At A Glance

University of Iowa News Release

April 15, 2011

At A Glance

UI journalism student wins first place in national Hearst writing competition

Hayley Bruce, a University of Iowa sophomore from Wheaton, Ill., won first place for spot news in the William Randolph Hearst Foundation's Journalism Awards Program.

Bruce is a student in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She will receive a $2,600 scholarship for her winning article "Records Detail Hunninghake Case," published in The Daily Iowan. The UI will receive a matching grant.

Eighty-three students from 52 universities participated in the program's final writing competition of this academic year. Samples of winning work can be viewed at http://www.hearstawards.org.

Bruce also qualifies for Hearst's national writing championship, which takes place in San Francisco June 6-11. Eight undergraduate journalism students from around the country will compete for additional scholarship awards of $1,500 to $5,000. The finalists were selected from 639 writing entries throughout the year.

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program is conducted under the auspices of accredited schools of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication, and fully funded and administered by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.

Levy named to the Iowa Academy of Family Physicians Chair in Rural Medicine

Barcey T. Levy, M.D, Ph.D., professor of family medicine in the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, has been appointed the Iowa Academy of Family Physicians Chair in Rural Medicine. This is a three-year appointment.

The position was established in 2000 by gifts from members of the Iowa Academy of Family Physicians to the UI Foundation, and with additional support from the University of Iowa College of Medicine. The chair focuses on issues surrounding the delivery of top-quality health care to rural Iowa families. With her appointment to the position, Levy will continue in her role as director of the Iowa Research Network (IRENE), a practice-based research network of Iowa family physicians dedicated to improving health care for Iowans.

Levy has a secondary appointment as professor of epidemiology in the UI College of Public Health. She has research expertise in cancer control, osteoporosis screening, colorectal cancer screening and women's health issues.

Levy joined the UI faculty in 1993. She earned a doctoral degree in biochemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a medical degree from the UI. She completed a residency in Family Practice at the then combined Mercy Hospital/UI Hospitals and Clinics residency program.

UI graduate student receives Merck Fellowship in Biostatistics

Eric D. Foster, a University of Iowa College of Public Health doctoral student in biostatistics, has been awarded the 2010-2011 Merck Fellowship in Biostatistics.

The fellowship from Merck & Co., Inc. supports an outstanding doctoral student in completing a dissertation in biostatistics. This award supports Foster's dissertation research for one year. His research involves time series clustering, with an emphasis on clustering time course expression data from genomics experiments.

Foster is advised by Joe Cavanaugh, Ph.D., professor of biostatistics. Foster received his bachelor's and master's degrees in a combined program in bioinformatics from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York in 2007.

He is active in the Biostatistics Student Organization, serving as President in 2009-2010, and was honored as a UI Outstanding Teaching Assistant in 2009-10.

'Fossil Guy' series continues April 23 with 'Under the Feet of Triceratops'

"The Fossil Guy" series continues at the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History on Saturday, April 23, at 2 p.m., with "Under the Feet of Triceratops." Each "Fossil Guy" program consists of a 30-minute talk by Don Johnson, a local amateur paleontologist, followed by a close-up, hands-on, question-and-answer session using his collection of fossils and artifacts. Presentations are geared toward elementary-age children. The free public events are held in Macbride Auditorium.

"Under the Feet of Triceratops" focuses on Triceratops and other horn-faced dinosaurs. Participants will see and touch a fossil Triceratops shoulder blade, jaw, frill section and teeth; a replica horn; and models of other horn-faced dinosaurs. It's also an opportunity to learn about the many small animals that lived under the feet of Triceratops, including fish, salamanders, turtles and mammals. During a hands-on time, Johnson will help visitors identify many of these small fossils from the famous Hell Creek Formation near Jordan, Mont.

For more information on the "Fossil Guy" and other Museum of Natural History programs, visit http://www.uiowa.edu/~nathist/ or call 319-335-0606.

April 25 performance at the UI will raise funds for Japan relief

Students in the University of Iowa Department of Theatre Arts will present "Iowa Love for Japan -- Love Through Performance," a benefit theater, music, dance and video event to aid victims of the recent earthquakes and tsunami in northern Japan, at 8 p.m. Monday, April 25, in Theatre B of the UI Theatre Building.

Admission is free, but donations to Japan relief through ShelterBox USA will be solicited. ShelterBox responds to disasters by delivering boxes of aid to those who are in need. Each box supplies an extended family of up to 10 people with a durable tent and essential equipment to use while they are displaced or homeless. Donations can be made at http://bit.ly/iowaloveforjapan.

Artists will include Soren Olsen, Tricia Park, John Kaufmann, Peige Zhou & juggler, the Hinkler Twins, Yuichi Ura, Betsy Ray & Les Dames du Burlesque, John Watkins & Band, Sarah Genta and Jessie Traufler.

Learn more about ShelterBox and its work in Japan at http://www.shelterboxusa.org.

The Beggarmen will be special guests in April 26 UI Symphony Band concert

The University of Iowa Symphony Band, under the direction of Richard Mark Heidel, will feature the Beggarmen Irish Folk Band in a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 26, in the Iowa Memorial Union Ballroom.

