Nine UNM School of Engineering students are preparing to zip up their flight suits in preparation for a trip to Zero Gravity.
For the fourth consecutive year, students from the University of New Mexico Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering will fly experiments, March 9- 12, on board the "Weightless Wonder," a microgravity KC-135 airplane at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Two Albuquerque high school students will join UNM undergraduates as part of the NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program.
Sponsored by NASA's Johnson Space Center, the program provides a rare academic experience for undergraduate students to successfully propose, design, fabricate, fly and evaluate a reduced gravity experiment of their choice over the course of a school year.
Experiments will be conducted aboard the KC-135, a plane that was originally used in support of NASA missions. The Boeing 707 has been retrofit with massive turbo engines and padded walls. As a result, the plane can experience near weightlessness in a free fall. To do so, the plane takes off and climbs to an altitude where it can accelerate downward at the rate of gravity. Then it goes into a climb to regain its lost altitude and dives again.
Robert Busch, chemical and nuclear engineering professor, is the faculty advisor for the project. Busch says we rely on gravity to make things like pumps and coffee pots work. In the absence of gravity, other factors come into play, and everyday items don't behave the same. Busch will accompany the students to Houston.
On March 9&10, students will conduct The Effects of Gravity on Bubble Detachment Diameter Sub-Cooled Pool Nucleate Boiling. The experiment abstract states while the mechanism of boiling is well understood in earth's standard gravity, removinggravity's familiar effects will have a profound impact on the physics of boiling, namely the vapor bubbles that form during this process. Students will attempt to determine the detachment diameter of the bubbles that are formed.
On March 11&12, a second team of students will conduct Upper Atmosphere Cosmic Gamma Ray Fields and Fluid Level Tank Measurements in Microgravity. The study will use equipment similar to a lava lamp to examine the difference in paraffin globules when exposed to gamma ray radiation during microgravity conditions
The student team will drive to Houston March 2 to transport the equipment they built to conduct their research. All are scheduled to return to Albuquerque March 14.
UNM students who will conduct the boiling experiment are seniors Thien Le Nguyen, Thomas Quirk and David Stone, and Daniel Casey, a junior. Students participating in the gamma ray experiment are juniors Nick Brown, Eduardo Padilla, Daniel Sanchez and Ryan Kamm, and sophomore Danielle Hensen.
Two high school students to participate are Kay Halloran, Albuquerque Academy, and Renee Johnson, Sandia High School. The technical advisor to the program is Robert Singleterry with the NASA Langley Research Center.
Contact: Greg Johnson (505) 277-1816
The University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning announces the second annual Aldo Leopold Lecture, Tuesday, March 9, at 6:30 p.m. in Northrop Hall room 122 on UNM's main campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.
The lecture, "Uncle Aldo: A Legacy of Learning About Learning," is presented by Santa Fe writer, instructor and conservationist Bill deBuys. Highly respected in land and water issues in New Mexico, deBuys is chair of the Board of Trustees of the Valles Caldera National Preserve. He also directs the Valle Grande Grass Bank initiative and has worked extensively for The Nature Conservancy and The Conservation Fund. He teaches at the College of Santa Fe in the Documentary Studies program.
He has authored several books including "Enchantment and Exploitation," about the Salton Sea, "River of Traps," about life in a northern New Mexican mountain valley, "Salt Dreams: Land and Water in Low-Down California" and his most recent, "Seeing Things Whole: The Essential John Wesley Powell."
Aldo Leopold (1887-1948), for whom the lecture is named, is considered the father of wildlife ecology. He was a renowned scientist and scholar, exceptional teacher, philosopher and gifted writer.
The New Mexico Trust for Public Land co-sponsors the lecture.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920
Monica Silveira Cyrino, associate professor of Classics, was recently a panelist discussing Mel Gibson's new film, "The Passion of the Christ." The discussion will air as a special episode of the History Channel's series "History vs. Hollywood" Saturday, Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. in the Central/Mountain time zones, and on Monday, March 1 at 9 p.m.
The panel was comprised of historians, film critics and popular culture experts. In addition to Cyrino, panelists included "Good Morning America" film critic Joel Siegel, editor Jon Meacham, Newsweek magazine, who wrote the publication's cover story on the film, and Josh Binswanger, host of "History vs. Hollywood. The discussion took place to coincide with the film's premiere.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920
The UNM Office of International Programs and Studies seeks nominations for the 2003-04 UNM International Excellence Awards. The award is given annually to a faculty member, staff and student. To nominate someone, submit a letter of nomination and a copy of the nominee's CV or resume to the office of International Programs and Studies, Mesa Vista 2111, by Friday, March 12.
The International Excellence Awards honor individuals who make outstanding contributions to further UNM's international mission. Recipients are selected by the International Excellence Awards Committee, comprised of faculty, staff and students. The committee will select one faculty member (full or part-time), one staff member and one student (who may be international, domestic, graduate or undergraduate.) Members of the committee and staff of the Office of International Programs and Studies are not eligible.
The awards are based on service in any one or more of the following areas:
* Outstanding scholarship and/or research with an international focus
* Support and advising for international students
* Advocacy and support for study abroad and student exchange programs
* Promotion of international collaboration involving faculty and staff
* Contribution to UNM area studies, language or other international programs
* Development of new international programs
* Bringing international perspectives into the curriculum
* Outstanding contributions to international understanding and goodwill
*
Other international activities that benefit the campus and the larger community
A reception will be held on Wednesday, April 14 to honor this year's recipients.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920
The University of New Mexico Anthropology Department will screen "Mauri," by Maori filmmaker Mereta Mita. The film will be shown Thursday, March 4 at 7 p.m. in the Anthropology lecture hall, north of Maxwell Museum.
Mita, who wrote, directed, and produced the groundbreaking film, will be present to talk with the audience after the screening. "Mauri," Mita's first full-length feature and the first full-length feature to be made by a Maori woman, is also the first told entirely from a Maori perspective. The Maori are indigenous people in New Zealand.
The film centers on the trauma of a disturbed Maori man who eventually confronts his tragic deception with courage and humility. The events as they unfold are underpinned by the enduring strength and wisdom of Maori women. The film features beautiful cinematography as well as an evocative soundtrack by Amokura that incorporates traditional Maori instruments.
