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July 10, 2003
1. Board of Regents to consider new weapons policy
2. Asking the play experts: children
3. U professor dances to inspire social change
4. HIV and AIDS research at the U
5. Bringing life to drawings
6. Birds, the law, and Bell Museum
7. Campaign Minnesota: $1.62 billion and counting…
8. BrainU: making brain study fun
9. Clean your fruits and veggies
10. U of M Happenings
11. Links
U NEWS
Board of Regents to consider new weapons policy
The University of Minnesota Board
of Regents is expected to review
and act on a new policy to ban
weapons from the U’s campuses and events at its meetings
today (June 10) and tomorrow.
The proposed
policy would prohibit students, most
U employees, and visitors from carrying or possessing a weapon
while on University property, which
includes all U-owned or leased facilities
(including the Metrodome when used
for Gopher
football games). It expands on
an existing prohibition that bans
students from having weapons on campus.
The proposed policy was drafted
in response to Minnesota’s new conceal and carry
law that went into effect May 28,
which made it easier to get a permit
to carry a gun.
“It is commonly understood that our
classrooms, laboratories, student
centers, and athletic and event venues
are no place for weapons,” says
U president Bob Bruininks. “This
proposed policy is an approach that
reflects longstanding norms and practices.”
For the complete
Board of Regents meeting agenda,
see www.umn.edu/regents.
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Asking the play experts: children
The first thing Corliss Outley
does when she begins gathering research
data on inner city play habits is
choose a location, usually a park,
and recruit kids who are hanging
out in the area to be her assistants.
Corliss Outley (second from left) with some of her students
at
the U. Photo by Diana
Watters. |
Outley wants to discover how children’s
activities are influenced by the
state of their neighborhood and how
the neighborhood is shaped by them. “I
talk to the kids who are there and
say, ‘I want you to be my research
assistants. I want you to talk to
other kids and give me a report.
Do a survey, you know? Find out what
kinds of activities your friends
like best, what afterschool programs
there are, what things they’d
like to change about their neighborhood,’” explains
Outley, assistant professor of recreation
and parks studies at the University
of Minnesota.
Previous studies by other
researchers have shown that a neighborhood’s
ecological and social risks--dangerous
areas, poorly maintained streets,
uncollected piles of garbage, abandoned
buildings--can make children fearful,
angry, and anxious, says Outley.
These risks, and resulting feelings,
can limit children’s activities
and keep them inside.
By using children
to explore new solutions for at-risk
neighborhoods,
Outley gives the kids a sense of
their own power as they help to start
new park and neighborhood activities
that are more attuned to their interests
and abilities.
“The children are showing us that,
despite what we see as dismal conditions,
they are resilient and able to
adapt to and change that environment,
however marginally, to meet their needs,” she
says. “When they’re
given the chance to do this, they
not only
discover the reward in this kind
of work, but they change the community’s
perceptions about youth and their
place in the world.”
Outley is
just beginning a new study that will
examine how the
use of
public parks and recreation services
is related to the health of older
adults.
To learn more about Outley and
her research, see www.education.umn.edu/KLS/faculty/coutley.htm.
Edited
from an original story by Peggy Rader
in Link, summer 2003.
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U professor dances to inspire social
change
Artist and activist Ananya Chatterjea,
assistant professor of dance at
the University of Minnesota, uses
her
body as an instrument to tell stories
about violence against women.
Editor’s note: The following
is edited from “Body Language,” a
story in Chatterjea’s words
published in the July-August 2003
issue of Minnesota, the University
of Minnesota Alumni Association
magazine.
Violence against women exists
all over the world in different
forms--some
obvious, some subtle--but the violence
is everywhere. It is like a many-headed
serpent; you get rid of one head
and another grows in its place.
I do political theater, using dance
to tell ordinary stories about
ordinary
people and to address this violence.
It is my life’s work, and
I pour my heart and soul into it.
I was born in India and began studying
classical dance before I was 5.
At the University of Minnesota,
I teach
dance history and philosophy and
aesthetics. My choreography and
my scholarship focus on how being
an
artist might enrich [my students’]
lives and expose them to different
ideas.
I also am the artistic director
for Women in Motion, a company
of South
Asian artists who create political
theater and perform in community-based
and other artistic forums. It’s
important for me to connect with
women of color by involving them
in projects I do about self-esteem
and performance, dancing about
their issues.
