September 24, 2008
Carolyn Tanner Irish Building opens
Though leaves are many, the root is one
W. B. Yeats
The Coming of Wisdom with Time
Join the College of Humanities in celebrating the completion of its new Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building (hotlink to http://www.hum.utah.edu/?pageId=1529) at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Oct. 3 from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. President Young, Dean Robert Newman, and Carolyn Tanner Irish (http://www.hum.utah.edu/?pageId=1530) are scheduled to attend the short program, which will include a blessing and dedication from Clifford Duncan, the Ute tribal elder and spiritual leader who blessed and dedicated the site at the groundbreaking ceremony in September 2006. Tours will be offered following the program.
Newman’s vision for the building was to create spaces to inspire introspection, conversation, and collaboration. He believed that a beautiful building design, lots of natural light, and stunning artwork would contribute to this vision—indeed paintings by artists Pilar Pobil (hotlink to http://www.pilarpobil.com/), Don Olsen (hotlink to http://www.donolsen.com/), Alvin Gittins (hotlink to http://arts.utah.gov/UAC_databases/VAartists_directory/artists_f-j/gittins_alvin.html), and Anne Watson (hotlink to http://www.goldenruleproject.org/HTML/Anne_Watson.htm), and a two-story glass and steel mobile installation created by Ray King (hotlink to http://www.rayking.nu/#/Home) are prominent features of the building’s collection.
Named for The Right Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish in honor of her passion for the humanities, the new building will be infused with her spirit of kindness, intellectual curiosity, and service. A native of Salt Lake City, Tanner Irish became bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah (hotlink to http://www.episcopal-ut.org) in 1996 and is the spiritual leader of nearly 6,000 Episcopalians in Utah and Arizona. She is the daughter of Obert and Grace Tanner, long-time benefactors of the U who endowed its Tanner Lecture on Human Values, and for whom the Tanner Humanities Center (hotlink to http://www.hum.utah.edu/humcntr/) is named.
The new structure will be home to the departments of history and philosophy, the College’s international, Asian, and Latin American studies programs, and the Tanner Humanities Center. The 50,000-square-foot building includes two lecture halls, seminar and reading rooms, light-filled courtyards, group study rooms, as well as the Lorna Matheson Memorial Garden and Tony Caputo’s Happy Hour Café.
For additional information, contact Rachel Leiker at 581-6214 or check online (hotlink to www.hum.utah.edu).
12 Questions for Alan Fogel
Professor of psychology and recipient of a 2008 Distinguished Scholarly and Creative Research Award (hotlink to http://www.research.utah.edu/funding/urc/dra/index.html)
1. What book should every person read and why?
The book of life. The printed word only makes sense if you can relate it to your personal experience.
2. What building on campus do you think is the most interesting architecturally?
Not the Behavioral Science Building in which I work, for sure! I like the Huntsman Cancer Center for its welcoming interior design and expansive views. Did I mention that it has a good restaurant?
3. If you could meet one notable person, who would it be and why?
Sigmund Freud. So much of what he wrote has been turned upside down and misinterpreted by a world that was, and still is, not ready to grasp the importance of the direct experience of the body in early childhood—its emotions and sensations, its pleasures and pains—for the formation of the person throughout life.
4. Name a favorite local place to eat.
My house, but if you mean a restaurant, the Red Iguana has authentic and excellent regional Mexican cuisine. The Royal India in Sandy is very authentic, with great dosas.
5. How will the next generation of scholars—today’s students—change your field in the decades to come?
I have no idea, and that’s why my generation eventually needs to retire: to make room for innovation.
6. List two of your favorite websites.
From Google you can go anywhere and find anything. I especially like Google Images, and Google Scholar is revolutionary for scholarly research.
7. Will a liberal arts education remain relevant to students in our increasingly technological society?
I’d like to think so but I find that many of my psychology students don’t know much about art, literature, philosophy, history, or even current events. Why are these fields relevant to psychology? If I have to tell you, you probably need to brush up on your liberal arts.
