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February 8, 2006 |
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Black Awareness Month 2006 February is Black Awareness Month and Wilfred Samuels and his planning team have put together an impressive lineup of events which will be offered both on and off campus. Films, jazz concerts (including one featuring Chick Corea and another with the Soweto Choir), presentations by scholars and poets, dramatic presentations and a panel discussion on the effects of Hurricane Katrina (which includes New Orleans evacuees), art and culture exhibits—the list goes on. FYI caught up with Samuels one morning last week to ask him about his motivation for organizing the events. FYI: What are you hoping to achieve with Black Awareness Month? Samuels: First, we want to celebrate African American culture. The art, music, and literature often get sidetracked but the major contributions made by African Americans are of critical importance. Then we want to provide
the University community and the community at large with a venue
for discussion, discourse, and debate on current issues such as
Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and revealed a large
underclass population—not just black people. Katrina gives
us an opportunity to talk honestly about America’s economic,
social, and political reality at the beginning of the 21st century.
Samuels: Her death has taken on great meaning to me. Coretta King was a leader in her own right. She was elegant, dignified—and quiet. As a result of her death, I have recommitted myself to the dreams of Dr. King. As you know, after his death, she carried his vision forward. Our mission is to remap the American landscape so that we can see and celebrate its rich diversity, while critiquing aspects that prevent it from being what it should be. Wilfred Samuels is an associate professor of English and Ethnic Studies and director of the African American Studies Program. For a complete listing of Black Awareness Month events, check online at www.diversity.utah.edu/bam2006.html, or contact the African American Studies Program at 581-5206.
The Salt Lake Tribune recently reported that auto thefts on campus are up. U of U police are asking people to lock their cars and not leave anything of value in them. Seven cars were stolen from major parking lots in January. Vehicles are stolen from off campus and are being left at the U. Vehicles are also stolen from the U, taken off campus, and left elsewhere. The thief or thieves at the U are prying open the windows of the locked cars, unlocking them, breaking the steering columns, and driving away. The stolen cars—Honda Accords and Civics as well as an Acura Integra—had valuable items missing from them. According to Lynn Rohland, U of U police sergeant, it is unusual to have this many auto thefts. “It is important that our University community realizes that because these car thefts are happening they need to take extra precautions when parking their vehicles on campus,” she says. “They should try not to park in the outer lots if possible, lock their vehicles, and not leave anything of value in them. Our community can further help us by being the additional eyes and ears for crime prevention,” she adds. If you see or hear anything suspicious, you are urged to call U of U police at 24-hour dispatch: 585-COPS (2677).
• The man who
played a major role in the development of the personal computer
and came up with the idea of a laptop computer Each year, the University honors four alumni and an honorary alumnus/a at its annual Founders Day celebration. Distinguished Alumni Awards this year will be presented to Alan C. Kay MS ’68 PhD ’69, one of the giants in the world of computer development; Matthew R. Simmons BS ’65, chair of Simmons & Company International, a specialized energy investment banking firm; Merline Clark Leaming ex ’42, co-founder of Clark Leaming, Inc., a highly successful interior design studio; and Joseph B. Wirthlin BA ’41, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Receiving the Honorary Alumnus/a Award will be Ira A. and Mary Lou Fulton, whose Fulton Homes Corp. is one of Arizona’s largest home builders. The Fultons generously support education, health, and family services and have made important contributions to programs at the University of Utah. A dinner and program honoring the 2006 recipients will be held Wednesday, Feb. 22 at Little America Hotel. For more information visit www.alumni.utah.edu or contact Mary Thiriot at 585-3716 or mary.thiriot@alumni.utah.edu. For more detailed information on this year’s award recipients, visit www.alumni.utah.edu/foundersday/?display=recipients.htm.