Pre-concert music by the Von Vivant Quartet -- School of Music faculty member Kristin Thelander with Kelly Heidel, Russ Lenth and Steve Schultz -- will begin at 7 p.m.

The Beggarmen will be featured in a performance of "Minstrels of the Kells" by Don Welcher.

The Symphony Band will perform:
--Variations on "America" by Charles Ives.
--The world premiere of "In Violent Silence" by Composers Workshop graduate student Anthony Donofrio, featuring percussionists Meghan Aube and Lucas Bernier.
--Ballad for Band by Morton Gould, featuring guest conductor Carter Biggers.
--The Children's March: "Over the hills and far away" by Percy Aldridge Grainger, featuring guest conductor Richard Chapman.
--"Vortex" Dana Wilson, featuring faculty pianist Alan Huckleberry, piano.
--"The Melody Shop" by Karl L. King.
--And "Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral" by Richard Wagner.

Bios of Heidel, Thelander and Huckleberry are accessible at http://www.uiowa.edu/~music//faculty_staff/alphabet.shtml. Learn more about the Beggarmen at http://www.beggarmen.com.

April 28 features back-to-back Writers' Workshop literary readings

April 28 features back-to-back literary readings. Poet Kristin Kelly, an alumna of the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, will read at 7 p.m. in Prairie Lights Book, an event that will be streamed on writinguniversity.org. And fiction writer Lydia Davis, a guest of the workshop, will read at 8:15 p.m. in the Frank Conroy Reading Room of the Dey House.

Kelly, who has been the recipient of a Walker and Nancy Kidd Prize from the University of Oregon and a Maytag Fellowship from the workshop, will read from "Cargo," winner of the Elixir Press Poetry Awards.

"Genius Grant"-winner Davis, who teaches at the University of Albany-SUNY, has published six collection of stories, gathered in "The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis," as well as the novel "The End of the Story." Her short, funny stories straddle the worlds of poetry, philosophy and fiction.

She has been a finalist for the National Book Award and the PEN/Hemingway Award, and one of her stories was included in "The Best American Short Stories 1997." Read a recent interview with her at http://www.believermag.com/issues/200801/?read=interview_davis.

Fine Arts Council sponsors Riverbank Art Fair and Wine Tasting April 30

The University of Iowa Fine Arts Council will hold the Riverbank Art Fair 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 30 on the green near Hancher Auditorium.

The Riverbank Art Fair features artists from all over the Midwest and beyond. Artists compete to exhibit and sell their fine art work in painting, ceramics, photography, woodworking, drawing, jewelry, fiber, metal, needlework and much more. The show has a juried selection acceptance process. Admission to the show is free to the public.

A new event held in conjunction with the fair this year will be a wine tasting hosted by Hy-Vee. Wine vendors will include Glazers, Johnson Brothers, Dimitri and Cedar Ridge, among others.

A portion of the proceeds will be going to Japan tsunami relief and a art grant fund. For more information, see http://fineartscouncil.uiowa.edu/ or contact Lily Allen-Duenas of the Fine Arts Council, 319-335-3393. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/imubuddy/sets/72157624922995985/ for 2010 fair photos.

Cancelled: Trumpeter Schendel will present free faculty recital April 30

Trumpeter Amy Schendel, a faculty member in the University of Iowa School of Music, will present a free recital at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 30, in the Riverside Recital Hall.

With pianist Lee Nguyen, a UI alumnus, she will be perform Concerto Scherzo by Alexander Arutunian, Two Portraits by Joseph Turrin and "Someone to Watch Over Me" by George Gershwin.

She will be joined by a faculty colleague, organist Gregory Hand, for "Christgeburt-Concerto" by Bernard Krol, and by trombonist Todd Schendel and Nguyen for "Eveils" for trumpet, trombone and piano by Jean-Francoise Michel.

Learn more about Amy Schendel at http://www.uiowa.edu/~music//faculty_staff/profiles/schendel.shtml.

Agricultural Medicine course offered June 13-17

Iowa's Center for Agricultural Safety and Health and the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health will host a training program for health care professionals who treat and help prevent occupational illnesses and injuries on the farm on June 13-17 at the University Capitol Centre, 201 South Clinton St., Iowa City. The registration deadline is May 27.

The course will address diagnosis, treatment and prevention of agricultural health conditions through a multidisciplinary approach. Nurses, physicians, mid-level practitioners, physical and occupational therapists, paramedics, veterinarians and other health care providers are invited to participate. College and continuing credit hours are available.

Topics to be discussed include: agricultural health care delivery; respiratory diseases; acute agricultural injuries; behavioral health issues; zoonotic diseases; health effects of agricultural pesticides; musculoskeletal issues and ergonomics in agriculture; cancer in agricultural populations; and many others.

A brochure and registration form is available at http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/ICASH/.

For more information, contact Kay Mohling at 319-335-4219 or kay-mohling@uiowa.edu.

Photos for At A Glance items, if available, may be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/uinews.

Campus events are searchable on the UI Master Calendar: http://calendar.uiowa.edu.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation to participate in a program, please contact the sponsoring department in advance.