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Alliance seeks to help those with mental health needs

The National Science Foundation has suspended millions of dollars in research grants to the University of Connecticut after revelations that two UConn professors used more than $250,000 in grant money for no-bid purchases of equipment from a company they control.

The professors, founders of Aquatic Sensor Network Technology LLC, a marine sensor and communication technology firm in Storrs, used NSF funds to purchase 15 specialized acoustic modems from their company, according to a report by the state Auditors of Public Accounts.

In two of three purchase requisitions, faculty members with a stake in the company, known as AquaSeNT, signed a form that included the statement: “I certify that I have no financial or other beneficial interest in the vendor.” The suspension and expenditure restrictions will remain in effect until otherwise notified by NSF.”

UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said in a statement that the school would have blocked the modem purchases if the UConn employees “had disclosed their conflicts of interest as principals in the company from which the items were purchased.”

She said the university has since prevented the professors from obtaining new grants and removed them from other grants, and has strengthened internal reviews and controls. In a letter to the governor Friday, the auditors said UConn failed to promptly alert the auditors as required by law, and said the university initially responded to inquiries in February by claiming that the federal investigation only involved funds granted directly to AquaSeNT.

“The agency did not disclose to our office that this matter involved funds administered by UConn until we made it clear to UConn that we were already aware that it did,” auditors John C. He also said UConn officials should have procedures in place that would have allowed the university to discover the financial conflict of interest.

“We are concerned that state procurement laws were not followed, and that once UConn officials found out the accounts were frozen, they didn’t report it to us,” Geragosian said.

In the UConn statement, Reitz said the university and the auditors “have a difference of opinion about the timing of reporting” that is mandated when state agencies discover financial problems.

“UConn’s understanding of the statute is that reporting is required when allegations have been investigated and wrongdoing has been confirmed,” the statement said. “With this matter still under investigation by multiple agencies including but not limited to NSF and UConn the issue remains unresolved about whether allegations, in the absence of a conclusion, trigger the reporting requirement.”

The specific law requires alerting the auditors of “any unauthorized, illegal, irregular or unsafe handling or expenditure of state or quasi-public agency funds or breakdowns in the safekeeping of any other resources of the state or quasi-public agencies or contemplated action to do the same within their knowledge.”

The National Science Foundation has 230 active grants to the UConn, worth nearly $90 million.

2, 1990 file photo, entertainer Jerry Lewis makes his opening remarks at the 25th Anniversary of the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon fundraiser in Los Angeles. 2, 1990 file photo, entertainer Jerry Lewis makes his opening remarks at the 25th Anniversary of the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon fundraiser in Los Angeles.

NEW YORK (AP) The Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon, a Labor Day television tradition for decades, is ending.

MDA said Friday that “the new realities of television viewing and philanthropic giving” make it the right time to end the annual event, memorably hosted for most of its life by Jerry Lewis.

Celebrities including Frank Sinatra, John Lennon and Michael Jackson to Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez have performed on the telethon, first hosted by Lewis and Dean Martin in 1956.

Mudd Library on the campus of Lawrence University (Lawrence University photo)

APPLETON Area nonprofit organizations and other groups looking for funds have a new place to find information on grants.

Lawrence University says it has become a Funding Information Network partner of the Foundation Center of New York. grantmakers; Foundation Grants to Individuals Online; Philanthropy In/Sight; print directories and proposal writing guides.

A series of public events is also scheduled to help people learn more:

A community open house at Lawrence’s Mudd Library will be held Monday, May 11 from 4-7 p.m. It will include tours of the library, information on library resources available to the public and an introduction to the Funding Information Network resources.
On Tuesday, May 19 from 6:30-8 p.m., Lawrence will conduct the first of three “Introduction to Finding Grants” workshops in the Mudd Library. These hands-on workshops, led by members of Lawrence’s own grant-writing staff, will provide an overview of the grants landscape, basic strategies for identifying potential funding sources as well as a demonstration of “Foundation Directory Online.”
The workshop will be repeated Thursday, May 28 from 6:30-8 p.m.

Hazen High School senior Wendy Liang shares robotics insight with Tony Ventrella, Digital Media Host for Seahawks.com, at the Friends of Renton Schools Fundraising Breakfast, April 27.

