April 20, 2005

Earth Day Celebrates 35 Years—April 22

NOTE: The student group Terra Firma has organized events on campus including a panel discussion with local author Chip Ward, author of Hope’s Horizon: Three Visions for Healing the American Land and Canaries on the Rim: Living Downwind in the West. For more information on campus and community Earth Day events, call the Environmental Studies Program at 585-3536. You can also check www.envst.utah.edu/envirolinks.htm for links to many other environmental groups.

Is Earth Day still relevant? If so, what are you doing to celebrate? FYI asked around campus and here’s what we heard.

• The need for Earth Day is certainly still relevant, perhaps more so than in 1970. In the 35 years since the first Earth Day, we, as a species, have had some limited successes in protecting and improving our environment. Most of our successes, however, have been localized. Now that we more fully understand the impacts our actions are having on the Earth’s climate, the need for us to view the planet as a connected global system is all the more urgent. We are, indeed, approaching the point where our continued health and survival depends on our ability to translate “think globally” from a slogan to a cross-cultural ethic.

~Keith Bartholomew
College of Architecture + Planning

• Earth Day has never been so relevant because the assaults on the environment have never been so pervasive and damaging. President Bush and the U. S. Congress want to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling; they have opened millions of acres of public lands to oil and gas drilling; they want to “revise” the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act; they have dramatically increased clear-cutting under the guise of forest “health;” they want to increase allowable mercury emissions..... The list is truly endless. In the meantime, the planet warms. We should celebrate Earth Day while we still have one—an Earth, that is.

~Dan McCool
American West Center

• The Earth is our home, and each and every day we breathe its atmosphere, drink its watersheds, and survive on what it produces. Earth Day is the perfect day to be a humble human being and give thanks for a magnificent, functioning ecosystem that we too often treat irreverently. Ignore, as best as you can, profiteers who will try and turn the celebration of Earth Day into another consumption opportunity. Recognize how your job, your food, your purchases and practices, your very lifestyle have very real impacts on the Earth. And speak out about practices in our social and cultural institutions that “diss” the non-human parts of our planet.

I’ll find time during the day to go outside, find some solitude, and “listen,” as the Blackfeet Indians would say.

~Julia Corbett
Department of Communication

• I was in high school when the first Earth Day (1970) was celebrated and I remember I tried to get a “rally” going after school, but only five people showed up. Which was OK—as “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”—but then the next year I was almost thrown out of the house for wearing an “ecology” (the green - theta) flag on my jacket (too radical for my father). Since then I have tried to be active in helping the “commons,” from contributing money to ethical organizations that think long-term and strategically for the betterment of humans and environments, to reducing personal consumption and perhaps trying to practice more what I preach (which is hard to do). Earth Day is still relevant IF it is celebrated every day. There was (and is) always the danger of it becoming just another token and symbolic day, full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing. I hope that “green” will still mean working for an environment that is healthy and clean, but 35 years later... I remain a skeptic based on the past—yet with enough hope to keep me going for the future.

To celebrate the day, I’m going to breathe (deeply) and then drink a glass of water from the tap—and then think of the human condition in the future....seven generations from now.

~Scott Wright
Center on Aging

• Earth Day is more relevant than ever because we are 6.5 billion humans more dependent on the Earth and each other than ever before in our history. While some claim that setting aside one day is pathetically inadequate to creating change, Earth Day is nonetheless an opportunity for education, dialogue, community with our planetary neighbors (human and nonhuman), and gratitude for all the larger geosystems that make life possible. Earth Day may even come to be a celebration of our capacity for self-restraint, concern for others, and our ability to change our lifeways in keeping with the needs of other species and future generations. In other words, a celebration that we are changing as much as the Earth is. We are not (and could never be) separable from the planet itself.

~Holly Campbell
Tanner Humanities Center

• As long as we deny living space to our fellow living creatures and continue to degrade our air, water, and food; as long as we spread our heavy footprint over Earth’s remaining vegetated patches while failing to notice the importance of wildlands; as long as we value selfish and consumptive interests over a healthy legacy for our children; as long as these habits infect our daily living, Earth Day remains relevant.

