January 23, 2008
THE UNITED STATES AND THE GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS IMAGINATION
2008 DOLOWITZ LECTURE ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Since the end of World War II, issues of human dignity and welfare have been an increasingly important part of the global political landscape. Mark P. Bradley, professor of international history at the University of Chicago, delivers the annual Anne and Sandy Dolowitz Lecture on Human Rights on Monday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m., in the Salt Lake Art Center located at 20 S. West Temple. Bradley explores the how and why of a new collective sense of responsibility for the individual victims of human rights abuses. Drawing on selected historical cases from the 1940s and 1970s, he explores the limits, contradictions, and tensions of these global sensibilities at a time when the Cold War, decolonization, and postcolonial state-making increasingly shaped the contours of international order.
Bradley, a Harvard graduate, specializes in twentieth century U.S. international history and postcolonial Southeast Asian history. He is the author of the prize-winning Imagining Vietnam and America: The Making of Postcolonial Vietnam (2000), and is co-editor of Truth Claims: Representation and Human Rights (2001). He is currently working on a book that explores the history of the contested meanings of the global human rights revolution in the twentieth century for Cambridge University Press, an international history of the wars in Vietnam for Oxford University Press, and several essays that explore the intersection of the transnational and the local in postcolonial Vietnam history. For more information, click here (Hotlink: http://www.hum.utah.edu/display.php?pageId=87) or call 581-8180.
NO RIGHT TURN ON RED ARROW
DRIVER SAFETY & TRAX SAFETY REMINDER
As spring semester gets underway, the Department of Public Safety and Campus Police remind everyone to be alert and drive safely. Many people on campus are not aware that a right turn on a red arrow is not permitted. Drivers must stop and remain stopped until an indication to proceed is shown. Since Utah law permits right turns after first stopping at red lights, the red arrow is causing some confusion. During the past five years the use of the no-right-turn-on-red-arrow has become more commonplace and is used at several intersections on campus. It is important for drivers to pay close attention to all signals. With TRAX on campus, the rules for getting around safely have changed. Whether you’re in a car, on a bike, or on foot, remember to follow the safety rules.
TRAX SAFETY RULES • Always use the crosswalks! |
MARRIOTT LIBRARY’S AUTOMATIC RETRIEVAL CENTER OPENS
Now processing about 100 requests per day, the Marriott Library’s new automatic retrieval center (ARC)—the largest library robotic storage and retrieval system in North America—is in full swing. Here’s how it works: Patrons requesting items housed in the ARC can select them from the online catalog (or can order books from home or office ahead of time). Four robotic retrieval machines locate the books and place them in bins which are then delivered to library staff at the reserve desk on the first floor. From there, the staff delivers them to the patrons. The process takes less than five minutes.
The ARC, which is located on the west side of the library building, holds roughly one-million items—one-third of the library’s three-million-volume print collection—including special collections, bound journals, government documents and microforms, portions of the University archives, and the Dewey Collection (the original U of U library holdings prior to 1968). The ARC was intentionally planned to house the less frequently circulated materials, leaving the more popular collections for patrons to browse in the stacks by subject matter.
The ARC is part of the library's comprehensive renovation, which broke ground in June 2005 and is scheduled for completion in fall 2008. For additional information, click here. (Hotlink: http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=011408-1)
FYI Mystery Photo Contest
Photo by Ann Floor
Where is this on campus? Send your answer (be specific) to FYI@ucomm.utah.edu by noon on Monday, Jan. 28 for a chance to win two tickets to to the Utah vs. Wyoming men’s basketball game on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at the Huntsman Center, courtesy of Utah Athletics.
The winner will be randomly selected from the pool of those submitting the correct answer and then listed in the Feb. 6 FYI News.
Thanks to Utah Athletics for providing the prize!
This contest is open to U of U faculty and staff only.
