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Past Issues
According to the Commission on U of M Excellence report, U's mission and scope are unique, broad, and comprehensive but appropriate for a public research university and for meeting the needs of the state. Commission found a need for greater public understanding of the U's mission and that public and private support are equally important—public support enables the U to deliver on its mission while private support allows for a margin of excellence. Commission was created in June 2001 by Minnesota Legislature to identify areas at the U that can develop national stature and achieve top 10 national rankings within 10 years.
Commission also challenges the U to be within the top 5 among its peers, as measured by the quality and productivity of its faculty members, and to achieve that, the Commission emphasizes that the U must have an excellent undergraduate program. For complete findings and recommendations submitted to the legislature in September, see www.umn.edu/urelate/govrel/excellence.htm.
Department of Neuroscience and Science Museum of Minnesota are collaborating on 5-year, $1.6 million project—"Bringing Resources, Activities, and Inquiry in Neuroscience" (BRAIN). Goal is to
develop in-depth materials and teacher training programs for middle-school science curriculums. Group of Minnesota teachers is currently working with U staff and faculty to increase students' understanding of the brain. "Our hope is that students will be excited about science and consider science as a potential career," said U researcher Carrie McNabb.
Humphrey Institute's Center for Nations in Transition will train the first generation of free enterprise business leaders in Ukraine. Project with 8 other American and Polish universities involves teaching educators from about 30 Ukrainian education institutions about Western-style business practices to help them start their own accredited M.B.A. programs in Ukraine. Project is supported by a 5-year, $9.5 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Joint meeting of U Senate, Faculty Senate, and TC Campus Assembly will be Oct. 31, 2:30–5 p.m., 25 Mondale Hall. Broadcast locations will be UMC, 305 Selvig Hall; UMD, Kirby Student Center Garden Room; UMM, Behmler Hall Conference Room. For agenda, see www.umn.edu/usenate/usen/021031agenda.html.
Carlson School of Management and Board of Regents will posthumously honor Thomas Burnett, Jr., with Regents Certificate of Outstanding Merit Oct. 25. Burnett, a 1986 CSOM graduate, is known for his heroic efforts on 9/11. Event from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at McNamara Alumni Center will also recognize the Thomas E. Burnett, Jr., Scholarship, sponsored by Alpha Kappa Psi fraternity to benefit a CSOM student, and the Thomas E. Burnett, Jr., Leadership Program. Ceremony will feature U speakers and Burnett's friends and family.
Combination of science, public opinion, and legislative policy makes timing ripe for strides in tobacco control, according to study by U researcher Dorothy Hatsukami and U of Wisconsin colleagues Michael Fiore and Timothy Baker. Authors also challenge physicians, health officials, and lawmakers to take responsibility for increasing smoking cessation and encourage states to use master settlement agreement monies to fund programs to treat tobacco dependence. Study was published in Oct. 9 Journal of the American Medical Association.
Submission guidelines for selected U awards—Morse-U of M Alumni Association Award for Contributions to Undergraduate Education; Outstanding Contributions to Postbaccalaureate, Graduate, and Professional Education; and John Tate Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising—are now available at www.umn.edu/ohr/awards. Questions, call 612-624-5082.
CROOKSTON—Oct. 30 is Program Improvement Audit Committee (PIAC) Day. PIACs help implement, evaluate, and continuously improve UMC academic programs. For more information, see www.crk.umn.edu/UMCadmin/AcademicAff/PIAC.htm.
Annual Torch and Shield Recognition Event will be Oct. 30, 6 p.m., Kiehle Auditorium. Award recipients are Bruce Brorson, associate professor and program director for Information Technology Management; Beverly Durgan, CFO and associate dean for research and outreach in the College of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences; Northwestern School of Agriculture alum Lyle Kasprick and his wife, Kathleen; Dale Knotek, former director of student activities; and Jerry Nagel, president of Northern Great Plains, Inc. New UMC Gift Club members will also be recognized.
UMC's precision agriculture program; alum Gary Wagner, '75; and U faculty were featured in Oct. 6 Star Tribune article, "New Agriculture Takes Root" (www.startribune.com/stories/535/3345685.html).
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DULUTH—Concerts, receptions, and high school master classes will mark the grand opening of UMD Weber Music Hall, Oct. 25–27. The $9.2 million, copper-domed building, designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli, completes the arts triangle in UMD Ordean Court (along with Tweed Museum of Art and Marshall Performing Arts Center). "[Weber Hall] will prove to be the finest small concert hall in America," says Pelli.