~John Cederquist
College of Health

• Hi my name is Allison Jarvis and I work for the Recycling Information Office. We are having an Earth Day Celebration Saturday April 23 at the Salt Lake City Library Plaza, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The event will include a recycled fashion show, activities and information booths with information for children and adults about recycling, waste reduction, conserving energy, and natural resources. We’ll have kids activities such as cereal box notebooks, paper bead jewelry, pin wheels, coloring and painting activities, and planting seeds. The event is free to the public. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at veggiedog87@hotmail.com.

~Ally Jarvis
Student, Environmental Studies

• Is earth day still relevant? I think it is even more relevant now than at anytime in the past. Our environmental problems are getting worse, and our government is doing less and less. If we are going to save ourselves and the future, we have to act now.

I’m going to the Earth Day celebration at the U of U from April 20-22 to watch free bands and listen to panel discussions. I’m also going to go to the moonrise tree planting on April 22 with Tree Utah.

~James Comeford
Student, Environmental Studies

• Is Earth Day Still relevant? Are global ecosystems still taking a major dive toward the bottom? Are environmental protection standards being weakened in our country every day to cause more harm to our waterways, more pollution to breathable air, and more destruction to protected wilderness? Is global warming becoming a serious international concern? Are Americans still consuming far more resources per capita than any other country? I believe the “yes” that answers all of these questions is enough to validate the relevancy of an Earth Day celebration.

To celebrate, I’m planning to party on campus at Terra Firma’s celebration. The Chip Ward Panel Discussion and Dave Wan’s lecture are going to be the “must- attend” events; bands and slide shows will be great too.

~Dave Harnsberger
Student, Environmental Earth Science

• Earth Day is more relevant today than ever! We live in an increasingly crowded and connected world where small local actions can have global effects with large environmental footprints. We need to be aware of our footprints on the Earth, and pro-actively work towards guiding our cities and societies to more equitable and sustainable outcomes. Earth Day is a reminder of these crucial principles.

The Department of Geography is hosting a lecture by Professor Susan Cutter (University of South Carolina) on human vulnerability to environmental hazards. The lecture will be at 1:00 pm on April 22 in Orson Spencer Hall, Room 175.

~Harvey J. Miller
Department of Geography

• Earth Day is a day to reflect on our role in protecting nature. It’s more relevant than ever! Human populations are booming, human consumption is increasing, sprawl development patterns threaten wildlife habitat every day, and—needless to say—wars around the world are destroying habitat and pushing more and more species towards extinction. What can we do to protect the environment? We’d better find out, because we cannot continue on our current trajectory.

~Carol Werner
Psychology

Latest Rankings Showcase the U

The latest issue of U.S. News & World Report/America’s Best Graduate Schools hit the stands April 1 and the University of Utah was mentioned more than any other Utah school. The U is ranked in 21 separate categories. The next most frequently mentioned school appears in five ranking categories.

Here are some highlights from the report:

• The David Eccles School of Business moved up eight spots from 64th to 56th in just one year.
  
• The College of Engineering’s graduate school was ranked 59th, while receiving seven rankings in a variety of specialties, including Chemical Engineering 61st and Civil Engineering 78th, both newly ranked.
  
• The College of Pharmacy is 14th in the nation, and family medicine, women’s health, and pediatrics programs received national recognition, being ranked 17th, 19th, and 20th, respectively.
  
• The S.J. Quinney College of Law ranked 49th, once again making the top tier of all schools, an achievement it has reached every year since the rankings began.
  
• The U’s graduate school at the College of Education ranked 70th in the country. The specialties of Administration/Supervision and Special Education were ranked 13th and 19th respectively.
  
• The graduate program in Bioengineering, in the Department of Bioengineering, consistently ranks in the top 20 in the nation.

Each year, U.S. News ranks school programs in business, education, engineering, law, and medicine. From time to time other programs are also included. The rankings are based on expert opinion about program quality and statistical indicators measuring the quality of a school’s faculty, research, and students.

For a complete listing of the U.S. News rankings, visit www.usnews.com.

U of U Opens Westside Studio

Open House: April 28
Neighborhood Housing Services
625 West Girrard Ave. (540 North)
4:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Walk into the Westside Studio in the Citifront Apartments located west of town on North Temple and you feel like you’re in a classroom…well, you actually are. The walls are covered with maps of the surrounding neighborhood, each one depicting various social, economic, environmental, and biophysical characteristics of the area—one shows the history, another shows water resources, another the demographics of the population living there.

