News Briefs

Symphony’s Signature Series will carry an admission charge

A new Signature Series of concerts in 2002-2003 has been announced by the University of Iowa Symphony, conducted by William LaRue Jones. General admission for concerts in the series will be by individual or series tickets, sold at Hancher Auditorium box office.

The symphony’s concerts have been free in past years. Kristin Thelander, director of the School of Music, says, “In the current economic climate this is a necessity for the orchestra, but it also presents an exciting opportunity for us to move ahead by announcing each season in advance and giving our many fans the chance to plan for the year.”

The Signature Series concerts will kick off Sept. 18 with Voyage, an interplanetary voyage in music, featuring “The Entry of the Gods Into Valhalla” from Das Rheingold, by Richard Wagner; “Krypton,” by Cedar Rapids native Michael Daugherty; and “The Planets,” by Gustav Holst.

Other concerts will be Oct. 16, Dec. 4, Feb. 26, and April 23. All will be at 8 p.m. at Hancher Auditorium.

IWP welcomes 36 writers

Thirty-seven established writers representing 30 countries are in Iowa City for the 2002 group residency of the International Writing Program. The residency will include a variety of free, public events, including readings, panel discussions, an international conference, and social events.

Writers come from current and recent strife-torn areas, including Argentina, Bosnia, Burma, Colombia, India, Israel, Nigeria, the Philippines, the West Bank, and Zimbabwe.

Information about the writers is available at www.uiowa.edu/~iwp/WRITmain.html. A regularly updated schedule of events can be found at www.uiowa.edu/artsiowa.

Rideshare program begins

The Department of Parking and Transportation is sponsoring a pilot ridesharing program for University faculty and staff.

In order to help reduce traffic congestion and more effectively use campus parking spaces, The Rideshare Incentive Program (TRIP) offers preferred parking assignments in select parking lots to faculty and staff who share rides.

The program is available to groups of three or more faculty or staff members. For details, see www.uiowa.edu/~fuspt or call (35)3-5770.

Reception set for diversity award winners

The Office of Affirmative Action invites you to attend Honoring Diversity: The 2002 Catalyst Awards Reception from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 3 in the North Room, IIMU.

The Catalyst Award honors innovative UI faculty, staff, units, or departments that have demonstrated excellence in campus diversity initiatives. The 2002 Catalyst Award recipients to be honored are Virginia Woodard and Barbara Muller of the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, corecipients of the Individual Award, and the School of Social Work and the Iowa Biosciences Advantage Program, corecipients of the Departmental Award. Interim President Willard “Sandy” Boyd will speak.

To RSVP by Sept. 23, contact the Office of Affirmative Action at affirm@uiowa. edu, (33)5-0705 (voice), or (33)5-0697 (text).

Learn to control problems, stop smoking—
and save money, too

The University is offering programs to help you control your weight, stop smoking, and deal with stress—and save 75 percent of the fee, too. There’s just one catch: You have to finish the class to reap the savings.

UI Wellness and University Benefits are offering the programs on a first -come, first-served basis.

For information, eligibility rules, and an application form, go to www.uiowa.edu/hr/wellness or call Laura Reed at UI WorkLife, (35)3-2314.

Old Capitol project to start

Pentacrest pedestrians soon will see reconstruction beginning on Old Capitol’s cupola and dome, which were destroyed in a fire in November 2001.

At press time, bids had not been awarded for Phase 1 of the project. University officials had toured projects being constructed by the apparent low bidder for the Old Capitol Phase 1 project, Tricon Construction of Dubuque, to see if the firm would be qualified. Tricon’s bid was $1.47 million, more than $1 million under the University estimate.

The decision on which bid to accept will be made by Douglas True, vice president for finance and university services. Greg Nichols, executive director of the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, also must sign off on the decision.

Meanwhile, Old Capitol Museum staff have been preparing to move to temporary quarters in the Communications Center during the construction process. Artifacts and furniture remaining in Old Capitol will be moved to storage.

Ombuds office reports record requests for assistance

The events surrounding Sept. 11, the Old Capitol fire, continuing budget uncertainties’ effects on employment, and student tuition increases have resulted in 459 visits to the Ombuds Office in one year, the greatest number in its history, the office’s annual report says.

“These events have caused campus morale to be at a low ebb,” the report, issued in August, says.

Increases in new cases occurred in all constituencies except merit staff, which dropped by 39 percent last year, the report says.

Faculty visits rose from 45 to 51, while P&S staff visits showed a 35 percent increase, from 75 to 101. Undergraduate students’ visits grew from 31 to 57, and graduate students’ visits went from 58 to 101, a 45 percent increase.

The report noted that job conflicts prompted most merit and P&S staff visits. Students were concerned about academic issues such as grades and grade appeals, changes in curriculum and graduation requirements, credits, and conflicts with faculty or advisers.

“In addition to the highly publicized cases of plagiarism this year, we continue to be concerned about academic misconduct of this sort,” the report says. “One large lecture course alone reported 26 cases of plagiarism in student homework assignments.”

Most faculty complaints involved job conflicts between colleagues and department executive officers, the report says.

University Relations develops new graphic identity system

The University of Iowa’s graphic identity is undergoing a facelift. After considering several possible designs, the UI president and vice presidents have chosen a redrawn version of the current Old Capitol dome logo and selected a new typeface for the wordmark.
The Office of University Relations Publications has designed a new stationery system for letterhead, business cards, memos, envelopes, and other collateral materials. In addition, they have drafted an Identity Manual, which describes how colleges, departments, and other units will use the new identity system on external communications.

After input from the collegiate deans and their units, the Identity Manual will be available to the campus community and to outside vendors who design products for the University. Implementation of the identity system will begin in approximately mid October.

Preparedness sessions planned

The Iowa Center for Public Health Preparedness, based in the College of Public Health, will hold four Grand Rounds sessions on state, national, and international preparedness topic from noon to 1 p.m. in the Raymond R. Rembolt Conference Room of the Center for Disabilities and Development. All programs are free, but those attending must register. See www.public-health.uiowa.edu/icphp.

The first two sessions are:

• Sept. 10: Ray R. Arthur, Ph.ld Health Organization project leader, will speak on “Responding to Ebola Outbreaks.

• Oct. 3: Gary Long,senior scientist with Tetracore, Inc., will speak on“Rapid Laboratory and Field Identification of Human and Agricultural Bioterrorism Agents.”

Correction

Edits made to an article on the Iowa Birth Defects Registry in the Aug. 2 issue of fyi may have misled readers. Studies of folic acid intake suggest that pregnant women may reduce by up to 50 percent the incidence of neural tube defects only, rather than all birth defects. fyi regrets the error.