March
4,
2004
1. Training
the next generation of biology teachers
2. No quizzes in this
class
3. Prostate cancer and eating less
4. Clothing design senior wins trip to
Paris
5. Holding on to a past: UMM plans for
the future
6. Spring M on the way
7. “Mommy, that man’s
going to have a baby!”
8. Happenings
9. Links
UNEWS
Training
the next generation of biology teachers
Holly Koslowski loves biology and wants to
be a teacher. Last fall, the University of
Minnesota senior got a taste of teaching
high school biology through a new mentorship
program that pairs University students with
science teachers in northwestern Minnesota.
CBS
student Holly Koslowski (right) at
Itasca this summer with her mentor
Candida Braun,
a biology teacher at Grand Rapids High
School.
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“If you are interested in being a teacher,
I cannot think of a better opportunity for
you to get an idea of what it would be like,” says
Koslowski, who was paired with a teacher
in Grand Rapids High School. In addition
to learning about classroom management and
preparing lessons, she learned “many
little secrets to make my life as a teacher
easier, such as manipulating the computerized
grade book.”
The Science Education Partnership for Greater
Minnesota stems from a conversation between
College of Biological Sciences dean Robert
Elde and Steven Yussen, dean of the College
of Education and Human Development, about
the large number of Minnesota middle and
high school science teachers approaching
retirement. The two began brainstorming ways
to encourage a new generation to teach in
this field, especially in smaller Minnesota
towns. Need led to vision, vision--with input
from educators and school administrators--led
to a plan, and the plan led to a $1.7 million
grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
”For our undergraduate students, there’s
an opportunity to investigate a career,” says
program coordinator Ken Jeddeloh. “For
the teachers, it’s a real payoff to
learn about cutting-edge biology content
[from the students and the workshops we offer].
And for the school district, there’s
the chance to entice a student to be a teacher
in their district.”
Last year, the program enrolled six students
and an equal number of science teachers as
their mentors. Next year, program developers
hope to have twice as many pairs on board.
To learn more about the Science Education
Partnership for Greater Minnesota, see http://www.cbs.umn.edu/sepgm/RTAP.html.
Edited from an original story by Mary Hoff
in BIO, fall 2003.
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No
quizzes in this class
In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set
off on a voyage to the Antarctic. Disaster
struck,
and the shipwrecked crew spent five months
on the ice before being rescued. At “Classes
Without Quizzes” on Saturday, April
3, University plant pathologist Bob Blanchette
will talk about the wood found in their makeshift
huts that continues to intrigue modern-day
researchers.
Bill Manwarren, past
COAFES Alumni
Society president,
addressing participants
at last year's
Classes Without
Quizzes.
|
Classes
Without Quizzes is a
halfday series of seminars
for the public to learn
about
the latest research in agriculture, food,
and the environment at the University. Blanchette
is one of eight experts from the College
of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental
Sciences (COAFES) tapped for the event. His
session on “Plant Pathogens Around
the World,” which mentions Shackleton,
follows horticulturist Mary Meyer’s
presentation on “Low Maintenance and
Alternative Lawns;” economist Jean
Kinsey’s talk about “Food Safety,
Obesity, and Health Care Costs;” and
education specialist Sue Anderson’s
discussion on “Classroom Agriculture.” This
year’s event will run from 9 a.m. to
2 p.m. in Borlaug Hall on the Twin Cities
campus in St. Paul.
C. Ford Runge, coauthor of Ending Hunger
in Our Lifetime, is keynote speaker for the
event. He will share what is already known
about fighting hunger and explain important
new research findings that show how change
can be made through sustainable environmental
practices, scientific innovation, renewed
institutions, and global investment.
“Healthy foods, sustainable agriculture, and
environmental preservation are all high priorities
among researchers here at the University,” says
Robert Freemore, COAFES Alumni Society president. “This
halfday seminar is a great opportunity to
share the work and progress we're making
in these areas.”
The cost, which includes lunch, is $20 ($10
for students and $15 for University of Minnesota
Alumni Association members). To register
or see the complete list of sessions, go
to http://alumni.coafes.umn.edu/cwq or call
612-625-4772.
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Prostate
cancer and eating less
Can a man reduce his chances
of getting prostate cancer if
he cuts calories? A University
of Minnesota researcher has undertaken
a three-year study that may help
answer that question. According
to the National Cancer Institute,
more than one-fourth of all men
diagnosed with cancer each year
have prostate cancer.
Margot
Cleary, an associate
professor
at the University’s
Hormel Institute, will
study how body weight
might affect the
development
of prostate tumors.
|
Margot Cleary, an associate
professor at the University’s
Hormel Institute, will
use male mice
to determine how body weight
might affect the development
of prostate tumors. The study
builds on earlier work by Cleary
and her colleagues in which they
found that breast tumors were
less likely to develop when calorie
intake was intermittently restricted.
