SPRING 1999
Volume 42, Number 3

IN THIS ISSUE

At Iowa, Those Who CAN Teach

Four Year Grad Plan

Half the World Away from Home

In This Office, Students Come First

Pass the Plastic

Tax Deductions

Summer School?

Creating the Level Playing Field

Expanding E-Mail Network

Parent Times Briefs

Calendar

Tis a great day to be a Hawkeye parent! That was my thought, driving home from the last Parents Board meeting in February. As a result of your vision and financial support, and after careful consideration by board members, approximately $22,000 was spent to continue first-year orientation programs and dramatically expand the student e-mail networks.

The money will add e-mail stations in the Iowa Memorial Union, including some that are accessible to mobility-impaired students. New stations for residence halls also will be woven into the e-mail station network. These stations, which allow students to check e-mail without tying up computer lab equipment, will benefit all UI students. More projects will be considered at our next meeting.

My thoughts took me back to my first board meeting a decade ago, when the board voted to install the emergency phone network around campus. My first student certainly benefited from the foresight of those parents, most of whom no longer have students at the University. Now my second, third, and now fourth students are enjoying the legacy these parents created. Each year this nurturing cycle continues, and the benefits keep compounding. Truly a win-win situation! I trust the e-mail network will have the same effect.

Late at night on I-80, one's mind can easily drift. I reflected upon my hormonally imbalanced educational career. On all levels-K through college-how many times did I use programs, projects, or tangible objects that were a direct result of some parent's generosity? How many times was my educational career enhanced and enriched by parents' thoughtfulness? How many times was I blessed by a group of people who toiled for something they believed in-my future. It's staggering to imagine, but very real. How could I ever thank these people whom I don't even know?

Am I describing your educational career as well? Have you benefited from other people's inspiration and perspiration? Well, may I suggest an opportunity, not a solicitation, to pay tribute to these silent spirits as well as continue their legacy. It has the added bonus of assisting current and future students' immediate needs. If you have not already done so, let the Parents Association be your salvation. Right now, before evil procrastination lifts its ugly head, grab any envelope, stuff a modest check inside, and mail it to the University of Iowa Foundation/Parents Board, Levitt Center for University Advancement, Iowa City, IA 52242. Complete nature's cycle of investing in the future by acknowledging the past. It will take only 90 seconds of your time (if you can find an envelope), but the rewards will last a lifetime.

Jim Pavlacic

Jim Pavlacic is a pharmacist from Peoria, Illinois. He and his wife, Rita, are the proud parents of three Hawkeye graduates, and daughter Katie currently is a sophomore.