Mita first received recognition as a documentary filmmaker. She has been lauded for her sensitive and committed efforts to ensure that the Maori culture is celebrated, respected, and recognized internationally. In 2000, she received the Taos Mountain Film Festival award for lifetime achievement for an outstanding aboriginal film professional. Last year she was the guest of honor at Montreal's 13th First People's Festival, where a retrospective of her work was held.
Tickets are available for $12 at the UNM Box Offices, Tickets.com outlets, and from the Anthropology Department, over the phone by calling 925-5858 or 1-800-905-3315. Tickets are also available on the web at www.unmtickets.com and at the door. Proceeds will benefit the UNM Anthropology Graduate Student Scholarship Fund.
The screening is part of the International Indigenous Film Festival, held in conjunction with the Jubilee anniversary of the UNM Anthropology Department.
Contact: Greg Johnson (505) 277-1816
The University of New Mexico School of Law will host lectures delivered by Dean Emilio Cortés and Professor Jaime Rossell of the University of Extremadura School of Law, Cáceres, Spain, on Wednesday, March 3. Both are free to the public.
Cortés will give the talk "Parallel Trials and Basic Rights of the Defendant" and Professor Rossell will address "Religious Minorities in Spain." Rossell will speak at 4 p.m. and Cortés at 5 p.m. in the law school, room 2405. Each guest will speak for about thirty minutes followed by responses from UNM faculty and open discussion.
The lectures were arranged under a March 2000 Agreement of Cultural and Academic Cooperation between UNM and the University of Extremadura. The agreement promotes faculty and student exchanges plus joint research projects, courses and conferences.
UNM School of Law Dean Suellyn Scarnecchia met Cortés last May when four UNM law professors presented papers at the University of Extremadura School of Law. The visit marked the first faculty exchange between the law schools under the cooperation agreement. The schools plan to alternate faculty visits each year.
"I am delighted that Dean Cortés and Professor Rossell soon will pay their first visit to New Mexico and the School of Law. The linguistic, cultural, and historical ties between Extremadura and New Mexico are very significant. In addition to renewing and reinforcing those ties, our faculty exchange with the University of Extremadura enhances the international aspects of our curriculum for our students," Scarnecchia said.
For information, contact Claire Conrad, UNM School of Law, 277-0080.
Contact: Laurie Mellas-Ramirez (505) 277-5915
The 4th annual Biological Threat Reduction (BTR) conference discussing underlying science implications to strategic analysis and policy, and effectiveness within the area of homeland security, will be held Wednesday through Friday, March 17 - 19, at the Wyndham Hotel Albuquerque. This year’s conference, BTR 2004: Unified Science & Technology for Reducing Biological Threats & Countering Terrorism, will focus on the theme “Homeland Security: Toward Converging Partnerships.”
BTR 2004 is an open public forum bringing together national security strategists, faculty from leading science and engineering departments at universities and Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Defense (DoD) labs, industrial scientists and government and industry leaders. Presentations are non-proprietary and prepared for a public forum.
Rob Duncan, assistant to the Vice Provost for Research at the University of New Mexico, is the conference chair and Brigadier General Annette Sobel is the program chair. Other individuals participating from UNM include Roger L. Hagengruber, director UNM Office of Policy, Security & Technology and Stanley A. Morain, director, UNM Earth Data Analysis Center. Hagengruber will give the talk “A Perspective on Threat” at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 18, and Morain will give a talk on “Satellite Technology for Assessing Biological Threats and Enhancing Bio-Surveillance” at 4 p.m. on Friday, March 19.
Speakers of note include Stephen M. Younger, keynote speaker and Senior Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory, who will discuss “A Retrospective of World Terror Issues.” Guest speaker W. Craig Vanderwagen, assistant surgeon general, will present a discussion on “Standing Up the Iraq System and Awareness of the Bioterror Potential.” Younger and Vanderwagen will present their talks on Thursday, March 18 at 8:45 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. respectively.
Three technical sessions, with panels, include the following: Session 1: International/National Level Preparedness and Response, which focuses on the underlying national infrastructure development for preparedness, response, and mitigation against acts of terror; Session 2: Effective Preparedness through Countermeasures, which delves into the anticipatory approach to threat deterrence employing science and technology; and Session 3: States and Regions: Preparedness and Response, which emphasizes broader policy and strategy levels focused on the interface between the scientific and research and development communities, and the operational communities at the state and local levels in an effort to continually evolve a common operational picture and solutions.
The conference is co-sponsored by the New Mexico Governor’s Office of Homeland Security; UNM Office of the Vice Provost for Research; UNM Office of Policy, Security, & Technology; UNM School of Medicine; Argonne National Laboratory; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and Sandia National Laboratories.
For a complete list of times and topics for each session, and online registration, which is available through March 14, visit www.BTR-Albuquerque.org.
BTR registration forms and fees must be received before the conference for each registrant. The registration fee of $300 includes the early arrival reception, continental breakfasts, lunches and breaks, conference reception and one copy each of the Program / Abstracts book and the Proceedings. The registration fee after March 1 and onsite is $350.
For more information, contact Barbara L. Daniels, BTR coordinator, at (505) 272-7214 or by e-mail at: (daniels@unm.edu).
Contact: Steve Carr (505) 277-1821
The University of New Mexico will celebrate its 115th birthday on Friday, February 27 at noon. There will be birthday cake for everyone at the Student Union Building along with entertainment and prizes.
Associated Students of the University of New Mexico are hosting the event. President of ASUNM Jennifer Onuska says, "We are inviting students to come celebrate UNM's birthday, and if they arrive at noon there will be a photograph taken of all students present." The photograph will become part of the UNM birthday card and will be hung in the student union for the next year.
UNM has been educating students in the Southwest since territorial days. The University opened its doors in 1892, 20 years before New Mexico was admitted to the union as a state. Today there are more than 110-thousand University of New Mexico alumni worldwide, and the university offers 45 higher education degrees in a wide variety of disciplines.
Contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277-5627
President Louis Caldera announced today that the University of New Mexico will hold a "Budget Summit" on Thursday, April 1, 2004, in preparation for submitting its budget recommendations to the Board of Regents at their April meeting.
The Summit will involve students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other key university constituencies in an exploration of "UNM's key budget issues and challenges," according to the president's formal charge to these groups.