Remember the catchy Utah football slogans, “Fasten Your Seatbelts” (2003) and “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” (2004)? (That one had the English department losing sleep.) And last year’s Ute basketball slogan to welcome the new coach, “Think you know Utah Basketball? You don’t know Giac.” Those creative concepts came from the mind of Randy Hanskat, a writer in the U’s Office of Marketing & Communications. After a few years as the sportswriter for The Park Record, Park City’s bi-weekly paper, and then as a writer at an ad agency, Hanskat came to the U. He’s been here for seven years. “I got tired of the egos and the ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ realities of modern ad agencies, and I liked Joan Levy as a boss,” he says. (Joan Levy is the U’s advertising manager.) At first, he worked for Continuing Education, advertising the off-campus sites, preparatory courses, a travel program called Wingspan, and youth education. Today, in addition to athletics, he works with the Guest House in Fort Douglas, Commuter Services, and the Moran Eye Center on their trunk shows. And he does all the advertising for The Muss, Homecoming, and the Utah-BYU Food Drive. “We started working with athletics for the Las Vegas Bowl in 2001,” he says. “The game was on Christmas Eve that year, so I wrote a radio spot where Elvis comes down the chimney. It was pretty funny. Athletics liked the stuff and we’ve worked with them ever since.” When Hanskat isn’t busy coming up with the next clever marketing campaign, you can find him on the ice rink he built for his two sons, Harry and Jack, on a frozen pond near his home in Snyderville Basin just outside of Park City. “I wanted to introduce my kids to the same pond and backyard ice action I grew up with in Detroit, Michigan,” he says. “Plus, it’s never too soon to learn the nuances of cross-checking.” The 60-by-120-foot rink is used by lots of people on a regular basis so Hanskat floods it two or three times a week using 200 feet of wildfire hose, usually at around nine at night. “Right now, the ice is over 20 inches thick,” he says. Hanskat offers the following Web site where he “learned some good tricks, mainly from a bunch of Canucks.” It also includes photos and information on his rink, along with tons of others (go to the “rink” section). Check it out at www.hpurchase.com/rhanskat05.htm. He also welcomes comments and questions. You can reach him at 585-3509 or randy@ucomm.utah.edu. See you on the ice!
Photo by Roger Tuttle Hint: It’s some
place on campus. Thanks to Utah Athletics for providing the tickets! Note: This contest is open to U of U faculty and staff only. Mystery Photo
The mystery photo was of the west wall of the C. Roland Christensen Center business building located north of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts and east of the Art and Architecture Building. We had several people submit the correct answer so we put all their names in our Ute cookie jar and drew one name. The winner is Gordon Smith, director of the Masters Programs and Services Office at the David Eccles School of Business. Gordon will receive two tickets to the Utah vs. Colorado State basketball game on Feb. 15 in Rice-Eccles Stadium, courtesy of U of U Athletics. Thanks to everyone who entered the contest! Plan to enter the next FYI Mystery Photo Contest in the Feb. 22 edition of FYI.
In the world of biology, all functions of life are carried out by cells. Proteins direct the cells’ chemistry and behavior by triggering chemical reactions within the cell. Proteins are synthesized in cells that take their instructions from the DNA of genes. The DNA, in turn, is copied by other components that also are made of proteins. Thus, each biological molecule–protein and DNA–depends directly on the other for its existence, and cells need both, working together, to grow, divide, and function normally. This absolute interdependence between proteins and DNA gives rise to a profound chicken-and-egg problem: How could our DNA-and-protein world have evolved if neither DNA nor protein can exist without the other? Geneticist Raymond F. Gesteland believes the answer might be found in RNA—ribonucleic acid. RNA is similar to DNA and like DNA can carry genetic information. But RNA also can fold into complex shapes and act as a catalyst–like proteins do–to trigger chemical reactions. This makes it a candidate for solving the chicken-and-egg problem. Gesteland will address this topic at the next Frontiers of Science Lecture on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the Aline Skaggs Biology Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Gesteland was educated at Harvard University and the University of Geneva in Switzerland. He worked at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, where he became assistant director for research with James Watson, who received the Nobel Prize in 1962 for his discovery of the DNA double helix. Gesteland came to the U in 1978. He is currently vice president for research and a distinguished professor of human genetics. For more information, contact Jim DeGooyer at jdegooyer@science.utah.edu. And come early for a good seat.
Join Honors Program students for three lectures, free and open to the public, on the third Wednesday of each month now through April 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the Honors Center in Fort Douglas. Presenters will address the question, “What is the role of the university in a time of war?” “I feel obligated to help students think about and write about this because it impacts their lives,” says Martha Bradley, director of the Honors Program. To that end, the series includes an essay contest for students who attend the series with the winner receiving $500 and presenting their paper as the final lecture on April 19. Other presenters include Maureen O’Hara Ure, assistant professor (art), Feb. 15; and Beth Clement, assistant professor (history), March 15. For more information, call Nancy Brown at 581-8648.
On Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Olpin Union, Panorama East, Stephen John Hartnett will speak on teaching citizenship in an age of terror. Hartnett is the 2005-06 Sterling McMurrin Distinguished Visiting Professor in Undergraduate Studies. In addition, he is an associate professor of speech communication at The University of Illinois where he is an advisor to the Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society and is one of the university’s current Mellon Fellows. He is the author of several books, including Incarceration Nation: Investigative Prison Poems of Hope and Terror (AltaMira, 2003). His latest book, co-authored with Laura Stengrim, Globalization and Empire: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq, Free Markets, and The Twilight of Democracy will be available in April. Harnett also hosts a weekly radio show, “Common Sense,” which merges music, poetry, and politics. The event is sponsored by the Peace & Conflict Studies Lecture Series in the Department of Communication. For more information, call 581-6888.
