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Read Brief on the Web at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Publications/Brief/Brief_2212007.html .
Vol. XXXVII No. 7; Feb. 21, 2007
Editor: Gayla Marty, brief@umn.edu

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT: Communities from Minneapolis to the Red River Valley are working with U faculty members to find long-term solutions to problems related to children's health--such as indoor environmental hazards and school readiness. Planning grants came from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation. Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Faculty_Staff_Comm/Office_for_Public_Engagement/Growing_up_healthy.html .

CIVIL SERVICE COMMITTEE: If you're wondering whom to nominate for the President's Outstanding Service Award, read about last year's civil service recipients. Jenny Meslow, Academic Health Center, has been the face behind the U's Relay for Life and the annual Turtle Derby. Debbie Nelson, Law School, is an all-around, long-time, go-to person for faculty, staff, and students alike. Nominations are due March 9. Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Faculty_Staff_Comm/Civil_Service_Committee/ Honoring_all_kinds_of_great_service.html .

TRANSFORMING THE U: The Medical School's new interdisciplinary Center for Medical Humanities and the Arts is forging links with the UMTC College of Liberal Arts and the arts community to help prepare more compassionate and effective doctors. Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/Body_and_soul.html .

PEOPLE: UMTC's Department of Educational Psychology has won an innovative practices award for its statistics education program, headed by Joan Garfield; Todd Hickman is UMM's new head football coach; UMD alumna Karen Diver is the first woman chair of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. See http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Faculty_Staff_Comm/people.html .

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CAMPUS ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

University-wide:

WANTED: FEEDBACK ON MEDICAL PLANS. The Benefits Advisory Committee (BAC) seeks your confidential comments about experiences--positive or negative--with your medical plan in the past year. The 2007 Plan Reviews section of the BAC Web site lists the appropriate person to contact for your medical plan. Deadline for comments: March 7. See http://www.umn.edu/usenate/committees/bac.html .

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: FESLER-LAMPERT CHAIR IN URBAN AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS is an endowed, one-year position for U faculty members to support research related to urban or regional affairs in Minnesota. About $36,000 is the expected endowment for 2007-08. Deadline to apply: March 20, 4:30 p.m. See http://www.cura.umn.edu/Programs/FL-Chair/chairapp.php or contact Tom Scott, professor, at scott001@umn.edu or 612-625-7340.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: FACULTY INTERACTIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM GRANTS, supported by the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, support faculty research related to a significant public policy issue for Minnesota or its communities and that includes interaction and engagement with involved groups, agencies, or organizations in the state. Each award supports the faculty member's time for one month during summer 2007 and a half-time grad research assistant for academic year 2007-08. Deadline to apply: March 27, 4:30 p.m. See http://www.cura.umn.edu/Programs/FIRP/announce.html or contact Tom Scott, information above.

CAMPUS LOCATIONS FOR THE STATE OF THE U ADDRESS BROADCAST, live by interactive TV from the Coffman Union theater, UMTC, will include 100 Dowell Hall, UMC; 410 Library, UMD; Science Auditorium, UMM; ST108, UMR; and 155 Peters Hall, UMTC, St. Paul. March 1, 3 p.m.; a question-and-answer period will follow the speech. Disability accommodations will be provided upon request: please call 612-624-6868 by Feb. 23.

THE ACADEMIC HEALTH CENTER (AHC) HISTORY PROJECT will be launched by AHC and University Libraries with a lecture to honor a late U oncologist: "B. J. Kennedy and the Campaign for Medical Oncology," by Gretchen Krueger, historical consultant for the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2003-06. Feb. 28, 4-5 p.m., Mayo Memorial Auditorium; a reception will follow. See http://blog.lib.umn.edu/moore144/ahcarchives/2007/02/ahc_history_project_lecture.html .

