News Briefs

Old Capitol’s rare reverse spiral staircase has survived the water damage that occurred during the disastrous November 2001 fire that destroyed the building’s dome. Workmen loaded the staircase with 9,000 pounds of sandbags to test for structural damage and the staircase survived the test. Progress continues on schedule to restore the building.

External funding sets record

University of Iowa faculty, staff, and students generated a record $341 million in grants, gifts, and contracts for UI research, education, and service during fiscal 2002, a 23 percent increase from 2001.

"During the past 12 months, University of Iowa researchers succeeded in winning grants and contracts at a rate that set a single-year record total as well as a year-to-year record increase for the University," says David Skorton, vice president for research and external relations. "The results reflect the hard work of University researchers, faculty, staff, and students who earned highly competitive grants and contracts during a difficult economic period."

The total for fiscal 2002, the 12-month period ending June 30, 2002, surpassed one-third of a billion dollars for the first time. Over the past four years, the University has attracted more than $1 billion in external support. The 2002 fiscal year also marked the 16th consecutive year in which the University has attracted more than $100 million in external support. Since 1967, when overall records were first kept, the University has attracted $4.09 billion in total external support.

According to the most recently available National Science Foundation (NSF) statistics (2000) for science and engineering, Iowa ranks 18th among all public universities in federal external support. In addition, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) ranked Iowa 10th among all public universities receiving NIH funding for the 2001 fiscal year.

Derek H. Willard, special assistant to the president for governmental relations and associate vice president for research, said that although 2002 was a record year, the outlook for future federal support for research cannot be taken for granted, given the state of the national economy. "All of us associated with The University of Iowa recognize the outstanding support of the University by our congressional delegation, whose work on behalf of the American public makes university-based research possible," Willard says. by University News Service

Saturday Scholars to speak

Saturday Scholars, a program of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will have five presentations before home football games this fall at 10 a.m. in 40 Schaeffer Hall. The programs are free.

On Aug. 31, Michael O'Hara, professor of psychology and associate dean for research and development, will speak on "Motherhood, Is It Bad for Your Health: What Your Mother Didn't Tell You." The talk will focus on the causes, consequences, and treatments of postpartum depression and depression during pregnancy.

David Wittenberg, professor in the departments of English and cinema and comparative literature, will talk Sept. 14 about images of war and violence in popular American film and media.

Chris Brochu, assistant professor of geoscience, will speak on "The Dead Speak: Lesson from Tyrannosaur," Sept. 28. As a postdoctoral researcher at the Field Museum in Chicago, Brochu studied the skeleton of "Sue," the largest Tyranno--saurus rex yet collected.

Jael Silliman, associate professor in the Department of Women's Studies, will talk Oct. 12 on "Jewish Women in India: Rethinking the Middle East," using descriptions of Baghdadi Jewish women in her family to illustrate the complexity of women's lives and the great cultural and religious diversity among people in the Middle East.

Patricia Foster, associate professor of English, will discuss the need to get to the life lived "beneath the skin" in writing memoirs-to confront one's own consciousness and to make sense of one's place in the world. She will use her own memoir, All the Lost Girls, as well as contemporary memoirs of other authors.

Read salary letters on web

Salary letters will no longer be printed and mailed to faculty and staff members. For the first time, they can be viewed on the human relations Self-Service web site (http://hris.uiowa.edu/selfservice) instead.

To see your letter, go to the site, enter your social security number and password, then scroll down to 2002 Annual Salary Letter.

If you don't have a password or have forgotten it, you can request a new password on the self-service site. Under "Important information about signing in," click on "here" for the appropriate link to request a new password. New passwords are automatically e-mailed only to an employee's work address.

If you cannot view your salary letter, contact your human relations unit representativ

Parking rules change

To ensure that University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics parking ramp spaces are available for patients and their families, a graduated parking rate will go into effect Aug. 5 for patrons who park in three ramps for more than three hours between 5 and 9 a.m.

Patrons who park in Ramps 1, 2, and 4 under those circumstances will pay 50 cents for the first hour, 75 cents for each of the next two hours, and $2 per hour after three hours. The maximum charge under the graduated parking rate for eight or more hours will be $12 per day. Anyone who enters the parking structures after 9 a.m. will pay the standard rate, which also will apply on weekends. .

Adult mental health care on ICN

Health care professionals, individuals working in community services, community members, and others who want to learn how to improve care for older people with mental and emotional disorders can participate in educational programs given by UI Health Care experts and others over the Iowa Communications Network (ICN) from 3 to 5 p.m. Aug. 6, 13, 20, and 27.

Topics covered will include behavioral symptoms, depression, day health services, cognitive changes, dementia, and drug management of common syndromes.

The conference was organized by the UI Department of Psychiatry in conjunction with Southwestern Community College in Creston; Iowa Lakes Community College in Emmetsburg; Northeast Iowa Community College in Dubuque; and Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa.

For more information, visit the program's web site at www.uihealthcare.com/olderadults. Presentations from the July conference are available on the web.

Five journalists from Kazakhstan are visiting Iowa City until Aug. 6 , studying how to better cover sensitive government issues such as corruption and opposition politics in their television programming. The Council for International Visitors to Iowa Cities (CIVIC) is hosting the program.

Ida Cordelia Beam visiting scholars announced

The Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professors for 2002-03 have been announced. Visiting professors are nominated by departments and programs. Recipients are chosen on a competitive basis by the Office of the Provost.
The professors, their institution, and sponsor are:

David D. Awschalom, University of California at Santa Barbara, physics and astronomy

Jacqueline K. Barton, California Institute of Technology, chemistry

André Goffeau, Université Catholique de Louvain, physiology and biophysics

David D. Hall, Harvard Divinity School, American studies

N. Katherine Hayles, University of California at Los Angeles, English

David Jasper, University of Glasgow, Scotland, religion

Rashid I. Khalidi, University of Chicago, UI Center for Human Rights

Gerda Lerner, University of Wisconsin at Madison, University Libraries

Steve Maier, University of Colorado at Boulder, psychology

Laura Mulvey, University of London, cinema and comparative literature

Donald Norman, Northwestern University, management sciences

Rayna Rapp, New York University, women's studies and anthropology

Paul Julian Smith, Cambridge University, Spanish and Portuguese

Vernon Smith, George Mason University, economics

William Trevor, International Writing Program, International Writing Program

Marc Van Montagu, Universiteit Gent, Vakgroep Moleculaire Genetica, biological sciences

Patricia Vertinsky, University of British Columbia, health and sport studies

Stephen Walsh, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, geography

Proceeds from the sale of a farm willed to the University by Ida Cordelia Beam fund the program.