December 19, 2002

1. U to explore Gophers-only football stadium
2. "I'm with the band": Maturi takes the bus
3. U studies bring promise for treating Parkinson's and cancer
4. Girls: not always sugar and spice
5. Got skills? Get on the lifework path
6. Stroke makes U alumnus better neurologist
7. Arboretum gifts fund new visitor center
8. UMC and Polaris join forces
9. Bulldogs bite at new Division II conference
10. U of M Happenings
11. Links

U IN THE NEWS

U to explore Gophers-only football stadium
Last week, University president Robert Bruininks told the Board of Regents that the University would "step back" from the concept of a joint Gophers-Vikings stadium and begin to explore an on-campus, Gophers-only facility.

"We have serious reservations about whether a joint stadium would yield our desired outcomes," said Bruininks, noting that the University wants to create a collegiate game day experience that would increase student attendance and bring alumni back to campus. According to Bruininks, an on-campus facility would also capture greater revenues, address "pressing" transportation and infrastructure needs, and increase fan interest.

Bruininks said that during extensive internal and external consultations over the past few months, the University has found broad support for bringing Gopher football back to campus. "It certainly matters that virtually all of our constituencies have expressed concerns about the impact of an NFL entertainment venue on campus," he said.

Bruininks said a Gophers-only facility would be smaller, have a smaller impact on surrounding neighborhoods, and have more opportunities for academic and recreational sports benefits than would a shared facility. The board expressed support for exploring a Gophers-only facility.

From July to November, the University worked with the Vikings, at the request of the state legislature, to develop a predesign and memorandum of understanding. This week, the University forwarded to the legislature the technical reports that were prepared during that predesign process.

"This was a very valuable process that helped us understand the site and design elements and infrastructure and transportation needs," Bruininks said.

The University's lease with the Metrodome expires in 2011, and Bruininks stressed that the University has time to thoroughly consider all of its options, will remain open to other ideas, and has no plans to advance a stadium proposal during the 2003 legislative session. "It is premature and would not be respectful of the state's budget challenges to seek state support for a stadium this year," he said.

The University of Minnesota Alumni Association National Board passed a position statement on November 23 stating they believed it was in the best interest of the University community to bring Gopher football back to campus. Two campus student groups have passed similar resolutions, and more student groups are expected to follow suit.

For more information, see www.umn.edu/stadium.

Return to top

"I'm with the band": Maturi takes the bus
When it comes to supporting the University of Minnesota Marching Band, it's easy to see where Athletics Director Joel Maturi stands, or more specifically, where he sits.

The Minnesota Gophers football team faces the University of Arkansas Razorbacks in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30. But, with a tight bowl budget, athletics cannot afford to fly the 300-member band and spirit squad to Nashville, so they will make the 14-hour trip by bus, leaving on Dec. 27.

Maturi will join band members as they make their way on the bus to Nashville for the Music City Bowl. "They are so important to all that we do in athletics," Maturi said. "The band is the thing that distinguishes us between college and professional sports."

"A bowl trip means we get another opportunity to do what we love," said Carly Danek, a third-year band member. "We love to work hard, have fun, and to show off what we can do. The band doesn't always get a lot of recognition. The support from athletics lets us know that our hard work isn't going unnoticed."

Catch the Gopher spirit and join fellow fans in Nashville! For more information about the official fan bowl tour sponsored by the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, see www.alumni.umn.edu/bowl.

Return to top

U studies bring promise for treating Parkinson's and cancer
Two separate studies at the University show promise in treating cancer and Parkinson's disease.

The first study, led by Patrick Mantyh, Ph.D., professor in the School of Dentistry and a member of the University's Cancer Center, found that a drug, already approved for treating arthritis and other pain, can inhibit bone cancer cell growth and reduced cancer-related pain and bone destruction in mice.

"We found that administering a COX-2 inhibitor over a prolonged period of time actually suppresses the chemicals that induce cancer pain," said Mantyh. "But we were surprised to learn that the same drug could also reduce the level of bone destruction as well as tumor growth."

Mantyh hopes that the success of this study in animal models will lead to clinical research to determine if the drug's effects can be mimicked in humans. "Having one drug that can treat three areas -- pain, bone destruction, and cancer -- is an ideal approach to treating a patient's disease as well as improving quality of life."

The second study, led by Paul Tuite, M.D., neurologist and director of movement disorders at the University, found that the drug Rasagiline is effective in improving the quality of life for patients with early Parkinson's disease. Rasagiline treatments demonstrated improvements in disease signs, symptoms, and quality of life compared with placebo for patients with early Parkinson's.

