Past Issues

To subscribe or unsubscribe

View on the Web at http://www.umn.edu/urelate/brief
Vol. XXXIV No. 9; Mar. 3, 2004

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

1. Top Stories
    Agricultural issues at the U will be a legislative committee topic Mar. 4.
    Report calls for integration of agricultural and food research to improve health.
    Metro Transit bus strike likely; updates are on the Web.
2. News and Announcements
    Neuroscience graduate program selected for Carnegie initiative.
    U faculty and researchers testified at the legislature last week about climate change.
    U computer systems architect and pioneer Frank Grewe died Feb. 24.
3. Campus Events and Information
4. Links

1. Top Stories

AGRICULTURAL ISSUES AT THE U will be the topic of a joint hearing of the Agriculture and Rural Development Finance Committee and the Higher Education Finance Committee Mar. 4. VP Muscoplat and Minnesota Extension Service dean Casey will present the U's work to support rural Minnesota. For more information about legislative activities, see http://www.umn.edu/urelate/govrel .

INTEGRATION OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD RESEARCH is needed to improve health, according to a new National Research Council report. VP Muscoplat was a featured presenter at a workshop about the report for key government agencies and other organizations Feb. 24 in Washington, D.C. For more information, see http://www.ur.umn.edu/unsreleases/find.php?ID=1188 .

METRO TRANSIT BUS STRIKE could begin as early as Mar. 3. As Brief goes to press on Mar. 2, negotiations have ended and a strike appears likely. TC campus classes and workplaces will continue normal operations. Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) and other offices have made plans to keep transportation running as smoothly as possible. Staff and students are urged to form car pools and use alternative forms of transportation. Grassroots efforts are encouraged. For updates, see http://www.metrocommuterservices.org or see "Hot Topics" on the PTS Web site at http://www.parkandtrans.umn.edu .

MUSICOLOGIST MIRJANA LAUSEVIC and two TC campus students joined 37 others in a vocal performance of early-American shaped-note music at the Academy Awards Feb. 29. Lausevic was a music coach for actors in the Civil War movie, Cold Mountain. Students Kimberly Dahmer and Kristin Irving founded and lead the U's Sacred Harp choir. For more information, see http://www.ur.umn.edu/unsreleases/find.php?ID=1186 .

2. News and Announcements

NEUROSCIENCE GRADUATE PROGRAM in the Medical School was selected as one of nine programs in the country to be part of Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate, a five-year action and research project aimed at improving doctoral education at U.S. universities. For more information, see http://www.neuroscience.umn.edu .

U FACULTY AND RESEARCHERS FROM UMD, UMM, AND UMTC testified at the legislature on the potential impact of climate change in Minnesota. They spoke to the Jobs, Energy, and Community Development Committee Feb. 25. Those testifying included David Tilman, regents professor, UMTC; Peter Wyckoff, assistant professor of biology, UMM; Lucinda Johnson, senior research associate, Natural Resources Research Institute, UMD; and Steve Polasky, professor of applied economics, UMTC.

FRANK GREWE, U computer systems architect and pioneer, died Feb. 24. In his 26 years at the U, Grewe created systemwide e-mail and online directories, single sign-on authentication, and other systems that touch most U employees' lives every day. He also built a team that could keep those systems running during rapid growth. For more information, see http://www.ur.umn.edu/unsreleases/find.php?ID=1196 .

NEW SPACE MANAGEMENT OFFICE was created Mar. 1, when space planning staff in the Capital Planning and Project Management office were reassigned to the senior VP for academic affairs and provost. Michaeleen Fox was named director. Staff will maintain the same services to U campuses and departments. The office will be located on the 4th floor of the Donhowe Building.

DEADLINE FOR PULSE SURVEY OF U EMPLOYEES is Mar. 5. Survey will be an ongoing U-wide effort to "take the pulse" of U employees. Get your survey ID number from President Bruininks's e-mail message sent Feb. 16 or call 612-624-6076. Then access the survey at http://www.irr.umn.edu/hr/pulse04/staff2 .

3. Campus Events and Information

U-wide:
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY event sponsored by the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, the U's Human Rights Program, and the Womens Foundation of Minnesota, will feature more than 40 organizations. Mar. 6, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Mondale Hall, Minneapolis. For more information, see http://events.umn.edu/event?occurrence=377027;event=105049 .

UMD WILL HOST "TRANSPORTATION IN RURAL AND SMALL URBAN AMERICA" CONFERENCE Mar. 14-15. Northeast Minnesota legislators and local, state, and national transportation professionals will attend. The public is invited to an open forum on Mar. 15, 1 p.m., Weber Music Hall. Sponsored by the James L. Oberstar Forum on Transportation Policy and Technology. For more information, see http://www.cts.umn.edu/events/oberstarforum .

FRIENDS OF EASTCLIFF HAVE INTRODUCED A BOOK CLUB to support the historic home of U presidents and showcase authors who are faculty, staff, or alumni or have strong ties to the U. For more information, see http://www.bookstore.umn.edu/eastcliff.html .

SPLIT ROCK ARTS PROGRAM will offer summer workshops in the Twin Cities for the first time in 2004, as well as at the Cloquet Forestry Center. For more information, call 612-625-8100 or see http://www.cce.umn.edu/splitrockarts .