The University of New Mexico is facing numerous budget pressures due to growing enrollments and impacts from recent changes to the state's higher education funding formula. "Budgets are only superficially about numbers; at their core they are an expression of values, of what people and institutions care about most," said Caldera. "We must address the resource challenges that constrain our ability to achieve the excellence to which we aspire as a university."
All members of the UNM campus community will have the opportunity to participate in the Budget Summit process via a website link on the university's home page at www.unm.edu. The site will initially contain President Caldera's charge and a timeline of events leading up to the summit. White papers on university budget issues, budget spreadsheets, and other materials to be considered by the participants at the summit will be added as they are drafted, including those submitted by university constituent groups.
"We want a wide open process," said Caldera, "so that all members of the university community can take responsibility for understanding the fiscal challenges the university faces, and for helping address them."
The Budget Summit will be a public meeting, the exact time and place to be announced. Subsequent to the summit, the UNM Planning Council and Executive Cabinet will make budget recommendations to the Board of Regents. The Regents at their April 13th meeting will determine the broad contours of the university's 2004-2005 budget, including determining the overall budget amount, compensation levels, and tuition and fees.
Contact: Susan McKinsey (505) 277-1989
The University of New Mexico College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and Gonzaga University School of Law, are co-sponsoring "Law School in a Box," at UNM Saturday, Feb. 28. Students should register no later than Wednesday, Feb. 25 by going to the UNM Arts and Sciences Pre-Law Page at http://prelaw.unm.edu/
This program is designed to provide pre-law students with an introduction to a law school classroom experience, as well as an orientation to the academic and curricular logic of law school.
During the morning, students will attend a first-year class simulation taught by Gonzaga faculty members. Students will be asked to turn in writing assignments, distributed through the A& S Advisement Cetner, and to participate in class discussions about a hypothetical case, based on materials used in one of Gonzaga's first year classes.
After lunch, which will be provided, the afternoon session offers workshops, including a session on financing law school.
"The College of Arts and Sciences is very excited about participating in a pre-law academic program of this nature," said Wanda Martin, associate dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.
"This is a rare opportunity for pre-law students to get feedback from law faculty and to experience the law school classroom in a way that approximates as closelyas closely as possible an actual first year class. This program represents the college's commitment to innovative and academically rigorous pre-professional advisement."
For more information, contact the A&S Pre-Law Advisement Program at 277-7373.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920
The University of New Mexico's newly created International Studies Institute (ISI), hosts a week of lectures and discussions, "International Perceptions of the United States after 9/11," Tuesday, Feb. 24 through Wednesday, March 3. All sessions are free and open to the public.
The events are as follows:
Tuesday, Feb. 24, noon-2 p.m., Santa Ana Room, Student Union Building (SUB) "Diplomats and Scholars, A Panel Discussion," Patricia Kushlis, U.S. Information Agency, retired; William Kushlis, U.S. Department of State, retired; Dieter Schulz, University of Heidelberg, Fulbright Scholar; A. Ellen Shippy, UNM's Ambassador in Residence.
Thursday, Feb. 26, noon-2 p.m., Santa Ana Room, SUB, UNM's International Students Speak, Panel Discussion," moderated by David Farber, professor of history, UNM and co-sponsored by UNM's Office of International Programs.
Monday, March 1, 3 p.m.-5 p.m., Dane Smith Hall, 125, "Middle Eastern Perceptions of the United States after 9/11: Who Hates Whom and Why," presented by As'ad AbuKhalil, professor, Department of Politics, California State University, Stanislau Studies at UC-Berkeley.
Wednesday, March 3, 3 p.m.-5 p.m., Dane Smith Hall, 125, "Latin American Perceptions of the United States after 9/11," presented by Ken Roberts, chair, Department of Political Science, UNM.
For more information, visit ISI's Web site: www.unm.edu/~isi/.
The International Studies Institute, created late last year by Reed Dasenbrock, dean, College of Arts and Sciences, and the chairs of the college's three undergraduate studies programs, will serve as an umbrella organization for European Studies, Asian Studies - including the Middle East - and Russian Studies.
Melissa Bokovoy, associate professor of History and Regents' Lecturer, is ISI's first director.
The institute's goal is to pursue broad-based initiatives involving all three subgroups. ISI activities include coordinating lecture series, outreach to secondary schools, and writing larger grants for international or interdisciplinary study, research and outreach programs.
The primary goal of the institute is to serve undergraduates and the associated faculty of each program and provide greater opportunities for disseminating knowledge about all parts of the world on the UNM campus and throughout the state. In addition, ISI will coordinate with the region's Title VI National Resource centers for area studies to provide easier access to their resources, especially in the area of secondary and primary school outreach.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920
El Centro de La Raza announces that applications are currently being accepted through Friday, April 16, 5 p.m., for the Ida Romero Memorial Scholarship. El Centro asks faculty and staff to encourage students to apply.
El Centro de La Raza, the UNM Financial Aid Office, the UNM Scholarship Office and the Ida Romero Memorial Scholarship Fund Committee offer the scholarship to students demonstrating financial need and perseverance in overcoming obstacles. An award of $250 per semester is available.
Created in memory of Ida Romero, extraordinary woman and contributor to the University of New Mexico, who, as a single mother, worked full-time and put herself through UNM. Romero received her bachelor's and master's degrees in Fine Arts. She became the director of UNM's Student Financial Aid Office in 1995. Shortly thereafter she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and fought it to the end.
According to Verónica Méndez-Cruz, director of El Centro de la Raza, "Those who knew Ida were impressed with her strength, dedication, artistic ability, natural beauty and love for life. She was very involved in the University and the community. Ida Romero graciously contributed to the University of New Mexico and through this memorial she continues to do so."
In addition, nominations are now being accepted for Raza Excellence Outstanding Student Awards. In 1996, UNM students, staff and faculty created this award to honor Raza students across campus. Now in its ninth year, more than 30 have been honored. This year's recipients will be honored at the UNM Recognition Reception in April.
Mary Ann Romero, an immigration law attorney for the State of New Mexico, one the first award recipients said, "The significance of the award is that you are being recognized by your own community for work that you have done in your community. It is not an academic award, or an extracurricular award, but it is an award of the heart. This is the sweetest type of reward."
Raza Excellence award will be given to undergraduate and graduate students, within a semester of graduating, who have demonstrated a commitment to the Raza community both on and off campus, and who have performed well academically.