"The University is working diligently to develop effective and safe treatments for Parkinson's disease," said Tuite. "A study like this, with positive results, is very encouraging for us to work harder, knowing that we are closer to making a difference."

Return to top

Girls: not always sugar and spice
Most studies about aggressive behavior in children have focused on boys and on physical expressions of aggression. But a University professor is cutting new ground with research on girls and aggression.

"The studies gave the appearance that girls really were sugar and spice and everything nice," said Nicki Crick, professor of child development. "But I didn’t believe that was really the case."

Crick is conducting longitudinal studies of relational aggression, witnessed mainly in girls. Rather than physically harming others, relationally aggressive children will threaten with retaliations such as: "Do this or I won’t be your friend." Or: "If you don’t help me, I’ll tell Amy you said she was ugly."

"By finding out more about how this form of aggression works, how it develops, and its underlying causes, we could create a huge opportunity for intervention and prevention that could make childhood a truly happier time for both girls and boys," Crick said.

Crick began one of her studies with a group of third graders, who are now in middle school. "I am interested in following this group and seeing how early behaviors might be related to such things as later substance abuse, teen pregnancy, problematic eating patterns, school dropout rates, and delinquent behavior," she said.

Just as fights among boys can lead to a “boys will be boys” response from adults, girls who are mean to one another can lead to adults saying, “That’s just how girls are.” And while Crick recognizes that almost all children are cruel to one another on occasion, she emphasizes that some children are at the extreme edge of such behavior and need help.

Children who may be at particular risk for serious social problems later in life are those whose aggression is gender-atypical—girls who are physically aggressive and boys who are relationally aggressive. Crick said their aggressive behavior not only makes them less popular, but being perceived by their peers as acting inappropriately for their gender further isolates them.

“My hope and goal with this research is that people who interact with children and adolescents will come to understand how detrimental and harmful this kind of behavior is, take it seriously, support the kids who are victims of it, and help those kids who are perpetrating it,” Crick said.

Return to top

Got skills? Get on the lifework path
You’re good at what you do, but after doing it for 20 years, you’re looking for a change. Or, you’ve just retired and are wondering how to restructure your life. If you’re an adult in transition, you know how exciting, energizing, and scary this can be.

The University of Minnesota’s Career and Lifework Center is a new resource for adults asking themselves, “What’s Next for Me?” and seeking guidance on how to get there through lifework planning.

Lifework is the sum of all of a person's productive activity. It includes paid work, as well as unpaid activities such as parenting, caregiving, hobbies, volunteer work, and civic engagement. Lifework planning identifies the unique mix of skills, habits, values, and competencies an individual acquires from these activities and uses them as a guide to make lifework changes.

Career and Lifework Center director Steve Wagner offers these tips on how to start the process to make a lifework change.

• Do some research: Some books you might find helpful are Finding Your Purpose by Barbara Braham, Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway by Susan Jeffers, or Repacking Your Bags by Richard Leider.
  
  
• Check out your beliefs with others: Perhaps you know people who have made a successful transition. Ask what steps they took to get from where they were to where they are now.
  
  
• Accentuate the positive: Research shows that individuals who make successful transitions embrace change and have a real zest for life.
  
  
• Be aware of barriers: Some barriers are internal, such as negative attitudes. Some barriers are external, such as financial concerns, family circumstances, or one’s current work system. Whatever the challenges, just take the first step, and the rest will follow.
  
  
• Participate in a workshop at the Career and Lifework Center, or schedule an individual consultation with a Career and Lifework consultant.
  
  
• Once you’ve decided on a goal, the College of Continuing Education can help you achieve it through degree completion programs, certificate programs, short professional development programs, and more than 200 noncredit short courses. The college offers full- or part-time programs, online and correspondence courses, and evening courses.
  
  
• Remember that, although having a goal is essential, it’s important to enjoy the process. The journey is as important as the destination.
  

For more information about the Career and Lifework Center, call 612-626-7222 or see www.lifework.umn.edu.

Return to top

Stroke makes U alumnus better neurologist
While an undergraduate student with plans to attend medical school, John Schmidt suffered a stroke that took his ability to speak, read, or write. Today, he says, the experience has made him a better neurologist.

The following is edited from “Use What You Have" originally published in the Nov.-Dec. 2002 issue of Minnesota, the University of Minnesota Alumni Association magazine. To read the full story, see www.alumni.umn.edu/minnesota/voices.
_______________

It was 1979. I was a junior at Colorado State University, a pre-med student on an ROTC scholarship, hoping to become a surgeon. I had sent out my medical school applications three days earlier and was completing an ROTC physical fitness test. The final part of the test was a 2.5 mile run.

