News Briefs

Staff Celebration Day

3 to 6:30 p.m., May 24,
Iowa Memorial Union, Main Lounge

Staff Showcase & Poster Fair

Food, beverages, and music will be provided

All are welcome


For further information, call WorkLife at (35)3-2314.
Sponsored by Staff Council and UI WorkLife.

Fundraiser for RVAP features food, female performers

The Rape Victim Advocacy Program (RVAP) is holding Divas and Desserts at 7 p.m., May 10 at Clapp Recital Hall. The annual RVAP fundraiser will feature music and dramatic performances by female artists. The evening will begin with desserts created by area restaurants.

The evening’s entertainment includes dramatic readings and musical performances by several local singer/songwriters. Hancher Auditorium staff member Michelle Coleman, of the band Too Much Yang, will be the emcee.

The proceeds from the event will allow RVAP to expand its services in several areas, including support for the new Johnson County Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). This program will provide training and compensation to nurses dedicated to providing forensic examinations for sexual assault victims. The new program is a collaboration between the UI College of Nursing, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, the RVAP, the Emma Goldman Clinic, Planned Parenthood, Mercy Hospital, and other local health care providers.

Tickets for Divas and Dessert are available for $10 at the RVAP, Women’s Resource and Action Center, and the Emma Goldman Clinic. For further information, contact the RVAP business line at (33)5-6001.



National Academy of Sciences welcomes UI's Michael Welsh

Michael Welsh

Michael J. Welsh, professor of internal medicine and physiology and biophysics, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

Welsh is only the third UI faculty member named to the nation’s most distinguished scientific organization. He joins Donald A. Gurnett, professor, and James A. Van Allen, emeritus professor, both in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, as a member of the academy. Established in 1863, the NAS is an organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare.

Welsh, who joined the UI faculty in 1981, is internationally known for his breakthrough research into the genetic causes of cystic fibrosis and for his work in developing strategies to treat or possibly cure the disease. Researchers know that cystic fibrosis is caused by a genetic flaw; correcting this flaw may cure the disease. One such approach is gene therapy, which involves using a vector, such as a disabled cold virus, to supply cells with healthy copies of the flawed genes.

Welsh and his colleagues are working to develop gene therapy for cystic fibrosis and other genetic diseases. Last year, he and his research team received a five-year, $7.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue their studies.



Recent Iowa law grads achieve high employment

All indications point to a good year for College of Law graduates seeking employment. According to a new report from the college’s career services office, 99 percent of each of the last two graduating classes have found employment within nine months of graduation.

Based on continually increasing interest among legal recruiters in coming to campus to interview UI students, Karen Klouda, director of the career services office, said she expects the Class of 2000 to fare just as well.

"The current market continues to be strong," she said, as evidenced by a sizable jump in the number of campus visits by recruiters to 263 in 1999-2000 from 245 in 1998-99.

Those campus visits translate into jobs for law graduates. Following graduation, 99 percent of 1999 UI law graduates were either employed or pursuing another degree.



Award goes to UI author

There Goes the Neighborhood: Rural School Consolidation at the Grass Roots in Early Twentieth-Century Iowa by David R. Reynolds, professor of geography, was awarded the 1999 Benjamin F. Shambaugh Award. Presented by the State Historical Society of Iowa, the award is the highest honor a book on Iowa history can receive. The book is published by the University of Iowa Press.



Minding your p’s and q’s

Through the ages, societies have defined what is proper and acceptable in public discourse and behavior. At the beginning of the 21st century, there are some who decry the demise of such standards, saying that Americans are losing a once-important sense of civility.

Scholars will gather at the UI from May 4 to 6 to discuss the changing notion of civility and its impact on society.

During the symposium, there will be a free public lecture and discussion about how the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal stretched the definition of civility in politics and public discourse. The presentation will be held from 3 to 5 p.m., May 5, in the Senate Chambers of the Old Capitol.

Laura Kipnis, an associate professor of radio, TV, and film at Northwestern University, will speak on "Kissing and Telling," and Toby Miller, a professor of cinema studies at New York University, will discuss "The First Penis Impeached." These talks will examine the need for a constant discussion of civility as decisions are made as to what is appropriate for public discourse.

More information on the symposium and the public presentation is available on the web at www.uiowa.edu/~obermann/civility.html.



$1 million gift supports opera

A $1 million gift from the estate of Martha Ellen Tye, a Marshalltown philanthropist, will raise the curtain on new opportunities for students and faculty who are studying, performing, and teaching opera at The University of Iowa.

"This is the largest and most significant gift in the history of the UI School of Music," said David Nelson, director of the School of Music. He announced the gift in conjunction with the UI Opera Theater’s opening performance of Hansel and Gretel on April 28. The gift will support faculty, production, and other costs associated with the opera program.

The University of Iowa Foundation will manage the Martha Ellen Tye Opera Program Fund, providing a perpetual and expanding resource to support the activities of students and faculty in their study and performance of opera.



Reserve fall books now

The deadline for the submission of Fall semester reserve lists is July 7. Faculty who have not received forms may obtain them from their departmental librarian or from Reserve Services in the Main Library. For more information, contact the appropriate departmental librarian or Main Library Reserve Services at (33)5-5912.

Simmons' works at Museum of Art An exhibition of more than 40 paintings, drawings, and other works by the late Iowa City artist Eleanor Simmons will be on display through Aug. 6 at the Museum of Art. The above work on scratch board is entitled Self Portrait in an Ice Bucket. From the collection of Dr. Webster and Gloria Gelman.

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