News Briefs

A new window in the historic Hydraulics Laboratory frames a view of the reason the laboratory building was constructed in 1932—the Iowa River’s water flows. The laboratory building now provides for staff and student offices, a modern conference room and classroom, and an undergraduate fluids laboratory. The University community had a chance to see the newly renovated building March 15. Photo by Tom Jorgensen.

Newton Road construction work accelerates; meeting scheduled

Construction on the Health Science Campus will be particularly active in the next several months. Work will be focused on Newton Road from the Nursing Building to the east side of Newton Road Parking Ramp and also on the remaining portion of old Newton Road south of the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences. Significant impact to pedestrian and vehicular traffic is expected in these areas.

All students, faculty members, and staff are invited to a meeting from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. April 11 in the Seebohm Conference Room in the Eckstein Medical Research Building (283 EMRB). The Department of Design and Construction Services will explain the anticipated construction sequences and hear concerns.

Preparing Iowa for possible bioterrorism

How the state of Iowa can improve its readiness for bioterrorism and other public health threats is the topic of the conference, New Models for a New Reality: Improving Iowa's Preparedness Capacity, April 8 in the Iowa Memorial Union.

The conference will bring together leaders in health, education, government, law, finance, and communications to share their experiences and knowledge gained from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and subsequent threats, and to discuss strategies for strengthening Iowa's preparedness.

To register, contact the UI Center for Conferences and Institutes toll free at (800) 551-9029 or (33)5-4141. A web site with conference and registration information is available at www.public-health.uiowa.edu/icphp/conference/preparedness_conf.html.

Faith Forum

Ralph Keen, professor in the School of Religion, will speak on "Faith in an Age of Skepticism: The Search for Certainty," at a Journeys in Faith Speaker's Forum at 7:30 p.m. April 19 in the Newman Catholic Student Center, 104 E. Jefferson St. For more information call Kathleen Staley at (33)5-7294.

Retirement Plan Extended

The University Early Retirement Incentive Plan, which expires at the end of June, has relaxed its requirements to give more people time to notify their departments.

To be eligible, a person must be 57 to 64 years old with at least 15 years of service.

The original plan set a deadline of Feb. 1, 2002, for employees to notify their departments and to suggest a preferred date of retirement.

"Because of this year's extraordinary budget circumstances, Human Resources has decided to relax the February notification deadline," says Richard Saunders, assistant director of Human Resources. "The program still must end June 20, 2002, but departments and individuals now will have one more option and a little more time to plan."

Meeting topic: U.S. air travel

The annual Paul D. Scholz Symposium on Technology and Its Role in Society from 2:30 to 6 p.m. April 11 in Macbride Auditorium will focus on U.S. Air Travel: Gridlock or Friendly Skies?

Speakers will include Robert Poole of the Reason Foundation, Raj Aggarwal of the Advanced Technology Center at Rockwell Collins, and Ron Swanda of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.

Several proposed solutions to problems of safety and reliability of U.S. air travel will be covered.

Exploring 'white privilege'

A one-day mini-conference on racial justice, Exploring White Privilege, is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 20 in Pappajohn Business Building.

This conference, a campus and community collaboration, will provide an opportunity for people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds to explore racial justice through the lens of what it means to be white. In particular, the conference will look at racism as not only a system that disadvantages people of color, but also one that advantages whites.

The term "white privilege," refers to transparent advantages that permeate everyday life—from referring to bandages as flesh color, even though they match only white skin tones, to not having to worry about racial profiling.

The conference fee is $25, or $10 for students. Registration deadline is April 10. For information, contact the Office of Affirmative Action, 335-0705 (voice),(33)5-0697 (text), or e-mail affirm@uiowa.edu.

Faculty orders due for pirting course evaluations

Requests for Assessing the Classroom Environment (ACE) course evaluation forms that include instructor-selected items must be received at Evaluation and Examination Service by April 10. After that date, only the standard ACE forms will be available.

Requests for printing only of department-generated course evaluation forms requires notice of at least five working days. These orders will not be filled after May 3.

Experts to explore effects of Free Trade Area of Americas

Thirty national and international academic authorities on law, economics, labor, and human rights will meet at the University of Iowa College of Law April 5-7 to discuss the democratic and legal impact of the Free Trade Area of the Americas Agreement (FTAA) on the Western Hemisphere.

The ongoing FTAA negotiations represent the most ambitious economic integration project to date. They are aimed at creating a free trade area that covers almost one-third of the globe, extending from the Arctic Ocean to Tierra del Fuego, from Easter Island to Nova Scotia, and from Hawaii to Recife. By conservative estimates, the FTAA may have, when implemented in 2005, a population of 850 million people with an annual trade volume of $13 trillion (U.S. dollars).

In comparison, on its effective date, the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) had a population of 365 million and a combined Gross National Product (GNP) of $6.5 trillion (USD).

Several UI faculty members from departments including political science, anthropology, economics, sociology, and the College of Law, will participate.

For information, see www.law.uiowa.edu/ftaa.

Conference to study Iowa's Latino communities

A conference on Strengthening and Valuing Latino/a Communities in Iowa, April 27 in the Iowa Memorial Union will explore the changing demographics and dynamics of Iowa's most rapidly growing population.

Speakers include Anthony D. Romero, the first Latino to head the 81-year-old American Civil Liberties Union, and Lorraine Gutierrez, Ph.D., professor at the University of Michigan, who will be an Ida Beam Lecturer.

An awards brunch will honor Iowa's outstanding Latino/a leaders.

For more information, see www.uiowa.edu/~socialwk.

Live broadcasts continue

Public radio station WSUI AM 910 will continue its series of discussions mixed with local music in April with live Friday broadcasts of "Iowa Talks" from the Java House in downtown Iowa City.

The April broadcasts are:

• April 5: "Adding life to days: Hospice in eastern Iowa."
  
  
• April 12: "Vampires, cyborgs, and consuming youth," Rob Latham, assistant professor of American studies, English, and sexuality studies. Music will be provided by The Trollies.
  
  
• April 19: "Dogs bark but the caravan rolls on," Frank Conroy, director of the UI Writers' Workshop. Ben Schmidt will be the musical guest.
  
  
• April 26: "Java House highlights."

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