The maps were prepared by graduate students in urban planning, architecture, and business who are part of a new interdisciplinary graduate workshop involved with community development issues in Salt Lake City’s Westside neighborhood. The projects will focus on fostering civic engagement, community participation, collective visioning, and project implementation skills among residents and businesses on the Westside.

Last year, the College of Architecture + Planning formed a partnership with University Neighborhood Partners (UNP) and Salt Lake City Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS), to begin addressing some of the challenges and opportunities of Westside neighborhoods. Last December, the Westside Studio Steering Committee convened to decide on the geographic boundaries of the first phase and to suggest possible outcomes of the course.

Jon Robinson, a community counselor and resident of the area, and Maged Senbel, assistant professor in Urban Planning, were appointed as chairs of the Steering Committee. Dan Stanger from the Bridge Group donated a retail space in Citifront Apartments, a new mixed-use housing and retail project he developed in partnership with NHS.

“Mediating between diverse interests is likely the biggest challenge facing urban planners today and it is impossible to learn without going out there and being immersed in it,” says Maged Senbel. “The collaborative component of the project in which we partner with organizations like UNP and NHS allows us to serve specific needs of the community while achieving our own learning objectives,” he adds.

In January, the Graduate Workshop class began meeting at the Citifront location. On March 7, the students presented their first project—the map project. The second class project will be to conduct a design charrette, resulting in four parallel proposals for community renewal.

An open house to celebrate this new endeavor will be held on Thursday, April 28 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Because space in the Citifront location is limited, the open house will be hosted by Neighborhood Housing Services at 625 West Girrard Ave. (540 North). Both the design proposals and community maps will be on display.

For more information, contact Maged Senbel at 581-8254 or senbel@arch.utah.edu.

Year of the Utes

2004-2005 is turning out to be the best athletic year in the entire 155-year history of the University of Utah!

It started with our Fiesta Bowl-winning football team. They also won their second consecutive Mountain West Conference Title, were undefeated for the season, and had a finalist for the coveted Heisman Trophy. And then there were the various player of the year and coach of the year awards.

Our basketball team made it to the Sweet Sixteen. We have the #1 draft pick in both football AND basketball, an unheard of accomplishment for a university.

The gymnastics team is ranked #1 in the nation and just won the NCAA Regionals held at the U of U on April 9. They now move to the national championship on April 21-23 in Auburn, Alabama.

Women’s soccer won the Mountain West Conference Tournament, and women’s volleyball and basketball were invited to their respective NCAA tournaments.

The Utah cross country team brought home the Bronze at the 2005 NCAA Skiing Championships in Vermont. And to top it off, the men’s and women’s swim teams won the Mountain West conference titles. We congratulate our amazing athletes.

Go Utes!

*Be sure to check out the article on this amazing athletic season in the summer issue of Continuum magazine, due out the end of June.

Don’t Miss the Spring Football Game!
Make a Day of It

Come for a pancake breakfast ($2 per person) at Rice-Eccles stadium parking lot on Saturday morning, April 23 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. and then stay for the MUSS flag football game from 11:00-noon. But that’s just the warm-up. See the debut of this year’s football team when the Utah Utes play each other in an intra-squad scrimmage. The traditional Red/White game is FREE and starts at noon, and after the game the football players will be signing autographs on the field. Go Utes!

A Meeting for the Mind

Curious about the U’s new Brain Institute? Plan to attend an “afternoon with the experts” on Monday, April 25 at the Post Theater in Fort Douglas, 1:00-5:00 p.m.

Vice President for Research Ray Gesteland will kick off the event followed by Anne Peterson, director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. A presentation will be given by the Brain Institute’s executive director, Thomas Parks, and its scientific director, Erik Jorgensen. Additional presentation topics include “Stroke: Who is at Risk?” “Substance Abuse Disorders: Diseases of the Brain,” and “How Minds (and Brains?) Are Social: The Case of Autobiographical Remembering.” The event is co-sponsored by the Brain Institute and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. For more information, visit www.brain.utah.edu or contact Jennifer Logan at 587-9853 or jennifer.logan@utah.edu.