Last Issue’s FYI Mystery Photo Contest Answer
The Jan. 9 FYI Mystery Photo was unintentionally trickier than we expected, since there are several buildings under construction on campus. Our photo shows the construction site of the Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building located northeast of LNCO. About the building: Named for The Right Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish in honor of her passion for the humanities at the U, the new humanities building will be infused with her spirit of kindness, intellectual curiosity, and service. In important ways, the new Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building will be the essential root for the students who enter its doors who will be nourished by perspectives on truth, ethics, and beauty. The desire to confer this benefit to future generations of U of U students has guided every aspect of the building’s design. Michael received two tickets to the Utah vs. TCU men’s basketball game, courtesy of Utah Athletics. Thanks to all who entered and thanks to Utah Athletics for donating the tickets. |
PRESIDENT YOUNG APPOINTED TO EAST-WEST CENTER’S BOARD OF GOVERNORS
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently appointed Michael K. Young to the East-West Center’s (EWC) Board of Governors. The EWC, located in Honolulu, is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. “I am thrilled to be serving on this important board with such an impressive group of leaders,” says Young. “There is no question that China, Japan, Korea, and other countries of that region play an extraordinary role in an ever-changing global economy and the world. The research this body conducts is a critical part of our continuing efforts to bolster our relationships in the region and has made a lasting impression on our mutual efforts to engage in peaceful and meaningful cooperation.” To read the news release, click here.
(Hotlink: http://www.unews.utah.edu/p/?r=011608-2)
For more information on the East-West Center, click here (Hotlink: http://www.eastwestcenter.org/).
HISTORY 101: KNOW YOUR U
There is no question that we are in the middle of a construction frenzy right now—think library, social work, humanities, engineering, and mines. The first boom came in the 1960s as the campus exploded with new buildings. In 1963 the Utah State Legislature funded a whopping $5,801,000 for construction, close to twice the amount ever funded for construction at the U, and five times more than appropriated just five years earlier. That, together with federal funds, student fees, bond issues, land grant income, auxiliary enterprises, student activities, donations from private sources, rentals, and gate receipts, funded the Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre; campus store; married student housing; physics, biology, and chemistry buildings; the law school; Marriott Library; Special Events Center (aka Jon M. Huntsman Center); HPER; and the original health sciences complex—quite a lot in seven years!
~Paul Mogren, Librarian
CALLS FOR NOMINATIONS
• THE ROSENBLATT PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE
Nomination deadline: Friday, Feb. 1
Established in 1983 by the family of Nathan and Tillie Rosenblatt to honor their parents, the Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence honors excellence in teaching, research and administrative efforts collectively or individually, in behalf of the University. The $40,000 prize is particularly suited for faculty who are nationally recognized scholars with demonstrated excellence in teaching, research, service and/or administration. Nominations should include: a letter of nomination with supporting discussion indicating the candidate’s accomplishments; a current curriculum vitae; a minimum of five but no more than 10 letters of reference, a majority from referees external to the U; and a brief description of the referees’ qualifications and relationship to the nominee. For 2008, previous nominations made during and since 2005 will be carried forward. Re-nominations with additional information about the nominee also are acceptable. Send nominations to:
2007 Rosenblatt Prize Committee
The Graduate School
310 Park Building
Campus
• LINDA K. AMOS AWARD
Nomination deadline: Friday, Feb. 15
The annual Linda K. Amos Award for Distinguished Service to Women at the U is named for the founding chair of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and a professor of nursing. Amos also served as dean of the College of Nursing and associate vice president for health sciences. Nominations must be made by a member of the U community (faculty, staff, or student) and include a letter stating how the candidate’s contribution and commitment have improved the educational and/or working environment for women at the U, and one or more additional letters of support from the U community. Nominations may be e-mailed to diversity@utah.edu or sent via campus mail to:
Selection Committee
Linda K. Amos Award
204 Park Building
Campus
• PHI KAPPA PHI HONOR SOCIETY
Faculty are asked to encourage their students to apply.
