June
2002 From The University of Iowa Alumni Association
Recent
selected University of Iowa news summaries
prepared through a joint effort of University News
Services, the UI Alumni Association, and the UI Foundation.
Editor: Linda Kettner (linda-kettner@uiowa.edu)
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IN
THIS ISSUE
HEALTH NEWS
ARTS NEWS
ATHLETICS NEWS
UI IN THE NATIONAL NEWS
UI
BEGINS TRANSITION TO NEW LEADERSHIP
UI
President Mary Sue Coleman announced last month that she would leave the
UI to become president of the University of Michigan, effective Aug. 1.
Owen J. Newlin, president of the Board of Regents, State of Iowa has said
he intends to recommend Willard L. "Sandy" Boyd as interim president and
Jonathan C. Carlson, UI law professor, as chair of the University Presidential
Search and Screen Advisory Committee, charged with finding Coleman's permanent
replacement. Newlin will seek approval for both recommendations from the
full Board at its next meeting, June 19 and 20 in Ames.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2002/may/0529mscleaving.html http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2002/june/0606boydrelease.htm http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2002/june/0611prez-search-chair.html
REGENTS
HEAR OLD CAPITOL RESTORATION PLANS
Architects and University of Iowa officials presented detailed, four-phase
plans for the restoration of the Old Capitol to the Board of Regents,
State of Iowa, meeting in Iowa City.
The most visible aspect of the project will be the reconstruction of the dome, cupola, and bell tower, which were totally destroyed in the fire, and replacement of the asphalt shingles on the roof with a standing-seam metal roof. These repairs, Phase One of the project, will cost an estimated $4.45 million, and should be completed in February, 2003.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2002/may/0516old-cap.html
UI Old Capitol Fire Restoration- http://www.fsg.uiowa.edu/OldCapitolProject/
UI
KICKS OFF PUBLIC PHASE OF $850 MILLION COMPREHENSIVE CAMPAIGN
The
University of Iowa June 9 launched the public phase of its Comprehensive
fund-raising campaign, which seeks to generate a total of $850 million
in private support for the university by the end of 2005.
Named "Good. Better. Best. Iowa: The Campaign to Advance Our Great University," the fund drive is the largest in the state of Iowa's history. The seven-year effort began its quiet phase in 1999. Hundreds of UI supporters in attendance at the campaign announcement event in Hancher Auditorium heard university leaders and volunteers describe how private contributors' gifts will benefit UI students, faculty, facilities, research, and programs; elevate the university to a new level of excellence; and enable the UI to better serve the people of Iowa and beyond.
Officials with the UI Foundation, the university's preferred channel for private support, also announced that $526 million has been raised so far toward the campaign's goal.
UI Foundation News- http://www.uifoundation.org/news/2002/june01.shtml
UI'S NATIONALLY
RANKED PALEONTOLOGY PROGRAM RECEIVES 10-TON GIFT
The University of Iowa Paleontology Repository in the College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences department of geoscience has received a 10-ton bequest
in the form of an extensive fossil collection from the estate of the late
Glenn C. Crossman of Riceville, Iowa. The collection, valued in excess
of $100,000, consists of more than 10 tons of rock stored in some 900
cardboard trays, 250 slabs (mostly 1-by-2 feet rectangles), and 150 bags,
buckets and boxes of various sizes containing wrapped specimens.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2002/june/0611fossils.html
UI Journal of Paleontology - http://www.journalofpaleontology.org
UI Dept. of Geoscience - http://www.geology.uiowa.edu/
STUDY
FINDS RADON EXPOSURE RISK HIGHER THAN PREVIOUSLY ESTIMATED
The health risk posed by residential radon exposure may have been substantially
underestimated in previous studies, according to investigators in the
University of Iowa College of Public Health. Long-term exposure to radon
gas in the home is associated with increased lung cancer risk and presents
a significant environmental health hazard.
