Clifton / CUF

Resting on a hill overlooking the north side of Cincinnati, Clifton offers a wide range of experiences from a college atmosphere with the city's largest school, the University of Cincinnati, to an international center for cutting-edge medicine featuring University, Children's and Good Samaritan hospitals. Clifton's history has been preserved in historical buildings and homes — from modest to millionaire. Trendy shops and restaurants can be found on Ludlow Avenue in the Gaslight District, along with the Esquire Theatre, yoga studios, Clifton Market and a newly renovated branch of the Cincinnati Public Library. Even though Clifton is tightly compacted with large buildings and interesting architecture, green space does exist at Burnet Woods.

Craft beer bar on tap for late summer at U-Square at the Loop

By Newsroom

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Development News

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April 30, 2013

About a year ago, Cincinnati native Mic Foster started thinking about opening a craft beer and cocktail bar in town. In the end, he decided to open a Brass Tap franchise at U-Square at the Loop. “Cincinnati is having a craft beer renaissance, and I felt Brass Tap was a good match, and this was a good place to start developing the bars,” says Foster. Jeff Martin founded Brass Tap in Tampa, Fl., and traditionally, most of the bars are in Florida. But soon, a few of the beer and wine bars will start cropping up in the Midwest, Foster says. Cincinnati’s Brass Tap doesn’t have an official opening date yet, but Foster hopes to have it up and running by the time the school year gets underway. He wants Brass Tap to be a destination for those who love craft beer, as well as a place for students to hang out with their friends. Brass Tap will focus solely on craft beer—there will be 80 craft beer taps, with 20 of them designated for local brews. The bar will also offer 300 bottles of craft beer. While the menu doesn't include liquor, there will be a wine list for non-beer-drinking patrons. The beer-centered bar will also have a limited food menu that includes pretzels and mini pizzas on pretzel crusts. Patrons can also catch live music at Brass Tap Thursday through Saturday. “Brass Tap is a bar bar where people can go for happy hour,” says Foster. And if you want to catch a game, Brass Tap will have 25 hi-def TVs and a projector, he says. Foster also wants to bring more beer education to Cincinnati. “There are lots of educated beer drinkers in town, but craft beer can be an intimidating situation for someone who doesn’t know what they’re looking for,” he says. Foster is spending a lot of time educating his staff and hiring knowledgeable people who can help patrons learn more about craft beer in a relaxed environment. By Caitlin Koenig Follow Caitlin on Twitter

DAAP grad embraces innovation, nurtures young Design Geniuses

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Architecture + Design

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April 30, 2013

Rebecca Huffman’s circuitous route to UC’s Fashion Design program both inspired and informed her non-traditional senior thesis, Design Genius. More methodology than consumer good, Design Genius is a learning module that teaches students the value of education and the building blocks of problem-solving as they design their own products. Unveiled at UC’s DAAPWorks, Design Genius takes a fresh approach to making learning relevant for kids of all ages, which is exactly what recent grad Huffman, 24, who works for LPK, wanted. “I knew that I wanted to do something that would help kids,” says Huffman, who spent a year working as a preschool teacher before starting her design training at DAAP. As she considered what her culminating project for college would be, she thought back to a studio class in which she’d designed and created a real project, then put it up for sale in real life. Through that process, and its embrace of design-thinking, she saw the value of the disparate classes she’d taken through her academic career, from math to marketing and writing to psychology. And she felt empowered. Her work as an LPK co-op increased her experience with design-thinking, an approach to problem-solving more often seen in Fast Company than elementary schools. “Design Genius is an attempt to solve the problem that our kids are facing by instilling a greater sense of educational purpose,” she says. She describes Design Genius on her website as “the culmination of five years of study and extensive research on the Creativity Quotient, Design Thinking in education, the concept of ‘failing forward,’ sociocultural trends impacting Generation Z, and the educational and social development of Tweens.” What that looked like, in the end, were three, one-and-a-half hour sessions in two schools—St. Ursula Villa and Pleasant Ridge Montessori—in three different classes. Fourth and fifth grade students examined case studies in the form of fictional diary entries. Then, they ideated, revised and designed real products to help solve the problems of their fictional “customers.” “They learned everything I was trying to teach them,” Huffman says. “It was amazing.” The students not only learned from the project, they loved it. Huffman received unprompted thank-you notes and testimonials when the students presented their products. She’s convinced that with a little tweaking, she can develop a fully functional learning module that can help young students not only design products, but create and sell them. By Elissa Yancey Follow Elissa on Twitter

