Read Brief on the Web at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Publications/Brief/Brief_9272006.html .
Vol. XXXVI No. 31; Sept. 27, 2006

Editor: Gayla Marty, 612-625-0552, marty001@umn.edu

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

DRIVEN TO DISCOVER debuts today as a new way to communicate the benefits of a public research university to the state and to build greater public and philanthropic support for the U. In addition to a Web site, signs, banners, sidewalk clings, posters, and other materials, the initiative includes an innovative "We are all search engines" advertising campaign that will reach 83 percent of the state through TV, radio, and print media. Communicator toolkits will be available soon. Faculty, staff, and students got a preview last week and can learn more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/Driven_to_Discover.html .

DEDICATION OF THE SCHOLARS WALK AND UNVEILING OF THE WALL OF DISCOVERY will be Sept. 29, 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., outside the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Building, UMTC. The Scholars Walk honors some 800 people with U connections who have gained national or international recognition for academic or creative achievements. The Wall of Discovery, which displays a metaphoric blackboard inscribed with research, notes, and drawings of 92 scholars, will be unveiled at noon. Everyone is welcome. An ice cream social will follow the dedication. Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/U_gears_up_for_big_weekend_of_events.html .

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT SPOTLIGHT: PartnersWork attracts local high school students to the Twin Cities campus for a free ACT/SAT review course every Saturday in the winter. Educational psychology faculty member Ernest Davenport--whose research focus is standardized testing--has a commitment to public engagement that has been a key to the program's success. Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/PartnersWork_helps_bridge_achievement_gap.html .

CIVIL SERVICE COMMITTEE: CSC chair Peg Wolff knows that most of issues that make it to the floor of the University Senate have been hashed through in one of the hardworking senate committees. Civil service staff seats are still open on two of those committees--All-University Honors and the Twin Cities Facilities and Support Services. Current representatives on other committees talked last week about their experiences. Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Faculty_Staff_Comm/Civil_Service_Committee/Where_you_can_shape_debate.html .

PEOPLE: Apostolos Georgopoulos, regents professor and director of the Brain Science Center, has been elected to the Cajal Club of the world's top neuroscientists; UMM's Ray Schultz has won a Wilde Award for Theatre Excellence; cardiology professor Jay Cohn received the first lifetime achievement award of the Heart Failure Society of America; and Jennifer Kuzma has been appointed interim director of the Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy in the Humphrey Institute. Read more at http://www.umn.edu/umnnews/Faculty_Staff_Comm/people.html .

Transforming the U:

THE NEW INSTITUTE ON THE ENVIRONMENT'S INTERIM DIRECTOR is Deborah Swackhamer, professor of environmental health sciences, School of Public Health, and codirector of the U's Water Resource Center. The institute will be located at UMTC but be a virtual roof for all environmental research across the U statewide. For more information, see http://www.umn.edu/urelate/newsservice/Swackhamer.html .

COLLEGE OF FOOD, AGRICULTURAL AND NATURAL RESOURCE SCIENCES (CFANS) final dean candidate, Eric Triplett, U of Florida at Gainesville, will speak at a public forum Sept. 29, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., St. Paul Student Center Theater. For more information, see http://www.cfans.umn.edu/deansearch .

CAMPUS ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

University-wide:

TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED LEARNING (TEL) SEMINARS this fall will be "Improving Learning With Technology-Enhanced Simulations" (Oct. 4), "Improving Macromedia Breeze Learning Activities" (Nov. 1), and "Using Technology to Support Community and Collaboration" (Dec. 6). Noon-1:30 p.m.; sessions will be held at UMTC and also webcast. For more information, see http://dmc.umn.edu/series/fall06.shtml .

TRANSGENDER COMMMISSION OPEN HOUSE: Learn about the work of the newly formed U of M Transgender Commission, meet the commission members, and find out how to get involved. Everyone is welcome; appetizers and refreshments will be served. Oct. 6, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Campus Club, fourth floor, Coffman Union, UMTC. Cosponsored by the GLBTA Programs Office and the Office of the VP and Vice Provost for Equity and Diversity. For more information, contact Ross at neely010@umn.edu or 612-626-3064. See also http://www.academic.umn.edu/equity .

GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL DAY 2006 will feature more than 100 graduate and professional programs from across the nation. Workshops on topics such as how to apply and fund graduate or professional school will also be offered. Oct. 11, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Great Hall, Coffman Union. For more information, see http://www.cclc.umn.edu/GSD .

Crookston:

STUDENTS AND RESEARCH took center stage at the Creative Activity, Scholarship, and Experiential Learning (CASE) poster session Sept. 22, cosponsored by a faculty development grant to enhance student learning, funded by the Bush Foundation. For more information, see http://www.umcrookston.edu/umcnews/stories/story350.html .

COLLEGE IN THE HIGH SCHOOLS: A workshop attended by 46 high school instructors in math, physics, composition, literature, and public speaking and UMC department heads and instructors was held at the Crookston campus Sept. 25. The high school instructors represented 28 school districts statewide. For more information, see http://www.umcrookston.edu/umcnews/stories/story359.html .

"MOVING FROM DISORGANIZED THOUGHT TO PURPOSEFUL BEHAVIOR," a workshop on improving academic effectiveness for students diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), will be presented by Laurie Petersen, certified ADHD coach, U of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Sept. 28, 9 a.m.-noon, Youngquist Auditorium. For more information, see http://www.umcrookston.edu/umcnews/stories/story352.html .

Duluth:

THE ANNUAL WEBER CONCERT SERIES begins its fifth season this week in Weber Music Hall with the Sinfonietta de Paris, UMD Music Ensembles, and renowned clarinetist Richard Stolzman, Sept. 28, 7:30 p.m. Stolzman and his son, jazz pianist and keyboardist Peter Stolzman, will perform together Sept. 30, 7:30 p.m. For more information, see http://www.d.umn.edu/music ; for tickets, call 218-726-8561.

UMD HOMECOMING CELEBRATION will be Oct. 6-7 with the theme "Come Home." Football game vs. Augustana will be Oct. 7, 1 p.m., Malosky Stadium; pregame tailgate party begins at 11 a.m. For more information, see http://www.d.umn.edu/unirel/alumni/homecoming.html or contact lpratt@d.umn.edu or 218-726-7164.

Morris:

COMMUNITY OUTREACH PARTNERSHIP CENTER (COPC), creating partnerships between UMM and the city of Morris, will celebrate one-and-a-half years of progress in a special event today with Kinnard Wright, head, COPC grant project, Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. Display of local projects begins at 8:30 a.m., Morris Senior/Community Center. For more information, see http://www.morris.umn.edu/ummnews/View.php?itemID=1198 .

Twin Cities:

FOOTBALL RELAY AND GROUND BREAKING FOR TCF BANK STADIUM will include hundreds of U supporters handing off a football from the Metrodome, through campus, to the site of the new stadium at the Gopher parking lot on Oak and 4th Streets S.E., Minneapolis. Sept. 30. Relay begins at 12:30 p.m., ground breaking at 2 p.m. For more information, see http://www.umn.edu/stadium .

GOPHER FOOTBALL FACULTY & STAFF APPRECIATION DAYS are Sept. 30, 7 p.m., vs. Michigan, tickets $35 (regular $50); and homecoming, Nov. 4, 11 a.m., vs. Indiana, tickets $30 (regular $45). Buy tickets at the U of M Bookstore in Coffman Union or the ticket office in Mariucci Arena, Sept. 18-Nov. 4. For more information, see http://gophersports.com .

PILLSBURY COURT FACULTY RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY has several townhouse openings that can't be filled from the current waiting list. To be eligible, faculty members must have resided in the Twin Cities less than 18 months. For more information, see http://www.housing.umn.edu/visitors/faculty/pillsbury.shtml or call 612-624-1969 or 625-2121.

CAMPUS BLOOD DRIVE IS TOMORROW, 7 a.m.-5 p.m., McNamara Alumni Center. Please schedule your appointment beforehand by visiting http://www.givelife.org and entering the sponsor code uofmacademic. If you have traveled outside the country in the past year or have other questions about your eligibility to donate blood, call the ARC nurse at 651-291-3885 before scheduling. Donors must present a photo ID at check-in. For more information, contact Jenny Meslow at the Academic Health Center, meslo001@umn.edu .