8. What reading material is on your bedside table?
I can’t read at night because I’m too tired. I do crossword puzzles, which are supposed to keep neural pathways alive during aging, but really, they just help me to fall asleep by taking my mind off anything important.
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?
It would be an oral exam. I’d want them to look me in the eye and make their case. That way I could tell if they were speaking from an abstract principle, from their wallet, from a script, or, from the heart.
10. What is one thing you would like to ask people to do to change the world for the better?
I can’t choose just one. Play with a child. Get out in nature and feel awe. Take a breath. Relax. Make love, not war.
11. Among the complex moral and political issues that affect humanity, which do you believe will never be resolved and why?
Humanity itself is endlessly fascinating and endlessly puzzling. What did you expect a psychologist to say?
12. What’s the best advice you ever got?
Not to take myself too seriously.
Campaign for Our Community
Dear Colleague:
Each year, U employees reach out to others in myriad ways. We provide food for those without homes, assist children with social and developmental needs, and lend a hand to neighbors who need our help. Contributions from employees also fund a range of other programs, from those that assist refugees who are seeking employment opportunities, to those that support research for treating diseases, to others providing education to prevent the spread of HIV.
Your contributions to the University’s Campaign for Our Community make these miracles happen. Collaborative work by the charitable organizations that coordinate their fund-raising activities through Community Health Charities, Community Shares/Utah, and United Way facilitate the University’s campaign.
Please take a moment to consider how your contribution can make a difference. Together, through the U’s annual Campaign for Our Community, we can reach out to so many of our neighbors who look to us for help and depend on our generosity.
Michael K. Young
Slicing solar power costs
U of U engineers Eberhard “Ebbe” Bamberg (hotlink to http://www.mech.utah.edu/people/faculty/bamberg.html), an assistant professor, and Dinesh Rakwal, a doctoral student, both from the Department of Mechanical Engineering (hotlink to http://www.mech.utah.edu), have devised a new way to slice thin wafers of the chemical element germanium for use in the most efficient type of solar power cells. They say the new method should lower the cost of such cells by reducing the waste and breakage of the brittle semiconductor. The expensive solar cells now are used mainly on spacecraft, but with the improved wafer-slicing method, the germanium-based, high-efficiency solar cells could be used where cost is a factor, particularly for solar power on Earth—and on our rooftops.
Bamberg and Rakwal are publishing their findings in the Journal of Materials Processing Technology (hotlink to http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/505656/description#description). Their study has been accepted, and will be published online later this month or in early October, and in print in 2009. Read more (hotlink to http://www.unews.utah.edu/p/?r=070308-1).
Lee Siegel
U of U Public Relations
UTA Ed-Pass alert
No holes, please!
Commuter Services (hotlink to www.parking.utah.edu) recently discovered that punching a hole anywhere on the new UTA Ed-Pass will ruin the “tap on, tap off” proximity function of the card—so no punching! And by the way, pouches are available for purchase at the Campus Store and the Health Sciences Store (hotlink to http://aux.utah.edu/store.html).
The new UTA Ed-Passes are now in! Don’t forget to get yours before Nov. 1. They’re available by showing your UCard at the UCard office in the Olpin Union, University Hospital cafeteria, Commuter Services (Annex), and the Campus Store in the Computing Solutions Department. For more information, call 581-6415.
Campaign 2008
Voter registration is getting a big push from ASUU. With a goal to register 6,000—they have registered 1,000 voters to date—voter registration tables are set up in several areas in the Olpin Union. And, for the first time ever, ASUU will organize early voting on campus. Anyone who lives in Salt Lake County will be able to cast their ballot on campus beginning Oct. 21. Voting booths will be located in the Olpin Union, Room 161, and Commuter Services has agreed to offer free parking in the Union’s east lot to all voters.
In addition, the Hinckley Institute of Politics (hotlink to www.hinckley.utah.edu) has several election-related forums coming up.
• Election Analysis
Wednesday, Sept. 24, 11:00 a.m.