Scholar of Promise Awards
Application deadline: Monday, Feb. 4
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society will give Scholar of Promise awards of $1,500 to several local U undergraduates for study during fall semester 2008. Candidates from all majors must have completed at least 30 credit hours and have achieved an overall GPA of 3.5 or better. Applicants need not be a member of Phi Kappa Phi. Applications are available here. (Hotlink: http://www.sa.utah.edu/phikappa)
Local and national graduate fellowships
Application deadline: Friday, Feb. 1
A local graduate fellowship of $1,500 will be awarded to an outstanding graduating senior for full-time graduate study at any university beginning fall 2008. The successful candidate will be the U of U Phi Kappa Phi chapter’s nominee in the national competition for one of 60 national graduate fellowships of $5,000 each and 40 Awards of Excellence of $2,000 that will be awarded for the 2008-2009 academic year. Applicants need not be a member of Phi Kappa Phi. Applications are available here. (Hotlink: http://phikappaphi.org/Web/Scholarships/graduatefellowship.html)
For questions on either scholarship, contact Lori McDonald at lmcdonald@sa.utah.edu or 581-8081.
• ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AWARDS
Nomination deadline: Friday, Feb. 1
The Alumni Association is accepting nominations for outstanding candidates to receive the following awards for 2008. Awards will be presented at the annual awards banquet on April 17. Applications are available here. (Hotlink: www.alumni.utah.edu/awards)
Par Excellence Award
Established in 1982, this award pays tribute to a young alumnus/a who is making a notable contribution to the community, the U of U, and her/his profession. Nominees must have attended the U within the last 15 years.
Faculty/Staff Community Service Award
This award recognizes a faculty or staff member who has contributed significantly to the betterment of the off-campus community through sharing or volunteering her/his time, talent, and/or resources. The recipient will be recognized with a $500 cash stipend.
Perlman Award for Excellence in Student Counseling
Awarded to a faculty or staff member who has made contributions to the U through her/his student advising and counseling. The recipient will be recognized with a $500 cash stipend.
2008 DISTINGUISHED TEACHING AWARD RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED
Congratulations to the following four faculty selected by the University Teaching Committee to receive the 2008 University Distinguished Teaching Award: Denise Dearing, professor, Department of Biology; Fred Montague, professor (lecturer), Department of Biology; Sonia Salari, professor, Department of Family & Consumer Studies; and Harris Sondak, professor, Department of Management.
The Distinguished Teaching Awards honor faculty with eight or more years of service at the U for outstanding teaching, innovative pedagogy, concern for students, and exemplary contributions to the educational process outside the classroom.
NEW FROM PODCASTING FROM THE U
Humanities Happy Hour Intellectual Hors d’oeuvre: Horsemen, Pastoralists, and World Poetry
Check out the new podcast listed under “Humanities” at Podcasting from the U. (Hotlink: http://www.utah.edu/podcast). Hear Utah poet and singer Hal Cannon’s delightful presentation of cowboy poetry and music from around the world.
Download or listen to the podcasts here. (Hotlink: http://www.utah.edu/podcast)
BULLETIN BOARD
• Campus master planning process in final stages
The last stage of the campus master planning process is underway and presentations on the final package will take place over the next few months. There will be additional opportunities for public input, and comments may be made now online. (Hotlink: http://campusmasterplan.utah.edu) Planners are looking at three main issues: how to break down the physical barriers on campus; how to create a campus that brings people together by providing attractive and convenient gathering places; and how to encourage a sustainable campus. Transportation is emerging as a significant issue with a focus on traffic and pedestrian patterns, TRAX use, parking spaces, the shuttle system, and other alternative transportation.
