News Briefs

Celebrate diversity The 13th Annual Celebrating Cultural Diversity Festival is scheduled from noon to 5 p.m., Feb. 24, at the UI Field House. This photo is from one of last year’s performances. This year, more than 50 events will promote domestic and international diversity through food, games, songs, dances, storytelling, and other educational programming. The theme is “Unifying Humanity.” Admission is free. Tickets may be purchased for refreshments and handmade goods. For more information and a schedule of events, visit www.uiowa.edu/~intl/festival. Photo by Kirk Murrary.

Library offers patent seminar

An introductory seminar will be held from 3 to 4:30 p.m., March 6, in the Information Arcade Classroom, Main Library.

Presented by UI Librarians, the focus of the seminar will be how to access and search for patents, trademarks, and standards on the Internet. It will cover official sources such as the United States Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and European Patent Office (EPO) databases, as well as indexes/links to U.S. standards and international standards databases. Academic sources as well as some private sources will be covered.

To register, contact Marsha Forys, (33)5-5301 or marsha-forys@uiowa.edu. If fewer than 10 people have registered by February 27, the seminar will be canceled.



Annual tribute to women date changed

A Celebration of Excellence and Achievement Among Women has been rescheduled for March 25, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. A reception begins at 4 p.m., followed by the awards program at 5 p.m. in the IMU Main Lounge. The program is free and open to the public. No dinner is planned. A dinner will be held for the 2003 celebration, with the proceeds to benefit the University of Iowa Women’s Archives.



Embalming Mom published

The inaugural volume in Sightline Books: The Iowa Series in Literary Nonfiction is Embalming Mom: Essays in Life by Janet Burroway. In 16 essays Burroway weaves her way through the dangers of daily life, from divorcing her first husband to scattering her mother’s ashes.

The series editors of Sightline Books are Patricia Hampl and Carl H. Klaus. Klaus is a UI professor emeritus of English and the founding director of the UI’s Nonfiction Writing Program.



Interdisciplinary health group to meet

The next Interdisciplinary Health Group meeting topic will be “Hip and knee replacement in older women: Risk factors and functional antecedents.” The presenter will be Robert B. Wallace, Irene Ensminger Stecher Professor of Epidemiology and Internal Medicine and co-director, UI Center on Aging.

The event will be held from noon to 1:15 p.m., Feb. 26, in the Public Policy Center Seminar Room, 200 South Quad. South Quad is located behind Slater Hall and across from the Field House.

Sandwiches and refreshments will be provided.



Prepare our daughters on March 7

On March 7, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., families of UI staff and faculty are invited to participate in the University’s Prepare Our Daughters for Life program.

This year’s event will offer children ages 10 and older the opportunity to meet one-on-one with female mentors working in a variety of occupations at the University. Youth will shadow their mentors from 9 a.m. to noon, and a luncheon for the mentors, youth, and their families will conclude the event from noon to 1 p.m. in the second floor ballroom of the IMU.

Interested UI staff and faculty should contact the Office of Affirmative Action, (33)5-0705 (voice), (33)5-0697 (text), or e-mail to affirm@uiowa.edu.



Apply now for staff openings on committees

Staff Council encourages staff to apply for staff member openings on University charter committees. The deadline for applying for staff openings is March 15. Terms will begin in September 2002. Applications were sent through campus mail in February. The form and a description of each committee are available on-line at www.uiowa.edu/~stafcnsl.



Excellence awards redefined

Two changes have been announced for Staff Council’s awards for staff excellence.

This year, notification of nomination packet availability will be sent by e-mail in early March.

The two awards traditionally given by Staff Council have been redefined and one has been renamed. The Board of Regents Staff Excellence Award will be given to up to six people whose contributions go beyond the campus to regional, state, or national levels. Noncontract Professional and Scientific staff and non-contract Merit Supervisory Exempt/Confidential staff are eligible.

The University Outstanding Staff Awards will be given to up to six persons for their contributions to their departments, University activities, or the University as a whole. All staff members are eligible for this award.

No staff member may be nominated by the same person for both awards in the same year.



Presidential lecture upcoming

Kathleen Buckwalter

The 2002 Presidential Lecture, “Who will care? Research and service on behalf of Iowa’s impaired elders,” will be presented by Kathleen Buckwalter, UI Foundation Distinguished Professor of Nursing and associate provost for health sciences, at 3:30 p.m., Feb. 24, in the fourth-floor assembly rooms of the Levitt Center for University Advancement. A reception will follow the lecture. The event is free and open to the public.