News Briefs

Diversity consultant to speak April 28
Steve Birdine – diversity consultant, motivational speaker, comedian and educator – will discuss “Moving Our Diversity Dialogue From Talk to Action” on April 28 at 7 p.m. in Clark Hall Room 108. Sponsored by the Office of African-American Affairs, Birdine’s speech is free and open to the public.

Birdine is president and chief executive officer of Affirmations in Action, a diversity consulting firm based in Indianapolis. He was featured in the May 2002 issue of Ebony Magazine’s “100+ Most Influential Black Americans in the U.S.” and has conducted workshops on diversity and related issues at colleges and universities nationwide.

U.Va. center censures the censors
For the 12th year, in honor of its namesake’s birthday, U.Va.’s Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression offered its annual Muzzle awards, given to those who seek to limit free expression. Released each April 13, the “Jefferson Muzzles” call attention to some of the more ridiculous or egregious affronts to free expression occurring in the preceding year.

This year’s honorees include the U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft for keeping the activities of the Department of Justice hidden from public scrutiny while simultaneously expanding the department’s authority to find out as much as possible about the private lives of the American public, says director and law professor Robert O’Neil. National Zoo Director Lucy Spelman also was cited for refusing to release medical records on a giraffe’s death to a Washington Post reporter. Releasing such records, Spelman declared, would violate the late giraffe’s right of privacy.

For the full list of winners, see http://www.tjcenter.org/

U.Va. warns against travel to SARS areas
Not only has the University cancelled or changed several summer programs because of severe acute respiratory syndrome, but an April 18 memo from the University administration also strongly recommends that faculty, staff and students heed a U.S. State Department warning about travel to Asian countries afflicted by the virus. Those returning from such travels are being asked to monitor carefully their health for any symptoms of the disease, which include fever and respiratory difficulties. For updates, check the Web site, http://www.cdc.gov/travel/other/acute_resp_
syn_multi.htm

Arena site work under way
The initial site work for the new U.Va. multipurpose arena began April 14. In addition to moving equipment on site, preparation for construction involves fencing around the area and installing soil and erosion control measures, underground utilities and foundation walls for the parking garage. Work for storm water management extends to the Dell near the back of the McCormick Road dormitories.

A groundbreaking ceremony is planned for May 30. Major construction is expected to begin in early August.

For information and project updates, visit the Web site at http://www.fm.virginia.edu/arena.

Web site details affirmative action issues
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments April 1 in the case challenging the University of Michigan’s affirmative action admissions policies. At U.Va., the Web Communications office has added a Web page on affirmative action, with updates and links to related sites, at http://www.virginia.edu/affirmativeaction/

Breast Care Center to be state-of-the-art
When the University Health System’s Breast Care Center opens this summer, it will offer “one-stop shopping” to provide the best possible outcome for women with breast cancer. Currently, services are scattered in different areas. In the 7,500-square-foot center, which is undergoing $1.9 million in renovations, patients will have access to mammographers, surgeons, oncologists, pathologists and physical therapists. The center will be near the main lobby of the old hospital, called the West Complex Multistory.

Committee approves building guidelines
The Building and Grounds Committee of U.Va.’s Board of Visitors approved on April 17 architectural design guidelines for the Studio Art Building. Proposed for the north side of Carr’s Hill, the building is estimated to cost $12.5 million and have 35,000 to 40,000 square feet in three stories. It will provide teaching studios for painting, sculpting, photography and other disciplines as well as offices, gallery space and studios for visiting faculty. University Architect Samuel A. “Pete” Anderson said six architectural firms are on the short list of candidates to design the building.

U.Va. offices to move temporarily
In anticipation of summer repairs to another section of the Rotunda terraces, the Development Office will move April 28 to the Fontaine Avenue Research Park at 400 Ray C. Hunt Drive. Senior Vice President William Harmon will also move to the same building. Telephone and FAX numbers, as well as P.O. box addresses, will remain the same.

The repair work is scheduled to begin after graduation and take about six months.

Learn about environmental negotiation
Applications are being accepted for the Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute, a one-year program that trains people from industry, businesses, local and state government and the environmental community on ways of addressing difficult environmental and community issues. VNRLI is a partnership between the University’s Institute for Environmental Negotiation, Virginia Tech’s Center for Economic Education and the Virginia Department of Forestry.

The deadline for applications is May 30, and those accepted will be notified by June 25. Cost for the yearlong course is $1,600. For an application, contact Tanya Denckla or Caroline Brennan at 924-1970 or send e-mail to ckb5r@virginia.edu.

The application is also available on the institute’s Web site: http://www.virginia.edu/~envneg/VNRLI_home.html.

Notable -- Awards and achievements of faculty & staff
• Joshua Dienstag, associate professor of politics, has been awarded a fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies for next year. It will allow him a year’s leave to work on a forthcoming book, “The Pessimistic Spirit: The Past and Future of an Untimely Ethic.” Dienstag seeks to explain pessimism in political philosophy since the Enlightenment, not as a psychological condition but as a coherent approach to fundamental questions of identity and freedom.

• Jeffrey Plank, associate vice president for research and graduate studies, has won the Victorian Society in America’s 2003 Ruth Emery Book Award for “The Early Louis Sullivan Building Photographs.” Sullivan, known as the father of the modern steel skyscraper and one of America’s most influential architects, practiced in Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The award recognizes “an outstanding book published the previous year which studies the arts or architecture created in the Victorian period and deals with a regional topic.”

• David W. Weiss, professor emeritus of drama, was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre April 20. Membership is one of the highest honors theater educators and professionals can confer on their peers. Weiss taught at U.Va. for 37 years, including 16 years as department chairman. He retired in 1991.

