A few weeks ago, associate professor of music Robert Eshbach found out that the house that belonged to Charles Ives (American composer, 1874-1954) was about to be sold and possibly torn down. He couldn’t stand by as this great piece of American history was lost.

“Charles Ives is our great American composer,” says Eshbach. “With an emphasis on ‘American.’ His music memorializes places in New England, as well as people like Emerson, Thoreau, and Alcott. It speaks to the American character. It is full of popular songs, hymn tunes, etc.—life as it was lived in 19th and early 20th century America.”

Ives had done much of his composing in his Arts and Crafts style house in West Redding, Connecticut.

“The Ives family has lived in the house ever since but has kept parts of it, including Ives’s music room, much as he left it when he died. Until just recently, his hat and canes were still on the desk, together with his music and papers. His piano is there… it’s sort of a...

A UNH professor is among a group of researchers who will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the worldwide essay contest the Laws of Life Essay Contest to determine if the project, sponsored by the Templeton Foundation, has a lasting impact on participants.

Victoria Banyard, professor of psychology, will join researchers at Sewanee University and Marquette University to conduct the study, which has been funded by a more than $1.1 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to Sewanee University.

“We know from past research that narratives about our lives are a component of well-being and also of changing our behavior in positive ways. We know that even relatively brief interventions that involve writing and narrative can have a positive impact on mood, health, and behavior. This study is an opportunity to investigate how a narrative exercise presented at a key moment in the lifespan, the transition from adolescence to adulthood, may act in conjunction with other...

Take just 20 minutes to find out how healthy you are and you’ll be rewarded with a $50 Visa gift card for taking steps to improve your health and well-being.

Earn your reward by completing the Harvard Pilgrim health questionnaire between Sept. 12 and Oct.15. You’ll gain valuable information about your health and lifestyle, and be able to identify areas for improvement. You’ll receive an immediate, easy-to-read summary profile, and information on what you can do to reduce risks by changing specific health behaviors.

If you’re a Harvard Pilgrim subscriber and you say “yes” to question 50 on the questionnaire, a certified Harvard Pilgrim personal health coach will contact you to help you plan and achieve health improvement goals.

To complete the questionnaire, have your height, weight, blood pressure, total and HDL cholesterol levels, and blood glucose level handy.

Note: Gift cards are...

UNH researchers and Conductive Compounds Inc. in Hudson recently received $450,000 from the National Science Foundation to help produce more conductive and cost-effective solar panels. The three-year grant, under the GOALI (Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry) program, will support the engineering of nanoparticles of silver suitable for screen-printing onto photovoltaic (PV) solar panels.

To generate electricity from the sun, solar panels must have metal on the top and bottom to create a positive and negative connection, like a battery. Coating the shaded bottom side is fairly easy, but on the top, panels are screen-printed with lines of silver fine enough that they maximize light exposure.

“But the ink that creates these lines is not nearly as conductive as pure silver,” says principal investigator Dale Barkey, professor of chemical engineering. “We’d like to produce inks that are much more conductive than the ones on the market.”

Nanoparticles...

Emily Gold, a first-year student at UNH, will serve as an official page with the New Hampshire delegation at the Democratic National Convention. Gold, 18, from Manchester, is majoring in political science. Here she is pictured with President Barack Obama during his visit to Durham in June 2012.

Emily Gold, a first-year political science student from Manchester, is starting her academic career at UNH with a once-in-a-lifetime experience serving as an official page to the New Hampshire delegation attending the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

Gold, 18, is the only UNH student serving in an official capacity as a page or delegate at either national political convention.

“Being selected as a...