February
5,
2004
1. Legislators
and supporters learning of U’s request
2. Indoor tanning and teens
3. Gene(sis) weaves art and science
4. Guide to 2004 elections
5. Job-hunt at the Minnesota Employment Expo
6. 3M employees help U students
7. Facets of agriculture
8. You don’t have to be “Minnesota
nice”
9. U of M Happenings
10. Links
UNEWS
Legislators
and supporters learning of U’s request
On Tuesday (February 3), University of Minnesota
President Bob Bruininks made the case for
full funding of the University’s capital
budget request to the House Higher Education
Finance Committee. The hearing, which was
held at Coffman Memorial Union on the Twin
Cities campus, was followed by a tour of
some of the facilities in the request.
“This hearing was an important opportunity
to explain our needs to legislators,” says
Bruininks. “Maintaining our infrastructure,
modernizing classrooms, and taking care of
this great public university is a wise and
prudent investment for the state.”
The U is seeking $155 million in bonding
for classroom and other facility renovations
and upgrades, including health and safety
improvements. Governor Tim Pawlenty recommended
that the University receive $76.6 million
or less than half of what it needs.
To support the University’s legislative
efforts, more than 300 students, alumni,
faculty staff, and friends braved the cold
to attend the U’s annual Legislative
Briefing on January 22. The event provided
an opportunity for U supporters to learn
how to effectively communicate with state
policy makers. To learn more about how you
can be an advocate for the University, see www.supporttheU.umn.edu.
To read more about the U’s capital
request, see http://www.umn.edu/govrel.
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Indoor
tanning and teens
If you want a suntan all year
round but live in a winter wonderland like
Minnesota,
you’re likely to visit a tanning
salon. The popularity of indoor tanning
among teens spurred two University of Minnesota
researchers to take a closer look at the
practices and attitudes of those who run
and those who patronize the industry.
Teens
and their parents
who
tanned were less knowledgeable
about the risks of
skin cancer than their
peers who chose not
to visit a tanning
salon. |
School
of Public Health professors
DeAnn Lazovich and Jean
Forster found that when
buying tanning sessions, teens in the
Twin
Cities and Boston metro areas were asked
for parental permission less than 35
percent of the time--even
though there are state
laws and local ordinances requiring teens
to have a parent’s permission for
indoor tanning. More than 80 percent
of those businesses sold sessions to
teens
who posed as customers.
The researchers, who interviewed adolescents,
parents, environmental health specialists,
and tanning-business owners during the
three-year study, also found that children
whose parents had used an indoor tanning
booth in the past year were much more likely
to have tried indoor tanning themselves.
And teens and their parents who tanned
were less knowledgeable about the risks
of skin cancer than their peers who chose
not to visit a tanning salon.
“These results suggest that an effective
indoor-tanning intervention should try
to change the tanning practices and beliefs
of not just teens but also their parents,” says
Lazovich.
Lazovich, Forster, and their research partners
at the Harvard University School of Public
Health developed Equipping Leaders of Indoor
Tanning Establishments (ELITE), a program
to teach tanning businesses how they can
comply with health laws. Lazovich says
further research is necessary to establish
the link between indoor tanning and skin
cancer.
“Most studies in this area pre-date contemporary
indoor tanning equipment,” she says. “We
need to investigate the industry in its
current state to accurately understand
the health risks associated with it.”
Edited from an original story by
Kris Stouffer in SPH Advances, 2002-03
Annual Report.
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Gene(sis)
weaves art and science
Who is the leopard king? He is
half man, half leopard, and his
picture hangs in the Weisman Art
Museum’s new exhibit--along
with paper coffee cups demanding “Who
owns your DNA?” and a frog
in red shorts in a jar. “Gene(sis):
Contemporary Art Explores Human
Genomics” runs through May
2, 2004.
Gene(sis) is an art exhibit that
raises questions and provides commentary
about the ethical and social implications
of genomics, one of the most compelling
issues of modern times. Visitors
cannot help but think, gasp, frown,
or smile when confronted with the
more than 50 works by artists from
the United States, Europe, and
South America. The real and pseudo
laboratory results, humorous reviews,
digitally altered photographs,
and large-scale installations are
divided into four sections.