UC professor leads national PTSD treatment study

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Education + Learning

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April 30, 2013

A University of Cincinnati professor is one of three leading investigators in a national study that is comparing two treatments for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. The 17-site, $9 million study will take about three years to complete, and it will involve approximately 500 veterans at VA medical facilities across the country, says UC Clinical Psychiatry Professor Kathleen Chard. Researchers will compare two proven PTSD treatments: Prolonged Exposure (PE), which allows patients to work through painful memories by re-experiencing traumatic events in safe and supportive environments, and to engage in activities they've avoided because of trauma. Prolonged exposure also emphasizes education about treatment, common reactions to trauma and breath retraining. Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), which focuses on patients' thoughts and feelings. This approach emphasizes how traumatic experiences changed the patients' thoughts and beliefs, and how those thoughts influence current feelings and behaviors. Patients identify and challenge unhelpful thoughts through structured therapy sessions and practice assignments. The Institute of Medicine and the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences have endorsed both PSTD treatments, which are used for both military and civilian patients. One of the study's goals will be to determine which treatment works better when a patient has other problems, like depression or substance abuse. Chard is co-author of the CPT military/veteran manual and the national CPT implementation director for the Department of Veterans Affairs. "Both are gold standard treatments, but what we don't know is, if I have patient 'X,' which one should I put them in," she says. "What we have now is informed patient choice. We tell them about the treatments and they can decide what to do. We don't have solid research about what works best." Chard is also director of UC's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience PTSD division, which is based at the Cincinnati Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center facility in Ft. Thomas. It likely will be one of the 17 testing sites. The findings of the study will have an impact that reaches beyond treatment for members of the military, as PTSD has been diagnosed in people who have never been in the miliary, but who have seen or lived through dangerous events, including survivors of physical and sexual assault, abuse, accidents and natural disasters. By Feoshia H. Davis Follow Feoshia on Twitter

New Nanowire Structure Has Potential To Increase Semiconductor Applications

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Cincy In The News

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April 30, 2013

There’s big news in the world of tiny things. New research led by University of Cincinnati physics professors Howard Jackson and Leigh Smith could contribute to better ways of harnessing solar energy, more effective air quality sensors or even stronger security measures against biological weapons such as anthrax. And it all starts with something that’s 1,000 times thinner than the typical human hair—a semiconductor nanowire. Read the full story here.

Solar-Powered Proteins Developed That Can Filter Antibiotics And Carcinogens From Water Read more at

By Newsroom

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Cincy In The News

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April 30, 2013

A solar-powered nano filter capable of filtering antibiotics and dangerous carcinogens from large bodies of water has been developed by researchers at the University of Cincinnati. Read the full story here.

UC College of Law faculty teach in, fund scholarships

By Newsroom

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Education + Learning

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April 30, 2013

When the Office of Admissions expressed concerns about declining enrollment within the University of Cincinnati College of Law, faculty members decided to take a proactive approach. “The thought was that because we’re small, it wouldn’t really take that much to make a difference in the composition of our class,” says professor Marjorie Aaron. Professor Christopher Bryant invited faculty members to talk about their concerns, and after a few meetings, the group proposed creating new scholarships that would be funded by faculty contributions. In order to raise funds, faculty would also host a teach-in, where local law professionals could receive continuing legal education, and in the process, ease the burden of financial debt for current and prospective students. More than $50,000 has been raised since the creation of the College of Law Faculty Scholarship Fund—with $10,000 raised in a single day at the March teach-in. “We went in with the focus to use what we do and what we like to do to help them, but there were a lot of unanticipated benefits, and maybe the most significant is that it really built a foundation for an ongoing relationship between the law school and what the needs are from the firms downtown,” Bryant says. “That was already happening, but I think we kind of institutionalized that in a way that gives real promise for the future. The mission of the university is to be a resource for the community—and there’s appetite for that.” And the verage student loan debt for UC Law’s 2012 graduates was about $84,140 per person, according to UC Law’s financial aid website. Student representatives were able to speak about the burden of loans at the teach-in. Aaron says their words echoed issues common in legal education today. “If you had a dream to work in public interest, it becomes much harder to do that when you have an enormous debt burden,” she says. “So they did talk about that fact, but also the idea that no one wants to make a foolish financial move when they’re starting out.” Since faculty members want their students to be able to pursue their passions, they’ve contributed $40,000 on their own to assist with funding. “We’re a really tiny faculty—we don’t have 30 people,” Aaron says. “But we really know our students and we care about our students, and that was true before the debt issue and it’s even more true now. And the fact that we were able to raise as much money as we did and generate the willingness to volunteer is a testament to how strongly we feel about supporting our students.” Do Good: • Support UC Law. • Volunteer your time and knowledge. • Like the University of Cincinnati College of Law on Facebook. By Brittany York Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.