Orson Spencer Hall, Room 255
Sit in on a live KUER FM 90 broadcast of RadioWest with Doug Fabrizio. Panel members include:
• Dan Jones, political science professor;
president, Dan Jones & Associates
• Kirk Jowers, director, Hinckley Institute; partner, Caplin & Drysdale, Washington, D.C.
• Frank Pignanelli, Foxley and Piganelli Attorneys-at-Law; political columnist for the Deseret News
• Ted Wilson, executive director, Utah Rivers Council; former director, Hinckley Institute (1985-2003)
Presented by the Hinckley Institute of Politics. For more information, call 581-8501.
• Campaign 2008
The Race for Attorney General
Mark Shurtleff vs. Jean Welch Hill
Tuesday, Sept. 30, 10:45 a.m.
Orson Spencer Hall, Room 255
Presented by the Hinckley Institute of Politics. For more information, call 581-8501.
• Representing Utah 2008
Monday, Oct. 6, Noon
Orson Spencer Hall, Room 255
Hear a round table discussion with candidates Charles Henderson, Jani Iwamoto, Luz Robles, Josie Valdez; and State Senator James Evans, Representatives Jen Seelig and Ross Romero, and Michael Styles, director of black affairs for the governor’s office.
September is National Preparedness Month
September is the kick-off month for an ongoing emphasis on personal and family preparedness throughout Utah. Employers, families, and community residents are asked to take three steps that can make a critical difference in smooth recovery from an emergency situation.
1. Get a kit. Create an emergency supply kit with fresh water, food, a flashlight with extra batteries and other survival essentials. Get the checklist (hotlink to http://www.ehs.utah.edu/EmergencyKits.html).
2. Make a plan. Decide in advance how you and your family or co-workers will contact one another and what you will do in different situations.
3. Be informed. Learn about the potential emergencies that can happen where you live (earthquakes, hazardous materials spills, and severe weather).
More information can be found online (hotlink to www.ready.gov) and at Environmental Health & Safety (hotlink to http://www.ehs.utah.edu/Fact.html).
HCI researcher named a MacArthur
Foundation Fellow
Known as the “Genius Award,” Recipients receive $500,000
“I was just doing something boring, like spell checking, when I got the call last week,” explained Susan Mango, to the students in her lab as they gathered around her on Tuesday, Sept. 23, upon hearing she was one of only 25 recipients of the annual MacArthur Fellowship award sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation (hotlink to http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.3599935) . “I had no idea anyone had nominated me and was completely surprised. I still can hardly believe it.” The award recipients are each given $500,000 over the course of five years, to be used at their discretion.
Mango, an investigator at Huntsman Cancer Institute and professor in the Department of Oncological Sciences, is a developmental biologist and leads a research team that focuses on discovering the genes that control the formation and physiology of the digestive tract. The genes necessary for these processes are often mutated in cancer or in birth defects. Mango’s research also focuses on the cellular mechanisms that generate an epithelial tube, the role of the digestive tract during starvation, and the processes that govern how cells are specified to become part of the digestive tract.
“Dr. Mango is a vibrant young biomedical researcher with a remarkable career,” says President Young. Mango’s research accomplishments, her vivacious enthusiasm for science, and her clarity in thinking and presenting her work has catapulted her to a national reputation and leadership role within the broad fields of developmental, systems, and molecular biology in just a few years of starting her independent laboratory.
Upcoming on campus
• Farmers Market ends soon
Thursdays through Oct. 2
10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Webster’s Lawn (east of Pioneer Memorial Theater)
The popular campus farmers market (hotlink to http://www.hr.utah.edu/wellu/farmers_market/)—with fresh produce, arts and crafts, and food vendors—ends Oct. 2.
• Employee Appreciation Day
Thursday, Sept. 25, 1o:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m
Olympic Cauldron Park at Rice-Eccles Stadium
Bring your balloon postcard or your UCard for admittance to the 5th annual Employee Appreciation Day. For further information check online (hotlink to http://web.utah.edu/employeeday/) or contact Susie Johnson at 581-8365.
