September 18, 2003

1. Private donations to U set record
2. Bringing Gopher football back to campus
3. Care for your pet’s oral health
4. M is on its way
5. Mackay: “Changing the World You Live In”
6. Fighting skin cancer with topical tea
7. Raising grandkids: concerns of the grandparent
8. For the love of all things American Indian
9. U of M Happenings
10. Links

U NEWS

Private donations to U set record
Campaign Minnesota raised nearly $1.66 billion in cash and pledges during its seven-year fund-raising effort, surpassing its original goal of $1.3 billion. It is the second most successful fund-raising campaign of any public university in the nation

The U celebrates the $1.66 billion in cash and pledges raised over its seven-year fund-raising effort.

More than 220,000 individuals, foundations, and other organizations contributed to the campaign, including 85,600 alumni and 11,000 faculty and staff. Nearly half--113,000--were first-time donors to the University.

“A wonderful outcome of the campaign was that we were able to make connections with so many people about the work of the University and show alumni and friends how they could help,” says U alumnus Russell Bennett, volunteer chair of the campaign. “I have been very touched by how much people care about this University.”

During the campaign, 338 donors gave $1 million or more--19 gave $5 to $10 million and 17 gave more than $10 million.

As a result of Campaign Minnesota, the U has tripled its scholarship and fellowship funding; built, expanded, or renovated more than 25 facilities; and created 110 new endowed faculty chairs and professorships. Private support provides about 12 percent of the University’s revenues each year, and donors designate about 98 percent of their gifts for specific uses.

“Campaign Minnesota has set a new standard for the University in its fund-raising goals, and even though it was a great success, we will not be taking a break from fund-raising,” says Bruininks. “The need for private support is actually greater than ever--to help students meet the cost of tuition, to maintain the quality of our programs, and to support critical areas of research.”

To learn more about the impact of gifts to U students, research, faculty, and outreach, see www.giving.umn.edu.

--University of Minnesota Foundation

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Bringing Gopher football back to campus
On Sept. 5, the University announced that 1958 alum T. Denny Sanford has proposed a $35 million contribution to create a matching gift fund for the construction of a new Gopher football stadium and field on the Twin Cities campus. As eNews goes to press, the details of the gift agreement are under negotiation.

“We have heard from students, faculty, staff, fans, alumni, and neighbors a great deal of support for bringing Gopher football back to campus,” said University President Bob Bruininks, in making the announcement. “There is significant interest in creating a true Big Ten football experience that will build community and rekindle pride in the University.”

Among the University’s priorities are to ensure that a stadium development advances the U’s academic mission; is financially feasible; and meets high standards of fairness, integrity, and sound business practice in its planning, development and construction.

As has been widely reported in the Twin Cities media, an initial stipulation by Sanford that the gift would not be received until the stadium is completed would be unacceptable to the University.

“The University is a public institution. Our foremost priority is to safeguard public resources and limit undue financial risk,” said Bruininks. “We need a substantial private contribution up front in order to reduce the overall cost of the project, limit financial risk to the University and to motivate other generous gifts, which will be necessary to make this dream come true.”

The University is currently undertaking an extensive evaluation of the feasibility of bringing Gopher football back to campus. That study, expected to be completed by November, will look at facility requirements; amenities, such as locker rooms, concessions, box and club seating; construction, development, and operation costs; the potential for private fundraising; market demand and revenue opportunities; and the potential for academic and student uses of such a facility.

“Our vision for this facility extends far beyond football,” said Bruninks. “A new stadium could provide a highly symbolic new center of community life for the University community. It could be a place for the student body to gather with family, faculty, and friends for all-university events such as convocation and graduation; a home for the marching band; and possibly a place for academic and research activities. The facility could be a catalyst to further engage students in University life. That engagement, in turn, inspires and supports student academic success.”

--University of Minnesota News Service

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Care for your pet’s oral health
According to the American Veterinary Dental Society, 80 percent of dogs and 70 percent of cats show signs of oral disease by age three. To keep your pet’s periodontal problems at bay, University of Minnesota veterinarian Gary Goldstein recommends routinely lifting your pet’s lip and examining its mouth.

One of the warning signs of oral disease in dogs and cats is a broken or cracked tooth.

Look for the following warning signs, because if left untreated these problems could lead to heart, lung, liver, and kidney disease as bacteria in the mouth spreads.

Goldstein directs the Dentistry Service at the U’s Veterinary Medical Center on the Twin Cities campus in St. Paul. The clinic treats primarily dogs and cats, and most come in for periodontal therapy or cleaning and polishing, root canals (because of fractured teeth), malocclusion or bite abnormality repair, and oral surgery that includes surgical and non-surgical extractions (because of oral tumors or fractures).

“We see on average about 25 to 30 cases a week,” he says. “These numbers are significant because they show the huge need for veterinary dentistry in our community and that clients are demanding high quality care for their ‘family members.’”

