Read Brief on the Web at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Publications/Brief/Brief_11012006.html .
Vol. XXXVI No. 36; Nov. 1, 2006

Editor: Gayla Marty, 612-625-0552, brief@umn.edu

EDITOR'S NOTE: Pauline Oo will edit Brief while Gayla Marty is away, Nov. 3-Dec. 15. Send inquiries and submissions to brief@umn.edu .

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

UMC IS THE FIRST U CAMPUS to receive blanket accreditation for expansion of online degrees. UMC officially secured continued accreditation last week for the maximum 10-year period, along with approval for moving ahead with more online degrees. In addition to the bachelor of applied health, delivered online since the mid-1990s, two more degree programs can now accept enrollment for spring 2007, one in business and the other in manufacturing management. More degrees can be offered online with Board of Regents approval. Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/Crookston_continues_online_leadership.html .

HEALTH BENEFITS OPEN ENROLLMENT BEGINS TODAY: Two staff members in Employee Benefits share their own processes for weighing the options and making choices by the Nov. 30 deadline. Learn more about flexible spending accounts (if you want one for 2007, you must request it), how other medical and dental plans compare, and dropping an ineligible dependent without penalty. Attend an Employee Benefits Fair at UMD (Nov. 2) or UMTC (Nov. 8, St. Paul; Nov. 9, Minneapolis). Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Faculty_Staff_Comm/Office_of_Human_Resources/The_key_word_is_choice.html .

ALUMNI SURVEY RESULTS, announced this week, show the breadth of U alumni impact. Results are based on responses from about 75,000 alumni of all the U campuses. They reported founding 19,000 companies worldwide that employ 1.1 million people. More then 75 percent do volunteer work and 37 percent have led charity organizations. The results of Connecting With Our Alumni, conducted from January to May this year, were combined with results of alumni surveys conducted by UMTC's Carlson School of Management (2005) and Institute of Technology (2004). Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/Homecoming_time_to_celebrate_alumni.html .

PEOPLE: Law School associate dean Meredith McQuaid has been named interim associate VP for international programs; Northrop Auditorium's interim director is Sally Dischinger; UMC's Delta Theta Sigma chapter has won a philanthropy award for the third consecutive year. Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Faculty_Staff_Comm/people.html .

CAMPUS ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

University-wide:

SPRING TEACHING AND LEARNING CONFERENCE will be April 23, 2007. Conference proposals are due Jan. 29. The annual conference is sponsored by the U's Academy of Distinguished Teachers and UMTC's Center for Teaching and Learning and Digital Media Center, with support from the Bush Foundation. See the call for proposals at http://www.adt.umn.edu/conference07 . For more information, contact Karen Zentner Bacig, kbacig@umn.edu or 612-624-5082.

2006 ELECTIONS PROJECT Web site now has candidate profiles for 28 Upper Midwest races for governor and the U.S. Congress, as well as the project's Upper Midwest Public Opinion Archive. Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, UMTC. For more information, see http://www.hhh.umn.edu/centers/cspg/elections_projects.html .

SUPERCOMPUTING INSTITUTE RESEARCH PROGRAMS FOR 2006-07 are now posted, including resources, facilities, grants, and technical support. Some have application deadlines. For more information, see http://www.msi.umn.edu or contact zirbes@msi.umn.edu or 612-625-0012.

HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS AT THE MINNESOTA LANDSCAPE ARBORETUM include forcing bulbs, winter containers, centerpieces, wreaths, ikebana holiday arrangements, and lavender. Dates begin Nov. 4. For more information, see http://www.arboretum.umn.edu .

U OF M MOMENT radio spots with U experts this week will feature the Day of the Dead; the next Headliners topic, humanity's social web; and health care politics. For more information, see http://www.ur.umn.edu/unsreleases/find.php?ID=3404&from=umnnews . Archives available at http://blog.lib.umn.edu/urelate/radio .

Crookston:

DELTA THETA SIGMA awarded its UMC chapter the fraternity's philanthropy award for most community service projects and hours for the third consecutive year--68 percent of chapter members participated in projects. Read more at http://www.umcrookston.edu/umcnews/stories/story380.html .

Duluth:

LONG-TIME DULUTH ENTREPRENEUR AND CIVIL LEADER Manley Goldfine will talk about his 70 years in business at the seventh annual Professor for a Day event, sponsored by the Labovitz School of Business and Economics. Manley recently retired as CEO of ZMC hotels. Today, 10 a.m., Weber Music Hall, preceded by refreshments beginning at 9:30 a.m. Free and open to the public. For more information, see http://www.d.umn.edu/news/2006/October/26.html .

FOUR STAR GENERAL Bruce Carlson, '71, currently serving as key adviser to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C., will speak to Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets, faculty, and staff members on campus, Nov. 2-3. Carlson is a Distinguished Graduate of the UMD Air Force ROTC and will receive the UMD Distinguished Alumni Award at a dinner in his honor. For more information, see http://www.d.umn.edu/news/2006/November/01.html .

Morris:

THE CENTER FOR SMALL TOWNS at UMM and the city of Morris won the 2006 Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Collaboration. The award was presented by former Sen. John Glenn Oct. 30 in St. Paul. The award, named for the former president and Rosalynn Carter, honors exemplary collaborations, undertaken by a college or university in partnership with a community group, that address critical areas of public need. The center was cited for sustained cooperation of many community projects over an extended period. For more information, see http://www.morris.umn.edu/ummnews/View.php?itemID=1647 .