“Sequence” explores
the language and structure of genomic
and genetic
research; “Specimen” investigates
the issues surrounding DNA ownership,
personal privacy, and ethics; “Boundary” showcases
the artists’ investigations
of transgenics; and “Subject” focuses
on notions of individual subjectivity,
family, and human nature in
the wake of recent genomic
developments.
Photo
courtesy of
Creative Time, NY. |
In conjunction with the exhibit,
the museum--located on the Twin
Cities campus in Minneapolis--is
hosting a series of free discussions
and films about art and science
related to the Human Genome Project.
For a complete list of events,
see http://www.weisman.umn.edu/genesis/program.htm.
Gene(sis) took Robin Held, curator
of the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle,
Wash., more than three and a half
years to develop. During that time,
Held met with numerous artists,
educators, historians, museum professionals,
and scientists, including those
working on the Human Genome Project.
The Weisman Art Museum’s
hours are Tuesday, Wednesday,
and Friday, 10 a.m. to 5
p.m.; Thursday,
10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and weekends,
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum
is closed on Mondays. Admission
to
the museum is free.
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Guide
to 2004 elections
If
you’re looking for timely but
nonpartisan commentary and analysis on
this year’s elections, then visit
the University of Minnesota’s new
Center for the Study of Politics. Once
there, or even if you check out its Web
site, you’ll find information
about polls, third parties, campaign
fundraising,
and regional voter trends.
The
center, housed in the
University’s
Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of
Public Affairs on the
Twin Cities campus
in Minneapolis, was launched in
January to raise public
understanding of politics, serve
as
a resource to citizens and the
media
on important
policy issues, and show students
that politics can be a noble calling.
In
addition to
a Web site (http://www.hhh.umn.edu/centers/csp/elections),
the center will bring in political leaders--such
as former U.S. senators--for extended periods
to provide a political context for current
issues and engage students in discussions
and problem solving.
The first big undertaking of the center
is its 2004 Elections Project, which will
provide coverage of the politics in the
Upper Midwest from state and local elections
to the national presidential race.
Larry
Jacobs |
“This is an oft-overlooked region when it
comes to political analysis and commentary,
even though presidential races can be won
or lost in the swing states of the Midwest,” says
Larry Jacobs, political science professor
and project director. Jacobs will be conducting
a poll this spring that will, for the first
time, identify key voting groups in the
Upper Midwest, look at the attitudes and
concerns of suburban voters, and see what’s
driving their votes.
Editor’s note: You can read more
about the U’s Center for the Study
of Politics in your next issue of M,
which will arrive in your mailboxes early
March.
If you do not currently receive M,
the quarterly magazine for alumni and friends
of the U, and would like to, e-mail Martha
Coventry at coven002@umn.edu.
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Job-hunt
at the Minnesota Employment Expo
Local and national employers will recruit
University of Minnesota alumni and students
at the Minnesota Employment Expo on Thursday,
March 4, from 1 to 7 p.m. at the Radisson
Hotel Metrodome in Minneapolis. The job
fair is free and open to the public.
Employers ranging from Fortune 500 companies
to nonprofit organizations like the Peace
Corps will be looking for full-time employees
and internship candidates from all fields
of study. In addition to exhibits, the
expo will feature informational sessions
on effective job search strategies.
If you plan on visiting the expo, make
the most of your time there.
-
Research three to five organizations
represented at the fair that interest
you.
- Prepare
a short script to introduce yourself and explain why you are interested
in the company and what type of work
you are seeking.
- Dress as you would for a formal interview.
For more tips on preparing for the Minnesota
Employment Expo or to learn more about
it, see www.alumni.umn.edu/expo.
The event is sponsored by the University
of Minnesota Alumni Association; career
services at the Crookston, Duluth, Morris,
Rochester, and Twin Cities campuses;
the U’s College of Continuing Education;
and the Minnesota Department of Employment
and Economic Development.
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3M
employees help U students
Hundreds of 3M employees who
gave to a specially created 3-to-1 University
of Minnesota scholarship matching fund
had a chance to meet the students they’ve
helped at a reception on 3M’s Maplewood
campus on January 29.