•
The Middle East through Film—Film Series The series is sponsored by the University of Utah’s Middle East Center and the Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with the Salt Lake City Film Center.
Tentative Film
List (Subject to change) Wednesday Feb.
22 Details about these films are available at www.banffcentre.ca/mountainculture/2005/festivals/film.
Set honour in one
eye and death i' the other, Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, opens at Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre Feb. 15 and runs through March 4. This is Shakespeare’s story of political intrigue, assassination, and revolution—as timely now as when Shakespeare wrote it 400 years ago. For tickets, call 581-6961. For additional information, check online at www.pioneertheatre.org. …And in the Loge Gallery, mixed media paintings by Mike Bernard will be on display during the run of the show.
The Marriott Library reference librarians invite you to visit them in their new location on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14. Stop by for some heart–to-heart talk, a treat for your sweet tooth, and information on how and where to find the best the library has to offer. New Locations Collections
Moves
The Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair for 7th- through 12th-graders will be held March 30-31 at the Rice-Eccles Stadium Tower. Adults are needed to serve as judges and in other volunteer positions. The annual fair provides opportunities for students to showcase their achievements and compete for prizes, including an invitation to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the world’s largest pre-college science fair. More than 1,400 students from 40 countries annually gather to compete for $3 million in internships, grants, science equipment and prizes – including the grand prize: a $50,000 college scholarship. For more information on volunteering, visit www.utahsciencecenter.org/sciencefair. Sponsors of the event include the Utah Science Center, The University of Utah, The Leonardo at Library Square, and Intel Corp. For more about the Utah Science Center, visit www.utahsciencecenter.org. For more about The Leonardo, visit www.theleonardo.org. For more about Intel Corp., visit www.intel.com.
This year’s annual philosophy department colloquium, Feb. 9-11, brings together philosophers and scientists to discuss the neurological roots of our moral psychology. Some neuroscientists have argued that our capacity for moral judgments can be accounted for in terms of the structure of our brains. Such claims are supported by neural imaging work and clinical work with patients whose deficiencies in moral judgment correlate with specific brain damage. Philosophers do not agree on the role that the neurosciences should play in explaining our capacities for moral judgment. This conference brings together those who strongly support the appeal to neuroscience and those who are skeptical about the contribution that neuroscience can make. “Using neuroscience-based approaches to study human moral capacity is a very new area of research,” says symposium organizer, Stephen M. Downes. “It is appropriate to have this colloquium at the U of U, given that our Brain Institute focuses on imaging and the main source of data for these new accounts of moral cognition is from neural imaging work,” he adds. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, check online at www.hum.utah.edu/display.php?pageId=714 or contact Stephen Downes at s.downes@utah.edu.
If you are interested in any aspect of improving health, then plan to attend the Utah Health Services Research Conference on Friday, Feb. 24 at the University Park Marriott Hotel. Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, whose mission is to promote health care for society’s most vulnerable, will give a keynote presentation. The plenary session, titled, “The Problem of the Uninsured in Utah: Challenges and Solutions,” will include presentations by David Sundwall, executive director, Utah Department of Health; Kent Michie, commissioner of insurance for Utah; and Richard Sperry, director, Matheson Center for Health Care Studies and associate vice president for health sciences at the U. For more information on the Commonwealth Fund, visit www.cmwf.org/index.htm. For more information on the conference, contact Becky Childs at 581-6264 or rebecca.childs@hsc.utah.edu.
The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) and the Honors Program will sponsor the 2006 Undergraduate Research Symposium on Monday, April 3, in the Olpin Union Ballroom. Undergraduate students from all disciplines are invited to present their research and creative projects through oral sessions, posters, artistic exhibits, or performances. Faculty members are asked to encourage their students to participate. The submission deadline is March 3. For more information, contact Jill Baeder at 581-8070 or baeder-j@ugs.utah.edu, or visit www.ugs.utah.edu/urop/symposium/. Honors students may contact Gretchen Wilson at 581-7383 or wilson-g@ugs.utah.edu.
The U of U Women’s Club invites those interested to attend a lunch program on Monday, Feb. 13, at 11:45 a.m. in the Tanner Dining Room at the Alumni House. Violinist David H. Park, assistant concert master with the Utah Symphony and an associate professor at the U will be featured. Cost is $20. To make a reservation, call Cathy Crawford at 364-7037.