The U’s vet school is one of four in the country to have a full-time dental service. The clinic opened in April 2002, “and in just over a year, we have become one of the busiest,” adds Goldstein. Clinic hours are Monday to Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

To learn more about the clinic or to make an appointment, call 612-625-8156. For dental hygiene tips, see www.petcare.umn.edu/JrSci/Dental.htm. To learn more about the U’s Veterinary Medical Center, see www.ahc.umn.edu/ahc_content/colleges/vetmed.

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M is on its way
Look for the fall issue of M--the University’s only publication for all alumni, faculty, staff, donors, and friends--coming to you soon. Read about the reasons for tuition increases at the U; the adjunct professor who designed Minneapolis’s Mill City Museum; the jazzy new West Bank Arts Quarter; University research on women and smoking; and alumnus and state representative Cy Thao.

If you don’t receive M, but would like to, please e-mail the editor at editorUR@umn.edu and she’ll put you on the mailing list.

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Mackay: “Changing the World You Live In”
Vital Speeches of the Day, a magazine known for presenting the “best thoughts of the best minds” on current national questions, has published the speech delivered by Harvey Mackay at the University of Minnesota Alumni Association’s annual celebration and 100th Anniversary Kick-Off last May.

In his speech, “Changing the World You Live In,” Mackay spoke about his experiences at the U and the importance of public education. “Nowhere in the United States is there a deeper esteem for public education than right here in our home state,” he said. “Education is expensive. But letting public education slide is more expensive.”

University of Minnesota alum Harvey Mackay.

Mackay encouraged alumni to keep learning all of their lives. “It is said that you learn as long as you live,” he said. “Wrong . . . You learn as long as you try.” Mackay’s advice for success was simply: listen, read, learn, change, and above all, visualize [the result you want]. “Odds are good you’ll change the times you live in and the world around you,” he says.

Mackay, a U graduate and past alumni association president, is founder of the Minneapolis-based Mackay Envelope Company and author of four New York Times bestsellers, including Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive and Pushing the Envelope.

Mackay’s speech appeared in the August 15 issue of Vital Speeches. You can also read it at www.alumni.umn.edu/mackay.

--University of Minnesota Alumni Association

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Fighting skin cancer with topical tea
University of Minnesota researchers are in the early stages of developing a tea-based cream that would minimize the cancer-causing effects of ultraviolet rays. The study that prompted this development has received media coverage across the nation and in the United Kingdom.

Can tea help fight cancer? University of Minnesota researchers say yes. Photo by Jerry Fess.

In the study, Zigang Dong and other researchers from the U‘s Hormel Institute as well as Rutgers University discovered that chemicals called polyphenols--found in green and black tea--interfered with a key process that turns a normal cell into a cancer cell. Caffeine, a well-known component of tea, was found to block UV light-induced carcinogenesis in previous studies by Rutgers investigators.

Dong and his colleagues shined UVB light (the ultraviolet rays that cause skin cancer) and applied a substance called TPA, which promotes tumor formation, on the shaven backs of mice. Some mice were also swabbed with a solution containing polyphenols; those mice showed relatively little of the biochemical activity that leads to cancer, compared to mice in the controlled group. A similar result was seen in cultured human and mouse epidermal cells.

“Blocking UV light is the best prevention, but sometimes people cannot avoid going out in the sun," Dong says. “We hope to develop a cancer preventive agent for those people. “Hence, the polyphenol-based cream that Dong and his colleagues are working on. The cream could supplement the UV light-absorbing sunscreens currently in use, he adds.

You could reach the same levels of tea polyphenols used in the experiments by drinking tea, but Dong says you‘d need to drink seven cups a day of strong tea to even come close.

To learn more about the U‘s Hormel Institute located in Austin, Minn., see www.hi.umn.edu.

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Kinship care: grandparents raising grandkids
The number of children raised by their grandparents jumped from 23,000 in 1990 to 47,679 in 2000. The concerns of a grandparent raising a grandchild were revealed in a University of Minnesota study released on the 25th anniversary of Grandparents Day Sept. 7.

To learn more about child welfare research at the U’s School of Social Work, see the U’s Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare at http://ssw.che.umn.edu/cascw.

U assistant professors of social work Priscilla Gibson and Yat-sang (Terry) Lum have found that a grandparent’s greatest fear while caring for his or her grandchild is that the child will participate in antisocial behavior. Most grandparents are also concerned about the child’s education, the child’s emotional and mental health, and appropriate discipline techniques. The caregivers also thought a lot about their own health and were surprised by the exhaustion from and demands of being parents again.

Gibson and Lum interviewed about 100 Minnesota families between May 2002 and March 2003, where grandparents were the primary caregivers for their grandchildren. The average age of the grandparents was 64; the grandchildren averaged 13 years old. Fifty-nine percent of the living arrangements came at the request of a parent, while a small number were made at the request of the child. According to the grandparents, their grandchildren’s overall quality of life was a lot worse before they came under their care.