• Fan Appreciation Night
Friday, Sept. 26, 5-8 p.m.
Campus Store
Bring the kids and take advantage of this three-hour sale. Includes free food and drink.
• Dennis Miller at Kingsbury Hall
Friday, Sept. 26, 7:30 p.m.
Kingsbury Hall
’Tis the season to be political, and talk-show host Dennis Miller (hotlink to http://dennismillerradio.com/) will surely do that when he comes to town as the headliner for Homecoming Week (hotlink to http://www.alumni.utah.edu/homecoming/) to set the record either straight or skewed—depending on one’s point of view—with his hilarious brand of right-wing ranting. Faculty and staff receive 10 percent off with a UCard. Check online (hotlink to http://www.kingsburyhall.org/) for tickets or call 581-7100.
• Kangaroos, Platypuses, and Sex Chromosome Evolution
Frontiers of Science Lecture with Jennifer A. Marshall Graves
Wednesday, Oct. 1, 7:30 p.m.
Aline Skaggs Biology Auditorium
Human X and Y chromosomes evolved from an ordinary chromosome pair, with Y degrading progressively at a rate suggesting it could disappear entirely in just five million years. Does this mean the end of males? Come and find out. Graves is a professor of genomics at Australian National University (hotlink to http://www.anu.edu.au/index.php) and director of the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Kangaroo Genomics (hotlink to http://kangaroo.genomics.org.au/public/?section=about).
• Oktoberfest
Thursday, Oct. 2, 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Olpin Union Plaza
Featuring music, food, and lots of fun, you can grab a free bratwurst, some root beer, and celebrate the October harvest with your favorite lederhosen-wearin’ friends. For more information, call Brandon Patterson at 581-7658.
• Fall Tech Fair
Engineering, Science, and Technology
Wednesday, Oct. 8, 9:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.
Olpin Union Ballroom
Career fairs are one of the best ways for students to meet employers, network, and find job openings. Faculty: Please encourage your students to check out (hotlink to http://careers.utah.edu/downloads/FallTech08.pdf) which companies are attending the Tech Fair.
• A Warning to Dryland Dwellers and How to Avoid the Worst
College of Mines & Earth Sciences Distinguished Lecture
With Wallace Smith Broecker
Wednesday, Oct. 8, 12:20 p.m. – 1:20 p.m.
College of Law, Moot Courtroom
Broecker is a geochemist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and one of the earliest to warn of global climate change. “…We must rein in the increase in the atmosphere’s CO2 content. Conservation and alternate energy alone won’t get us there. Coal is just too abundant and too cheap. Hence, we must develop the means to capture and bury CO2. Otherwise we will be forced to dose the stratosphere with sulfur dioxide.” Broecker is the 2008 recipient of the Balzan Prize for outstanding achievement in science, a prize which ranks with the Nobel in prestige. For more information, call the Wallace Stegner Center at 585-3440 or check online (hotlink to http://www.law.utah.edu/calendar/show-event.asp?EventID=35914).
• Utah Volleyball
Faculty/Staff Night
Thursday, Oct. 9, 7 p.m.
Jon M. Huntsman Center
Utah (hotlink to http://utahutes.cstv.com/#) plays UNLV in volleyball and faculty and staff get in free by showing their UCard at the ticket window. A halftime program will honor some of the staff and faculty who are most influential in the volleyball players’ lives. Discount tickets ($2) are offered for all home games to faculty and staff. Be sure to show your UCard. Go Utes!
Bulletin Board
• Wanted: Study participants
Brain and aging
The Department of Psychiatry (hotlink tohttp://medicine.utah.edu/psychiatry/) is looking for participants for an IRB-approved brain and aging study to help determine how the brain changes in response to aging. Eligible participants must be female, ages 25 to 35; must not have any neurological or psychiatric disorders; and must be right-handed. Compensation will be provided. Participants will complete a detailed psychiatric evaluation and one magnetic resonance imaging scan.