About a half-mile from the finish line, I began to feel a numbness on the right side of my body. Twenty yards later I was limping. Ten yards later, I fell to the ground with a bad headache on the left side of my head. I was 21 years old and having a stroke.

Dr. John Schmidt, with Patrick, 12, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident. Photograph © Marten Czamanske

I lost my ability to speak. My right side was flaccid, totally weak. I couldn’t read or write and spent four-and-a-half weeks in an Army hospital.

Today I’m a neurologist at Rochester General Hospital in New York. I’m also an associate professor of neurology and rehabilitation at the University of Rochester, New York. My specialty is working with stroke patients.

I’m very goal-oriented and after my stroke, I wanted to go back to school. The University of Minnesota was one of the medical schools I had applied to before my stroke. I decided to take one class there that following winter. I did pretty well, so I took two more classes in the spring. I went back to Colorado in the fall and completed my bachelor's degree in 1980.

I had withdrawn from the medical school application process when I had my stroke, but decided to pursue it now. I took the MCAT over, and because of my difficulty with language and reading, was given extra time to read. I actually got a better score that second time.

I entered the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1981. The admissions committee allowed me to take the first-year curriculum in two years because of my reading disability. When I graduated from the school in 1985, it was a great day for me and for everyone in my family. Before my stroke, I had planned to become a surgeon, but I also liked family practice, rehabilitation, and neurology. I logically chose to specialize in neurology.

Did having a stroke make me a better doctor? Probably. I think I can understand my patients better—their pain and their disabilities—because I’ve been living with this for almost 25 years. Is life good? Oh, yes. There isn’t much that I want to do that I can’t do.

Return to top

Arboretum gifts fund new visitor center
Two recent multi-million-dollar gifts will allow the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to move forward with construction of its new visitor center. An anonymous donor gave the arboretum $3.5 million, and Al and Mary Agnes McQuinn presented a gift of $1.4 million, bringing the total funds raised for the facility to $19.5 million.

An artist's rendering of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's visitor center.

"This special place deserves the best personal and financial support we can offer," said McQuinn, retired CEO and founder of Minnesota-based AgChem. "We feel that our contribution toward the new Visitor Center will improve many people’s quality of life far into the future," The McQuinns have donated a total of $2.5 million toward the center.

"Both of these gifts come from longtime friends of the Arboretum," said Arboretum Director Peter Olin. "Their families have come here for many, many years. And their donations will allow us to educate and engage thousands of other Minnesota families for years to come."

The Arboretum continues to raise funds for the center's endowment. Donors have already committed $2 million of the $3 million needed to ensure day-to-day maintenance and operation.

Construction on the building is expected to begin in late 2003. When completed in late 2004, the center will serve as a formal entry point to the gardens and collections and will include educational displays, classrooms, an auditorium, breakout rooms, gift shop, restaurant, and several outdoor terraces. In addition to the facility, the project includes new parking lots, picnic areas, and model rain and run-off gardens.

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, the largest public garden in the Upper Midwest, is part of the College of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota. It is located nine miles west of I-494 on Highway 5 in Chanhassen. The Arboretum, which closes only for Thanksgiving and Christmas, draws some 225,000 visitors each year. For more information see www.arboretum.umn.edu.

Return to top

UMC and Polaris join forces
The University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC), and Polaris Industries of Roseau, MN are joining hands to bring the University's Bachelor of Manufacturing Management (B.M.M.) degree to Polaris employees. Employees can earn their degree by completing evening classes at Polaris or the Roseau high school.

The B.M.M. is a workplace-centered degree program designed to meet the increasing demand for baccalaureate education from working adults and their employers. The content is flexible to recognize the worth of prior learning, yet focused on coursework that provides tangible value both immediately and long term. The program curriculum combines manufacturing and management expertise with applied technical courses.

This is the second, fully off-campus degree program offered by UMC, and it is modeled after the first successful B.M.M. program at Marvin Windows and Doors in Warroad, MN. Faculty members from UMC will travel to Roseau to teach and work directly with students. Polaris will cover the cost of tuition.

Spring semester courses begin in January. To register or for more information, call Rhonda Stene at Polaris Industries, 218-463-4554, or Judy Bernat at UMC, 218-281-8681 or see www.crk.umn.edu/cal/polaris.

