most challenging part about getting your script made into a movie?

The very first challenge, of course, was writing the damn thing. I wrote the first draft in ten days. It was 145 pages long, and I had no idea what I was doing. I simply checked out some screenwriting books from the 麻豆原创 library, along with several screenplays. Coincidentally enough, one of those screenplays was Terry Gilliam鈥檚 鈥淏razil.鈥�

And after that came draft after draft, rewrite after rewrite. With each new player who came on board, there was another rewrite.

But I think the main challenge for me was keeping up my interest in the project over the span of a decade. Let鈥檚 face it, I was ready to move on. After 鈥淶ip-T,鈥� as we came to call it, I wrote three other features, two of which got some notice in festival competitions, and I was continuing to write short stories and some poetry鈥� but it all kept coming back to 鈥淭he Zero Theorem.鈥� Every time I thought the project was dead in the water, a failed effort behind me, I鈥檇 get a call from Dean Zanuck revving me back up on the thing. Dean has been a heroic producer. Slow and steady and with endless faith that, as he told me repeatedly, 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to make this movie, Pat.鈥�

Turns out he was right after all.

What do you love most about your job at 麻豆原创?

What I love most about my job at 麻豆原创 is that, although they call me 鈥淧rofessor,鈥� the truth is I鈥檓 just an overgrown student who鈥檚 never graduated college. I鈥檝e earned degrees, sure, but I鈥檝e never graduated to the thing that comes after education, whatever that may be. I鈥檝e been able to stay a student at heart through my whole career. My students are my colleagues. We鈥檙e all learning together. The day I don鈥檛 learn something new in the classroom is the day I need to retire and take up a know-it-all hobby like golf or political blogging.

What do you do for fun?

For one thing, I watch a lot of movies, and I mean a lot. And I read a lot. Books, scripts, student manuscripts, what have you.

But for true fun, I like to cook. Give me a Giada de Laurentiis recipe, and I鈥檓 in heaven. Love to cook, love to watch people enjoy what I鈥檝e prepared. Actually, cooking is a lot like writing. You鈥檙e not cooking if nobody鈥檚 eating, and you鈥檙e not writing if nobody鈥檚 reading.

As a writer, what are your favorite things to read?

A list way too long to get into that ranges from highbrow lit to lowbrow potboilers. I鈥檓 a fairly voracious reader unencumbered by my snooty literary education. In the past year I鈥檝e read books by literary luminaries such as Don DeLillo, Jennifer Egan, David Foster Wallace, Meg Wolitzer, etc., etc., but I鈥檝e also read books by Stephen King, Stieg Larsson, and even the first book of E.L. James鈥� 鈥淔ifty Shades of Grey.鈥� Like I said, I鈥檓 a reader.

What is the one thing you want people to know about you or your work?聽

About me: I make the best fish taco in the state. Ask anybody who鈥檚 ever eaten them. About my work: Writing ain鈥檛 rocket science鈥� and it鈥檚 probably not brain surgery either鈥� but when you鈥檙e at the keyboard and on a roll, it鈥檚 like blasting off for unknown worlds inside your own skull. That鈥檚 the passion my students and I share.

The program was awarded the Writing Program Certificate of Excellence, which is given to up to 20 programs a year that imaginatively address the needs of those they serve while using best practices and effective assessment. Since 1949, the Conference on College Composition and Communication has been the world鈥檚 largest professional organization for researching and teaching composition.

Faculty and staff from 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Writing and Rhetoric, which oversees the first-year composition program, will accept the award at the conference鈥檚 annual convention in March.

鈥淥ur department is honored to be recognized in this way,” said聽Elizabeth Wardle, department chair and interim director of first-year composition. “Our first-year composition program has undergone extensive and very positive changes over the past three years, and we are pleased to see that these changes have been noticed nationally.鈥�

麻豆原创鈥檚 first-year program is exemplary because of its experienced faculty, small class sizes, nationally known pedagogy and peer-reviewed student publication, Stylus. The program also hosts the annual Knights Write Showcase聽 to highlight the exceptional works produced by first-year writers.

Launched in 2010, the Department of Writing and Rhetoric also provides writing opportunities for students beyond the first year through its writing and rhetoric undergraduate programs, which include a degree in writing and rhetoric and certificate in public and professional writing, and writing graduate programs, which include a master’s degree in rhetoric and composition and graduate certificate in professional writing.

The department also offers writing-related assistance, training and research opportunities to students and faculty from all disciplines. That assistance has been offered through the writing-across-the-curriculum program and the University Writing Center, which since October have been housed in the new Center for Writing Excellence on the first floor of Colbourn Hall.

The 麻豆原创 Center for Writing Excellence celebrated its grand opening last week in a newly renovated space on the first floor of Colbourn Hall.

The space is home to the University Writing Center and the Writing Across the Curriculum program, which are part of the Department of Writing and Rhetoric. That department also includes the First-Year Composition program as well as undergraduate and graduate-degree programs in writing.

The University Writing Center provides individual and small-group consultations for undergraduate and graduate students from all majors. Founded in 1997, the center employs 32 student-tutors and last year saw more than 8,000 consultations. Remote writing-center consultation stations also have been established in the 麻豆原创 Library and at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management campus, in addition to regional campuses in Cocoa and Daytona Beach.

The Writing Across the Curriculum program was initiated in 2010 by 麻豆原创 President John C. Hitt to help faculty from all disciplines assign and respond to student writing. The work is accomplished through faculty consultations, workshops and assistance with developing writing assignments for classes of all sizes. In the past year, the Writing Across the Curriculum program has worked with 50 faculty members from 12 departments, including Chemistry, Nursing and Mathematics.