The deadline for nominations is Tuesday, March 2.
For information about applications and required documents, please visit El Centro or call Mayra Flores for the Ida Romero Memorial Scholarship and José A. Dominguez for the Raza Excellence Outstanding Student Award at 277-5020.
Contact: Eleanor Sanchez (505) 277-1813
University of New Mexico School of Law student Anna Martinez won the prize for “best oralist” and April Winecke for “best brief” at the National Native American Law Students Association (NALSA) moot court competition held last week in Denver.
In addition, Martinez and Brenna Clani advanced to the semifinals. Mary Carmack, Natasha Young and April Winecke made it to the final sixteen. A total of 48 teams participated.
Winecke earned “best brief” with her moot court partner Kevin McCulloch of Yale University. Typically, the winning brief is later published in the American Indian Law Review Journal. The brief concerned the Indian Child Welfare Act.
UNM teams have participated in the NALSA competition since its inception in 1993. Open to all students, teams of two submit their briefs and engage in oral arguments on a current issues involving indigenous peoples in the United States. NALSA promotes the study of federal Indian law and supports Native American students in law school.
Dan Rey-Bear and Doreen Hobson from the law firm of Nordhaus, Haltom, Taylor, Taradash and Bladh, LLP, coached the students. “This is a good opportunity to mentor law students and help them gain valuable skills. They gain experience practicing oral arguments and learn how to think on their feet,” Rey Bear said. “The UNM students were well-prepared [to compete nationally].”
Contact: Laurie Mellas-Ramirez (505) 277-5915
The University of New Mexico is partnering with Escuela Agrícola Panamericana (known as “Zamorano”), a private college in Honduras, to design and implement a “Diplomado de Recursos Hídricos” (diploma of water resources) program to educate Central American water managers and administrators, many of whom have little formal training in the study of water resources.
The diplomado will be officially recognized by the Honduran Ministry of Education. The diplomado program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and administered by the Association Liaison Office for University Cooperation in Development (ALO), consists of 12 modules of approximately two days each, taught over six months.
The modules cover such topics as: basic hydrology; planning and management; ground water; water quality; economics; watershed management; measurement techniques; modeling; and social, legal and cultural aspects.
Tim J. Ward, chair and professor of Civil Engineering and Michael E. Campana, Albert and Mary Jane Black Professor of Hydrogeology in the Earth and Planetary Sciences department and director of the Water Resources Program, attended the first two modules at Zamorano in January and taught in the basic hydrology module. Bruce M. Thomson, Regents’ Professor of Civil Engineering; Michele Minnis, professor, Water Resources Program; José Rivera, professor, Community and Regional Planning, School of Public Administration; and Bill Fleming, associate professor of Community and Regional Planning, will also participate.
“Although we won’t make experts of the participants, we will give them a grounding in water resources so that they can make better-informed decisions,” Campana said. He also mentioned that he knows of no other program like this in Central America, which accounts for its popularity – 26 people signed up for the first cycle when 15-18 were expected.
Although the USAID grant funds only one cycle of the diplomado, plans are underway to seek funds from other organizations to continue the program. “We’ve already had inquiries from groups and countries to teach a special course just for their people,” Campana said, adding that the diplomado program has created quite a “buzz” in the region.
Contact: Steve Carr (505) 277-1821
The University of New Mexico's Arts of the Americas Institute, Native American Studies, Office of the Provost and student interns Onawa Lacy and Patrick Willink will present a semester-long, concert series free and open to the public featuring emerging contemporary Native American rock and hip hop groups. All concerts will be held at noon near Zimmerman Library and the Duck Pond at the Cactus Garden.
Atomic Love Medicine based in Albuquerque performs Wednesday, Feb. 18, with Politics of Marilyn (UNM professor John Gates and student Daniel Garcia are members) opening the performance.
Weldon (rock) based in Albuquerque will perform Thursday, March 4, with UNM student Arthur Allison of Ecliptic Gruv (rock) opening the performance.
Tribe 2 (hiphop) out of Newcomb, N.M., will perform Thursday, April 1, with the Soul Seekers (hip hop) from Jemez Pueblo opening.
Ethnic Degeneration (metal) from Kayenta, A.Z., will perform Thursday, May 6, with opening solo performer Dawn (acoustic).
Contact: Laurie Mellas-Ramirez (505) 277-5915
The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation seeks individuals with a demonstrated commitment to a career teaching American history, American government or social studies at the secondary school level who are also interested in pursuing a master's degree.
As an independent agency of the executive branch of the federal government, the James Madison Fellowship provides up to $24,000 over two years to assist graduate students cover educational expenses – tuition, fees and books, as well as to cover living expenses. The form is available online at http://www.jamesmadison.com/ ; the deadline is March 1.
Established by Congress in 1986 to improve teaching about the United States Constitution in secondary schools, the foundation's funding is augmented with contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations.
“The purpose is to improve professional skills teaching in the areas of U.S. history and government in order to improve students' understanding in those areas,” said Wanda Martin, associate dean, UNM College of Arts and Sciences.
Martin also noted that with the state's new three-tier system for teachers, a master's degree is required for advanced licensure, making the fellowship an attractive option for those teachers wishing to move up academically and economically.
Established to honor President James Madison's legacy, the fellowship also
includes a four-week intensive course of study on the Constitution held in Washington, D.C.
Delbert E. Carrillo was a James Madison fellow who earned his master's in history from UNM in 2002. A nine-year history teacher at Valley High School, he said, “The program provided excellent instruction with professors from American University and William and Mary. We received six hours of graduate credit and had the opportunity to meet with a Supreme Court justice as well as members of the House and Senate.”
Carrillo said the fellowship paid for his master's while also augmenting his skills as an educator. “The deeper understanding I got of the U.S. Constitution enhances my teaching in that period. Although written in 1787, it is still valid today,” he said. He added that current and recent events such as the Patriot Act, the 2000 election and presidential war powers can be assessed and evaluated against the Constitution.
Carrillo said that even though it was difficult to go to graduate school in the evening after teaching all day, the UNM history faculty provided him with strong support. “I recommend that others pursue both the fellowship and the programs available at UNM,” he said.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920
EPSCoR Chairman Van Romero announced recently the acquisition by New Mexico universities of major equipment for nanoscience research and education. The equipment was funded through an EPSCoR-National Science Foundation award of more than $1.5 million.
