February 6, 2008
PACIFIC WORLDS AND THE AMERICAN WEST
Salt Lake City is home to one of the oldest and largest Pacific Island communities in the country. A conference on Feb. 8 and 9 at Fort Douglas will explore the roles of indigenity, religion, the environment, racial and gender construction, colonialism, and hybridity in shaping Pacific worlds within and outside the American West. We asked Matt Basso, director of the American West Center and one of the conference organizers, a few questions.
FYI: Why is this conference unique?
Basso: This is the first conference to focus on the relationship between the Pacific world and the American West. We’ve obviously hit a chord because the response from scholars all over the United States and the Pacific has been phenomenal. We anticipated 20 presenters and have over 70.
Who should attend?
The conference is focusing on both pedagogy and on sharing the latest research about Pacific communities within and outside the U.S. We’re expecting the U and Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) faculty, staff, and students, and quite a few members of the local Pacific Island community. The more, the merrier!
Who are some of the presenters?
We have a wonderful range of scholars presenting on absolutely fascinating topics. Many folks will have heard of our opening keynote, the Hawaiian activist, poet, and scholar, Haunani Kay Trask. But perhaps fewer readers will know the work of our closing keynote, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, a Maori scholar who is the world’s foremost expert on indigenous methodology.
What are you most thrilled about?
First, we are delighted with the partnership we have formed with SLCC in the process of organizing this conference. We hope it will continue to spread and that it will help bring more SLCC students to the U. Second, we have a wonderful group of graduate students of color from all over the country who are coming to the conference. I hope we might be able to interest some of these students in returning to the U as faculty some day.
We can never thank the U’s staff enough for all their help with this conference. Let me send a special shout-out to the graduate students who comprise my “staff”—but are really my colleagues at the American West Center. They’ve done an astonishing job in putting together an event that speaks in innovative ways to both President Young’s internationalization mandate and his vision for a more diverse U. For more information on the conference, click here. (Hotlink: http://www.hum.utah.edu/display.php?pageId=1925).
UTAH BASKETBALL CELEBRATES 100 SEASONS!
Men’s basketball at the U of U is 100 years old! This great tradition is being celebrated at each home game throughout the season with an unveiling of some of the 100 greatest moments in Utah basketball history. The celebration culminates when the All-Century Team is presented live and in person on the floor of the Huntsman Center on Feb. 16 at the Utah vs. San Diego State game. The All-Century Team is made up of the best 16 players in Utah basketball history based on votes (32 players were nominated) by the fans and a committee of Utah basketball historians and staff. To top it off, all former Utah basketball players in attendance will be presented to the fans. For information on game tickets, click here (Hotlink: http://www.utahtickets.com) or call 581-UTIX. Go Utes!
12 QUESTIONS FOR MICHAEL HARDMAN, DEAN, COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
1. What book should every person read and why?
Two books by John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck’s words speak to the social consciousness, heart, and compassion of our nation. His essays on American life are as relevant today as they were eight decades ago when he authored his first book. For fun: Anything by Dave Barry whose perspectives on “being human” help us to not take life too seriously. On the purpose of a college education, he writes: “The idea in [university] classes is to memorize meaningless things, write them down in little exam books, then forget them. If you fail to forget them, you become a professor and have to stay in college for the rest of your life.”
2. What building on campus do you think is the most interesting architecturally?
The John R. Park Building has been, and always will be, the architectural centerpiece of the campus.
3. If you could meet any noted person, who would it be?
John Lennon, my “working class hero.” To this day, his words and images impact my life no matter where I am, who I am with, or what I am doing.
4. How will the next generation of scholars—today’s students—change your field in the decades to come?
The next generation of education scholars will be better prepared to understand and embrace a field that is by its very nature dynamic and continually undergoing change. The scholars of tomorrow will no longer view change as an indictment of education—but a simple statement of necessity—as life around us changes so must schools. New scholars will see the traditional factory model of education, for which students are only prepared for what exists, as a relic of the past. Instead they will engage in student-centered learning where every child is valued as unique and capable of developing and assimilating new knowledge and developing more effective ways of applying that knowledge.
5. Name a favorite place to eat.
Anywhere in Park City. If pressed, my wife and I love El Chubasco, a local favorite, and Grappa’s for very special occasions and a view down Main Street.
6. Will a liberal arts education remain relevant to students in our increasingly technological society?
Absolutely. In this age of knowledge specialization, we cannot afford to lose sight of the critical importance of learning for life—and life is clearly much more than getting a job. Taken literally, a liberal arts education means a “free” education: seeking a broad understanding of truth in a complex and rapidly changing world.
7. List two of your favorite Web sites.
www.nytimes.com and www.espn.com
8. What reading material is on your bedside table?
An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy by Robert Dallek (Insights into Kennedy’s strengths and vulnerabilities from an historian’s perspective)
The New Yorker (The articles are terrific; the cartoons are even better.)