Big Changes Coming to Marriott Library Neighborhood

Starting the week of April 18, construction fencing will go up around the library. This will create changes in parking as well as pedestrian traffic.

Metered Parking
The metered lot west of the library will close permanently.

Staff Parking
Approximately 40 percent of the stalls in the A lot east of the field house will be lost to construction staging. Many of those stalls will be recovered by new A permit stalls added to the parking area east of the stadium.

Visitor Pay Lot
The visitor pay lot entrance will be relocated to the south side of the lot.

Pedestrian Traffic
Pedestrians who usually walk north and south on the west side of the library will need to re-route as construction fencing will restrict pedestrians in this area. Best to walk east of the library, since there is currently no fencing in that area.

Book Drop
The book drop that was located in the metered parking lot just west of the library has been moved to the northwest entrance for easy access during construction. Those wishing to use the book drop can park in the visitor pay lot for a short period of time at no charge.

For more information on the library construction, visit www.lib.utah.edu/construct.

Open Enrollment Ends Friday, April 29

Annual Open Enrollment is now in progress and will end Friday, April 29. If you plan to make any changes to, or enroll in, a health plan and/or Flexible Spending Account(s), your Personalized Open Enrollment Form must be submitted to the Benefits Department at 420 Wakara Way, or the Employee Service Center at A024 in the University Hospital, or by fax to 585-7375, no later than 5:30 p.m. on April 29.

If you have not received your Open Enrollment packet and know what changes you would like to make, visit www.hr.utah.edu/ben/oe//OEGenericForm05.pdf to download and print a generic Open Enrollment Form. Simply fill in the requested changes and submit the form to the Benefits Department.

If you have not received your Open Enrollment packet and do NOT know what changes you would like to make, please contact the Benefits Department at 581-7447.

Questions? Contact the Benefits Department or attend an Open Enrollment Session. A schedule is available at www.hr.utah.edu/ben/oe/.

New IRB Process ERICA Now Available

The new Electronic Research Integrity Compliance Application (ERICA) is now available for main campus researchers. ERICA will allow you to complete online all Institutional Review Board (IRB) submissions and eliminates the need for color-coded copies or other hard copy submissions. ERICA’s helpful features designed to streamline the IRB process include:

•Electronic process: no more hard copy submissions
•No need to mail or hand deliver submissions
•Projects and approvals can be tracked online
•Projects can be created from any location with an Internet connection
•Projects can be created and submitted 24-hours a day
•Exemption Wizard-guided short form for exempt projects
•Electronic approval (with watermark stamp for consent forms, summaries, etc.)

The system is easy to use. You can access ERICA via the IRB home page at www.research.utah.edu/irb. Click on the ERICA online link. Once you have an account, you can create new submissions or view existing projects. You are encouraged to use the system for any upcoming projects. The IRB will accept hard copy submissions until June 1, 2005. After June 1, the IRB will accept only projects submitted using the ERICA system.

To schedule group or individual trainings, contact Mont Willis at 585-0302 or mont.willis@hsc.utah.edu; or contact the IRB office at 581-3655 or irb@hsc.utah.edu.

Grants.Gov Program Officer to Speak

U faculty and staff are invited to attend an informational workshop presented by Grants.Gov on Thursday, May 12 in the Skaggs Pharmacy Building Auditorium from 9:15 to 11:30 a.m. The Grants.Gov program is a Federal E-Government initiative that is standardizing the process of applying for federal grants and also home to the announcement of competitive grant opportunities for all 26 federal agencies. Peter Brunner, program management officer with Grants.Gov., will present the workshop. Topics to be covered include:

• Overview of Grants.Gov
• Grants.Gov benefits
• Key features
• Customer support tools
• New features and enhancements

The workshop is presented by the Office of Sponsored Projects and Eccles Health Sciences Library. There is no fee to attend this workshop, but registration is requested. For more information or to register, contact Terri Pianka, Office of Sponsored Projects at 585-5707 or terri.pianka@hsc.utah.edu.