• Report on the faculty complement
Paul Brinkman, associate vice president for budget and planning, presented the annual faculty complement to the Academic Senate in early January. Data shows the faculty headcount in fall 2007 (which was 3,261, with tenured and/or tenure-eligible at about 44 percent of all active faculty); a comparison with prior years; and student credit hours by type of faculty. An abbreviated version of the information is available online. (Hotlink: http://www.obia.utah.edu/ia/stat/2007-2008/SS0708E01.pdf) For more information, call the Office of Budget and Institutional Analysis at 581-6948 or click here. (Hotlink: http://www.obia.utah.edu)
• Campaigns for sustainable energy
Many of the U’s departments, colleges, and campus groups are running campaigns to promote renewable energy through tax-deductible contributions to wind energy for the western United States grid at a rate that is one of the cheapest for individuals in the country. “It’s also a way to support an effective mechanism to combat climate change, promote energy independence, and reduce mercury and air pollution,” says Chris Hill, a professor in the biochemistry department. For more information on Campaigns for Sustainable Energy, contact Hill at chris@biochem.utah.edu. To see the list of participants, click here. (Hotlink: visit http://windpower.utah.edu)
• New graduate certificate in gerontology approved
A new certificate program provides additional recognition to fourth-year medical students who complete a gerontology immersion class. The program is unique in that it allows medical students to gain some expertise in their field of study before they go on to residency. The field of geriatrics is experiencing a shortage so it is hoped that the certificate will attract more students to the field by giving them added acknowledgement of their specialty expertise at the graduate level as medical students.
• Bison or beef? Study participants needed
Do you like steak and lots of it? The Division of Nutrition is conducting an IRB-approved clinical study on the effect of consuming two different sources of red meat—beef or bison—on cardiovascular health indicators. Participants will receive weekly free packaged meat to consume over a three-month time period and will be asked to participate in tests that measure blood cholesterol and blood vessel function. Participants must be between 25 and 60 years of age, in good health, not pregnant, and not taking medication for high cholesterol or blood pressure. The deadline to apply is Wednesday, Jan. 30. If you are interested in participating, contact Sujata or Danielle at bisonstudy@gmail.com.
UPCOMING ON CAMPUS
• Mentoring for fun and profit
Thursday, Jan. 24, 2-4 p.m.
1730 Health Sciences Education Bldg.
The Office of the Vice President for Research offers training for participants to review the process of mentoring in an academic environment from the viewpoints of both the mentor and the mentee. Issues covered include principles of mentoring, proper supervision and review, common pitfalls to avoid, and strategies to enhance responsible mentoring. For more information, contact Tony Onofrietti at 585-3492 or tony.onofrietti@hsc.utah.edu.
• America’s Wildest Places
Jan. 26 through May 26
Utah Museum of Natural History
Developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Museum of Natural History, America’s Wildest Places was created to celebrate 100 years of the National Wildlife Refuge System, the world’s most unique network of lands and waters set aside specifically for the conservation of fish, wildlife, and plants. The exhibit introduces the efforts of the refuge system to conserve and manage the ecosystems and flyways that rely on protected public lands. Dioramas, videos, and photographs bring the sights and sounds of these special places to life. Admission is free with your UCard. For more information, click here. (Hotlink: http://www.umnh.utah.edu/pageview.aspx?menu=4262&id=15805)
• Common Ground: Making Meaning in the Arts and Sciences
Monday, Jan. 28, 7:00 p.m. (With additional lectures Feb. 11 and Feb. 25)
New Media Wing, Art and Architecture Building
What do bioengineering and sculpture have in common and how can they team up to encourage new approaches to creative and scientific research? The Center for Interdisciplinary Arts and Technology (CIDAT), housed in the College of Fine Arts, will explore this question through three free lectures that bring together U faculty members in the arts and sciences to promote interdisciplinary thinking and innovation within the University community. Each evening will feature a pair of presenters from the fine arts and the sciences. For more information, link here (Hotlink: http://cidat.finearts.utah.edu/)
or contact Ellen Bromberg at 587-9807 or e.bromberg@utah.edu.