Caregivers in the study were predominantly white, from the Twin Cities area, married, and highly educated, but researchers say this sample may not represent the majority of kinship care-giving arrangements. The study does show, though, the rising trend of grandparents raising grandchildren that is impacting many families in the nation. The Minnesota Board on Aging and Minnesota Kinship Caregivers Association sponsored the study.

To learn more about child welfare research at the U’s School of Social Work, see the U’s Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare at http://ssw.che.umn.edu/cascw.

Editor’s note: The U’s Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare is cosponsoring a conference, “Unplanned Parenthood II: Grandparents and Others Raising Children of Kin,” on Monday, Oct. 6, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., at the Earle Brown Continuing Education Center on the U’s Twin Cities campus in St. Paul. The cost is $26 for kinship caregivers and $85 for professionals. To register, call 612-624-4231 or 651-917-4641.

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For the love of all things American Indian
The American Indian Cultural House, a pilot program at the University of Minnesota aimed at helping American Indian students adjust to campus life, is the first of its kind among Big Ten universities and third in the nation after Harvard and Dartmouth.

Located in Comstock Hall on the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis, the cultural house is a co-ed, living and learning community for incoming American Indian students or freshmen interested in American Indian culture.

“The goal of the cultural house is to provide a supportive community where the academic experiences of students will be nurtured and enriched,” explains Jillian Berkland, a recruiter in the University’s Office of Admissions and founder of the cultural house. “It will also help students make friends and find their niche on campus.”

Students from the U's American Indian Cultural House--(left to right) Julia Littlewolf, Cyless Peterson, and Shea Fleming--share smiles during the open house on Saturday, Sept. 13.

Berkland says the house, a partnership between the U’s Department of American Indian Studies and the Office of Housing and Residential Life, is an important addition to the campus because many first-year American Indian students were having trouble getting used to life in their new surroundings. Many of them come from reservations, she says, and were experiencing cultural shock and isolation. In addition to helping the students combat those first-year blues, the program is a way to boost college retention rates among American Indians.

The 10 participants this academic year (beginning fall 2003) will take courses together, form study groups, attend movie screenings, and participate in activities, such as field trips, that celebrate the American Indian culture. Students who remain with the program after the first year may become peer mentors and initiate tutoring networks.

“I was attracted to join the American Indian Cultural House because of the opportunity to enrich my culture and learn more about it so that I will be able to pass it on to my children some day,” says freshman Laura Marlowe, from Veblen, S.D.

To learn more about the U’s American Indian Cultural House, e-mail Jillian Berkland at berkl002@umn.edu or call 612-625-9565. For information about other special living and learning communities at the U, see www.umn.edu/housing/student/sllc.shtml.

--University of Minnesota News Service

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U OF M HAPPENINGS

State of the U
Mark your calendars for the annual State of the U address: Thursday, Oct. 2, at 3 p.m., in Coffman Memorial Union on the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis. President Bob Bruininks’s address may also be viewed on the other campuses--Crookston (101 Dowell), Duluth (410 Library), Morris (2950 Science auditorium), St. Paul (student center), and Rochester (ST108). For a video streaming link, see www.umn.edu (check for compatibility between Sept. 25 and Oct.1).

Animals and science
How should we think about animals from a scientific and morally sensitive perspective? That’s what “Science, Ethics, and the Animal Protection Movement,” a presentation hosted by the U’s Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment, and the Life Sciences, will attempt to answer. The free, public event will be held on Monday, Sept. 22, 12:15-1:15 p.m., in the Mississippi Room at Coffman Memorial Union on the Twin Cities campus. For more information, see www.lifesci.consortium.umn.edu or call 612-625-0055.

Setting the raptors free
See several rehabilitated birds of prey return to the wilderness at the U’s Raptor Center fall release on Saturday, Sept. 27, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., at the Clifton E. French Regional Park in Plymouth. (The raptors will be released at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.) The event will also feature raptors on exhibit, educational displays, and children’s activities. For directions to the park, see “Events” at www.raptor.cvm.umn.edu or call 612-624-4745.

More on Mars
Want more on Mars? Then make your way to the Science auditorium at the University of Minnesota, Morris, (UMM) on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m. for “Mars: Beyond Opposition.” Two UMM physics professors will discuss the red planet’s close approach to Earth as well as recent spacecraft explorations of Mars. There will be a public telescope viewing of Mars and Uranus following the free event. For general information, call Gordon McIntosh at 320-589-6342.

Book sale at the Arboretum
Dig through thousands of gently read books on hundreds of topics--from gardening to whodunits--at the Andersen Horticultural Library Book Sale on Friday, Oct. 3, through Sunday, Oct. 5, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The library is located at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen. The arboretum gate fee will apply ($7 for adults and free to children under 18 and members). You can also make book donations for the event through Friday, Sept. 26. For more information, call 952-443-1405.

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LINKS

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