Neighborhood business gives back through Dewey’s DewMore

By Newsroom

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For Good

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April 23, 2013

Dewey’s Pizza, which brands itself as a “neighborhood pizza place,” lives up to its name with DewMore—the restaurant’s nonprofit that's aimed at giving back to organizations within the community. “Dewey’s wouldn’t be a company without all the people from our local communities coming in, so we try to give back to them as best we can,” says Kevin Dern, DewMore’s initiative coordinator. Dern, who is 27 years old and a lifelong Cincinnatian, began his work with Dewey’s as a server at the restaurant’s Oakley location. He then transitioned into the role of coordinating events and making sure DewMore’s efforts were reaching full potential. The most popular events Dern leads are DewMore’s Pizza Schools. “We’ll open the store early on a Sunday morning,” Dern says. “And people will sit down like it’s a normal dining experience at Dewey’s, but then the server comes up and takes them back into the kitchen, and our kitchen staff will train them how to roll out the dough, toss the dough and make their own pizzas.” The nonprofit’s most recent success came as a result of a pizza school at the Kenwood location in which the program broke a DewMore record by raising $3,000 for the Ohio Valley chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The pizza schools are led entirely by Dewey’s employees. They're not getting paid, but instead volunteer to come in early. Dern says many of the servers and cooks share the vision of wanting to give back, which makes the pizza schools a fun experience for all involved. “Cooks teach the kids how to throw flour at the window—and the kids love coming in to the back—some of them get really into it,” Dern says. “The cooks even teach them how to use the paddles to put their pizzas into the oven, and adults get really into it too. They want to cut their own pizzas, and slice them for others—it’s a fun, unique experience that you can’t really get at many other restaurants.” According to Dern, the events not only allow community members to come together for a family-friendly, behind-the-scenes experience at Dewey’s Pizza, but it also allows them to enjoy the company of their neighbors—including those from the nonprofit in which the pizza school is benefitting—as they sit back, chat and enjoy each other’s pizza creations. “Dewey’s has always wanted this to be a fabric of the company,” Dern says. “We’re willing and flexible to get out there and do whatever we can to help the community.” Do Good: • Contact your local store's manager to suggest organizations with which to partner. • Like DewMore on Facebook to keep up with the latest events. • Contact Kevin Dern to learn more about DewMore initiatives. By Brittany York Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.

My Soapbox: Nick Shah, UC Presidential Leadership Medal of Excellence winner

By Caitlin Koenig

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General

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April 23, 2013

Nick Shah, who will graduate from the University of Cincinnati later this month, has already proven himself a 21st century Renaissance man. With a degree in biomedical engineering and a minor in Spanish, he'll start med school at UC this year, but he's already a fixture at the Ronald McDonald House, where he shares his talents as a pianist every week. Shah chats with Soapbox about his plans for the future and what he hopes to contribute to the world of medicine.

Cincinnati Montessori Society celebrates 50 years

By Newsroom

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Diversity

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April 16, 2013

Fifty years ago, a group of parents who were passionate about Maria Montessori’s philosophy of education developed the first Montessori preschool in the area. And following the preschool’s inauguration, the group formed the Cincinnati Montessori Society, a nonprofit whose focus is to promote Montessori education while serving as a resource to countless schools, teachers, parents and students in the community. “One of my favorite quotes is, ‘Follow the child,’” says Heather Gerker, vice president of CMS. “We meet the child where they are developmentally.” Montessori classrooms, which are both child-centered and composed of mixed age groups, are set up so that children can learn through a multisensory approach that allows them to figure things out at their own speed—and the philosophy works, Gerker says. At CMS’s Annual Spring Conference and celebration of 50 years of success, neuroscientist Dee Coulter delivered the keynote address. “This work that Maria Montessori did over 100 years ago is now being proven through neurological work happening now,” Gerker says. “[Coulter’s address] was really affirming and validating to the teachers there.” Not only were teachers excited to go back to work on Monday after hearing Coulter’s presentation, Gerker says, but they also had the opportunity to participate in breakout sessions that were aimed at providing strategies and insight that lead to better education. Topics ranged from promoting mindfulness through music to strategizing ways of better assisting children with ADD and autism. Gerker says she’s particularly passionate about the resources that CMS provides because they’re based on a philosophy that’s now scientifically proven, and she’s seen it work in the lives of her own children. “It gives them a solid sense of self, that they’re so independent and happy, which I think is the ultimate goal,” Gerker says. “I just want to make sure it’s available to all children.” Do Good: • Become a member of CMS. • Check out the resources offered by CMS. • Connect with CMS on Facebook. By Brittany York Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.

DAAP grad starts clothing line for kids

By Newsroom

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Architecture + Design

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April 16, 2013

When it came to starting a career, Mary Helen Boeddeker, 24, knew exactly what she wanted to do. As soon as she graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s DAAP program in June 2012, she started her own clothing line for kids. “I knew I wanted to start a brand in Cincinnati to make kids feel great, make moms happy and to bring manufacturing and design back to the United States,” says Boeddeker. Today, much of the clothing bought and sold in the U.S. is created overseas, but Boeddeker didn’t want that for her clothing line, Mary Helen Clothing. She does everything from designing the garments to sourcing fabric, to patterning and creating the clothing. Boeddeker was inspired to start Mary Helen Clothing by her late grandmother, Mary Helen. “She was all about being positive and being yourself,” she says. Mary Helen Clothing isn’t sold in stores. It’s available online and at trunk shows, where Boeddeker goes to customers’ houses and puts on fashion shows with their children. “I love when the girls put on my clothes and their faces light up,” Boeddeker says. Right now, Boeddeker’s main focus is clothing for young girls. But in March, she started a small collection for boys, and she has plans for a collection for moms as well. She also has a collection of unisex clothing in the works. By Caitlin Koenig Follow Caitlin on Twitter