It’s an amazing experience.
Sometimes there is rejection [by
these women]. They might think, “Who
do you think you are to dance about
my life?” One woman in Toronto
said, “I was angry with you
during the performance, because you
were forcing me to think about things
I didn’t want to think about.” But
another woman said, “My own
life flashed before my eyes. Thank
you; I don’t have to be ashamed
about this.”
To read the full story, see www.alumni.umn.edu/minnesota.
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HIV and AIDS research at the U
A recent $3 million National Institutes
of Health grant will allow University
of Minnesota researchers to further
study the effects of the HIV virus
on the immune system. The researchers
hope to improve treatment for some
HIV and AIDS patients who do not
respond to current treatments.
Last year, the researchers, led
by U associate professor of medicine
Timothy Schacker and Regents Professor
of Microbiology Ashley Haase, discovered
a new way in which HIV erodes the
immune system. They demonstrated
that HIV caused chronic inflammation
and fibrosis in a part of the lymph
nodes called the T cell zone. Even
when HIV-infected people are undergoing
aggressive drug therapies, this
damage
can prevent their immune system
from improving.
“Currently, most treatment strategies
for HIV and AIDS focus on stopping
the virus from replicating itself
in the body, which is essential
to begin the process of healing and
repairing of the immune system,” explains
Schacker, who is the principal investigator. “But
it does not happen for everyone,
and we believe this may be due
to the structural damage.”
The study will recruit 30 HIV-positive
individuals and involve sampling
the participants’ lymph nodes
at specific intervals over three
years. “In the current clinical
study, we hope to find out if measuring
the amount of fibrosis [and scarring]
in lymph nodes will enable physicians
to more accurately stage the disease
and predict the response to standard
therapies,” Schacker says.
To learn more about findings from
last year’s HIV and AIDS
study, see
www.umn.edu/urelate/newsservice/newsreleases/02_10AHCshacker.html.
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Bringing life to drawings
In a matter of hours, intricate
one-dimensional drawings of F-16
fighter jet parts,
bridges, window hinges, and chess
pieces can be turned into actual
objects--something you can pick
up and examine. The new rapid prototyping
machines at the University of Minnesota,
Duluth (UMD), are erasing the days
of having to build 3-D models by
hand.
General
Pattern president Denny Reiland (left) talks about the
possibilities of rapid prototyping
with
Don Fosnacht, lead investigator
at UMD's new Northern Lights Technology
Center. |
The ability to make parts and prototypes
faster than ever before is an attractive
lure for businesses that regularly
change their designs and for industries
needing machine replacement parts
that are no longer available, explains
Mike Lalich, director of UMD’s
Natural Resources Research Institute
(NRRI). The Northern Lights Technology
Center--home of the new prototyping
machines--is located in NRRI. The
machines are able to produce prototypes
using a new technology. One machine
heats epoxy and acrylic resins
to create any imaginable shape.
Another
forms 3-D shapes out of plastic
or metal powder. And yet another
fashions
the models out of cornstarch, plaster,
or ceramic-based raw materials.
These machines were purchased with
a $776,400
grant NRRI received from the national
Economic Development Administration.
A
3-D model of the Aerial-Lift Bridge in Duluth produced by a
rapid
prototyping machine. |
The center, which is the result
of a cooperative relationship with
UMD
and Twin Cities-based manufacturing
company General Pattern, also houses
researchers who will investigate
novel applications and different
materials for this technology as
well as provide computer-assisted
design services for clients.
Lalich says forming this relationship
with General Pattern gives NRRI
and the U another venue for promoting
economic development in Minnesota.
To learn more about the Nothern
Lights Technology Center and its
services,
call Don Fosnacht, principal investigator
of the center, at 218-720-4282.
For more information about NRRI,
see
www.nrri.umn.edu.
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Birds, the law, and Bell Museum
In February, Doris Rubenstein found
a sharp-shinned hawk at an intersection
in Richfield, Minnesota. It appeared
to be roadkill, judging by its
location and injuries. Realizing
that the
bird might be a useful addition
to the University of Minnesota’s
Bell Museum collections, Rubenstein
brought the hawk to U ornithologist
Bob Zink.
