News Briefs

Ex-top crimebuster Reno speaks at Iowa Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, the first woman to hold that post, lectured on Oct. 11 to a capacity crowd at the UI College of Law, believed by many to be the first school to grant a law degree to a woman. Reno’s lecture, “The legal profession as problem solvers and peacemakers,” was part of the Richard S. Levitt Family Distinguished Lectureship series. Photo by Tim Schoon.

Films from IWP writer’s work to be shown

Blush and Raise the Red Lantern, films based on the works of Chinese fiction writer Su Tong, now in residence at the UI International Writing Program (IWP), will be shown Oct. 26 and 27.

Blush, winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, will be screened at 7 p.m., Oct. 26 in room 203 of the Becker Communications Studies Building. The event will include a discussion featuring Ye Yunshan, a UI graduate student in Asian languages and literature and IWP graduate assistant, currently teaching a class on modern Chinese writers.

Su Tong, who is one of China’s most prominent young fiction writers, will speak at the Oct. 27 screening of Raise the Red Lantern at 7 p.m in room 101 of the Becker Communication Studies Building.

Both screenings are free, and the public is invited.



Labor leader Trumka to speak at Iowa

The UI Labor Center will sponsor a public lecture by Richard L. Trumka, national secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 25, in the Richey Ballroom of IMU.

Trumka’s lecture, “The American labor movement: challenges and opportunities,” will address the many issues facing working women and men and the AFL-CIO’s strategies to promote economic and social justice.

Trumka also will discuss how the Sept. 11 attacks (and the subsequent U.S. response) affect organized labor’s domestic efforts to promote pro-worker policies, such as raising the minimum wage, strengthening social security, and more.

The event is free and open to the public.



Early UI givers set United Way challenge

UI givers are off to a great start in meeting the University’s United Way goal of $450,000, with current contributions of $103,848.

New givers can help set new records of employee participation during this crucial time of federal, state, and local budget cuts that could reduce community programs and services to those in need.

To help inform faculty and staff about agency needs, the United Way offers speakers who will make brief presentations to unit and department groups. To schedule a speaker, contact United Way at 338-7823.

The campaign runs through November.



Gift provides defibrillators on campus

Through gifts in memory of UI alumnus Maynard “Moe” Whitebook, the family and friends of this 1950 economics graduate have made possible the purchase of two cardiac defibrillators. The life-saving medical equipment will be located in Hancher Auditorium and John Pappajohn Business Building.

The family plans to continue placing defibrillators in appropriate campus settings through the Moe Whitebook Memorial Fund at The University of Iowa Foundation.



Get real! WISE offers imposter workshop

The Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program will sponsor a professional development workshop for faculty, staff, and community women titled Overcoming the Impostor Syndrome: Women Who Doubt Their Competence (and Shouldn’t!). The program will be held from 9 a.m. to noon, Nov. 3, at the Sheraton Inn, downtown Iowa City.

The cost of the workshop is $25. For more information contact WISE at (33)5-3530 or at wise@uiowa.edu before Oct. 29.



Iowa Shares sets campaign goal

University of Iowa employees once again have the opportunity to support 18 Iowa human rights, environmental, and social justice organizations through the annual Iowa Shares payroll deduction campaign now under way. Iowa Shares, an umbrella group that raises funds for nonprofit groups across Iowa, is seeking to raise $30,000 in its University campaign.

University employees may contribute by payroll deduction or by check directly to Iowa Shares. UI employees recently received a packet in campus mail from Iowa Shares.

Iowa Shares member groups in Johnson County include the UI Women’s Resource and Action Center (WRAC), Environmental Advocates, Public Access Television, Iowa United Nations Association, and the Iowa Renewable Energy Association. For more information, contact volunteers Monique DiCarlo at (33)5-1486 or Del Holland at 338-5220.



Forbes taps MBA program

Forbes magazine has ranked the Tippie M.B.A. program at The University of Iowa fifth in “return on investment.” The ranking shows that Tippie M.B.A. graduates receive one of the top returns on their educational investment among schools with total costs of less than $95,000.

To create the ranking, Forbes surveyed 20,000 graduates who received M.B.A.s from 104 U.S. and international schools in 1996. Forbes also ranked M.B.A. schools with a cost of more than $95,000.

The Forbes rankings project how quickly M.B.A. students can expect to recoup the investment made in their M.B.A. education after they graduate and are based on salary gains of 1996 M.B.A. graduates over the past five years.

The survey showed that Tippie graduates had total salary gains of $71,000 over the five-year period and needed only three years to break even on their M.B.A. investment.

The ranking is included in the magazine’s Oct. 15 issue and is available online at www.forbes.com.



It adds up for Anstreicher

Just one year after solving the 32-year-old problem known as “nug30,” Kurt Anstreicher, professor of management sciences, has helped solve an applied mathematics problem that had challenged computer scientists for 40 years.

Anstreicher, working with UI graduate Nathan Brixius, discovered how to link 34 computer components together on a 9 x 4 grid using the shortest possible wiring scheme. The problem, formally known as “ste36a” and based on the design of a UNIVAC computer, was posed in 1961 by researcher Leon Steinberg.

The algorithm that solved the problem considered about 1.8 billion subproblems and required 18 days running on a single 800-megahertz computer.



UI directories now available

Campus delivery of University phone books (Herd Books) begins later this month. Departments may order quantities of directories with a General Stores order form, requesting stock item #10000. Directories cost $3.45.

Student, faculty, staff, and office listings are also available on-line by clicking “Phonebook/E-mail” on the UI homepage, www.uiowa.edu. The on-line listings are updated regularly throughout the year.