“EPSCoR’s goal is to maximize the potential inherent in a state’s science and technology resources and use those resources as a foundation for economic growth, by aiding researchers and institutions in securing Federal R&D funding,” said Romero.
EPSCoR, the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, has funded the purchase of key nanotechnology microscopes for University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMIMT).
The UNM microscope has extremely high resolution and is able to define or characterize the properties of the surfaces of nanoscale particles with X-ray analysis. Nano refers to a tiny man-made particle, sensor, or device that is thinner than a stand of hair. UNM is the only university in the country to have an instrument of this quality. The cost of the microscope is $750,000. The NMIMT’s microscope is a similar but smaller version of the UNM’s microscope and cost $250,000.
“UNM is extremely pleased about EPSCoR’s support of our new electron microscope that is dedicated to nanotechnology. This microscope is state-of-the-art and contributes to making New Mexico a national leader in nanotechnology,” said Terry Yates, Vice Provost for Research at UNM.
EPSCoR is a critical component in the state for building workforce infrastructure, providing avenues to commercialize cutting edge research, and creating intellectual property within New Mexico.
“EPSCoR is one of the keys to helping New Mexico turn science into money through the commercialization of some of the $6 billion invested in research and development at New Mexico’s federal labs and universities annually,” said New Mexico Economic Development Department Secretary Rick Homans.
EPSCoR is a program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) that works to increase science and education capabilities for 24 rural states. The program promotes the development of the states’ science and technology resources through partnerships involving a state’s universities, industry, state government, and the Federal research and development enterprise.
The microscopes acquired by UNM, NMSU and NMIMT can be operated and viewed through computer lines from other locations and universities so that researchers throughout the state can share these facilities. The different abilities of these shared instruments allow researchers many ways of studying nano materials.
“EPSCoR provides New Mexico with a great opportunity to reach the next level in research by providing resources and infrastructure. We are hoping the State will invest $1.5 million in the Hydrology Infrastructure Program which will bring an additional $3 million investment from EPSCoR for research at NMIMT and other institutions,” said Daniel Lopez, president, NMIMT.
At NMSU, EPSCoR is providing $500,000 for a new atomic force microscope that has other unique abilities to characterize nano particles. NMSU is providing a 50 percent match or $250,000 for equipment and faculty.
“EPSCoR provides the mechanism for developing strategic resources in areas important to New Mexico. Building research capacity is necessary to be competitive for federal funding opportunities,” said Rich Hills, interim vice president for Research, NMSU.
At San Juan College in Farmington, EPSCoR is providing funding for a $20,178 Infrared Spectrometer that analyzes the surface properties of particles.
Contact: Steve Carr (505) 277-1821
The University of New Mexico is changing the way it handles non-degree admissions, advisement and support for both undergraduate and graduate students.
UNM Provost Brian Foster says, "This is an important population of students to us. Many have degrees and just want to upgrade skills. Others want to get the prerequisites for entering a graduate program. We are an urban university and need a strong urban outreach. We just were not effectively organized. I think this will make sense for everyone."
In the past, many students interested in enrolling in non-degree status went to a satellite admissions office in Continuing Education, but that office has been closed.
Now there are two offices to meet the needs of non-degree students. Students without a baccalaureate degree who are seeking non-degree status can enroll for undergraduate classes at University College using the normal admissions process. The undergraduate admissions office is in Room 140 at the Student Services Center. Their main number is 277-2446. "This is a good way for students who want to explore UNM to sample classes or to find out whether they want to go for a formal degree," says Dean of University College, Peter White. Non-degree seeking students will have a different advisement and record keeping process. This is an alternative used by high school and exchange students.
Anyone with a baccalaureate degree who wants to enter the non-degree graduate program will now apply to the Office of Graduate Studies, Special Initiative Office. All students must now go to Mitchell Hall, Rooms 106 and 108. Their telephone number is 277-6089. This will be a centralized program that handles admitting, application fees, academic and career advisement, records maintenance and grade monitoring. The satellite office that was operated in Continuing Education has been closed.
There are more than 1,800 students enrolled in the graduate program. Non-Degree Graduate Student Services Consultant, Deanna Sanchez-Mulcahy says, " Many of the people in the non-degree program are attempting to get in graduate studies, are professionals taking classes they need for professional certifications or development, UNM staff and senior citizens who are taking classes that interest them for personal enrichment."
Dean of Graduate Studies, Teresita Aguilar says, "The addition of the NDGSS office within the Office of Graduate Students should provide a unique opportunity to better serve this audience. We also anticipate better collaboration and coordination between non-degree admissions and graduate program admissions."
The new system is now ready to register students who are interested in the non-degree program at UNM.
Contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277-5627
Vincent Craig, a Navajo humorist, singer, motivational speaker and cartoonist, will entertain at the University of New Mexico's Keller Hall on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m
The performance is sponsored by the UNM Department of Anthropology as part of its Diamond Jubilee Celebration.
Craig has been called a Navajo Renaissance man for his talent as a singer/songwriter of popular Navajo cowboy ballads, his protest songs and his social and political satire. Craig is the creator of the cartoon strip "Mutton Man," a superhero who is said to be "More powerful than the BIA! Able to leap Shiprock in a single bound! And faster than the BIA Director can pass the buck!" The comic strip appears in the Navajo Times.
Through his performances, Craig captures contemporary culture on the reservation with humor and poignancy. Craig is also a powerful motivational speaker about substance abuse and youth self-awareness. He is employed as the Navajo Nation's chief probation officer.
Tickets are $15 and are available from the UNM Ticket Office, 277-4569.
Contact: Greg Johnson (505) 277-1816
A panel of New Mexico Native American leaders will be presented Thursday, Feb. 19 at 12:30 p.m. in the University of New Mexico Student Union Ballroom. Four appointees by Governor Bill Richardson will present their perspectives and vision on education for Native Americans.
On the panel will be Sandra Begay-Campbell, UNM Board of Regents, Navajo; Conroy Chino, Secretary, New Mexico Department of Labor, Acoma Pueblo; Hilary Tompkins, Deputy Legal Council, Office of the Governor, Navajo; and Penny Bird, Assistant Secretary, New Mexico Public Education Department, Indian Education Division, Santo Domingo Pueblo. Harlan McKosato, host of the national radio program "Native America Calling," will moderate the panel.