Laura
Bursch, U graduate student and
3M fellowship recipient,
with 3M Post-It Note
inventor
Art Fry. |
3M
established the 3M/Alumni Undergraduate
Merit Scholarships in 2001 to mark
its 100th anniversary and help the U
to attract
top undergraduate students majoring
in business, engineering, and science-related
disciplines. The fund attracted 362
employees,
including 300 University alumni, who
gave a total of $365,296. 3M added
another $1,008,973. The 3M contribution
was part
of its $15 million gift to Campaign
Minnesota, the U’s historic seven-year
campaign that concluded last summer after
raising
$1.66 billion.
The 3M merit scholarships have thus far
gone to 43 students. Each student receives
$3,000 per year for up to four years.
The fall 2003 scholarship recipients
had an average high school class rank
in the 98th percentile and an average
grade point average of 4.01.
“Scholarships and fellowships will encourage
the most promising undergraduate and
graduate students to train in and stay
in the state,” said University
president Bob Bruininks in his speech
thanking 3M employees for their generosity.
Also recognized at the reception were
the 29 winners of the 3M Science and
Technology Fellowships. The fellowship
was established in 2001 and funded
through a 3M endowment gift of $6.2
million that
will support the fellowship in perpetuity.
That gift was matched by the University’s
21st Century Graduate Fellowship Endowment.
To learn more about giving to student
scholarship or fellowship funds at the
University of Minnesota, see www.giving.umn.edu.
--University of Minnesota Foundation
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Facets
of agriculture
Several brightly
colored images of cows,
horses,
grain silos, and humans
tending to the land
were recently installed
in the University Teaching
and Outreach Center
on the Crookston campus.
These images--drawings
on ceramic tiles of
various sizes--are
part of a new public
artwork that pays tribute
to Minnesota’s
agricultural industry.
The
artwork, which frames the doorway
into the indoor
riding arena, was unveiled
on January 31 during
University of Minnesota,
Crookston’s
(UMC) annual Ag-Arama
Day.
Nearly 300 faculty,
staff, students,
and members of
the Crookston
community were
on hand to view
the 3-D creation
for the first time
and laud the artist.
Susan Warner, a
Minneapolis
mosaic and terra
cotta tile artist,
took two
years to complete
the project, which
is made
up of more than
210 individual
tiles.
“[My goal was] to depict
the land, the people,
and the way of life
that defines the area
as well as the unique
educational aspects
of a polytechnic university
in this area,” says
Warner. She added that
the project was challenging
because of the research
into the history of
this region, “but
satisfying because
I’ve met
extraordinary educators
who informed
and inspired my
work.”
Warner
was commissioned by a UMC campus
public art committee
for the
project, which
was funded by
money set
aside from the
building’s
construction
budget. The University
Teaching and
Outreach
Center
serves as the
center for animal
and
equine science
on campus and
as home to more
than 40 horses.
The building
also houses offices
and classrooms,
a riding arena,
stables, and
a tack room.
“This art serves as
a symbol of the foundation
of agriculture, which
is a defining industry
for Crookston and the
entire Red River Valley,” says
Andrew Svec, UMC’s
director of communications. “Since
this building
is tied in purpose
to agriculture,
the art committee
wanted
to reflect that
in the artwork.”
This new addition to
UMC joins several other
public art pieces already
on campus. In 1988,
the University of Minnesota
established the Public
Art on Campus Program
to oversee its sizeable
collection of permanent
public artworks on
all its campuses, which
are commissioned and
purchased to enhance
the physical and aesthetic
environments at the
University.
For information
about other public
art at
the University,
read “Art
Goes Public at the
U,” published
in the fall 2001
issue M, at
http://www.umn.edu/urelate/m/fall2001/artgoespublic.html.
To learn more about
the University Teaching
and Outreach Center,
see www.crk.umn.edu/campusinfo/tour/UTOC.
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You
don’t have to be “Minnesota
nice”
Most salespeople are not trying
to rip you off; they just want you to buy
something
or support some cause. But to avoid falling
for a scam, the University of Minnesota
Extension Service has some tips in telling
the bad apples from the good.
- Don’t
fall for high-pressure sales tactics,
such as being told the sale
must be made immediately. Legitimate
sellers
will give you time to make a decision,
and those who perform a service should
be able to provide references if
you ask.
