Now, computer science may not have the most glamorous image in the world. But the computer scientists we know do some pretty cool things. They're investigating ways to help protect the nation's power grid, developing a bioinformatics process to help study the morphology of baby, just-out-of-the-tadpole-stage frogs, and looking at ways to improve search-engine performance. UMR's computer science department also has up to four Ph.D.-level GAANN fellowships available for the right candidates.

Now comes the news that some academic administrators think the discipline just needs a cooler name. The discipline that gave us social networking sites seems to also be moving toward developing a social computing branch that better incorporates sociology, psychology, and communication theory alongside programming.

Maybe showing prospective students how computer science can change the world offers a better way to spiff up the discipline's image. Some UMR students have been working on that approach in their efforts to attract more females to the discipline. Their work involves a computerized "game" of sorts to show elementary school girls that computer science can be fun, and socially relevant. And as UMR will show the world soon through its designation as Missouri's first NSA-designated center for cyber-security education, computer science is also important to our national security.