A dignitary reception will follow the event at 2:30 p.m. in the SUB. Both events are open to the public. Those who plan to attend are asked to RSVP by Feb. 18 to Pauline Jo Hunt-Histia at 277-5062 or pjhh@unm.edu.
Contact: Greg Johnson (505) 277-1816
The distinguished external advisory panel to the Consortium of the Americas for Interdisciplinary Science, will be visiting UNM on Thursday-Friday, Feb. 19-20, to participate in a daylong scientific workshop and to give advice to the Consortium Director and other UNM officials on future directions of the Consortium.
The Consortium, a center in UNM’s College of Arts and Sciences and directed by Nitant Kenkre, professor, physics and astronomy, is characterized by interdisciplinary science and international collaborations. It was recently awarded a three-year, $1 million grant by the NSF to further international collaboration of scientists in the United States with scientists from Latin America to perform high caliber research in interdisciplinary science with linkage to education (http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/03-09-19kenkre.htm ) The Consortium is the first international science center to be supported in this manner by the International Division of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
“This is an important event for UNM,” said Kenkre, “The advice and recommendations of the External Advisory Panel will help shape future directions of the Consortium. The Consortium represents one of the most important international science initiatives of UNM.”
The Consortium concept is based strongly on UNM’s Strategic Plan and is supported at all levels at UNM including the Office of the Provost, specifically as it relates to the Provost’s initiative on the New Mexico Circle on Sovereignty and Sustainability.
The visiting panel consists of internationally known distinguished scientists including several members of the National Academy of Sciences and several Fellows of the American Physical Society.
The panel members are: Alan Bishop, director of the Theory Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Leo Kadanoff, John D. MacArtur Distinguished Service Professor in Physics and Mathematics, University of Chicago, winner, National Medal of Science; Katja Lindenberg, associate director of the Institute for Nonlinear Science, University of California at San Diego; Alan Newell, professor, University of Arizona and the University of Warwick (U.K.); Moyses Nussenzveig, mathematical physicist and optical scientist from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, member, Brazilian Academy of Sciences; and Robert Silbey, dean of the School of Science, MIT, member, National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Harold Stolberg, who is the NSF program monitor for the Consortium grant, will also attend.
On Feb. 19, the scientific workshop (http://panda.unm.edu/consort/Feb19-2004.html), which will be held in the Acoma Room in the Student Union Building, will feature talks by five panel members, and two UNM professors. The panel members will give interdisciplinary talks ranging from “Theory of Optical Tweezers” to “Theoretical Studies of Single Molecule Spectroscopy” to “Strongly Correlated Electronic Matter: the Role of Elasticity.”
Brown, a noted UNM biologist and ecologist, and Distinguished Professor, will discuss “A Metabolic Theory of Ecology,” while Brinker, a UNM professor in chemical and nuclear engineering, and member, National Academy of Engineering, will present a talk on “Self Assembly of Nanostructures.”
Posters of the scientific research of Latin American visitors to the Consortium will also be on display on various interdisciplinary topics ranging from “Mathematics of Opinion Formation” to “Microscopic Origins of Solid-solid Friction” and “Theory of the Spread of the Hantavirus Epidemic.”
The scientific workshop is free and open to the public.
On Feb. 20, the panel and other members of the scientific community, will meet with various members of the UNM administration as well as with a number of Latin American scientists from Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico who are currently visiting the Consortium.
Contact: Steve Carr (505) 277-1821
Beth Bailey, Ph.D., and acting chair of the American Studies program, and David Farber, Ph.D., Professor in the History Department , will be jointly honored in the General Library Faculty Acknowledgement Award Program on February 19, 2004 .
The husband/wife team have collaborated on many projects, including three books, “The First Strange Place: the Alchemy of Race and Sex in World War II Hawaii”; “The First Strange Place, Race and Sex in World War II Hawaii”; and “The Columbia guide to America in the 1960s.”
The Faculty Acknowledgement Award Reception will be held from 2 pm – 3 pm in the Willard Reading Room of Zimmerman Library. As a part of the reception, Professors Bailey and Farber will discuss their years of collaborating on projects in a presentation titled, “Collaborations”. This is a free event and all are welcome to attend.
Contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277-5627
Paul Stevenson “Steve” Oles, FAIA, a part time instructor in the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning, worked with internationally known architect I.M. Pei on the National Gallery of Art East Wing in Washington, D.C. from 1969 through 1971.
Acclaim and recognition for that project comes on Wednesday, March 3, when the American Institute of Architects will award the project AIA's 25-Year Award at the Accent on Architecture Gala to be held in Washington.
In 1969, Oles was a fresh young architect who, upon learning that Pei got the commission on the National Gallery's East Wing, contacted him about providing drawing services.
“The overarching point is that Pei and I got together in a serious and wonderful way under that commission. I am still working with him , and we are good personal friends,” said Oles.
Pei liked Oles' drawings; they are now in the archives of the National Gallery. “It was the offer of a lifetime that couldn't be refused. Seven people were on the design team working over the course of two and a half to three years in the design and development of the project. I had to bring all those ideas and concepts together in the drawings,” Oles recalled. Oles used the drawings in a textbook he wrote, “Architectural Illustration,” published in 1979. “An original drawing depicting the exterior of the National Gallery is on the front cover. The rear jacket features a photograph of the gallery as built,” he said.
Of Oles' association with UNM, Andy Pressman, director of the architecture program, said, “We were very fortunate to recruit perhaps the most talented perspectivist in the world to teach a week-long course, “Hybrid Visualization,” that was recently co-sponsored by AIA/Albuquerque. Steve has donated to us some of his beautiful renderings commissioned by such luminaries as Pritzker Prize and AIA Gold-Medalist Richard Meier.
We look forward to continuing a most fruitful relationship between Steve, the architecture program and our students.”
Oles is a practicing architect, experienced teacher and highly regarded perspectivist. As an architect, his work in housing and energy-efficient design has been widely recognized and published. He has taught at RISD, Yale, MIT and Harvard, where he was also a Loeb Fellow in Advanced Environmental Studies.