Crookston:

NEW ACADEMIC PROGRAMS approved by the regents Feb. 9 include a B.S., as well as a minor, in biology. Name changes were also approved for two programs: UMC will now offer a B.S. in animal science with two areas of emphasis, animal science and pre-veterinary medicine, and a B.S. in equine science with two tracks, equine science and pre-veterinary medicine.

2007 INTERNATIONAL DINNER SERIES will feature two-hour virtual trips to Columbia (March 5), Nepal (March 19), Ireland (March 26), and around the world (April 4), hosted by international students and the International-Multicultural Club. Individual event and series tickets available; reservations required by Feb. 23. See http://www.umcrookston.edu/umcnews/stories/story460.html .

A BISON SKULL, found in 1958 in a former peat bog in rural Erskine, is on loan and on display in UMC's Natural History Collection, second floor, Owen Hall. See http://www.umcrookston.edu/umcnews/stories/story464.html .

Duluth:

OSLO CHAMBER CHOIR, a Norwegian explorative folk music group, will perform in the Ovation Guest Artist Concert, with a repertoire of jazz, Gregorian chant, Nordic contemporary, and Norwegian folk music. Feb. 22, 7:30 p.m., Weber Music Hall. All seats reserved; tickets $25 adults, $20 seniors, $15 students. See http://www.d.umn.edu/music/events/calendar/janfeb.html.

PROFESSOR FOR A DAY, hosted by the Labovitz School of Business and Economics, will feature two panel discussions, Feb. 27, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m., fourth floor rotunda, Library. "Corporate and Social Responsibility" will include current and former executives from Allete, Inc., 9 a.m. "Entrepreneurship" will include two alumni who have started their own businesses, 11 a.m. Free and open to the public. See http://www.d.umn.edu/lsbe/newsandevents.php?id=246 .

UMD HEALTH SERVICES, which offers personal counseling to more than 600 students a year, received renewed accreditation by the International Association of Counseling Services. See http://www.d.umn.edu/news/2007/February/14.html .

Morris:

JAZZ FEST 2007 comes to UMM March 29-31. About 900 high school jazz musicians and alumni jazzers will join the UMM Jazz Ensembles and guest artists Allen Vizzutti and Chris Vadala for three days of clinics and three evening performances. Ticket order forms are now available. See http://www.morris.umn.edu/ummnews/View.php?itemID=2546 .

ALUMNA AND MINNESOTA SUPREME COURT ASSOCIATE JUSTICE Lorie Gildea, '83, will give the keynote commencement address May 12. Gildea was appointed to the state bench last year; see http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/UMM_alum_Gildea_named_associate_justice.html .

Rochester:

OPEN FORUMS FOR THE COMMUNITY this month, sponsored in part by UMR, featured two U faculty members. Mark Seeley, professor of soil, water, and climate, gave two climate-related presentations, one about Lake Superior shipwrecks, to members of LIFE--Learning Is ForEver. Deborah Swackhamer, director of the Institute on the Environment, spoke on Minnesota's emerging water-quality issues to the Minnesota Trout Association and the local chapter of Trout Unlimited as part of a mini-series by U professors and researchers on the environment.

Twin Cities:

DUNN BROS. COFFEE OPENED IN WILSON LIBRARY, lower level, as the Academic Blend Café, Feb. 14. Hours are Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday, 7 a.m.-4 p.m. See http://www.umn.edu/dining .

"INVITE YOUR PROFESSOR TO LUNCH": Students can invite a professor to eat at a residential restaurant, and the professor's meal is on UDS. Students should sign up at the front desk of any residence hall. Sponsored by University Dining Service and Housing and Residential Life. See http://www.umn.edu/dining/reshalldine.html .

CALL FOR ENTRIES: "IT'S GLOBAL," a juried public-health filmmaking competition, is sponsored by the School of Public Health. Submit short films on a broad range of topics, such as pollution, clean water, refugee health, disaster preparation, nutrition, infectious disease, access to health care, and climate change. Deadline: March 12. Screenings of selected entries: April 2-6. See http://www.sph.umn.edu/film .