Crookston:
CAMPUS LANDMARK BEDE HALL FELL to demolition crews Mar. 1 to make way for a new student center, due to be completed by the end of summer 2005. For more information, including photos, see http://www.crk.umn.edu/campusinfo/tour/BedeHall .

UMC GOLDEN EAGLES HOCKEY TEAM won the Harris Cup for the second year when they bested Marion College Feb. 29 and became the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association champions. The Eagles also set a new MCHA record with 12 all-academic team members. For more information, see http://www.crk.umn.edu/people/athletics/hockey/HKNews .

INTERNATIONAL DINNER SERIES continues with "Yugoslavia: Serbia and Montenegro at the Crossroads of Europe and Cultures," presented by business management freshman Nikola Zecevic. Mar. 8, 6 p.m., Sahlstrom Conference Center. For reservations or more information, see http://www.crk.umn.edu/newsevents/notices03-04/internatdinners04.htm .

Duluth:
WORLD-RENOWNED JAZZ PIANIST WILLIAM "BILLY" TAYLOR will receive an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters for Cultural Contributions, at UMD Mar. 5. He will perform the same evening at 7:30 p.m. in Weber Music Hall. For more information, see http://www.d.umn.edu/unirel/homepage/btaylor.html .

UMD HEALTH SERVICES reports strong cost-containment despite escalating health care costs. As the first-line health-services provider for a campus of 10,000 students, it has expanded services to the growing UMD community while keeping per-capita costs below a 3 percent inflation rate. For more information, see http://www.d.umn.edu/news .

RESEARCH ON PERUVIAN MUMMIES, led by UMD School of Medicine professor Arthur Aufderheid, has identified Chagas Disease, a parasitic blood illness for which the Red Cross will soon start screening donated blood. The research could provide clues for combating the rare but deadly disease. For more information, see http://www.d.umn.edu/news .

Morris:
THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES has raised the West Central School of Agriculture and Experiment Station to a level of national significance. One of the most intact examples of a residential agricultural high school still standing in the United States, it is also probably the earliest and most intact U.S. campus designed by a team of noted landscape architects. For more info, see http://www.mrs.umn.edu/alumni/universityRelations/news/view.php?id=109 .

Rochester:
UMR JOINED MORE THAN 300 AREA BUSINESS LEADERS and community members at "Rochester on Tour at the Capitol" Feb. 25. Representatives highlighted educational opportunities and research activities to their legislators and staff.

Twin Cities:
"WOMEN LEADERS TALK ABOUT PUBLIC SERVICE" will feature former Minneapolis mayor Sharon Sayles Belton, council member Lisa Goodman, and Minnesota secretary of state Mary Kiffmeyer. Mar. 4, 3-4:30 p.m., 303 Coffman Union. For more information, see http://www.ur.umn.edu/unsreleases/find.php?ID=1198 .

MINNESOTA CONSORTIUM FOR COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE (CAM) CLINICAL RESEARCH announced a new Web site with information about seminars, postdoctoral fellowships, and internships. For more information, see http://www.mncam.org .

INITIATIVES IN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY GRANT PROGRAM supports faculty research. Deadline is Mar. 15. For more information, see http://www.dtc.umn.edu .

LOCAL ARTISTS ARE INVITED to display work at a spring arts and crafts festival Apr. 21 on Northrop plaza. Sponsored by the Visual Arts Committee of the Minnesota Programs and Activities Council. Deadline for proposals is Mar. 14. For more information, see http://www.spsc.umn.edu/vac/artfest.php .

VOLUNTEERS FOR BEAUTIFUL U DAY are needed Apr. 22. Stencil a storm drain in St. Paul, compete in the Custodial Challenge, or repaint the outside of the Washington Avenue bridge. For a complete list of activities, see http://www.facm.umn.edu/BeautifulU .

MORE EVENTS include "Developing Flexible Work Arrangements" (Mar. 3), the Minnesota Employment Expo (Mar. 4), the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard Drill Team (Mar. 5), "Trans/lations/ferrals: Vernacular/pop Culture on the Concert Stage" dance performance (Mar. 5), Sugar Snow Days at the arboretum (Mar. 6), and "The Sandwich Generation: A Hero or a Sub?" (Mar. 9). These and many more events are posted on the events calendar at http://events.umn.edu .

Brief is compiled by University Relations at the University of Minnesota. Gayla Marty, interim editor; Ann Freeman, managing editor. Please send comments, questions, or submissions to Gayla Marty at marty001@umn.edu . All Twin Cities event submissions are handled through the events calendar at http://events.tc.umn.edu .

To receive Brief as a text-only e-mail, contact Gayla Marty, interim editor, at marty001@umn.edu .

Notice: Brief is the official University of Minnesota staff and faculty weekly news digest, featuring human resource, employee benefit, administrative, legislative and budgetary, event, and other pertinent information. You may choose to unsubscribe from Brief. However, please be aware that if you unsubscribe, you will not receive this up-to-date information, compiled and delivered directly to you, in any other University communications. To unsubscribe, visit http://www.umn.edu/urelate/brief/briefsub.php .