January 28
Pat McMurtry, professor of mechanical engineering
Fire, Flow, Vorticity, and Art
Ellen Bromberg, associate professor of modern dance
The Space of Dance: Media, Metaphor and Technology
February 11
Chris Johnson, director of the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute
Visual Computing and Imaging: Interdisciplinary Approaches
Miguel Chuaqui, associate professor of music
Body-Driven Computer Music
February 25
Greg Clark, associate professor of bioengineering
Interfaces to Nerve and Brain
Paul Stout, assistant professor of art and art history
Mapping the Unseen: The Microprocessor Revolution in Art
• The Middle East through its films
Wednesday, Jan. 30, 6 p.m.
UMFA Dumke Auditorium
2008 marks the fifth year of the Middle East Center’s film and discussion series with Laurence Loeb, associate professor in the Department of Anthropology. A reception to celebrate the milestone will be held Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 5:30 p.m. prior to the screening of this year’s first film. Radu Mihaileanu (Live and Become, 153 minutes, Hebrew with English subtitles.) was the most popular film of the 55th Berlin International Film Festival. It is a film about a poor child from Ethiopia, the son of a Christian mother, who persuades her child to pretend to be Jewish so he can get asylum in Israel during the famine in the mid-1980s. He is an excellent student but lives in fear that he will be discovered as neither a Jew nor an orphan. He learns about Judaism and western values, including racism, but manages to accomplish his dream.
• Frontiers of Science lecture
It’s All About The Oceans
Wednesday, Jan. 30, 7:30 p.m.
Aline Skaggs Biology Auditorium
Plan to hear Marcia K. McNutt, president and CEO of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, at this free lecture. “The ocean is a mysterious living universe critically important to the functioning of the planet,” says McNutt. “Carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels changes ocean temperature, alters ocean circulation, and makes the ocean more acidic. By the end of this century, the ocean will be more acidic than it has been in more than 25 million years! Fortunately, the ocean can also be part of the solution to global warming and ocean acidification. It is a powerful source of renewable energy that doesn’t release greenhouse gasses – if we can learn to use the ocean’s energy rather than fight it.”
• Pacific Worlds and the American West
Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8-9
Fort Douglas Post Theatre
As home to one of the largest and oldest Pacific Island communities in the United States, Salt Lake City provides an ideal location for this conference. Discussions will address the role of the indigenous, religion, the environment, imperialism, racial and gender construction, colonialism, and hybridization in shaping Pacific worlds inside and outside the American West. Keynote presenters include Linda Tuhiwai-Smith (University of Waikato), Haunani Kay Trask (University of Hawaii), Vicente Diaz (University of Michigan), and Peter Brunt (Victoria University). More than 70 scholars from around the United States, the Pacific, and Europe will present. A tour of Iosepa, Utah’s Polynesian settlement established in 1889 in Tooele County’s Skull Valley, will be offered on Sunday, Feb. 10. For more information, click here. (Hotlink: http://www.awc.utah.edu/display.php?&pageId=2419)
U SAVING ENERGY
Sincethe U’s behavioral energy-saving program began in July 2003 the U has saved the CO2 equivalent of 1,581,420 tree seedlings grown for 10 years.
TIP: Did you know that common misconceptions sometimes account for the failure to turn off equipment? Many people believe that equipment lasts longer if it is never turned off. This incorrect perception carries over from the days of older mainframe computers. Be an everyday hero. Think about how your actions, suggestions, and attitude influence dozens (or hundreds) of people just like you every single day. What if, each day, a few of them saw your concern about wasted energy here on campus in action and were inspired to change their approach, take action themselves, or think more about the issue? By being a role model and key influencer in everything you do, day in and day out, in actions large and small, you’re creating an energy-aware culture that can’t help but spread.
Source: U of U Energy Management. For more information contact Bianca Shama at 585-1171 or Bianca.Shama@fm.utah.edu.