Twin Cities:

TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION SEMINAR SERIES FOR GRAD STUDENTS IN SCIENCE and technology-related colleges: The next seminar will be "Legal Issues Involved in Protecting Your Intellectual Property." Nov. 13, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Carlson School of Management (CSOM). Register at ces@csom.umn.edu . The series of five seminars, sponsored by 3M and offered through the CSOM's Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, runs through April. For more information, see http://www.csom.umn.edu/Page1248.aspx or contact Sharon Hansen, shansen@csom.umn.edu or 612-624-0226.

HOMECOMING will include a barn dance, with square-dance lessons and food drive, Friday night, Animal Arena; a parade on University Avenue S.E. with baseball Hall of Fame member Paul Molitor as marshal, Saturday morning; and football versus Indiana at the Metrodome, 11 a.m. For more information, see http://www.ur.umn.edu/unsreleases/find.php?ID=3405&from=umnnews .

NATIONAL EXPERTS WILL TALK ABOUT IMMIGRATION FACTS AND MYTHS at a campus conference sponsored by several offices and departments. Today, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Humphrey Center. See the conference agenda and more information at http://www.hhh.umn.edu/centers/cspg/upcoming_events/immigration.html .

"THE SOCIAL WEB," by computer science and engineering professor John Riedl, will be the next topic of Headliners, a new monthly program to connect faculty experts with the public to discuss timely topics. Nov. 2, 7 p.m., Continuing Education and Conference Center, St. Paul. $10. To register, see http://www.cce.umn.edu/enrichment/headliners .

THE BLACKWELL-TAPIA CONFERENCE, the premier national event for underrepresented mathematical sciences researchers, will be hosted by the Institute for Mathematics and Its Applications, Nov. 3-4, Lind Hall and Electrical Science/Computer Science. For more information, see http://www.ur.umn.edu/unsreleases/find.php?ID=3382&from=umnnews .

"SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE," by Richard Wright, former director, Building and Fire Research Laboratory, U.S. Department of Commerce, will be the 21st Katherine and Arthur Sehlin Lecture, hosted by the Department of Civil Engineering. Nov. 8, 3:30-4:30 p.m., 210 Civil Engineering Building. A department open house will follow, 4:30-6 p.m. For more information about the department, see http://www.ce.umn.edu .

"MUSLIMS AND THE WEST IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION" will be presented by Ahmed Samatar, James Wallace Professor and dean, Institute for Global Citizenship, Macalester College. Nov. 9, 12:15 p.m., Presidents Room, Coffman Union. Free and open to the public; pizza will be served. Sponsored by the Tocqueville Center for the Study of Liberty and Free Institutions. For more information, contact Jed Ipson, ipse0001@umn.edu .

THE U'S PROGRESS IN NANOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH will be the focus of two workshops. The Northern Nano Workshop, hosted by the U and the Canadian government, will address topics including devices, sensors, and energy applications. Nov. 9, Radisson University Hotel. The Biomedical Nanotechnology Workshop will focus on applications, issues, and impact in medicine, therapy, and biological sciences. Free, but registration is required by contacting Becky Von Dissen, vondi001@umn.edu , or Tricia Conway, conwa012@umn.edu . For more information, see http://www.nano.umn.edu/northernnano and http://www.nano.umn.edu/nanobio/biomed.jsp .

"SCIENCE AND POLITICS IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY MAKING: CAN THIS MARRIAGE BE SAVED?" presented by Holly Doremus, U of California, Davis, will be the second in the 2006-07 Lunch Series on the Societal Implications of the Life Sciences. Nov. 14, 12:15-1:30 p.m., Coffman Theater. Free and open to the public. To reserve a box lunch, register no later than Nov. 10 to lawvalue@umn.edu or 612-625-0055. For more information, see http://www.lifesci.consortium.umn.edu/news_and_events .

A WILDERNESS WORTH SAVING, landscape photography of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by Jeff Jones, is a unique collaboration between a long-standing environmental organization and a photographer. Nov. 4-Dec. 3, Bell Museum of Natural History. Events will include "Go North! With the Polar Huskies--Adventure Learning in the Circumpolar Arctic" (Nov. 11), "Last Great Wilderness: The Campaign to Establish the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge," by author and pilot Roger Kaye (Nov. 15), and a public reception (Nov. 18). For more information, see http://www.bellmuseum.org .

MORE EVENTS include "A Riverfront Development Story," by Judith Martin, geography (Nov. 1); "Art and War" with Camille Gage, John Kinder, and Colleen Sheehy (Nov. 2); "The Art of Design," on fashion, textile, and architectural design in the U Libraries collections (Nov. 3); "Dawn of a Dream" 2006 benefit for the Children's Cancer Research Fund (Nov. 4); an evening of medieval music (Nov. 5); "Crossover Voting in African American Senate Elections," a talk by Hanes Walton, Jr. (Nov. 6); Regents Professor of English Patricia Hampl reading from her new book, Blue Arabesque (Nov. 7); and post-election analysis with Vin Weber and R. T. Rybak (Nov. 8). SEE THESE AND MORE TWIN CITIES EVENTS ONLINE at http://events.tc.umn.edu .

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

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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