"Our findings indicate that the exposure assessment models used in many previous studies may have underestimated the risk posed by residential radon exposure by 50 percent or more," said lead author R. William Field, Ph.D., a research scientist with the UI department of epidemiology. The results of the study appear in the May 2002 issue of the Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2002/may/0516radon.html
UI
College of Public Health - http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/
UI College of Public Health Epidemiology - http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/epi/
HOWARD
HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE APPOINTS UI'S STONE AS INVESTIGATOR
A University of Iowa physician and researcher has received a major honor
and funding of his research into the genetics of many inherited blinding
diseases through his appointment as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute
(HHMI) investigator. Edwin Stone, M.D., Ph.D., professor of ophthalmology
and visual sciences at the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of
Medicine, is one of only 12 scientists nationwide to receive an HHMI appointment
this year. He is the fifth UI investigator ever to receive such an appointment.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2002/may/0528stone-hhmi.html
Edwin
M. Stone, MD, PhD Biography- http://webeye.ophth.uiowa.edu/dept/BIOGRAPH/stone.htm
UI Dept. of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences- http://webeye.ophth.uiowa.edu/
Howard Hughes Medical Institute News- http://www.hhmi.org/news/052802.html
UI STUDY
IDENTIFIES DEFENSE AGAINST ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT INFECTIONS
Resistance
to antibiotics in chronic bacterial infections is a difficult and sometimes
deadly medical problem. During the development of a chronic infection,
bacteria often undergo what could be called a lifestyle change; instead
of living as individual organisms, the bacteria form community structures
known as biofilms that are like cities of bacteria. Bacteria in biofilms
are extremely resistant to antibiotics. Findings from University of Iowa
investigators shed light on how the body normally prevents biofilm development.
Bacterial biofilms are dense, organized cellular communities encased in a self-produced slime. Living in groups gives the bacteria properties that they do not have as individuals. In addition to being highly resistant to antibiotics, biofilms are also impervious to the body's natural immune defense system. Examples of biofilm infections include lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis, wound infections in patients with diabetes and burns, heart valve infections (known as endocarditis), as well as most medical device infections.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2002/may/0530lactoferrin.htm
UI Health Care Home- http://www.uihealthcare.com/
UI THEATRE
ARTISTS TAKE NEW CHEKHOV VARIATIONS BACK TO RUSSIA
Taking an American version of Chekhov to Russia might seem to be an improbable,
"coals to Newcastle" undertaking. But University of Iowa department of
theatre arts faculty member Carol MacVey and graduate students Mollie
Mook and Robert Wray are doing just that, as the first Americans ever
to perform at the International Chekhov Festival at Chekhov's estate in
Melikhovo, about 50 miles south of Moscow.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2002/may/0520chekhov.html
UI Theatre Arts- http://www.uiowa.edu/~theatre/
Carol MacVey Faculty Biography- http://www.uiowa.edu/%7Etheatre/faculty-support/faculty-bios.htm#CAROL
UI MUSIC
FACULTY MEMBER JOHN RAPSON WINS COMPOSITION AWARD
John Rapson, head of the jazz area of the University of Iowa School of
Music, has won first prize in the large ensembles division of the 2001
Jazz Composers Alliance/Julius Hemphill Composition Awards.
Rapson won for his composition "Riff Bass Bridge Head," which he has recorded with the UI jazz ensemble Johnson County Landmark on their recent CD "Daydreams from the Prairie." The prize includes a cash award and performance of the work in the upcoming 2002-03 season of the Jazz Composer's Alliance Orchestra.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2002/june/0610rapson.html
UI School of Music- http://www.uiowa.edu/~music/
UI Arts Iowa Calendar- http://www.uiowa.edu/artsiowa/
UI Bands, Johnson County Landmark- http://www.uiowa.edu/~bands/jcl/
UI
Bands Staff- http://www.uiowa.edu/~bands/staff/
COUPLE
GIVES $5 MILLION FOR UI STUDENT-ATHLETES, HAWKEYE ATHLETICS
Russell A. and Ann Gerdin, of North Liberty, Iowa, have made a gift commitment
of $5 million to benefit University of Iowa student-athletes and the UI
athletics program. Russell Gerdin is the founder, president and chief
executive officer of one of Iowa's most successful businesses, Coralville-based
trucking company Heartland Express Inc.
Of the Gerdins' $5 million total commitment, $4 million will support construction of the university's planned Athletics Learning Center, to be built north of Melrose Avenue and west of the Boyd Law Building. The center will provide academic resources for UI student-athletes, including study rooms, tutorial spaces, a teaching laboratory, a computer laboratory and an auditorium. The $4.6 million project will be funded entirely by private gifts. In recognition of the Gerdins' leadership gift, the university will ask the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, to name the building in their honor. Construction is planned to begin in summer 2002, with completion slated for summer 2003.
http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2002/may/0531athletic-gift.html
GANTZ
COMMENTS ON COCHLEAR IMPLANTS
(Detroit Free Press, May 21)
In an article about cochlear implants, research at the UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
shows that word recognition with implants in quiet learning environments
is as high as 90 percent, up from percentages in the teens a decade ago
with earlier models. Implants were introduced in 1982 in adults, and first
implanted in children in 1987, says DR. BRUCE GANTZ, professor of otolaryngology
at the University of Iowa, a leader in hearing and speech research, including
the impact of cochlear implant technology. It developed one of the world's
largest databases on cochlear implants. Currently, about 21,000 Americans,
half of them children, have cochlear implants. Gantz considers children
ages 1-12 the best candidates for implants. "The younger the better,"
he says, so they can take advantage of learning speech and communication
skills from the beginning of their lives with an implant. Children older
than 12, particularly those who grew up with American Sign Language, have
a harder time adjusting to implants, Gantz says.