The Park Record (The local police blotter—“County Sheriff’s Report”—is a weekly must read.)
9. If politicians had to pass an exam before they were allowed to serve in public office, what question would you add to the test?
Have you read Marion Wright Edelman’s The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to Your Children and Mine? In very specific terms, how will you stand up for America’s children?
10. What is one thing you would ask people to do to change the world for the better?
Give!
11. Among the complex moral and political issues that affect humanity, which do you believe will never be resolved and why?
Since I am an optimist junkie, I believe there is no such thing as an irresolvable issue. I’m also a realist. Progress is not possible without compromise.
12. What’s the best advice you ever got?
From Mark Twain: “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
And from my mother: “Always leave home wearing clean underwear. You never know when you might get into an accident.”
U TOONS
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, Feb. 11 for a chance to win two tickets to to the Utah vs. San Diego State men’s basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. in 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. 20 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. 23 FYI Mystery Photo shows the entrance to the Dolores Doré Eccles Broadcast Center, home to KUED, KUER, KULC, Office of Information Technology, and Media Solutions. From the correct responses we randomly chose Sammie Tollestrup as the winner of the Jan. 23 FYI Mystery Photo Contest! She is an accountant with the KUED development department and has worked at the Eccles Broadcast Center for 10 years. “I’m also a rabid Ute fan married to a poor soul from Wyoming. Go Utes!” she says. Sammie received two tickets to the Utah vs. Wyoming men’s basketball game, courtesy of Utah Athletics. Thanks to all who entered and thanks to Utah Athletics for donating the tickets. |
DARWIN DAY TO DEBUT
Tuesday, Feb. 12, 12:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Olpin Union
The first of what organizers hope will be an annual Darwin Day at the U coincides with international celebrations to honor the life and work of Charles Darwin, the man who first described biological evolution via natural selection with scientific rigor. Activities include a film on his life, and presentations by Kristen Hawkes, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, and Scott Sampson, a noted paleontologist at the Utah Museum of Natural History. Celebrations of Darwin’s life have been organized sporadically since his death in 1882. Darwin Day is now an international celebration of science and humanity held near Feb. 12, the day he was born in 1809. For more information, contact Julie Mayhew at 581-4004 or jmayhew@union.utah.edu. For more information on local Darwin Day activities, click here (Hotlink: www.humanistsofutah.org); for general information on Darwin Day, click here (Hotlink: www.darwinday.org).
MARRIOTT LIBRARY’S NEW DOOR-TO-DOOR DELIVERY SERVICE GOES THE EXTRA MILE
The Marriott Library is now offering a delivery service to professors and students. Professors can request to have books delivered to their offices, and students who study at the Quinney Law Library or the Eccles Health Sciences Library can request to have materials delivered to those two locations.
“We are excited to offer this level of customer service,” explains Ian Godfrey, facilities and access services manager. The materials are selected from the library’s online catalogue and are delivered by golf cart to campus professors—all within 24 hours of the request. (Currently, the Eccles Health Sciences Library is the only delivery location on the health sciences campus.)
“We are committed to making it as easy as possible for our faculty and students to get the books and journals they want. Maximizing their time is important and this new service is just part of a larger plan to enhance services across the board,” says Joyce Ogburn, University librarian and director of the Marriott Library, “We hope that, as the word gets out, more faculty and students will take advantage of the new delivery service.”
For more information, contact Ian Godfrey at 581-6577.
UPCOMING ON CAMPUS
• Super Tuesday comes to campus
• Super Tuesday Election Night Party!
Tuesday, Feb. 5, 8-10 p.m.
Hinckley Caucus Room, 255 OSH
The Hinckley Institute of Politics and the ASUU Government Relations Board will host a Super Tuesday Election Night party. Local media will be on hand to gauge attendees’ reactions to live broadcasts of incoming election results. Free pizza, soft drinks, and snacks will be served.
• Kirk Jowers Appearances
Kirk Jowers, director, Hinckley Institute, will be in studio with Fox 13 Evening News from 10:00 - 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5, and with Fox 13’s Good Day Utah from 7:00 - 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 6 to discuss the results and implications of Super Tuesday’s results.• KUER’s RadioWest with Doug Fabrizio
Wednesday, Feb. 6, 11 a.m.
Hinckley Caucus Room, 255 OSH
Listen to an analysis of Super Tuesday Primaries with Kirk Jowers and other guests
• Andrew Valez to give LEAP lecture
Thursday, Feb. 7, 12 noon – 1 p.m.
335 James Widtsoe Bldg., Presidents Circle
Juvenile Court Judge Andrew Valdez discusses his autobiography, No One Makes It Alone, his story of growing up as a Westside Latino paperboy and being plucked off a street corner by Anglo businessman Jack Keller who mentored him. Nearly 40 years later, Valdez, returned the favor when he found Keller on the street, homeless, and a victim of Alzheimer’s disease. Questions? Contact Leo Leckie at 581-8920 or leo.leckie@utah.edu.
