UI Foundation Elects New Chair, Directors

The University of Iowa Foundation Board of Directors has elected Charles M. Kierscht of Hinsdale, Ill., to a three-year term as chair, succeeding Carroll J. Reasoner of Cedar Rapids, who had served as chair since 2000. For a complete listing of who serves on the Foundation's board: http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2003/december/121103foundation-board.html
UI Foundation: http://www.uifoundation.org

UI Researchers Find Adult-Like Short Term Memory In Infants By Age 1

New research from the University of Iowa shows that infants' visual short-term memory-a key element of brain development-expands significantly in the second half of the first year of life, reaching adult capacity by 12 months. More>>
Department of Psychology: http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/

Van Allen To Receive 2004 National Space Grant Award

James A. Van Allen, Regent Distinguished Professor of Physics in the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a founding father of space exploration, has been named the recipient of the 2004 National Space Grant Distinguished Service Award by the National Space Grant Foundation. More>>
Department of Physics and Astronomy: http://www.physics.uiowa.edu/

Center Makes UI First To Offer K-College Gifted Student Support

The University of Iowa Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development and the UI Honors Program will make history next week when they move into the new Blank Honors Center. With the opening of the center the UI will become the first school in the nation to offer under one roof programs, services and support for academically gifted and talented students all the way from kindergarten through college. More>>
Belin Blank Center: http://www.uiowa.edu/~belinctr/

UI Engineers Aid Search For Signs Of Water On Mars

A University of Iowa engineer and five UI engineering students are helping NASA geologists interpret images from NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers set to explore the surface of Mars beginning Jan. 3. More>>
Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering: http://www.me.engineering.uiowa.edu/

Alumna Named 2003 NFL Teacher Of The Year

With former student and current pro football player Tim Dwight leading the charge, Iowa City teacher and University of Iowa alumna Julie Ann Busch has scored a winning touchdown for education, her state and her school. Busch, who like San Diego Charger Dwight is a UI graduate, has been named the National Football League's teacher of the year, earning a $5,000 award for herself, a $10,000 grant for Mark Twain Elementary School — where Dwight was a student in Busch's third-grade class— and an all-expenses-paid trip to the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii next month. More>>
College of Education: http://www.uiowa.edu/~coe2/

Study Indicates Sunscreen Does Not Increase Melanoma Risk

Sunscreen use is not linked to an increased risk for melanoma, according to University of Iowa researchers who reviewed 18 studies on sunscreen and this deadly type of skin cancer. The investigators saw limitations among several studies that had found an association between sunscreen use and increased melanoma. The review article appears in the Dec. 16, 2003 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. More>>
College of Public Health: http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/

UI Physician Publishes Article On Healing Power Of Prayer

A University of Iowa Heart Care physician published an article exploring the potential of prayer to heal sick and injured people in the current issue of the British Medical Journal. More>>
Department of Internal Medicine: http://www.int-med.uiowa.edu/Default.htm

UI Heart Care One Of First In The Nation To Offer Magnetic Surgery

UI Heart Care specialists have become among the first in the nation to treat patients with a state-of-the-art magnetic surgical system that greatly advances the treatment of heart disease. More>>
Department of Neurosurgery: http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/med/neurosurgery/

New York Times Book Review Recommends UI Books

The New York Times Book Review, America's most influential newspaper book supplement, recommended numerous University of Iowa-connected books for holiday reading and giving in its Dec. 7 edition. More>>
Iowa Writers' Workshop: http://www1.uifoundation.org/redirect?url=http://www.uiowa.edu/~iww/&source=04AANWAA01

Hancher ICN Event Brings 'Mamma Mia!' Cast Into Iowa Classrooms

Nearly 500 Iowa students in the University of Iowa Hancher Auditorium and in classrooms across the state of Iowa interacted with cast members from the touring production of "Mamma Mia!" during a Dec. 12 event on the Iowa Communications Network (ICN). More>>
Hancher Auditorium: http://www.uiowa.edu/hancher/

Damasio's Neuroscience Work Noted
(New York Times, Dec. 9)

