Out of this World!

The coveted Moonman: MTV’s version of the Grammy, was granted to a Miami University first year student and his band from Springfield, IL. This specific Moonman award, the “Best Performance in a Pepsi Rock Band Video,” is a new category created this year by Pepsi and Rock Band. A national call for bands to make a music video of themselves playing Rock Band resulted in over 650 submissions, and the top five videos were voted on by fans to determine a winner. This Miami student and his band, “Nerds in Disguise,” were featured on the MTV Video Music Awards this week and will appear in November’s issue of Spin Magazine.

Speaking of Moonmen, astronaut Al Worden, one of only 24 men who have been to the moon, will be on campus next week to present an award to yet another Miami University student. This student was recently awarded a $10,000 scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. This award is the biggest merit-based scholarship given to science and engineering undergraduate students. A merit-based award is one that is granted solely on the basis of academic achievement, whereas need-based aid is given to students based on financial need. Don’t worry, Miami distributes both through our Office of Student Financial Assistance (www.muohio.edu/sfa). Miami University is one of only 19 schools in the country who is eligible to nominate students for the Astronaut Scholarship, and only 17 scholarships are given to students nationwide. Miami University is proud that our students accomplish so much in undergraduate research that they are able to compete and win for these nationally recognized scholarships.

Thanks for reading!
Mandy