Japanese Calligraphy Exhibit Opens

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the signing of the U.S.–Japan Treaty of Peace and Amity, the Marriott Library is sponsoring an exhibit by 20 prominent calligraphers from Japan who work in Chinese characters, Japanese syllabary, and images. The exhibit is located on Level 3 of the Marriott Library and runs through April 29. For more information, call 581-8558.

Every Drop Counts in the Spring Blood Drive

Did you know that blood for most babies must be less than five days old? There is a constant need for blood so the U of U Staff Advisory Council (UUSAC) and ARUP will host a blood drive on Monday, April 25 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the U Hospital commons area near Starbucks; and Tuesday, April 26 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Union’s East Ballroom. The blood donated serves all the U medical facilities. For more information, call MaryAnne Smith at 585-2677.

Cinco de Mayo on Campus – Volunteers Needed

A live Mariachi band, sixty hanging piñatas, dancers from Utah Hispanic Dance Alliance, and most importantly, more than 1,700 third and fourth graders from schools across the valley will transform Presidents Circle into a “Little Mexico” as Kingsbury Hall hosts its second annual Cinco de Mayo fiesta on Tuesday, May 3. Each class will create its own piñata and enjoy a sampling of traditional Mexican food. Volunteers are needed from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to help run the fiesta. Interested? Contact Wally Anderson at 581-8087 or wanderson@kingsbury.utah.edu.

Fore!

The folks at the University Golf Course are gearing up for this year’s faculty/staff league. Registration is $25, all of which goes to league prizes. You can register at the golf course or by calling 581-6511. League play runs every Wednesday afternoon, May 25 through August 17. Prizes will be awarded every week. The league will be handicapped, so all skill levels are welcome. Season passes (now on sale) and green fees are discounted for U of U faculty and staff members. Come play the course any time!

University Guest House Offers Event Planning

The University Guest House and Conference Center staff would like to remind you that they offer a full range of planning services for conferences and events, including online registration, speaker management, promotion and print services, and transportation. They also offer assistance with venues both on and off campus. For more information, call the Guest House at 587-2989.

Commencement Dates

University-wide Commencement is Friday, May 6 at 9:00 a.m. in the Huntsman Center. The College of Law Commencement is Friday, May 13 at 10:00 a.m. in Kingsbury Hall and the School of Medicine Commencement is Saturday, May 21 at 10:00 a.m. in Kingsbury Hall.

Bookstore News

Celebrate this year’s graduates on Friday, May 6 at the Bookstore’s annual Graduation Celebration.

•Faculty and students who pre-ordered regalia:
Don’t forget to pick up your Commencement regalia during regular store hours Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, May 3, 4, and 5. If you did not order your regalia by the March 25 deadline, you may purchase (students) or rent (faculty) regalia on May 4 from 2:00 - 5:30 p.m., and May 5 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (first come, first served, sizes and colors not guaranteed, $10 additional charge).

•Faculty must return their regalia by May 27 to ensure proper credit.

Streetsense

While Walking…
• If you think someone is following you, switch direction or cross the street. Walk toward an open store or restaurant.
• If you have to work late, make sure there are others in the building and ask someone to walk you to your car or transit stop.

~Courtesy Risk and Insurance Management
www.utah.edu/risk_management/insurance/street_smart.htm

Please Note: FYI Taking a Summer Break

The May 4 issue of FYI will be the last issue until August 24 so please think ahead and send information items for the May 4 issue by April 25.

During the summer, if you want to see a listing of "What's Happening at the U" you can visit www.events.utah.edu.

Book Signing Set for David P. Gardner

A reception and book signing celebrating the release of Earning My Degree: Memoirs of an American University President, by former U of U President David Pierpont Gardner will be held on Thursday, April 28 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. in the Gould Auditorium. Everyone is invited to attend.

Gardner led the U from 1973-1983 during which time he chaired the National Commission on Excellence in Education, which authored A Nation at Risk, one of the most telling reports on the condition of American Public schools in the 20th century.

As president of the University of California's nine-campus system from 1983-1992, Gardner met with intense controversies over issues ranging from affirmative action and animal rights to AIDS research and weapons labs. Gardner also served as president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation from 1993 to 1999 and as chair of the board of the J. Paul Getty Trust from 2000 to 2004.

The book is published by the University of California Press and can be purchased at the University of Utah Bookstore.

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