-
Don’t
fall for high-pressure sales tactics,
such as being told the sale must
be made immediately.
|
Don’t
be afraid to say “no” if
a ]salesperson is trying to sell
you something in your home. Minnesota
law requires
salespeople to leave when you ask them to. And forget “Minnesota
nice” if a telemarketer makes
you feel uncomfortable--interrupt
and hang
up. You also have three days to
cancel purchases of $25 or more
that were
made in your home or over the telephone.
- Don’t
make impulse decisions. Ask yourself
if you needed the product
or service before you were contacted.
- Do compare alternatives. Calculate the
true cost of any offer, and find
out if you can make the purchase somewhere else
for less.
- Know
the company’s cancellation policy
before you agree to buy. Be leery
of a company that won’t allow you to get
a refund if you’re not
satisfied.
- Know
what you’re signing, and keep
all paperwork and receipts.
To
learn more about your rights as a consumer,
call
the Attorney
General’s
Consumer Assistance Line
at 651-296-3353. For information
about a specific business,
call
the Better Business Bureau
of Minnesota at 800-955-5100.
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HAPPENINGS
Ring,
ring…
Today (February 5) is the U’s “Call
Your Legislator” day.
The Legislative Network is
urging all U supporters to
call their legislators and
ask that they support full
funding for the University’s
capital request. For talking
points and for phone numbers
of your elected officials,
see http://www.supporttheU.umn.edu.
To learn more about the U’s
capital request, see http://www.umn.edu/govrel.
Kinetic energy
The 45-member Dance Theatre
of Harlem returns to Northrop
Memorial Auditorium on the
Twin Cities campus after a
10-year hiatus for two performances
in honor of Black History Month.
The programs on Tuesday, February
10, and Wednesday, February
11, at 7:30 p.m. will feature
choreography by founder Arthur
Mitchell and music by Stravinsky,
Prokofiev, and the Soweto String
Quartet. Tickets are $27-$46.
For tickets or more information,
call 612-624-2345 or see www.northrop.umn.edu.
Food expo at Morris
The University of
Minnesota, Morris, will host
its fifth
Annual Pride of the Prairie
Community Food Expo on Tuesday,
February 17, from 2 to 4 p.m.
in the student center. Representatives
from more than 20 west central
Minnesota farms and local organizations,
such as The Land Stewardship
Project, Minnesota Institute
for Sustainable Agriculture,
and Pomme de Terre Foods, will
present information and answer
questions about agricultural,
environmental, and food issues.
This year’s expo will
also feature a Farmers Market
with grains, root vegetables,
meat, honey, yarn, and wool
for sale.
Highway safety dissected
Last year, nearly 2 million
people were injured and more
than 38,000 killed in motor
vehicle crashes in the U.S.
How do these statistics compare
to those of other countries?
You can find out from Allan
Williams, chief scientist at
the Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety, at the U’s
Center for Transportation Studies
winter luncheon on Wednesday,
February 18, from 11:45 a.m.
to 1:30 p.m. in the Radisson
Metrodome Hotel in Minneapolis.
For more information about
the event, “A National
Perspective on Current Highway
Safety Issues,” see http://www.cts.umn.edu/events/luncheon/winter/index.html.
Spark 2004
Spark, an annual festival of
electronic music and art on
the Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis,
will run Thursday, February
19, to Sunday, February 22,
at the West Bank Arts Quarter.
The event will feature a mix
of the latest in electronic
and electroacoustic music,
video, installation art, theater,
and dance by artists and musicians
from across the country. All
events are free and open to
the public. The event schedule
has not been confirmed, but
you can keep checking www.music.umn.edu for updated information.
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LINKS
Hey, Sports Fans! Check out sports
news and schedules of the U's teams:
Gophers
Duluth
Bulldogs
Morris
Cougars
Crookston
Golden
Eagles
Give
to the U: Make
an online gift
to the college
or program
of your choice.
University
of Minnesota
Alumni Association: Your
membership
makes a difference.
U
of M Legislative
Network: Read
about the University's
legislative
request and
how you can
help.
University
of Minnesota
Systemwide
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