University helps veterans transition from combat to classroom

	John Mikelson talks with student veterans. Photo by Kirk Murray.

University of Iowa student Cate Hartmann can still conjure the smell of burning oil wells and decaying bodies in bombed-out tanks she experienced as she traveled on the Highway to Hell in Iraq during her military service in the first Persian Gulf War.

In the midst of 11 months spent overseas, serving her country as part of Operation Desert Storm, Hartmann, then 36, had to leave her fifth-grade son behind with relatives and underwent a divorce.

Now, after more than two decades out of education and successful careers in agriculture and accounting, Hartmann is pursuing an advanced degree. She arrived on campus in spring 2009—one of an estimated 300 student veterans at Iowa who is making the transition from soldier to student.

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UI Center for Human Rights marks decade of making impact near and far

What started out as a campuswide commemoration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has evolved into a center that shapes curriculum, facilitates scholarship and teaching, provides student scholarships for experiential learning, and promotes and helps to protect myriad human rights domestically and internationally.

The University of Iowa Center for Human Rights (UICHR), part of UI International Programs, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this November with a celebration featuring lectures, a film series, panel discussions, and performances, all of which are free and open to the public.

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News in brief

AROUND CAMPUS…

• University outlines plan for temporarily reducing retirement contributions
• W-2 forms will be available on HR Self Service web site
• UI researchers win 11 prestigious NIH Challenge Grants
• University of Iowa creative writing programs are ranked No. 1
• November issue of Iowa Insights podcast now available
• Annual UI Band Extravaganza will be held Nov. 9 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena
• Hancher adds Parker Quartet to season for Nov. 17 performances
• International Programs launches new television and radio program Worldways
• UI Chamber Orchestra to perform work-in-progress by UI alumnus Michael Cash
• Last UI public lecture celebrating International Year of Astronomy set for Nov. 11
• Iowa City Book Festival announces 2010 date
• Improving Our Workplace Award nominations sought
• Proposals sought for Catalyst Award Seed Grants
• See which Learning and Development courses are right for you

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DISCOVERIES…

• UI study reveals second pathway to feeling your heartbeat
• UI researchers studying value of Executive MBA degree

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TRANSITIONS…

• Recent deaths

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Photo feature: Rowing team returns to home waters at Head of the Iowa

For the first time since 2006, the UI rowing team welcomed competitors to its home waters. On Oct. 25, the team hosted the Head of the Iowa, an event that also marked the first time the Hawkeyes was able to row at the new P. Sue Beckwith, M.D., Boathouse.

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