The Renton business and school community got a peek at what the Renton School District has been up to with its science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs Monday during the sixth annual Friends of Renton Schools Fundraising Breakfast.

The audience got some insight on what students in the district have been learning with a snapshot of some of the gains the district has made in reading, math and STEM related programs.

From elementary students learning STEM concepts with LEGOs and worms to high schoolers winning robotics competitions, the district reported gains in these areas thanks in part to the added support of Friends of Renton Schools.

“Without your generosity we couldn’t go that extra mile,” said Superintendent Merri Rieger.

There has been significant growth in math and all elementary grades now exceed the state in the Measurements of Student Progress or MSP tests, Rieger said.

With another grant of $20,000 from First Financial Northwest Foundation and Friends of Renton Schools, all district elementary schools will have a robotics programs this spring and summer.

In Renton high schools, Rieger reported that there has been significant growth in math, biology and writing. Also according to the superintendent, the district now exceeds the state in students meeting the standard in biology.

Last year, Friends of Renton Schools was able to give the district $190,000 for after school STEM programs and summer science camps.

It also provides the community an opportunity to engage in education and really listen to the great things our teachers are doing,” Locke said.

The Naugatuck Education Foundation awarded the following grants:

Smart Music $1,800: Teachers Kathy Dravis and Michelle Beck at City Hill Middle School will purchase iPads with software that listens to students practice music and gives them immediate feedback about their pitch, whether they played in rhythm, etc.

Hillside Drama Club $3,000: Teacher Jenna Dufresne will purchase sound equipment for a drama club she started for students at Hillside Intermediate School.

World Music Drumming $5,300: Teacher Cathy Lungarini will purchase various percussion instruments and study cultures in Africa and across the Caribbean where drums are a predominant part of the culture. Students will learn music and culture.

STEM Lego Robotics $2,500: Cross Street Intermediate School teacher Maria Ryan will use the grant to teach students the basics of robotics and introduce STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects.

“I See It” $500: Naugatuck High School science teacher Beth Lancaster will use the money to buy tools that allow students to use their smartphones as microscopes.

Unified Sports $8,000: Naugatuck High School Athletic Director Tom Pompei will implement Unified Sports at Naugatuck High School and City Hill Middle School.

Learning in Motion $2,000: Hop Brook Elementary School teachers Rachel Maher, Dawn Nemeth, and Nadja Murtishi will use exercise balls and pedal machines at desks to help students who need to be active remain focused on the lesson.

Active Sitting $3,500: Hillside Intermediate School Teacher Pam Rotatori and sixth grader Jay Barth will use exercise balls and pedal machines at desks to help students who need to be active remain focused on the lesson.

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COMCAST FOUNDATION GRANTS OVER $100,000 TO CALIFORNIA STATE PTA IN SUPPORT OF DIGITAL LITERACY CURRICULUM FOR PARENTS | Multichannel Closing the digital divide is a top priority for Comcast and we are excited to partner with the California State PTA to bring this new curriculum to parents,” said Hank Fore, Senior Vice President of Comcast’s California Region.

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A handful of umbrella organizations holding reserves of charitable funds for thousands of donors were able to direct that money to recommended relief organizations at the online direction of donors, with no checkbooks involved.

One might call it charitable rapid response and it demonstrates the value of an aspect of the fast-growing universe of donor-advised funds that has, surprisingly, been controversial but should not be: the financial reserves held in individual accounts managed by major national financial-services firms.

It is no secret in the philanthropy world that the number of donor-advised fund accounts, especially those housed at what might be called national advised-fund organizations, have dramatically increased in recent years. philanthropic landscape, the undisbursed funds of donor-advised fund accounts have drawn fire.

It is true that major financial-services firms earn fees for the management of assets, but such fees would be incurred whether funds were held in charitable accounts or brokerage accounts. Fidelity, which manages 15 mutual funds for those with accounts in Fidelity Charitable, sets fees (by independent boards of those respective funds) ranging from 0.07 to 1.17 percent. In other words, there is no evident reason to be concerned that charitable organizations which had relied on annual, individual checks will be ignored in a more DAF-centric system even as the remainder balances of the advised funds hold the potential for increased giving over time.