Vol. XXXVIII No. 8; March 5, 2008
Interim Editor: Pauline Oo, brief@umn.edu

Read Brief on the Web at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Publications/Brief/Brief_03052008.html.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE
--Proposal for biomedical research buildings
--People: U professors win award for research article; Juran center namesake dies; and more.

Campus Announcements and Events
University-wide | Crookston | Duluth | Morris | Twin Cities

THE U IS RENEWING A REQUEST for its Minnesota Biomedical Research Program this legislative session, and more than 100 faculty, staff, students, and other U backers attended a hearing last week to show their support for the plan. The program would authorize the construction of four new biomedical research buildings at the U over the next five years. To learn more, read "Biomedical boom?"

PEOPLE: Darlene Charboneau is the new Plant Pathology Research Facility manager; three UMD marketing professors received the Outstanding Article of the Year Award; Joseph Juran, namesake of the U's Joseph M. Juran Center for Leadership in Quality, died Feb. 28. Read about these and more in People.

CAMPUS ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

University-wide:

STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY ADDRESS by President Bruininks will take place tomorrow, 3 p.m., Mayo Auditorium, UMTC. Interactive broadcast sites: 220 Dowell, UMC; 410 Library, UMD; Science Auditorium, UMM; room 4 Magrath Library, St. Paul; and room 397 UMR. Video streaming on the Web.

U TEAMS UP WITH XCEL ENERGY, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the Great Plains Institute in a groundbreaking wind-to-battery project. The partners will test a one-megawatt battery storage technology to demonstrate its ability to store wind energy and move it to the electricity grid when needed. Fully charged, the battery could power 500 homes for six and a half hours. The project will take place in Luverne, Minnesota. Read the news release.

MINNESOTA'S FUTURE DOCTORS PROGRAM, a collaboration between the U and Mayo Clinic medical schools, has received an anonymous donation of $1 million--$500,000 each to the Minnesota Medical Foundation and Mayo Clinic. The program was developed in response to a concern that practicing physicians and medical school students do not reflect the diversity of Minnesota communities. Read the news release.

GIVE FEEDBACK ON ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES: Significant enhancements have been made to the administrative policy on academic misconduct, including such changes as providing for anonymous reporting through UReport. A new administrative policy has been developed, "Resolving Alleged Student Conduct Code Violations," providing details on who may issue complaints, the process for complaint resolution, which hearing bodies are involved, and how appeals are handled. Both policy drafts are available online for viewing and comments or questions until March 24.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: The President's Emerging Leaders program is accepting applications through March 20 for its 2008-09 cohort. The program is designed to identify and further develop the leadership skills of high potential P&A, civil service, and bargaining unit staff. For more information and application instructions, see Office of Human Resources.

"ADAPTATION STRATEGIES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE" Environment Roundtable features Stephen Pacala, Princeton Environmental Institute, and Anne Kapuscinski, U's Institute for Social, Economic, and Ecological Sustainability. March 13, noon-1:15 p.m. (conversation, noon-12:45; audience discussion, 12:45-1:15), Coffman Theater; or attend via UMConnect.

Crookston:

SPRING 2008 ENROLLMENT at UMC is up nearly 13 percent over last year for degree-seeking students, affirming the actions the campus has taken to address recruitment and retention. Official numbers show 1,072 degree-seeking students compared with 951 for spring semester 2007. Read the news release.

NEW AND PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS will be able to learn more about the opportunities available at UMC during Preview Day, March 14. Read the news release.

Duluth:

"NATIVE AMERICANS IN MATHEMATICS: A Proud Past and a Look to the Future," hosted by the UMD Department of Mathematics and Statistics, will feature Robert Megginson, mathematics professor and an associate dean at the University of Michigan, discussing some of the barriers that prevent fuller participation of Native Americans in mathematics. He will also discuss the opportunities that are now available to Native Americans in mathematics-based fields. March 6, 3 p.m., 130 Solon Campus Center. Read the news release.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S WEEK Celebration, featuring poetry, food, and live music by singer and songwriter Sara Thomsen is today, noon, Kirby Student Center Lounge. UMD Women's Resource and Action Center and Women's Studies department is sponsoring the free event. For more information, see Women's Studies.

UMD MUSIC DEPARTMENT offers two jazz concerts by Jeff Tain Watts Quartet: March 6 and 7, 7:30 p.m., Weber Music Hall. Bandleader Watts has established himself as one of jazz music's unique and creative composers. Watts, an innovative and influential drummer, is the only musician to appear on every Grammy Award-winning jazz record by both Wynton and Branford Marsalis. Tickets are $25. For more information, see music calendar.

Morris:

UMM HAS RECEIVED three Clean Renewable Energy Bonds that will be used to construct a second wind turbine near the U's West Central Research and Outreach Center, to add a steam turbine that will convert to electricity the "green" steam from the biomass facility that is under construction, and to purchase a third wind turbine that will be located in western Minnesota and shared with the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. Read the news release.

UMM MOCK TRIAL TEAM finished first at the Upper Midwest Durst Memorial Regional Competition in Superior, Wisconsin. Read the news release.

Twin Cities:

"M" BRIDGE CLOSED for inspection; use alternative routes. The pedestrian bridge that spans the Dinkytown railroad trench between Roy Wilkins Hall and the old Music Education Building is off limits for about a month. If repairs are needed, the bridge will remain closed indefinitely until they are completed.

GOLDSTEIN MUSEUM is among the first group of small libraries and museums in the United States to receive the "Connecting to Collections Bookshelf" from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to help care for its collections. The Bookshelf includes books, DVDs, and online resources that address such topics as collections management and planning, emergency preparedness, and culturally specific conservation issues.

NEED A BOOK FROM U LIBRARIES? Book delivery is available at the simplified new Web site, Get It! A book can be held for pick up at any campus library or delivered to faculty or staff offices at UMTC. See Get It services.

JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL, through March 9, includes the films Arranged and Aviva My Love, as well as documentaries The Forgotten Refugees and Making Trouble. The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies sponsored the March 4 film and post-show discussion. Ticket prices and screening locations vary. For a complete schedule, see film fest.

TRANSPORTATION CAREER EXPO sponsored by Center for Transportation Studies will provide information to students on transportation career alternatives and preparation strategies. A reception offers networking and employment-seeking opportunities with potential employers. For more information, contact Mindy Carlson, 612-625-1813, carlson@cts.umn.edu, or see 2008 Career Expo. March 13, 1:15-5 p.m., Coffman Union.

MORE EVENTS include "Headliners: The China Connection" (March 6); "Computers Once Were Women--Why Did This Change?" (March 7); Dance faculty repertoire concert (March 8), wine class at the Campus Club (March 10); "Equitable Solutions to Greenhouse Warming" (March 11); "Finding Gene Information" (March 12). SEE THESE AND MORE TWIN CITIES CAMPUS EVENTS.

Published by University Relations at the University of Minnesota. Please send comments, questions, or submissions to the editor at brief@umn.edu. The deadline for submissions is noon on the Friday before publication. All Twin Cities event submissions are handled through the events calendar at http://events.tc.umn.edu.

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