Faculty
Colloquia Set: Civically Engaged Scholarship Utah
Addiction Center Offers Training Curriculum Health care professionals are in a unique position to spot addiction problems in their patients but often lack the training to do so. To address this gap, the Utah Addiction Center has developed a training curriculum for primary care resident physicians to help them recognize potential substance abuse problems in their patients; to recognize their own personal bias regarding substance abuse; and to conduct basic drug abuse/addiction assessments. An online substance abuse screening and assessment information is available at http://uuhsc.utah.edu/uac/screening. For more information, call the Utah Addiction Center at 581-8216 or visit http://uuhsc.utah.edu/uac. Mark
your Calendar for FBS Training Opportunities • New and ongoing courses are being offered from many departments, such as an ethics course designed specifically for higher education. New courses, including those taught by Accounts Payable and General Accounting, will offer career enrichment information to participants. • Mark your calendar for the annual daylong business officers meeting set for Tuesday, March 7, 2006 at the Commander’s House and Officer’s Club in Fort Douglas. The format has been enhanced to accommodate longer, more personal concurrent break-out sessions. The new format will offer more variety in courses and provide more contact with experts. Participants may attend sessions detailing both system updates as well as new courses taught by staff experts from academic departments. A complete schedule for the business officers meeting will available February 21. Training courses, schedules, and meeting registration can be found at http://afs.admin.utah.edu/index.php/training. For more information, contact Kori DeHaan at Kori.DeHaan@admin.utah.edu.
• Linda
K. Amos Award • Lowell
Bennion Community Service-Learning Awards Award recipients will be honored by President Michael Young at a lunch on March 28, and by the Utah Campus Compact at its statewide recognition event on April 4. For more information, call 585-9100.
Global Climate Change:
From the Arctic to the Rocky Mountain West
When did cosmetic surgery become a common practice, the stuff of everyday conversation? Virginia Blum will address that question in her keynote address on March 9 as part of the U’s annual Women’s Week. Blum is a professor of English at Kentucky University and author of Flesh Wounds: The Culture of Cosmetic Surgery. More information will follow in the Feb. 22 FYI.
Light at the Edge
of the World: A Journey through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures
NOTE: A memorial service for Rick Fullmer will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 4:30 p.m. in the Rice-Eccles Stadium Tower. Longtime U of U Hospitals
& Clinics (UUHC) administrator and Chief Executive Officer Richard
A. Fullmer, whose generous manner and caring leadership helped guide
the hospitals and clinics for more than a quarter century, died
of cancer Feb. 3, 2006. “Rick was gifted with both the compassion and business acumen critical to the success of an academic medical center,” says A. Lorris Betz, senior vice president for health sciences. “He had a remarkable grasp of the unique challenges faced by teaching hospitals and was masterful at balancing the institution’s fiscal priorities with its responsibilities to the larger community.” Fullmer joined UUHC as controller in 1980 and in succeeding years served as assistant administrator, associate administrator, chief financial officer, and interim executive director. In May 2000, he was appointed executive director and subsequently assumed the title of Chief Executive Officer. In his last year as CEO, Fullmer led the institution with a budget totaling nearly $600 million and more than 5,000 full-time employees. Affable and approachable, Fullmer believed candid communication was essential for high employee morale. In his straightforward manner, he told hospital employees of his cancer diagnosis through one of the periodic letters he issued, “A Note from Rick.” “I have been diagnosed with cancer and, after some additional diagnostic tests, will begin treatment right here at the University Hospital,” he wrote. Fullmer then explained the type of cancer he had and the aggressive treatment he would undergo. In July 2004, following nine months of chemotherapy, radiation treatment, and surgery, Fullmer was behind his desk again and shared with employees some thoughts on his experience. “I figured I knew University Hospitals & Clinics inside out. Until you’ve worn a patient wristband, you can’t fully appreciate how a hospital functions and the importance of the work we do here every day. All of you helped me to feel comfortable, and my confidence in you never wavered. I have a much better understanding of the difference competence combined with compassion makes in a patient’s hospitalization,” he wrote. Fullmer is survived by his wife, Diana; daughter, Rachel Reynolds, and her husband Scott; and son, Jared, and his wife Kelli; as well as five grandchildren.
“How long does my fluorescent lighting have to be off to pay for the energy it takes to bring it back on?” The quick answer: two seconds. Frequently turning lights on and off is called “short cycling” and it does shorten the overall life of any device. But while the actual life of the lamp will be reduced by short cycling, the useful life of the lamp may be extended and a great deal of energy and money saved. So, when in doubt, turn it out! In addition, every 2,000 computers fully shut down at the end of the day saves more than $40,000 per year. Ask your IT technician if your desktop can be shut down. ~For more information, contact Bianca Shama at the Resource Conservation Program at 585-1171 or Bianca.Shama@fm.utah.edu.
The U’s Department
of Environmental Health and Safety encourages everyone to be mindful
and “aware” during this snowy and icy winter season:
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