News Briefs

A matter of gravity No, Iowa has not yet begun admitting seven-year-old undergraduates. These pint-sized science fans are attending Family Adventures in Science, a free educational series, offered from 4 to 5 p.m. Saturdays through May 5 in 70 VAN. Here, John Goree, professor of physics and astronomy, uses a vacuum chamber to demonstrate that in the absence of air, a feather will drop as fast as a penny. Also pictured is graduate student Louis Datilio. Photo by Rex Bavousett.

Debate team wins national championship

Two University of Iowa debaters won the 55th annual National Debate Tournament on April 2, and one of them was named the Top Individual Speaker in the country. Andrew Ryan, a senior from Shreveport, La., won the Top Speaker award and with Andrew Peterson, a senior from Ottumwa, captured the national championship.

Ryan and Peterson are members of the A. Craig Baird Debate Forum at the University, which is sponsored by the Department of Communication Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and by the Division of Continuing Education.



Graduation of many colors

The second Rainbow Graduation, an event to celebrate the accomplishments of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students at the University, will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., May 2, W401 Pappajohn Business Building.

The Rainbow Graduation welcomes LGBT undergraduate and graduate students who graduate in the 2000-2001 academic year (May or August 2001, or December 2000), their faculty/staff mentors, family members, and friends. All members of the University community also are welcome to attend.

For more information contact Diane Finnerty at the Office of Affirmative Action, (33)5-0705 (voice), (33)5-0697 (text), diane-finnerty@uiowa.edu. Graduating students who wish to participate should RSVP by April 20.



Managing change event to be held

Nothing is more constant than change. In our technology-driven work world, where information travels faster and faster, nothing is more important to our institution’s success than our ability to change, adapt, and grow.

Staff Development is offering Successfully Managing Organizational Change, an opportunity for faculty chairs and directors to enhance their ability to manage change within a work environment. This will replace the Administrative Institute, which will now be held in alternate years. A program highlighting a specific leadership issue will replace the institute in intervening years.

Successfully Managing Organizational Change will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., June 4 to 6, in the Pappajohn Business Building. It is essential that participants plan to attend all sessions.

For more information, call Maureen McCormick, (33)5-2672, or e-mail
maureen-mccormick@uiowa.edu. For an application, call (33)5-5464 or e-mail barbara-simon@uiowa.edu. The application deadline is April 26.



New scripts showcased at play festival

The Iowa Playwrights Festival, a week-long whirlwind of adventurous theater with a premiere production each day, will be held from

April 30 to May 5 in the Theatre Building, but the event has a new name—the Iowa New Play Festival.

The new name more accurately symbolizes what the festival has always been about: the collaboration of all areas of the department—playwrights, directors, designers, actors, and technical resources—in the production and showcasing of new work.

The event is the most ambitious festival of new student theatrical work anywhere in the country. This season the festival will premiere a dozen new scripts in readings and productions.

Information on play dates and times may be found in fyi’s calendar (page 8) or on-line on the University Master Calendar, www.imuis.uiowa.edu/cic/calendar.



Grow a prairie

Twenty-five years and many acres after planting his first patch of prairie flowers, naturalist and photographer Carl Kurtz is recognized as one of the deans of the great prairie revival.

In A Practical Guide to Prairie Reconstruction, Kurtz outlines the procedures and problems in reintroducing tallgrass prairie to landscapes large and small.

The book features a step-by-step guide to prairie reconstruction from site and seed selection through burning, 24 color photographs, conservation guidelines from the Nature Conservancy, and a reference list of Midwest seed sources, services, and books on prairie plant reconstruction and identification.

The book is available through local bookstores or directly from the University of Iowa Press by calling (800) 621-2736.



Alumni writers to speak at Friends Event

Writers’ Workshop graduate Susan Taylor Chehak, and her husband, Tom Chehak, a University of Iowa film studies graduate and sitcom writer of The Mary Tyler Moore Show fame, will be the featured speakers at the UI Libraries’ 37th annual Friends Event. The free, public lecture begins at 6:30 p.m., May 4, in Shambaugh Auditorium.

The lecture will be followed at 8 p.m. by a benefit dinner, featuring a live viola quartet and a California wine tasting and a buffet created around California-inspired cuisine.

Tickets for the dinner are available for $35 per guest and can be reserved by phone, (33)5-5867, or e-mail at lib-friends@uiowa.edu no later than April 30.



Hancher offers Riverdance

The 2000-2001 Hancher season will conclude with the international sensation Riverdance—The Show, a spirited celebration of Irish music, song, and dance May 2 to 6. Riverdance has played to sold-out houses around the globe, drawing audiences of more than 11 million. The show’s album won a 1997 Grammy Award and has sold more than two million copies world-wide.

For schedule information, see fyi’s calendar (page 8). To purchase tickets, contact Hancher Box Office, (33)5-1160.



Enjoy art and springtime

The opportunity to enjoy art out-of-doors will be had at the Riverbank Art Fair, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 28 and 29.

The event will be held south of Hancher Auditorium, off Riverside Drive. It will feature more than 50 artisans whose work includes pottery, jewelry, fiber arts, wood, drawing and painting, glass, metal, and photography.

Children’s activities will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days, and on-site food will be available from The Rib Shack and Banks Kettle Corn.



Faith-based assistance explored

Most people would agree: Community building is best addressed from within the community. Moreover, religious organizations are vital community organizations. Recently, President George W. Bush has established a White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives. Panelists at an upcoming UI conference, Religion, Government, and Community Building, will address issues raised by this office, such as constitutional separation of church and state, public policy behind charitable choice, and what good religious organizations can bring to communities under Bush’s new initiative.

The conference will be held from 1:30 to 3 p.m., May 7, in the Terrace Room of the IMU and is free and open to the public.

It is sponsored by the School of Religion, in conjunction with the Iowa Nonprofit Resource Center, the College of Law, and the School of Social Work.



Community health gains professorship

The College of Public Health has established its first fully endowed professorship in community health as a result of a $500,000 gift from Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa. The Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield Professorship in Community Health will support a nationally distinguished faculty member who has a noted academic and research record.

John B. Lowe, professor and head of the Department of Community and Behavioral Health, said he expects the gift from Wellmark will help assure that this new department, formed in 1999 along with the College of Public Health, becomes one of the best in the nation.

The gift from Wellmark was made through the UI Foundation and is part of the University’s planned comprehensive campaign to advance the UI’s strategic goals for the years 2000-2005.