http://www.freep.com/news/childrenfirst/bryana21_20020521.htm
UI Health Care Otolaryngology Unit- http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/cancercenter/patients/3jpw.html
Bruce J. Gantz, MD Biography- http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/med/otolaryngology/faculty/gantz.html
UI Health Care News Archives http://www.uihealthcare.com/news/news/2001/07/23cochlearimplants.html
COLEMAN COMMENTS ON INSURANCE STUDY
(Hartford Courant, May 22)
More than 18,000 American adults die prematurely each year because they
do not have health insurance, an influential research organization reported
Tuesday. The deaths, from such diseases as cancer, hypertension and HIV,
come because patients without health insurance often get care later than
those who are insured. The delay can be fatal, said the report prepared
by the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences.
Overall, the report found that American adults without health insurance
are more likely to receive too little medical care and receive it too
late; to be sicker and die sooner; and to receive poorer care when they
are in the hospital. "The fact is that the quality and length of life
are distinctly different for insured and uninsured populations," said
MARY SUE COLEMAN, president of the University of Iowa and co-chairwoman
of the 16-member committee that wrote the report.
President
Mary Sue Coleman- http://www.uiowa.edu/president/
UI President's Page- http://www.uiowa.edu/president/about.html
STATES PASS ANTI-CLONING BILLS
(New York Times, May 26)
After nearly a year of emotional arguments in Congress - but no new federal
laws - the national debate over the future of human cloning has shifted
to the states. Six states have already banned cloning in one form or another,
and this year alone 38 anti-cloning measures were introduced in 22 states.
The Iowa Legislature passed such a bill; now cloning experiments are a
felony in Iowa, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. After several
more amendments, the final bill banned reproductive and research cloning
and remained silent on embryonic stem cell research. For MARK BRAUN, who
led the University of Iowa's lobbying effort against the measure, that
was victory enough. "We are able to do research using embryonic stem cells,
and we believe that research will be fruitful," he said. "The proponents
had a conversation among themselves, about do we want the whole thing
or nothing? And in the end, they decided to go for half a loaf."
UI FYI News;
Role of UI Governmental Relations-
http://www.uiowa.edu/~fyi/issues2001_v39/03082002fyi/governmental_relations.html
UI Office of Governmental Relations, Staff- http://www.uiowa.edu/~govrel/staff.htm
FBI
WHISTLEBLOWER IS UI LAW GRADUATE
(Los Angles Times, May 26)
Colleen Rowley has emerged as a singular, critical voice from within:
a whistle-blower who set off what one former Minnesota prosecutor called
"a steam whistle" last week in challenging FBI headquarters' decisions
in the Sept. 11 terrorism investigation. Not only did Rowley, a 1980 UNIVERSITY
OF IOWA law school graduate, know and follow the law, but her job also
has been to interpret the law. "She's very highly ethical," former FBI
agent Larry Brubaker said. "She's our ethics person. She gave classes
in ethics to our agents every year."
UI College of Law- http://www.law.uiowa.edu/
DYER:
BENSON WAS 'A REVOLUTIONARY'
(Chicago Tribune,
May 30)
At a time when the world expected girls to investigate clothes rather than careers, Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson was the imaginative force behind a young female sleuth who became one of the most popular fictional detectives in publishing history: Nancy Drew. Benson, who died Tuesday at age 96, wrote the first Nancy Drew mystery, "The Secret of the Old Clock," in 1930, just a decade after women had been granted the right to vote, under the pen name, Carolyn Keene. She wrote the following 23 Nancy Drew books, as well. Her 16-year-old heroine had brains, pluck and independence -- qualities that typically weren't associated with women in that era. "[Benson] was a revolutionary," said CAROLYN STEWART DYER, a journalism professor at the University of Iowa who organized a 1993 conference on Nancy Drew. "Nancy Drew was a representation of things women might be." Benson was the first person to receive a master's degree in journalism in 1927 from the UNIVERSITY OF IOWA and began a career in journalism when there were few women in the field. She was also a pilot, amateur archaeologist and author of other books.
UI School
of Journalism and Mass Communication- http://www.uiowa.edu/~journal/
Carolyn Stewart Dyer UI JMC Faculty- http://www.uiowa.edu/~journal/directory/faculty/dyer.html
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