A co-founder of the American Society of Architectural Perspectivists, he is the author of numerous articles and two major books on architectural illustration, and has lectured and exhibited worldwide. In 1989, he was advanced to the AIA College of Fellows, which described him as “the dean of architectural illustrators in America.” In 1996 he won the Hugh Ferriss Memorial Prize for his pencil drawing of a Paris office tower, designed by Henry N. Cobb, FAIA.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920
Panelists will discuss the American Indian Movement (AIM) in two separate forums at Zimmerman Library on February 19, 2004.
Discussion will focus on the panelists experience at AIM campaigns in the early 1970's such as the Trail of Broken Treaties, BIA building takeover, Wounded Knee Standoff in 1973, the Navajo Fairchild plant incident in 1975, and the Longest Walk demonstration in 1978. Panel members will also discuss their current projects.
The first event is a brown bag lunch from noon to 1pm in Room 102 at Zimmerman Library. The second program is a formal panel discussion from 4 pm to 6 pm in the Willard Reading Room of Zimmerman.
The panelists bring a wide variety of experience to the discussion.
Larry Foster is Dine, a life long member of the Native American Church of Navajoland, an Indian Civil Rights campaign supporter, Native American Religious Freedom Act advocate, and a participant in AIM campaigns from 1972 through 1978.
Lenny Foster is Dine, and the program supervisor for the Corrections project within the Navajo Nation Department of Behavioral Health Services in Window Rock, Arizona. He is a spiritual advisor for approximately two thousand Navajo and Native American inmates in 96 state prisons and federal penitentiaries across the United States. He participated in campaigns with AIM from 1969-1980.
Susan Shown Harjo, from the Cheyenne Nation and Muscogee Creek Tribe, is head of the Morning Star Institute in Washington D.C, and is a longtime participant with AIM.
Frances Wise has worked on various Native American causes and issues throughout her lifetime, and participated in several AIM campaigns.
The program is funded by the Center for Regional Studies, Native American Studies, American Studies, the History Department and the Office of the Provost. It is sponsored by the UNM General Library, Center for Southwest Research/Special Collections.
Contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277-5627
Douglas Geist and Eric Larson, adjunct faculty in the University of New Mexico Department of Music, were honored at Sunday night's Grammy Awards for their work as sound engineers on the album "Black Eagle - Flying Free," which received the award for Best Album in the Native American music category.
The album was recorded and mixed by Geist, principal/engineer-producer, and mastered by Larson, at the Santa Fe Center Studios in Albuquerque. The album was recorded by The Soar Corporation and produced by Tom Bee.
Geist and Larson teach recording courses for the music department at the studios. Larson also teaches an advanced digital course with Assistant Professor of Music Patrice Repar on main campus.
Geist said this is his first Grammy. A variety of instruments are heard on the album, he noted, including large and small drums and even the sounds of tiny metals jangling from Native American dresses used in traditional dance.
"We're excited because it gives a nod to the whole process, which is uniquely New Mexico," Geist said. "We borrowed from the old and the new to create this album."
Santa Fe Center Studios has two control rooms, a delay/reverberant chamber and six isolation chambers providing varied acoustic qualities.
"In the process of recording and mixing this album, the ambient effects were produced only from these rooms, keeping the sonic quality of this album completely organic and customized to their material," Geist said.
Contact: Laurie Mellas-Ramirez (505) 277-5915
More than 500 people have pre-registered for the 75th annual convention of the Western States Communication Association to be held in Albuquerque Feb. 13-17.
Local host Ken Frandsen, professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at the University of New Mexico, said the 500 advance registrations is the largest number of advance bookings that the conference has attracted in the past 15 years.
"This tells me that Albuquerque is a very attractive destination," Frandsen said.
Dr. Myron W. "Ron" Lustig, president-elect of the association, organized the conference around the theme "Widening Our Circle." Lustig said the theme is "designed to encourage us to focus on issues of inclusiveness of the individuals we teach and serve, of the ideas we research and apply, of the methodologies we accept and encourage, of the practices we value and espouse, and of the people we welcome and invite."
Lustig teaches at San Diego State University.
Two top researchers in the area of ethnic studies will be major speakers.
Dr. Ronald Takaki, a leader in the study of the future of the United States as a multicultural society, will deliver the convention kick-off presentation Saturday, Feb. 14. He will present his speech, "Widening Our Circle: Multicultural America," at 5:30 p.m. in the Sendero III room at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The grandson of Japanese plantation workers who immigrated to Hawaii, he has been a professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, for more than 30 years.
In his speech, Takaki said, he will "challenge the master narrative of American history - the pervasive but mistaken story that our country was settled by European immigrants and that Americans are white or European in ancestry. Why is a multicultural alternative narrative needed today? The war against international terrorism has been generating fears of difference and diversity in the world and also within our society. Also the 21st century has been witnessing a tremendous expansion of our nation's racial and ethnic diversity. The 2000 Census has revealed that Americans of European origins have become a minority in California - like African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans. What has happened in the Golden State will happen across the country by 2060. Indeed, we will all be minorities."
Takaki is the author of a book titled "A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America." Publishers Weekly called it "a brilliant revisionist history of America that is likely to become a classic of multicultural studies." He also has written "Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans," which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
Dr. Michael Omi, who chairs the department of ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley, will deliver the keynote address for the conference on Sunday. His speech, "Rethinking the Language of Race and Racism," will be presented in the Pavilion at the Hyatt Regency at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
Omi, along with Howard Winant, is the author of "Racial Formation in the United States" and numerous articles on racial theory and politics. He has written extensively on racial stratification, racist and anti-racist social movements, and the racial and ethnic categories used in the U.S. census.
In addition to several speeches and organizational meetings, the conference will have about 140 panel presentations and discussions of academic research papers.
The Western States Communication Association includes New Mexico, Washington, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Utah and Hawaii.
But local host Frandsen said the conference each year attracts a substantial number of communication researchers and teachers from other states as well. "This conference is attended by more people from outside the region than any other regional communication conference in the country," Frandsen said.
Additional information is available at: www.westcomm.org.
Contact: Laurie Mellas-Ramirez (505) 277-5915
It’s a well-known fact that alcohol and drug addiction can lead to devastating results. There are many treatment methods available to users. However, those individuals associated with addicts often find little or few alternatives for themselves in coping with and trying to help their loved ones who are addicted.