• Black Awareness Month
The Struggle for Human Rights: The Black Experience in the U.S. and in the Diaspora
Feb. 10-29
Don’t miss this impressive lineup of events in locations on and off campus including a keynote by France Davis, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, on Feb. 11, and a performance by the Harlem Gospel Choir on Feb. 22, at Kingsbury Hall. For a complete listing of events, click here (Hotlink: http://www.diversity.utah.edu/news/BAMlistofevents.html)
• Wade Davis to speak at City Library
One River: The Life and Times of Richard Evans Schultes
Wednesday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m.
City Library Auditorium
Join National Geographic explorer and photographer Wade Davis as he follows the path of his mentor, Richard Evans Schultes, through the wildest and most remote parts of the Amazon. Holding degrees in anthropology, biology, and ethno-botany, all from Harvard University, Davis publishes on subjects ranging from Haitian voodoo to traditional use of psychotropic drugs and the ethnobotany of South American Indians. Wade Davis is described as “a rare combination of scientist, scholar, poet, and passionate defender of all of life’s diversity.” He spent over three years in the Amazon and Andes as a plant explorer, living among 15 indigenous groups in eight Latin American nations while making some 6,000 botanical collections. His work later took him to Haiti to investigate folk preparations implicated in the creation of zombies, and to Borneo where he lived among the nomadic Penan in the forests of Sarawak. For more information on Davis, click here (Hotlink: www.nationalgeographic.com/field/explorers/wade-davis.html)
• UROP Symposium submission deadline
The 2008 Undergraduate Research (UROP) Symposium is April 3. The deadline for submissions is Thursday, Feb. 28. Faculty are asked to encourage their undergraduate students from all disciplines to apply. Students present their research and creative projects through oral sessions, posters, artistic exhibits, or performances. For more information, click here (Hotlink: www.ugs.utah.edu/urop/symposium) or contact Jill Baeder at 581-8070 or baeder-j@ugs.utah.edu.
• Stegner Symposium 2008
Alternative Energy: Seeking Climate Change Solutions
Early registration ends Friday, Feb. 15
The symposium takes place March 7-8 at the Marriott Park Hotel in Research Park and features a keynote presentation by Bill McKibben, author of the first book on climate change for a general audience, The End of Nature, (1989). For complete program information, click here. (Hotlink: www.law.utah.edu/stegner)
• Tickets on sale now for Lyceum II Lecture with Jane Goodall
March 4, 7:00 p.m.
Abravanel Hall
Tickets are on sale now for the College of Humanities’ annual Lyceum II Lecture, featuring Jane Goodall with noted author Terry Tempest Williams and Red Rock Rondo. For tickets ($10, $15, $20) contact ArtTix at 355-2787 or click here. (Hotlink: www.arttix.org) Proceeds will benefit the Environmental Humanities graduate program and the Jane Goodall Institute.
BULLETIN BOARD
• Safe Winter Driving Tips
University Risk & Insurance Management reminds you to service your vehicle, check your battery and cooling system, fill the washer reservoir, keep windows and mirrors clean, check your windshield wipers and defrosters, inspect your tires, allow extra travel time, and know what to do in a winter emergency. Taking TRAX or other public transportation is a great alternative to driving in adverse weather conditions. For additional safe winter driving tips from the Network for Traffic Safety (NTS), click here. (Hotlink: www.trafficsafety.org/events/winterdriving.pdf)
• FYI offers link to other online campus newsletters
If your newsletter is online, and if it complies with the U’s design standards (using the logo and branding) contact fyi@ucomm.utah.edu and we’ll add your publication to our list of links.
• Personal property losses and U
In the event of a loss, all personally owned items such as certificates, photographs, CD players and other equipment and items not owned by the University, are not generally covered by the U’s insurance carrier. You can insure this personal property by requesting coverage under your homeowners or tenants insurance policy. For more information, contact Risk & Insurance Management at 581-5590.
• Osher Institute exceeds 500 members
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute has attracted over 500 members, making it eligible for endowment opportunities from the national organization. This milestone is key to the long-term growth of the program. For more information, click here. (Hotlink:
www.continue.utah.edu/osher).
U SAVING ENERGY
Sincethe U’s behavioral energy-saving program began in July 2003 the U has saved the CO2 equivalent of 51,998 acres of pine or fir forests storing carbon for one year.
TIP: You can help the U further these savings by reporting and repairing leaky faucets promptly. A leaky faucet wastes gallons of water in a short period of time.
Source: U of U Energy Management. For more information contact Bianca Shama at 585-1171 or Bianca.Shama@fm.utah.edu.