“Because the development
of both prostate and breast cancers
is
mediated by hormones and characterized
by long latency periods, the
expectation is that this intervention
will have similar preventive
effects,” says Cleary.
Other researchers have shown
that caloric restriction over
a long period of time can slow
aging and reduce the incidence
of several types of malignancies,
but their studies involved severe
calorie restriction regimens,
says Cleary. In contrast, her
method of intermittent caloric
restriction--which calls for
a moderate reduction in calorie
intake at select times--could
have a stronger effect on tumor
development.
The U.S. Department of Defense’s
Prostate Cancer Research Program
gave Cleary a $375,000 grant
to conduct the new study. “The
results should assist in identifying
prevention and treatment strategies
related to lifestyle factors,” she
says.
To learn more about Cleary’s
research, see http://www.hi.umn.edu/mpc_lab.html.
For information about the Hormel
Institute and other anti-cancer
research conducted there, see
http://www.hi.umn.edu.
By University News Service
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Clothing
design senior wins trip to
Paris
University clothing
design senior Rachel Carlson
learned
to sew in 4-H when she was
seven. At 13, she stopped
using patterns and started
designing the clothes she
wore. Recently, one of Carlson’s
creations won her a month
in Paris.
Clothing
design senior Rachel
Carlson and
the garment that
won her a study trip
to Paris.
|
“Fashion design is the way
I express myself artistically,” says
Carlson, whose Barbies
were some of the best-dressed
dolls in Waseca, Minnesota.
Last fall, Carlson submitted
several pieces to the International
Textile and Apparel Association
juried exhibition in Savannah,
Georgia. The judges accepted
three of her designs for
the exhibit and awarded
her Best Wearable Art and
Best
In Show/Excellence for
her creation, “Sculptural
Feathers: Tailored Suit”--a
black velvet pantsuit complete
with a headgear of colorful
feathers.
“It’s out there,” she
says of her winning design. “If
you wore it into a room,
everyone’s eyes would
be on you.”
A
model showing one
of Carlson's creations
at the University's
student fashion show
in February.
|
Carlson,
who competed against
more than 270 clothing
design students from
around
the
world for the top prize,
will spend July studying
at the Paris American
Academy in France. Her
goal is
to earn a master’s degree
in fashion design from Central
Saint Martin’s
School of Art and Design
in London,
and eventually own a
design company.
“Rachel has the perfect combination
of skills and knowledge to
succeed as a designer--technical
know-how and a keen eye for
developing the visual package,” says
Karen LaBatt, associate professor
of clothing design in the
University’s College
of Human Ecology.
To learn more about the
University’s
clothing design program,
see http://www.che.umn.edu/ss/majors/clothing_design_major.htm.
By Patty Mattern, University
News Service
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Holding
on to a past: UMM plans for the future
Since September 2003, Jason
Phelps has collected information on about
675 trees
on the University of Minnesota, Morris
(UMM), campus, and the UMM senior estimates
that he has another 600 trees to go.
Phelps is part of a team of planners
and architects that is working on a plan
to preserve UMM’s historic landscape.
Trees on the UMM campus.
|
“I have learned so much [by volunteering
for this project] and will never be able
to look at a tree again without trying
to identify it,” says Phelps, who
is majoring in management and social
science. “Just this morning on
the way to class I walked by a tree
and automatically mumbled its common
name.”
UMM
received $180,000 from
the Getty Grant Program
last year to create a
preservation
plan for its West Central School of Agriculture
and Experiment Station Historic District.
The 42-acre district, located in the
heart of campus, is named on the National
Register of Historic
Places as
one of the most intact
examples of a residential
agriculture high school still standing
in the U.S.
Phelps is gathering information such
as tree type, height, canopy size (width
from one side of the tree branches to
the other), condition, and location,
and storing it all into a mapping software
that can track tree growth and tree condition
over time. He says his findings will
make it easier and more cost-effective
to monitor and maintain the trees in
the historic district--some, as old as
the buildings around them.
A
photo taken circa
1925 of the Girls'
Dormitory, now
UMM's Camden
Hall. The dormitory
was built in
1912 to house
students of the
newly opened
West Central
School of Agriculture.
|
UMM
administrators will use
the preservation plan--a
set of written guidelines
complete
with the history and design intent of
each landscape feature--to guide day-to-day
and long-term planning associated with
the district. The plan is expected to
be ready in March 2005.
To learn more about the UMM preservation
plan project, read here.
For more information, see the West
Central School of Agriculture and Experiment
Station Historic District and how
it earned its national
historic designation.
