Today's News Weekend Edition: Monday, Sept 24, 2012
Featured
Retiring VP Mulcahy retooled U research
If Tim Mulcahy seems noticeably relaxed these days, that's probably because he is. Like any soon-to-be retiree, Mulcahy, 61, is looking forward to a life of travel, photography and writing after he steps down as University of Minnesota's vice president of research in December. But more important, Mulcahy walks away from the job confident the university has pumped a steady flow of jobs and innovation into Minnesota's economy.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/business/170790866.html?refer=y
Itasca State Park: U of M biological station to undergo makeover
Nestled in a corner of Itasca State Park, overlooking the park’s namesake lake, is the University of Minnesota’s Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories. The biological station now is about to undergo a major renovation. “(The station) really is critical to the mission of the College of Biological Sciences, one of our premier colleges at the university,” said U of M President Eric Kaler.
Park Rapids Enterprise
http://www.parkrapidsenterprise.com/event/article/id/34223/
Minnesota Daily
http://www.mndaily.com/2012/09/21/itasca-breaks-ground-renovation
College counselor: A look at The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
If you’re willing to sacrifice the Mediterranean climate of California for the seasonally snowy plains of Minnesota, the University of Minnesota might warrant a review. The Twin Cities campus, with 35,000 undergraduates, is larger than Berkeley, UCLA, or Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. For out of state students, its cost of attendance is less than the in-state price of Berkeley or UCLA. As part of the Big Ten, and with its seven colleges offering more than 150 majors, ranging from Russian to Kinesiology, the University of Minnesota might be worth weathering the winter storms.
Gazettes (California)
http://www.gazettes.com/news/education/college-counselor-a-look-at-the-university-of-minnesota-twin/article_f06f8966-041d-11e2-a602-0019bb2963f4.html
Research
U's health survey to expand
The University of Minnesota’s Boynton Health Service signed a contract with the state last week to survey twice as many college campuses this spring when it conducts its 2013 College Student Health Survey.
Minnesota Daily
http://www.mndaily.com/2012/09/24/u’s-health-survey-expand
Business and Politics
Educating the future smart grid workforce
Not only is Massoud Amin a scholar and educator, he’s also considered the “father of the smart grid.” He’s a professor at the University of Minnesota, where he directs the Technological Leadership Institute, and he’s worked on research and development projects for a wide range of systems, including power grids, aviation and ground traffic control, Department of Defense logistic networks, and more. ...In this expanded Q&A, he shares insight into the history of the smart grid, where it’s going, and how the U.S. can educate the future smart grid workforce to remain globally competitive.
Government Technology
http://www.govtech.com/technology/Educating-the-Future-Smart-Grid-Workforce.html
America's accountability problem
"What's wrong with America?" Stephen Walt asks in a recent article in Foreign Policy. His answer: lack of accountability, especially among political pundits. ...Jane E. Kirtley, director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law at the University of Minnesota, will also join the discussion.
MPR
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/09/24/daily-circuit-lack-of-accountability/
Behind the Ballot: Sept. 24
So just what are the hottest races in Minnesota this election season? Director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Politics and Governance Larry Jacobs says the ad war between Republican incumbent Chip Craavack and former three-term Democratic Congressman Rick Nolan is ferocious.
WCCO
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/09/24/behind-the-ballot-sept-24/
Mycotoxins represent real threat to feed
When locating corn and soybean meal for your pigs in the upcoming months, you should be aware of possible contamination by mycotoxins. According to University of Minnesota Extension Specialist Mark Whitney, mycotoxins are a very real threat to pork producers, especially after unusual weather events such as drought.
National Hog Farmer
http://nationalhogfarmer.com/health/mycotoxins-represent-real-threat-feed
Commentary and Opinion
Editorial: Tuition escalator shows in Minnesota
Two signs that the long-running American higher-education tuition escalator is slowing and may be coming to a halt appeared in Minnesota in recent days, at two very different institutions. ...University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler proposed a two-year base undergraduate tuition freeze if the Legislature commits to increasing state support $14.2 million per year in each of the next two state fiscal years. By Star Tribune Editorial Board
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/170760866.html?refer=y
When did 'interdisciplinary' become the adjective we can't live without?
Everything should be interdisciplinary, right? Read the ads for the few openings in the humanities, and you will see that colleges will hire only specialists with an interdisciplinary focus and the propensity for critical thinking. Author Anatoly Liberman is a professor at the University of Minnesota, where he has taught medieval culture, German and other languages since 1975.