Department of Music will present more than 50 additional concerts and recitals in 2002–03. Performances at Weber Music Hall will include the annual Head of the Lakes Jazz Festival and the Scandinavian Song Festival. Hall will also provide a best practices facility for K–12 performance music training.
MORRIS—2002 Classic Film Festival, Oct. 24–27 at Morris Theatre, will feature The Out-of-Towners (Oct. 24, 7 p.m.), The Apartment (Oct. 25, 7 p.m.), On the Waterfront (Oct. 26, 7 p.m.), King of Hearts (Oct. 26, 9 p.m.), and Rear Window (Oct. 27, 7 p.m.). Tickets are $3 for single movie or $10 for the weekend. Post-film discussion will be at Prairie Renaissance Cultural Arts Center, 630 Atlantic Ave.
National Chemistry Week runs through Oct. 26. UMM American Chemical Society Student affiliate will demonstrate safe, fun chemistry Oct. 26, 10:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m., Willie's Super Valu.
Fred Peterson Retrospective Exhibit will feature 60 works spanning 40 years by faculty member Fred Peterson. Opening reception at HFA Gallery is Oct. 28, 7:30 p.m.
ROCHESTER—President Bush spoke at U Center Rochester Regional Sport Center Oct. 17. Event drew nearly 5,000 people.
TWIN CITIES—College of Veterinary Medicine students will help Minnesota Department of Natural Resources monitor chronic wasting disease, a fatal brain disease found in elk and deer. Students will be collecting brain samples of hunter-killed deer during first weekend (Nov. 9–12) of hunting season. Collaboration launches school's Veterinary Response Team, which will prepare veterinary medicine students to help in state or national emergencies.
Parking and Transportation Services received the Governor's Award of Excellence in Waste and Pollution Prevention for its U-Pass discounted bus pass. Since the program's introduction fall 2000, carbon monoxide emissions on campus have decreased by 110 tons per year and bus ridership has increased by 88% resulting in a reduction of 50,000 vehicle miles traveled per day.
Giant copper mesh skirt will be added to Platonic Figure sculpture south of Mechanical Engineering building at a reception Oct. 25, 7 p.m. Temporary skirt artwork is designed by artist Kristine Miller to inspire discussion about the impact of the arts on public space and gender issues. Viewpoints will be collected and made available on the CALA Web site.
Medical School and Parkinson Study Group seek families with at least 2 living brothers or sisters with, or possibly affected by, Parkinson's disease (PD) for study to identify genes that may cause an increased risk of PD. For more information, call 1-888-830-6299.
Events: U Libraries book sale will be Oct. 28–29, 10 a.m.–3 p.m., 30 Wilson Library. Nothing over $1.
o Halloween at the Raptor Center, Oct. 31, 4–8 p.m., will feature nocturnal raptors and other creatures of the night, including Charlie the raccoon, a flying squirrel, bats, and geckos. Free. Call 612-624-4745.
Lectures: "Intimacy and Autonomy, Gender and Aging: Living Apart Together" will be Oct. 25, 1–3 p.m., 1014 Social Sciences Building.
o Humphrey Institute Policy Forum conference, "The American Community—Diversity and Democracy: Challenges and Opportunities," will be Oct. 24–25. Keynote address is by Washington Post columnist E. J. Dionne. To register, call 612-625-8330. For agenda, see www.hhh.umn.edu/centers/policy-forum.
o Immigration History Research Center's "Defying the AVO," an interview with 3 Hungarian-Americans who resisted the Hungarian Secret Police in 1956, will be Oct. 25, 5 p.m., 308 Andersen Library. Call 625-4800.
o CLA dean Rosenstone will moderate Oct. 28 gubernatorial debate with Roger Moe, Tim Pawlenty, Tim Penny, and Ken Pentel; 7–8 p.m.; Doubletree Park Place Hotel, 1500 Park Place Blvd., Minneapolis.
o Jordanian ambassador Karim Kawar will speak on "Crisis and Peace in the Middle East" Oct. 29, 9:30–10:30 a.m., Cowles Auditorium, Humphrey Center.
o Artist Judy Pfaff will give public lecture on her work Oct. 31, 7 p.m., West Bank Program Hall, Willey Hall. Lecture is part of her Oct. 28–Nov. 1 residency with the art department.
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