WELCOME-BACK TICKET GIVEAWAY SEPT. 29: See Underwater Adventures' live baby shark and the Fab 4 in Coffman Union's Fireplace Lounge at noon. While you're there, enter for a chance to win tickets to Underwater Adventures, the Minnesota Zoo, AMC movie theaters, and IMAX theater, and a round-trip bus ticket from Jefferson Lines. Go to the Coffman information desk by Sept. 29 to enter and fill out a short survey. For more information, see http://www.coffman.umn.edu/info .

"WOMEN IN SCIENCE: JOURNEYS IN ACADEMIA" will feature three prominent women scientists in a symposium for graduate students, cosponsored by the Animal Sciences Graduate Students and several offices. Today, 1-4 p.m., 125 Animal Science/Vet Med, St. Paul. For more information, see http://www.ansci.umn.edu and http://www.ur.umn.edu/unsreleases/find.php?ID=3297&from=umnnews .

"NUTRACEUTICALS: SUPPLEMENTS, BOTANICAL DRUGS, AND NATURAL PRODUCTS--Science, Safety, and Efficacy," presented by Mark Blumenthal, American Botanical Council, will kick off the 2006-07 Lecture Series on Law, Health, and the Life Sciences. Oct. 4, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Coffman Theater. Free and open to the public; register by Oct. 2 at lawvalue@umn.edu or 612-625-0055. For more information, see http://www.lifesci.consortium.umn.edu/news_and_events .

"THE PILEUS PROJECT: CLIMATE SCIENCE IN SUPPORT OF DECISION MAKING for an Intensively Managed Agricultural Crop," by Julie Winkler, geography, Michigan State U, will be the 14th Annual Kuehnast Lecture, sponsored by the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate. Winkler is researching the impact of climate change on Michigan's tart cherry industry. Oct. 4, 3:30 p.m., 335 Borlaug Hall. For more information, see http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/kuehnast_lecture .

"HEADLINERS," a new monthly program to connect faculty experts with adult learners to discuss timely topics, will open with "The Prospects for Peace in the Middle East," by Michael Barnett, chair of international relations at the Humphrey Institute and a national authority on Middle East politics. Oct. 5, 7 p.m., Continuing Education and Conference Center, St. Paul. $10 per event. To register, see http://www.cce.umn.edu/enrichment/headliners .

A SERIES OF FIVE SEMINARS ON TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION for graduate and Ph.D. students in science- and technology-related colleges will be sponsored by the Carlson School of Management's Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and 3M through April. Leading entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and academics will discuss the challenges of turning technical and scientific breakthroughs into successful businesses. The first session, "Recognizing and Evaluating Opportunities," will be Oct. 9, 4-6 p.m., Carlson School. For more information, contact shansen@csom.umn.edu or 612-624-0226.

MORE EVENTS include a gubernatorial debate with candidates Pawlenty, Hatch, and Hutchinson (today); U professor John Wright discussing his new book, Shadowing Ralph Ellison (Sept. 28); ground breaking for Carlson School's Hanson Hall (Sept. 28); "Still Present Pasts: Korean Americans and the 'Forgotten War,'" a discussion with artist In Joo Whang (Sept. 29); "Touch the Sky" Jim Brandenburg photo exhibit premiere (Sept. 30); "Irene on TV" (Oct. 1); U political science instructor Jeff Taylor discussing his book, Where Did the Party Go? (Oct. 2); former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (Oct. 3); a reception for first VP and vice provost for access and equity, Nancy "Rusty" Barceló (Oct. 3); and U professor Rose Brewer discussing her book, The Color of Wealth: The Story Behind the U.S. Racial Wealth Divide (Oct. 4). SEE THESE AND MORE TWIN CITIES EVENTS ONLINE at http://events.tc.umn.edu .

UMTC 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 Gayla Marty, editor, at marty001@umn.edu . All Twin Cities event submissions are handled through the events calendar at http://events.tc.umn.edu .

Brief is published by e-mail and on the Web at www.umn.edu/umnnews/Publications/Brief.html. See also UMNnews, a U-wide Web publication, at www.umn.edu/umnnews .

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