Return to top

Bulldogs bite at new Division II conference
The University of Minnesota, Duluth (UMD), has accepted an invitation to become a member of the North Central Conference (NCC) Division II.

UMD Bulldog athletic teams will begin competitive play in the eight-member NCC beginning with the 2004-05 season, which will comprise UMD, Augustana College (SD), Minnesota State University-Mankato, University of Nebraska-Omaha, University of North Dakota, St. Cloud State University, University of South Dakota, and South Dakota State University. UMD was previously a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

"Joining the NCC is a great opportunity for UMD to align with schools which share our own high standards of academics and athletics," said Chancellor Kathryn Martin. "The NCC represents the most successful Division II schools in the country, and this is truly an appropriate fit for UMD." UMD is the first institution the NCC has admitted for membership since 1981.

"While we have enjoyed our long relationship with the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, we feel our institutional and athletic profiles are more consistent with those of NCC schools," said Martin.

UMD, which captured the past 10 NSIC All-Sports titles, sponsors the NCAA I men's and women's hockey programs and 12 NCAA II sports -- baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, football, softball, women's tennis, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, and volleyball

Return to top

U OF M HAPPENINGS

Let's have a ball
The University of Minnesota, Duluth (UMD), Recreational Sports and Outdoor Program will hold its annual "Let's Have A Ball" New Year's Eve Party Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2002 from 4pm - 8pm. in the UMD Sports and Health Center, 1216 Ordean Court. Activities will include skating, swimming, inline skating, rock climbing, basketball, volleyball, face painting, an obstacle course, moon-walk, and family films. Concessions will be available. Cost is $6 per person (those under 16 must be accompanied by an adult). For more information, call 218-726-7128.

Museum bound: at the Bell
Natural history collections and naturalists' field sketchbooks can be a never ending source of artistic inspiration. A two-day workshop will explore how these collections can lead to the creation of personalized artists' books: Saturday, Jan. 11, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 12, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Cost is $80 ($60 for members of the Bell Museum or Minnesota Center for Book Arts). To register, call 612-624-9050 by Jan. 3. For museum information, call 612-624-7083 or see www.bellmuseum.org. The workshop is sponsored by the Bell Museum and Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

Small Matters of Great Importance
The University of Minnesota, Morris, Humanities Fine Art Gallery will present "Small Matters of Great Importance: Seven artists, 70 small scale works in various media." The exhibit will run from Jan. 16 – Feb. 8, with an opening reception on Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m. The gallery is located at 600 East 4th Street (150, Humanities Fine Arts building). Hours are Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; and Saturday, 1-5 p.m. To view three of the works, see www.mrs.umn.edu/events/gallery.

Coffman Union to reopen in January
After three years of renovation, the University's historic Coffman Union will open to the public with a kickoff celebration on Tuesday, Jan. 21, beginning at 7 a.m. Activities will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon and a concert in the Great Hall at 12:30 p.m. Grand opening activities will continue throughout the semester. The renovated facility includes a 40,000-square-foot bookstore, coffee shop, expanded meeting and conference areas, lounges and study space, and additional service and retail centers. Coffman Union is located at 300 Washington Ave. S.E., Twin Cities campus. For more information or to take a virtual tour, see www.coffman.umn.edu/renovation.

Bruininks inauguration set for Feb. 28
The inauguration ceremony for the University of Minnesota's 15th president, Robert Bruininks, will be held Friday, Feb. 28, at 1 p.m. in Northrop Auditorium, 84 Church St. S.E., Twin Cities campus. The public ceremony and reception following the event (3 p.m., Coffman Union), will coincide with Founders Week, Feb. 23-March 1, a seven-day celebration to mark the founding of the University 152 years ago. More inauguration day details and more Founders Week events will be announced in the coming weeks.

Take a self-guided tour of U public art
Ever notice the two larger-than-life bronze bulls reclining on the lawn in front of Haecker Hall on the Twin Cities campus in St. Paul? On Dec. 12, a third bull joined the pair. All three bulls are part of the University's public art collection. If you visit the bulls make sure to take in the other artistic works in the collection:

• A 31-foot stainless steel robot outside the Mechanical Engineering building.
  
  
• The large globe-like sculpture in the Carlson School of Management's central atrium illustrating the school’s commitment to exploring and studying the global economy.
  
  
• A tree-shaded garden with benches and a speaking platform commemorating Hubert. H. Humphrey at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
  

For more information and a brochure on public art on campus, call 612-625-9686.

Return to top

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: Learn more about this fund-raising effort to build excellence in every corner of the U.

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 Home Page