At the grand opening of the Center for Writing Excellence, Hitt announced a $30,000 endowment by the Atkins Foundation to improve the written and oral communication skills of STEM students. Atkins, one of the world鈥檚 leading engineering and design consultancies, employs more than 100 麻豆原创 graduates. The endowment will allow the center to create innovative programs related to specialized writing instruction and tutoring for students in STEM disciplines.

To learn more about the Department of Writing and Rhetoric, visit .

All of these programs (with the exception of University of Arkansas and Ohio State) will need to spend much more time on their online promotional materials in order to make the jump from this list to the bigger one: the Top 50 national rankings, as published by Poets & Writers. Applicants to these (and, really, all) programs need to know precisely what percentage of incoming students receive the equivalent of a full tuition waiver and a livable stipend, as well as see some hard data on how selective their target programs are. Until that happens, most of these programs will continue to be unjustly underrated rather than justly highly-ranked. And, not for nothing, nearly all of these programs (with a few notable exceptions: Florida State, Iowa State, Ohio State, University of Arkansas, University of Miami, and University of Texas at Austin, all fully funded programs) could do with even more full-funding packages for incoming students.

For those keeping count, this is the second year this list has been compiled. Last year’s list can be found . Feel free to discuss these and other programs in the comments section below.

Source: Huffington Post, HUFFPOST COLLEGE,聽.聽Posted: 04/18/11 11:23 AM ET, by Seth Abramson.

A graduate of Dartmouth College, Harvard Law School and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Seth Abramson is the author of two collections of poetry, Northerners (Western Michigan University Press, 2011), winner of the 2010 Green Rose Prize, and The Suburban Ecstasies (Ghost Road Press, 2009). Presently a doctoral candidate in English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he is also the co-author of the forthcoming third edition of The Creative Writing MFA Handbook (Continuum, 2012).

Surya 鈥� as he鈥檚 called by his friends 鈥� ranked 21st among U.S. scientists.

鈥淚 am happy and humbled,鈥� Suryanarayana said. 鈥淚t means a lot to me because it is recognition from my peers.鈥�

The 100 researchers named in the listing represent the very best in their fields based on the number of times their research publications have been cited by others, as well as the quality of their own publications.

Suryanarayana, who was fascinated by English literature during his undergraduate studies, almost became an English major. But a couple of science professors convinced him otherwise to the benefit of the science world.

鈥淭hey convinced me that engineering had better prospects and that materials science was an upcoming area,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 am happy that I listened to them since I feel that I have a very fulfilling career. There is so much more to learn and discover that I have continued to stay fascinated by my work.”

Suryanarayana has had a distinguished career developing novel materials such as nanostructured monolithic and composite materials, improved intermetallics, and (bulk) metallic glasses. Many of these materials have potential applications in aerospace and other industries.

He has degrees in engineering, metallurgy, math, physics and chemistry. He has published more than 300 academic research papers and more than 20 technical books. Suryanarayana also is a popular educator, taking on several visiting professor invitations at such institutions as Oxford University, Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, and Helmut-Schmidt University in Hamburg, Germany, among many others.

His proudest moment so far dates back to 1975. Indira Gandhi, the then-Prime Minister of India, gave him the Indian National Science Academy鈥檚 Young Scientists Medal, which was reserved for researchers under the age of 30 who have made significant contributions to science, technology, or medicine and hold much potential for the future. 聽Since then, he has earned several other awards including the National Metallurgists鈥� Day Award of the Government of India and fellowships including the ASM International and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in London.

Prior to joining 麻豆原创 in 2001, Suryanarayana worked at the Colorado School of Mines, the Institute for Materials and Advanced Processes at the University of Idaho, as the Senior Associate of the National Research Council at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, and at the Banaras Hindu University. Today he continues his research, teaches and sits on several scientific journals鈥� editorial committees.

His advice for young scientists is simple.

鈥淚 am of the opinion that it takes time for someone to make an impact in any scientific discipline,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to work hard and in a sustained manner in one鈥檚 own specialization.鈥�

The book will be released Friday, Aug. 13.

An official description of the essays says, “The constellation of Hollywood stars burned brightly in the 1950s, even as the industry fell on hard economic times. Major artists of the 1940s鈥擩ames Stewart, Jerry Lewis, and Gregory Peck鈥攃ontinued to exert a magical appeal but the younger generation of moviegoers was soon enthralled by an emerging cast, led by James Dean and Marlon Brando.

They, among others, ushered in a provocative acting style, 鈥渢he Method,鈥� bringing hard-edged, realistic performances to the screen. Adult-oriented small-budget dramas were ideal showcases for Method actors, startlingly realized when Brando seized the screen in On the Waterfront. But, with competition from television looming, Hollywood also featured film-making of epic proportion鈥擝en-Hur and other cinema wonders rode onto the screen with amazing spectacle, making stars of physically impressive performers such as Charlton Heston.”

Barnes & Noble, which is currently offering a pre-ordered paperback version for $17.96, reviewed the book, stating: “‘Larger Than Life’ offers a comprehensive view of the star system in 1950s Hollywood and also in-depth discussions of the decade’s major stars, including Montgomery Clift, Judy Holliday, Jerry Lewis, James Mason, Marilyn Monroe, Kim Novak, Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Jayne Mansfield, and Audrey Hepburn.”