Neuroscientists have given up looking for the seat of the soul, but they are still seeking what may be special about human brains, what it is that provides the basis for a level of self-awareness and complex emotions unlike those of other animals. Most recently they have been investigating circuitry rather than specific locations, looking at pathways and connections that are central in creating social emotions, a moral sense, even the feeling of free will. There are specialized neurons at work, as well — large, cigar-shaped cells called spindle cells. The body, it turns out, is as important as the brain. Dr. ANTONIO DAMASIO, a neurologist at the University of Iowa Medical Center and the author of the book "Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow and the Feeling Brain," has pioneered the argument that emotions and feelings are linked to brain structures that map the body. From human social emotions, he said, both morality and reason have grown. More>>
Department of Neurology: http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/med/neurology/welcome/

IEM's Successes Cited
(New York Times, Dec. 14)

A story about successful futures markets says the IOWA ELECTRONIC MARKETS, a futures exchange run by the University of Iowa business school, proved better at predicting the results of the last four presidential elections than 75 percent of the 600 polls conducted during that period. More>>
Iowa Electronic Markets: http://www.biz.uiowa.edu/iem/

Rao Discovers Fructose Difficulty
(Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dec. 29)

We're a nation consuming ever-greater quantities of sweets - and we're suffering from an epidemic of gastrointestinal distress. It turns out the two could be related. SATISH RAO, a gastroenterologist at the University of Iowa medical school, was puzzled by patients coming in with abdominal pain, gas and diarrhea that seemed to defy explanation. Rao suspected fructose, a form of sugar that occurs naturally in fruit. Americans' consumption of fructose, mostly in the form of high-fructose corn syrup, has skyrocketed. After conducting a series of tests, he concluded that most people cannot adequately digest more than about 25 grams of fructose. A can of Coke contains 16 grams, he said, and a glass of orange juice has 15 grams. The two of those consumed within a span of a couple of hours can overwhelm a person's ability to handle fructose. More>>
The article also appeared Dec. 28 in the SEATTLE TIMES.
Carver College of Medicine: http://www.medicine.uiowa.edu/

Hawkeye Fans, Players Enjoy Beach Day
(St. Petersburg Times, Dec. 30)

As the Iowa Hawkeyes Marching Band played Hey Jude, 11-year-old football fan Chris Creery of Cedar Falls, Iowa made snowballs in the sand. The Red Barons buzzed in propeller planes overhead; the Budweiser Skydivers parachuted to the shore. And University of Florida and UNIVERSITY OF IOWA players signed footballs. They were all enjoying the annual Outback Bowl Beach Day, a pep rally and beach party celebrating the match-up between the University of Florida Gators and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes on Thursday at Raymond James Stadium. "We're having a wonderful time," said Iowa fan Lynn Worrell of West Branch, Iowa. "We're just flying by the seat of our pants." More>>
UI Alumni Association Outback Tour: http://www.iowalum.com/athletictours/Tampa.html

Prescription For Success

After 10 years on the web, UI's Virtual Hospital still going strong More>>

Program Opens Up World Of Accessibility For Iowans With Disabilities

Program for Assistive Technology opens up a world of accessibility for Iowans with disabilities More>>

UI News Services: http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews

UI homepage: http://www.uiowa.edu/

UI National News Highlights: http://www.uiowa.edu:80/~ournews/national.html

UI Alumni Association: http://www.iowalum.com

UI Foundation: http://www.uifoundation.org

UI Photos: http://www.uiowa.edu/~urphopix

UI NEWS DIGEST - For University of Iowa news on a daily basis, you are invited to subscribe to the UI NEWS DIGEST by following these instructions:
Point your Web browser at
http://list.uiowa.edu/archives/ui-news.html, click the link that says
"Join or leave the list (or change settings)" and follow the
instructions. Alternately, you can subscribe via email. To do so:
1. Send your request to mailto:listserv@list.uiowa.edu
2. In the body of the message, write "subscribe ui-news"

@IOWA is a MONTHLY email newsletter of Iowa news summaries prepared through a joint effort of University News Services, the UI Alumni Association, and the UI Foundation.

Editor: Linda Kettner, E-mail: linda-kettner@uiowa.edu

Subscribe | Unsubscribe | Update My Information | Archives