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News in Brief
AROUND CAMPUSUniversity seeks State Fair volunteers University Relations is inviting faculty and staff members to volunteer for the University's booth at the Iowa State Fair, Aug. 9–19, in Des Moines. Volunteers are needed for a variety of tasks—from answering general questions to distributing posters and other items to applying temporary Tiger Hawk tattoos to visitors. We’re looking for friendly volunteers who can interact with fairgoers and serve as goodwill ambassadors for the University. The UI booth is located in the air-conditioned Varied Industries Building at the fairgrounds. Shifts are four hours each: 9 a.m.–1 p.m.; 1–5 p.m.; and 5–9 p.m. Fair admission, parking passes, and a Be Remarkable t-shirt will be provided. Orientations will be held in late July and early August. For more information or to sign up for a shift, see the University’s State Fair web site at www.uiowa.edu/statefair/volunteers or contact George McCrory at (38)4-0012 or george-mccrory@uiowa.edu.
Hovenkamp elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences Herbert Hovenkamp, professor of law and holder of the Ben and Dorothy Willie Chair at the University of Iowa, has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Hovenkamp has taught in the College of Law since 1986 and is one of the most influential anti-trust scholars in American law. His publications include some 70 articles and approximately 50 essays and book reviews, as well as a dozen books. Of these, Enterprise and American Law, 1800-1860 received the Littleton-Griswold Prize of the American Historical Association, and Science and Religion in America: 1800-1860 received the Choice Award. For more information, read the University News Services release at http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2007/may/050107hovenkamp-fellow-aaas.html.
Hygienic Laboratory develops game plan for pandemic flu training The University Hygienic Laboratory is using a game-board approach to promote pandemic-influenza awareness in each of Iowa's six emergency preparedness regions. Through a grant awarded by the Association of Public Health Laboratories, the laboratory developed the Influenza Surveillance and Preparedness Training for Iowa Clinical Laboratories program. One of the central elements of the program is a board game designed by University Hygienic Laboratory to help train staff in Iowa's sentinel microbiology laboratories. These labs are located in hospitals, clinics, and reference facilities, and are the sentries that are most likely to see the beginning of an outbreak of influenza or other pandemic illness. For more information, read the University News Services release at http://news-releases.uiowa.edu/2007/may/050907pandemic-training.html.
Old Capitol restoration project wins national award The University of Iowa project to restore the historic Old Capitol following a fire in 2001 won the Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture for Restoration and Preservation from the Society for College and University Planning. Gary Nagle, architect in UI facilities management, was UI project manager, and Brian Keating and William Wilford, engineer and engineering technician, respectively, in Facilities Management, were the UI construction managers.
Human Resources revamps self-service web page You can take advantage of recent improvements in Human Resource’s web page for employee self-service. Changes, based on feedback from the University community, include a new design and the following new features:
If you have any questions about the new design, please contact Human Resources at hr-help@uiowa.edu.
DISCOVERIESEconomics researcher: Term limits could invigorate Senate elections A University of Iowa economics researcher believes there is evidence that better qualified candidates would run for the U.S. Senate if term limits were in place. Matthew Mitchell, associate professor of economics in the Tippie College of Business and a Wright Faculty Fellow, studies the power of incumbency in political elections, with his research focused on finding out why incumbents are returned to office so frequently. Analysts cite many reasons for the power of incumbency, including high name recognition, the choice committee assignments in the Senate, and access to large amounts of re-election money. But Mitchell's research has found that in some ways, the power of incumbency is built into many senators even before they're elected. In a soon-to-be-published paper, Mitchell and two coauthors write that when voters elect a candidate to the Senate, they're voting for the best individual, whether that person is an incumbent or not. "The candidates who run for the Senate are quality candidates to win the first time, and the voters see the person as a good, quality person, and so that person keeps winning," Mitchell says. "As a result, other quality candidates may be reluctant to challenge the incumbent not so much because he's the incumbent but because he's a quality candidate who's demonstrated an ability to win." Mitchell's paper, "Electoral Design and Voter Welfare from the U.S. Senate: Evidence from a Dynamic Selection Model," will appear in Review of Economic Dynamics. It was written with Gautam Gowrisankaran of the University of Arizona and Andrea Moro of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Mitchell points out that the power of incumbency is diluted in the U.S. Senate when compared to the House of Representatives or many other elected bodies. Since 1914, when the Senate became a popularly elected body, incumbents have lost to a challenger at the ballot box in about 25 percent of Senate elections. In the House of Representatives, on the other hand, challengers have successfully unseated an incumbent in only about 4 percent of elections. Nevertheless, while the power of incumbency is diluted, it's still potent enough to deter many possible Senate candidates. Mitchell says a term-limits law could make for more vigorous elections by creating more open seats more often, encouraging more and stronger candidates to run without fear of running against an incumbent. Voters would then have a stronger field of candidates from which to choose. This is especially noticeable in open seat elections, he said, when more quality candidates run because they have no fear of having to battle against the power of incumbency to win. "Voters might be happier with their choices of candidates if we had more open seat elections, and term limits help us create those open seats," Mitchell says. Mitchell acknowledges that term limits would force some talented veteran senators from office, and that it would deprive voters the opportunity to re-elect a senator they like. On balance, though, term limits may have more advantages than disadvantages, Mitchell says. "Our research suggests that open seat elections attract such good, quality candidates that the benefit might outweigh the cost of losing a long-term incumbent," he says. by Tom Snee, University News Services
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