U
ornithologist Bob Zink adding a bird to the Bell Museum's scientific
collections. |
When Zink examined the hawk, he
discovered that it had not been
killed by a
car but by a gunshot. “When
I prepared the bird, a pellet from
an air rifle fell out,” says
Zink, who also located the beak of
a house sparrow in its stomach. “These
hawks eat other birds, and that’s
why some people don’t like
them.”
As curator of birds, Zink works
to educate the public about regulations
protecting Minnesota’s birds. “Many
people are unaware that it is against
state and federal law to have in
your possession any part of a bird--including
feathers, eggs, and nests,” he
says. The only exceptions are house
(English) sparrows, European starlings,
pigeons (rock doves), and game
birds shot legally during hunting
season.
The maximum penalty for killing
any other bird, according to the
U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, is a
$15,000 fine or up to six months
in jail,
or both.
It is, however, legal to turn over
birds that you find to the Bell
Museum. Zink and other museum curators
have
special permits from the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service and the Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources
that allow them to accept bird,
egg, and
nest specimens salvaged by others.
The hawk that Rubenstein brought
in has become a valuable part of
the museum’s scientific collections,
which are used by researchers around
the world. “A museum collection
is like a reference collection in
a library,” says Zink. “Each
specimen is a rare book providing
information we need to protect birds,
such as where and when species occur,
what their habitats are, what they
eat, and their breeding condition.” The
Bell Museum’s bird collection,
which dates back to the 1870s,
contains 50,000 specimens.
This summer, Zink is advising members
of the public not to pick up any
dead birds because of the likelihood
that they may be infected with
the West Nile virus. “Unless you’re
sure they’ve died in a collision
with a car or with a window [don’t
touch it], or, at the very least,
use gloves,” he says.
To learn more about the museum’s
scientific collections, see www.bellmuseum.org/collections.
Edited from an original story by
Jennifer Amie in Imprint, spring
2003.
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Campaign Minnesota: $1.62 billion
and counting…
June 30 marked the official end
of the University of Minnesota’s
seven-year fundraising campaign.
The initial Campaign Minnesota
goal of $1.3 billion was reached
more
than a year ago in April 2002,
and over the past 12 months the
total
has grown to $1.62 billion. The
final numbers will be released
in September.
Since the campaign began in 1996,
nearly 85,000 alumni--representing
almost 40 percent of all donors--have
made gifts to the U. More than
11,000 faculty and staff members
also gave
generously, reflecting their commitment
to the University. Overall, 217,000
people and organizations have made
gifts, and 330 of these gifts were
$1 million or more.
Not all of this money is available
to meet immediate needs. Ninety-eight
percent of the gifts are designated
by donors for specific purposes--such
as the U’s endowment fund
which invests the principal for
the future
and pays out about five percent
each year for ongoing needs--and
about
half of the contributions are pledges
or future commitments such as bequests.
A University-wide priority for
scholarship support, for example,
remains an
on-going and vital need for which
the University must continue to
raise private funds.
To learn how Campaign Minnesota
gifts have and will have an impact
on students,
research, faculty, and outreach
at the U, see www.giving.umn.edu.
This
new University Web site also provides
an opportunity for more convenient
online giving.
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BrainU: making brain study fun
Cerebellum, corpus callosum, medulla
oblongata…. After BrainU
202, the names of these parts of
the brain
will simply roll off the tongues
of middle-school teachers. Even
the latest findings in neuroscience
research
will come easy.
BrainU 202 (July 21-25) builds
on past BrainU workshops, which
are
designed to inform middle-school
science teachers about neuroscience
and its health-related issues,
as well as provide them with new
resources
and creative ways to teach their
students about the brain. “[This
year’s BrainU] will allow teachers
who took BrainU part one to share
their successes, learn more about
neuroscience, shadow grad students
for an afternoon, and work on skills
to enhance their teaching experience,” says
Carrie MacNabb, community outreach
coordinator in the U’s neuroscience
department.
BrainU 202 workshop participants
will be able to use an “Explain
Your Brain” exhibit and a
BrainTrunk resource kit during
the coming school
year. They will also get University
of Minnesota course credit for
their time in BrainU.
“
[I’d like to see] middle school
students become intrigued by what
their brains do and how the brain
works,” says MacNabb. “Our
hope is that students will be excited
about science and consider it as
a potential career.”