MPR
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/09/24/liberman/
Foreign policy makes 2012 campaign debut
The tragic killing of Chris Stevens (the U.S. ambassador to Libya), and the anti-American protests and violence in the Arab world and beyond, have raised a towering question: What will be the foreign policy of the next president? Author Eric P. Schwartz is dean of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Coauthor Lawrence R. Jacobs is the Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies and is the director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the Humphrey School and the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/170760956.html?refer=y
Updates and Events
Second BET conference comes to U
Bernice Johnson Reagon introduced the second Black Environmental Thought Conference at the University of Minnesota with a mix of lecture and song. ...BET 2 is a meeting for scholars, activists and environmentalists from the African Diaspora to rethink modern environmental traditions.
Minnesota Daily
http://www.mndaily.com/2012/09/24/second-bet-conference-comes-u
IonE launches sustainability program
The Institute on the Environment’s inbox is brimming with applications for its new sustainability program. More than 30 University of Minnesota students have already applied for the Sustainability Leadership Program, a program launched by the IonE this fall for undergraduates interested in looking critically at environmental issues.
Minnesota Daily
http://www.mndaily.com/2012/09/24/ione-launches-sustainability-program
Cadets hold 'Moment of Silence' for National POW/MIA Recognition Day
Cadets from the University of Minnesota's Air Force ROTC program held a silent vigil in honor of National POW/ MIA recognition day. They guarded a table at the TCF Bank Stadium's "Veterans Tribute Wall' during a moment of silence.
KSTP-TV
To Watch: http://kstp.com/article/stories/s2775988.shtml
SARS-like virus, type of coronavirus, detected in the Middle East
Global health officials are closely following a new respiratory virus related to SARS that is believed to have killed at least one person in Saudi Arabia and left another person in critical condition in Britain. "We don't know if this is going to turn into another SARS or if it will disappear into nothing," said Michael Osterholm, a flu expert at the University of Minnesota.
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/24/sars-like-virus-middle-east-coronavirus_n_1909054.html
Herald Tribune
http://health.heraldtribune.com/2012/09/24/hints-emerge-of-a-new-killer-virus/
Raptor Center releases 6 birds into wild
The University of Minnesota's Raptor Center says it saw a spike in the number of birds brought to its clinic this summer. Executive director Julia Ponder says in August and September the center took in about 40 more than its usual average of 300 birds. Six of them were released into the wild on Saturday at the Carpenter Nature Center in Hastings while thousands of spectators watched.
MPR
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/09/23/environment/raptor-release/
Year of the Woman? That was 1972
Several presidential campaign outrages ago, the buzz was all about contraception funding, invasive ultrasounds, the definition of rape, the GOP male understanding of reproductive biology, and the gender gap in pay and politics. The Republican candidate's wife felt obliged to declare her love for American women during GOP convention primetime. And the Humphrey School at the University of Minnesota summoned a visiting scholar to discuss the question: "Is 2012 the Year of the Woman?"
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/170760976.html
150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation
One hundred and fifty years ago this week on September 17, 1862, Union and Confederate soldiers fought one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War near Antietam Creek in northwest Maryland. The battle--Antietam--with its outcome as a Union victory provided President Abraham Lincoln with the necessary confidence to promulgate the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation which ultimately freed blacks enslaved in the Confederacy. ...Benjamin T. Jealous, the President and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), will be featured at the Anniversary Celebration Reception Dinner at the University of Minnesota on October 12. He will be addressing remedies to Racial and Ethnic Economic Inequality.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/local/yourvoices/170759756.html
News Releases and Multimedia
New University of Minnesota 'Driven to Discover' campaign aims to increase private support
The University of Minnesota is taking a unique approach to higher education marketing when it launches its new “Driven to Discover” campaign today. For the first time, the university’s branding and marketing will directly tie the value the university provides to the state with the importance of public and private investment in higher education.
UMNews
http://www1.umn.edu/news/news-releases/2012/UR_CONTENT_410985.html
The social lives of plants
One of the biggest joys of science comes when nature hands you a complete surprise. It happened recently to two of the U's most prominent ecologists and their research colleagues, who uncovered the functional equivalent of social networks in ordinary grassland plants.
UMNews
http://www1.umn.edu/news/features/2012/UR_CONTENT_410280.html