Bipolar disorder
Do you have mood swings? Have you been diagnosed with bipolar disorder? Do you think you might have this condition? The Department of Psychiatry is looking for people with excessively high and low mood swings to participate in an IRB-approved research study of bipolar disorder. Participants must be male, ages 21 to 65, and must not currently be taking psychiatric medications. Those who are eligible will receive a free psychiatric evaluation to determine if their mood swings are due to bipolar disorder. Participants will complete a detailed psychiatric evaluation and have one magnetic resonance imaging scan. This study does not involve treatment. Compensation will be provided.
For more information on both studies, contact Cheryl Garn at 582-1565, ext. 2759.
• A few interesting stats on headcount
From the Office of Budget & Institutional Analysis (hotlink to http://www.obia.utah.edu)
Headcount of regular faculty by college and gender
Five-year comparison from fall semester 2003 to fall semester 2007
- Overall number of women regular faculty in fall 2003: 353 (25%)
- Overall number of men regular faculty in fall 2003: 1,032 (75%)
- Total number of regular faculty in fall 2003: 1,385
- Overall number of women regular faculty in fall 2007: 394 (27%)
- Overall number of men regular faculty in fall 2007: 1,054 (73%)
- Total number of regular faculty in fall 2007: 1,448 (+ 68 from 2003)
- Overall increase in percentage of women regular faculty from fall semester 2003 to fall semester 2008: 2%.
• Cool website
Just for fun…
http://www.cyberthing.net/video-play.php?id=105
FYI Mystery Photo Contest
FYI Mystery Photo
Where is this on campus? Send your answer (be specific) to FYI@ucomm.utah.edu by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 25 for a chance to win two tickets to the Homecoming football game against Weber State on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 6 p.m., courtesy of Utah Athletics. A pair of tickets will be given to three winners to be randomly selected from the pool of those submitting the correct answer. Their names will be listed in the Oct. 8 FYI News.
Thanks to Utah Athletics for providing the prize!
Note: This contest is open to U of U faculty and staff only.
Last issue’s FYI Mystery Photo Contest answer
The Sept. 10 FYI Mystery Photo shows the wooden fish sculpture near the pond at Red Butte Garden. This contest was a lot tougher than we intended—many readers understandably thought the photo was of an exhibit in the Utah Museum of Natural History (but then that first Park Building photo was pretty darn easy). Congratulations to to Marie T. Kay, winner of the Sept. 10 contest! Marie is a clinical study coordinator at the Center for Alzheimer’s Care, Imaging, and Research. “I help coordinate our clinical trial efforts and work with patients with Alzheimer’s Disease,” she says. “The goal of our research is to improve early and accurate detection of Alzheimer’s Disease and develop more effective treatments.” Marie was randomly selected from a pool of contestants who sent in the correct answer. She received a pass for two to Red Butte Garden. Thanks to the Garden for donating the passes. And thanks to everyone who participated in the contest. We invite you to try your luck with each issue this fall. |
U SAVING ENERGY
Sustainability Tip
According to Joshua James, Plant Operations (hotlink to http://www.facilities.utah.edu/plantops/index.html) recycling coordinator, the corrugated cardboard recycling program is flourishing this fall. The new recycling center went into operation in June 2008 and the cardboard baler is up and running. There currently are seven drop-off trailers scattered throughout campus at high-volume locations. Monthly totals from August 2008 show an increase of more than 60 percent, or 11,000 pounds, from the same period a year ago.
TIP: Cardboard boxes that are wax treated or contaminated with food or liquid cannot be recycled. Please help our program’s success and efficiency by recycling only clean, untreated cardboard.
For more information, contact:
- Main campus and non-patient care buildings at HSC: Josh James (hotlink to josh.james@fm.utah.edu), 585-6780
- Hospital, HCI, Moran: Richard Lee (hotlink to rick.lee@hsc.utah.edu), 581-2742