BrainU is part of a 5-year, $1.5
million project--Bringing Resources,
Activities, and Inquiry in Neuroscience
(BRAIN) to Middle Schools--by the
U’s Department of Neuroscience
and the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Last year, 22 teachers from Minnesota
and Wisconsin signed up for the
workshop, which included making
field trips
to the museum, studying worms under
a microscope, surfing the Internet
for neuroscience resources, and
making neuron models out of giant
beads.
BrainU 101 will run again next
summer.
To learn more about BrainU or other
programs in the BRAIN to Middle
School project, see www.neurosci.umn.edu/brainscience.html.
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Clean your fruits and veggies
Before you reach for your next
apple, carrot, or leafy green,
read what
the University of Minnesota Extension
Service has to say about washing
fresh produce.
- Whether produce comes from your garden
or from the store, wash it
just before serving. Since fresh
produce has a natural protective coating
to retain moisture and freshness,
washing it well ahead of when you plan
to eat or cook it will cause it
to spoil faster.
- Rub fruits and vegetables briskly
with your hands under running
water to remove dirt and surface microorganisms.
Discard the outer layer of
leafy vegetables such as lettuce and
cabbage before washing. You can use a vegetable
brush to scrub produce with
a firm skin or hard rind like carrots,
potatoes, melons, or squash.
-
Always wash squash and melons, even
if you don’t eat the
rind or skin, because dirt
or bacteria
on
the outer surface can be transferred
to the flesh when you cut it.
-
Don’t wash produce with detergent
or bleach solutions. Fruits
and vegetables are porous and can
absorb
these chemicals,
which if consumed could make
you sick.
- Waxes are applied to help retain
moisture, which keeps the produce
firm and crisp. Since the U.S.
government regulates waxes for safety, they
are not harmful if eaten.
- Commercial produce sprays or washes
are available in some supermarkets.
These are currently being studied,
and in some cases may help
remove some soil, surface microbes, and
pesticides. But no washing
method completely removes or kills all
microbes.
To learn more about food safety
and nutrition, see www.extension.umn.edu/topics.html?topic=6.
Return to top U OF M HAPPENINGS
Saxophone congress
Almost 1,000 saxophonists
from around the world have converged on the U’s Twin Cities
campus for the 13th World Saxophone Congress (July 9-13). For some
saxophone action, catch the following at the Ted Mann Concert Hall
in Minneapolis: The World Saxophone Congress Orchestra, which includes
members of the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra,
will perform today (July 10) and Saturday, July 12, at 7:30 p.m.;
and the Belgian Royal Air Force Band will play on Friday, July
11, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 ($15 for students). For more information
or to buy a ticket, call 612-624-2345.
Supporting the Bulldogs
The University of Minnesota,
Duluth, athletics department
is hosting the 2003 Malosky Open fundraiser on July 31 at the U’s Les Bolstad Golf Course at 227 West
Larpenteur Ave. in St Paul. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. with
tee-off at 1 p.m. A social, dinner, and short program will follow
at 6 p.m. The cost is $125 (or $30 for dinner only). Proceeds will
benefit the UMD James Malosky Endowment Fund. To register, call
Paula Le Blanc at 218-726-6341 or e-mail pleblanc@d.umn.edu.
Wear your beads to belly
dancing
This summer, learn how to
make bead jewelry, and then
wear your creations to your
belly-dancing class. The U’s Twin Cities Student Unions Programs and Activities
Committee is offering classes to the public in jewelry making (July
14), knitting (July 14 and 28), Middle Eastern belly dancing (July
31-Aug. 14), and photography (July 19-Aug. 9). Classes are $12-$42
and taught by instructors from the U and the local community. To
learn more or to register, see www.spsc.umn.edu/minicourses/add.php.
To good books
The U's College of Continuing
Education is offering a
two-day program on “Building a Better
Book Club” Thursday, July 17, from 4 to 7 p.m. and Friday,
July 18, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Earle Brown Center
on the Twin Cities campus in St. Paul. Essayist Mickey Pearlman
will discuss ways to choose books and authors, how to facilitate
the group interaction, and how to focus a club’s reading
selections. Registration is $175 ($125 for U alumni). For more
information or to register, call 612-625-7777.
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LINKS
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Morris Cougars
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Golden Eagles
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to the U: Learn more about this fund-raising effort
to build excellence in every corner of the U.
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Alumni Association: Connecting alumni for a century.
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of M Legislative Network: Read about the University's
legislative request and how you can help.
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