MINI MEDICAL SCHOOL'S FIVE-CLASS SPRING SERIES, "Taking Charge of Your Health," is offered in collaboration with the Center for Spirituality and Healing. Topics include diet and nutrition; relationships and family; stress mastery; life purpose; and more. Mondays, April 9-May 7, 6-8:30 p.m. $75 for five classes; space is limited. See http://www.ahc.umn.edu/minimed .

FAMILY POLICY FORUM: A presentation of findings from Issues in Bridging the Divide Between Policy Makers and Researchers, by Marcie Jefferys and Kate Troy, will feature policy makers and advocates. Feb. 23, 1-3 p.m., Sku-U-Ma Room, McNamara Alumni Center. See http://events.umn.edu/event?occurrence=400396;event=116136 .

MORE TICKETS FOR NIKKI GIOVANNI, writer and activist, presenting "Truth-Telling and the Need for Poetry: From the Harlem Renaissance to Hip-Hop," are now available for viewing on the large screen in Cowles Auditorium, Humphrey Center. Tickets for Ted Mann Concert Hall are sold out. Feb. 28, 7:30 p.m. Free, but reserve seats (limit two per person) by contacting women@umn.edu or 612-625-9837. For more information, see http://www.umn.edu/women/events.html .

JACK AUBREY DINNER AT THE CAMPUS CLUB, inspired by Patrick O'Brien's seafaring series, will feature fish soup, meat pie, biscuits (without weevils), pickled cabbage, and spotted dog; sea shanties by the Eddies; and "Navigating by the Stars," a talk by professor and U observatories director Bob Gehrz. March 1, 5:30 p.m. U community nonmembers of the Campus Club are invited but must register by calling 612-626-7788. See http://www.umn.edu/cclub/Master&Commander.htm .

GOPHER WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS: FACULTY-STAFF DISCOUNTS. Cheer on coaches Meg and Jim Stephenson and the women's gymnastics team when they meet Iowa at the Sports Pavilion, Feb. 24, 6 p.m. Show your U card at the ticket window or the U of M Bookstore at Coffman Union the day of the event and get discount tickets ($3) for you and your guests. You're also invited to a reception, where you can meet Jim Stephenson, in the pavilion club room before the meet, 4:30-5:30 p.m. This special offer is available through a joint initiative of U governance and athletics that aims to build campus community. Watch for baseball (March 24) and softball (April 14).

MORE EVENTS include "Keeping Your Investment Strategy on Track" in the Brown-Bag Financial Series for U employees (Feb. 21); Talk About Time open lunchtime discussion in 125 Nolte Center (Feb. 21); "Bush's Disconnect," by Ben Page, Northwestern U, moderated by Walter Mondale (Feb. 22); "Startling Facts About Feelings: The New Science of Emotion" (Feb. 22); public reception for Quiet Time/Love's Labour, an art exhibition on time, labor, and the creative process (Feb. 23); ninth annual Latke-Hamentash Debate, with Oren Gross, law, and Joseph Goldman, strategic management, for the latke and Hamline U's Kenneth Fox, conflict studies, and Stephen Kellert, philosophy of science, for the hamentash, moderated by Alex Lubet, music and Jewish studies (Feb. 25); a national conference, "Creating Stem Cells by Research Cloning: Scientific, Ethical, Legal, and Policy Challenges" (Feb. 26); "Understanding Volunteerism and Social Action: The Role of Psychological Sense of Community" (Feb. 27); and the Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Arts (through Feb. 27). SEE THESE AND MORE TWIN CITIES CAMPUS EVENTS ONLINE at http://events.tc.umn.edu .

NEWS RELEASES are posted daily at http://www.umn.edu/urelate/newsservice/home.php .

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Published by University Relations at the University of Minnesota. Please send comments, questions, or submissions to the editor at brief@umn.edu . All Twin Cities event submissions are handled through the events calendar at http://events.tc.umn.edu .

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