Leadership honor society recognizes several at U.Va.
Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society, recently recognized several members of the U.Va. community and inducted two faculty members, along with some 60 students, into the society. The faculty members joining ODK are Kathy Henley Haugh, director of Transfer Student Orientation in the Nursing School, and Ellen M. Whitener, senior associate dean in the McIntire School.
Linda K. Bunker, Curry School professor of education, received the society’s Arthur F. Stocker Award. Alton Taylor, who has served as faculty secretary for ODK since 1994, was honored for his outstanding service to the organization, and Vicki Coleman, director of Clemons Library, received the Alton L. Taylor Service Award. The Virginia Circle ODK Staff Award was given to Dana Hannum-Rivera, assistant to the director in U.Va.’s Community Relations Office, for outstanding service to the University community during the past year. The Edgar F. Shannon Jr. Scholarship Award was given to second-year undergraduate Meghan E. Sullivan.

Festival to focus on health of African Americans
Cancer is the leading killer of African Americans in Charlottesville-Albemarle and surrounding counties. The U.Va. Cancer Center and the Quality Community Council, a nonprofit citizens’ coalition comprising residents, city staff and agency professionals, have teamed up with 20 community organizations to present the first comprehensive health event geared to African Americans in the area. The free health festival will be May 3 at Buford Middle School on 9th Street S.W. from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Called “Living Your Best Life,” the event will feature information from cancer experts plus musicians and artists. A program will be launched to get more city residents to take up walking for exercise.

Make your commute a clean one
Ever considered a carpool, bike or bus to get to work? You can help reduce traffic congestion and its harmful effects on the environment by participating May 2 in “Clean Commute Day” (formerly known as “Give Air a Break Day”). Individuals can ride for free on CTS buses and JAUNT’s Big Blue Express. Commute to Fashion Square Mall for free gifts, drawings and information from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The event is sponsored by the American Lung Association and Commuter Information.

Virginia Public Service Week
May 5-11 is the week Gov. Mark Warner has designated as “Virginia Public Service Week” to recognize state employees for their hard work and dedication to the Commonwealth. Seven U.Va. employees were nominated for the governor’s awards from the pool of employees nominated for the University’s Outstanding Contribution Awards. The awardees will be honored at a ceremony in Richmond that week.

New technology involves students during lecture classes
Often it’s hard to tell if students are on course in a large lecture class. New uses of technology, with laptops or remote control devices, can help. The Teaching Resource Center is offering a lecture-demonstration April 29 on what are called Student Response Systems with U.Va. physics professor Stephen Thornton and William Junkin, a physics professor and dean of learning and technology at Erskine College. The event will be held from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in room 203 of the physics building.

Review leads ER to national certification
The U.Va. Health System’s Department of Emergency Medicine has been awarded the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine’s highest rating, making it only the second such department in the nation to earn that designation. The standards used to evaluate potential level one emergency centers include quality of physicians and nurses, quality of education, patient flow, cleanliness and function.
“We’re happy to know that we are level one and we are doing things right. We also appreciate the recommendations so that we know how and where to do things better,” said Dr. Marcus Martin, chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine and past president of the society. “While our recent renovations in the emergency department helped our scores, one of the recommendations made was for more patient care space, which we are currently addressing.”

Research leads to new test for dysentery
Amebic dysentery is a leading killer of children, usually in developing countries, caused by contaminated water. Until recently, though, only 10 percent of cases were correctly diagnosed in U.S. and Canadian labs. Now a U.Va. team, led by Dr. William Petri, has developed the only FDA-approved diagnostic test for the parasite that causes the disease.

Also, U.Va. studies of Bangladeshi children have shown that children who have been infected once and survive are immune, so researchers here are working on a prototype vaccine.

Festival’s cultural events
May 7, 9 p.m. Concert by The Green Fields of America and De Dannan (Old Cabell Hall) $20

May 8, 2:30-3:45 p.m. Musical narrative and reading “The Lonesome Touch” featuring Martin Hayes (Jefferson Theater) $7

May 8, 4:15-5:30 p.m. Short films screening, short dramatic and documentary films. Presented by the Cork International Film Festival (Vinegar Hill Theatre) $7

May 8, 8:15 p.m. Film screening, new Irish film presented by the Irish Film Board: “Goldfish Memory” (Newcomb Hall Theater) $7

May 9, 2:30-3:45 p.m. Musical narrative “East Wind-European Influences on Contemporary Irish Music”featuring Andy Irvine (Jefferson Theater) $7

May 9, 2:30-3:45 p.m. Short dramatic and documentary films. Presented by the Cork International Film Festival (Vinegar Hill Theatre) $7

May 9, 8:15 p.m.
“Foley” Corn Exchange Production of Michael West’s “Foley” starring Andrew Bennett (Culbreth Theatre) $20

May 10, 10:45-12 noon. Musical narrative, “Songs and Stories from the Ulster Countryside” featuring Len Graham and John Campbell (Jefferson Theater) $7

May 10, 2:30-3:45 p.m. Musical narrative, “Songs of the Hidden
Ulster” featuring Len
Graham and Padraigin Ni Uallachain (Jefferson Theater) $7

May 10, 4:15-5:30 p.m. Short films screening, short dramatic and documentary films presented by the Cork International Film Festival (Vinegar Hill Theatre) $7

May 10, 4:15-5:30 p.m. Musical narrative, “Appalachian Music & Dance” featuring Bruce Molsky and dancer (Jefferson Theater) $7

May 10, 8 p.m. “Foley” (Culbreth Theatre) $20

May 10, 8:30 p.m. Concert by Solas and Cherish the Ladies (Old Cabell Hall) $20