By Matt Gilmore, UMM News Service intern
Editor’s note:
The project coordinators are looking
for historic photos and personal stories
to add to the plan. If you have memories
to share from the years when UMM was
the West Central School of Agriculture,
e-mail Nancy Pederson at conl0027@mrs.umn.edu or call 320-589-6465.
Spring M on
the way
Watch your mailboxes in the coming week for the spring issue of M, the
University’s only publication for all alumni. Read about the reasons for
the high cost of prescription drugs in the U.S., the University’s midwifery
program, the new wood-fired kiln on the Morris campus, and a century of advocacy
at the University of Minnesota Alumni Association. If you currently do not receive M but
would like to, e-mail the M editor at coven002@umn.edu.
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“Mommy,
that man’s going to have a baby!”
There probably isn’t a parent alive
who hasn’t been embarrassed by something
his or her young child blurted out. Without
the internal censor that develops as we
mature, children will say whatever pops
into their heads. The following are tips
from University developmental psychologist
Martha Erickson on handling your child’s
inappropriate comments.
-
Gently and clearly correct your child when
he or she says something that is likely
to hurt or embarrass. Take your child aside
right way and explain that the other person
might feel sad or hurt by the comment.
With young children, an immediate correction
is the only way to connect your teaching
to their behavior.
- To
help children better understand the link
between their words and another person’s
feelings, ask them to think about how they
feel when someone says something bad about
them.
- Teach your child to appreciate individual
differences and recognize the beauty and
worth of all people, no matter how they
look. Buy them books and videos that recognize
diversity and avoid stereotypes based on
physical appearance.
- Be conscious of the messages you and other
family members convey through your own
words and actions. Your child will observe
how you value people, and eventually, learn
to do the same.
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HAPPENINGS
Celebrating women
International
Women’s
Day, an official
United Nations
holiday, will
be marked by a free public event on
Saturday, March 6, from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. at Mondale Hall on the Twin Cities
campus in Minneapolis. Bonnie Campbell,
former Iowa attorney general and director
of the U.S. Justice Department’s
Violence Against Women office, will
give the keynote address, “Women’s
Voices: The Struggle for Human Rights
Around the World.” More than
50 local organizations will be represented
and offer items for sale. For more
information, including a performance
schedule, read more here.
Sweet!
At the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s
Sugar Snow Days, you’ll learn
how to tap a maple tree, make a spout
out of elderberry branches, and collect
sap before you savor a bowl of crushed
ice drizzled with maple syrup. Sugar
Snow Days--a 200-year-old tradition
started by the first American settlers--will
fall on Saturdays, March 6, 13, and
20, from noon to 3 p.m. The activity
is free with the $7 gate admission.
If you’d rather have maple syrup
with pancakes, then don’t miss
the arboretum’s all-you-can-eat
Sugarbush Pancake Brunch on Saturday,
March 27, and Sunday, March 28, from
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tickets, which include
gate admission, are $6 for adults and
$3.50 for children ages 4 to 10. For
more information, see http://www.arboretum.umn.edu or call 952-443-1400.
Transportation in rural America
Has rural America been transformed
by new transportation policies? You
can find out at the James L. Oberstar
Forum, “Transportation in Rural
America: Challenges and Opportunities,” on
Monday, March 15, 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
in Weber Music Hall on the Duluth campus.
The forum will examine such topics
as urbanization of the countryside,
diversification of the rural economy,
and the government’s role in
public policy. The event is free and
open to the public, but space is limited.
To register or learn more, see
http://www.cts.umn.edu/events/oberstarforum/index.html
Healing spaces
What do feng shui, geomancy, and shamanism
have in common? According to Alex Stark,
they offer invaluable tools for evaluating
and designing healing environments
such as hospitals, clinics, and gardens.
Stark, a renowned consultant and teacher
on healing and creativity issues, will
talk about “Designing Healing
Spaces” on Thursday, March 25,
from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Cancer Research
Center on the Twin Cities campus in
Minneapolis. He will also present two
daylong seminars, “Feng Shui
for the Health Care Provider” on
Friday, March 26, and “The Role
of Feng Shui in Healing and Recuperation” on
Saturday, March 27. The cost is $125
for each seminar or $200 for both.
Space is limited. To register or learn
more, call the University’s Center
for Spirituality and Healing at 612-624-9459.
Best business-plan challenge
More than $40,000 is up for grabs in
the University of Minnesota New Venture
Challenge, a business-plan writing
competition sponsored by the Carlson
School of Management. Judges are looking
for the best business plan using University-related
technology, the best startup plan with
positive social impact, the best growth
plan from an existing company, the
best startup needing more than $1 million,
and the best startup needing less than
$1 million. The competition is free
and open to the public, but each team
must include a University alum or student.
Submissions are due Monday, March 22.
To learn more, see http://www.newventurechallenge.com.
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