Dr. Robert Meyers, a research assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions (CASAA) at the University of New Mexico and associate director of the LifeLink Training Institute in Santa Fe, hopes to change all that with his new book, Get Your Loved One Sober: Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading and Threatening (Hazelden Publishing and Educational Services).
Co-written by Brenda Wolfe, a clinical psychologist specializing in the treatment of substance abuse, eating disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder, Meyers and Wolfe provide basic guidelines for spouses, parents or children of problem drinkers or drug users to improve the quality of their own lives while making sobriety a more rewarding option for their loved ones than drinking or taking drugs.
The book, based on the scientifically validated CRAFT (Community Reinforcement and Family Training) model created by Meyers, Get Your Loved One Sober provides the guidance and tools to recognize how you and your loved one interact and to change those patterns to achieve healthier and happier results.
Meyers feels the main difference in the success of CRAFT is the involvement of family members as part of the overall treatment.
“This book is for consumers,” Meyers said. “We want to help family members of users who are at their wits end with no place to go. We teach several things in the book. We teach family members how to stay safe, how to take care of themselves and how to gently persuade their user to enter treatment. We want family members of the users to lead fuller and more balanced lives even if the user never enters treatment.
“Part of the unique aspect is that we found that people who go through the program reduce a lot of their negative psychological problems such as depression, anger and anxiety,” Meyers said.
Meyers created the CRAFT approach to treating patients with alcohol and substance abuse problems more than 25 years ago. It’s an alcohol and drug treatment method that has gained a reputation for its success over the past several decades.
“The community reinforcement approach has never had a negative clinical trial, when we’ve tested it (CRAFT) against other methods,” says Meyers. “This mode of treatment is designed to help a family member motivate a treatment-resistant substance user to enter treatment.”
In a recent clinical trial, CRAFT had a 65 percent success rate getting people into treatment when tested against the Johnson Institute’s Intervention Method and Alcoholics Anonymous, which had success rates of 29 and 13 percent respectively.
Meyers has been at CASAA for the past 17 years and has been involved in addiction treatment for more than 27 years.
Contact: Steve Carr (505) 277-1821
The University of New Mexico's Foreign Languages and Literatures Department features its fifth annual World Language Expo, Saturday, March 6, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. in Ortega Hall on the UNM campus.
Participants will get passports to explore many familiar languages - Spanish, Chinese, French, Japanese, German, Latin, Italian, Greek, Russian, Indonesian, Hindi, Esperanto, Czech, Swahili and Portuguese - and also some unfamiliar ones, Wolof, Lingala and Welsh.
If something otherworldly is appealing, learn Tolkien's elvish language - Quenya! Rounding out the morning's events includes Do Tai Chi, salsa and sevillanas dancing, chocolate truffle making, pétanque, Chinese calligraphy, origami, Manga drawing and lots more.
Students from across the state are scheduled to attend. Admission is $2. For more information, contact Marina Peters-Newell at 277-0525 or mpnewell@unm.edu.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920
The University of New Mexico’s Chapter of Sigma Xi and the Scientific Research Society will present a Science and Society Series talk featuring noted Professor Richard Shavelson from Stanford.
The lecture, “What We’re Measuring and Not Measuring in Science Achievement: Consequences for Teaching and Learning” will be held Thursday, Feb. 12, beginning at 5 p.m. at the UNM Conference Center, room G, located at 1634 University Blvd., N.E.
Shavelson’s research is in the area of social science measurement and evaluation methods, psychometrics and related policy and practice issues. He works closely with teachers and scientists in the development of performance and assessments in science education and their evaluation along psychometric, cost, classroom use and social impact lines. His policy work focuses on assessment of learning in higher education and the quest for accountability.
Shavelson is the former president of the American Educational Research Association, a member of the National Academy of Education and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The Distinguished Public Talks Series is co-sponsored by the Offices of the Vice Presidents for Research and for Health Sciences, the College of Arts & Sciences, the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the Division of Continuing Education, School of Engineering and the Albuquerque Section of the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers.
The Distinguished Public Talks series is free and open to the public. Free parking will also be available. Refreshments will be served beginning at 4:30 p.m.
Contact: Steve Carr (505) 277-1821
Jane Fedor is the new Director of Licensing, Life Sciences at the UNM Science and Technology Corporation. Lisa Kuuttila, President and CEO of STC says, "Jane will be a valuable addition to STC and brings scientific expertise, industry business development and university technology commercialization experience to the position."
Fedor has extensive experience in the biotech/biomedical field. She worked in the San Francisco bay area for more than 20 years in positions involving technology transfer, biomedical research, and business development. She holds a BA in Chemistry, an MS in Biology from Washington University and an MBA.
During her career Fedor has been associated with Inhale Therapeutic Systems, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Applied Biosystems, Hoefer Scientific Instruments and the University of California San Francisco Office of Technology Management.
"I am very pleased to be joining STC during this period of continuing growth in life science research at UNM," says Fedor. "I look forward to finding commercial partners for the development of UNM innovations and discoveries into service and products that will benefit patients and their families."
Contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277-5627
Dr. William G. Tierney, the Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of Higher Education at the University of Southern California, will give two talks at the University of New Mexico on Wednesday, Feb. 18, on current and future trends in American higher education. The talks are free and open to the public.
The first talk, "Diversity and Access to Higher Education" asks: How can access to higher education be assured to students from diverse backgrounds? This presentation will take place from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the UNM College of Education Technology Center, Room 201.
In the second talk, "Challenge and Promise in the 21st Century American University and the Changing Role of the Faculty," Tierney will suggest ways colleges and universities can become more productive and responsive to community needs.
He will also focus upon the faculty's role in the governance of the universities of the future. This presentation will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. in the UNM Student Union, Ballroom C, followed by a reception.
Tierney holds advanced degrees from Harvard and Stanford universities and has taught at Pennsylvania State University. He worked with the Peace Corps in Morocco, as a Fulbright Scholar in Central America and Australia and as dean of a Native American community college in North Dakota.
Tierney 's publications include "Building the Responsive Campus: Creating High Performance Colleges and Universities" and "Increasing Access to College: Extending Possibility for All Students."
His visit is co-sponsored by the UNM Faculty Senate, the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost, the College of Education, the Office of Advancement and the UNM Chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920
The University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning presents distinguished author and Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin, Frederick Steiner, on Friday, Feb. 13 at 4:30 p.m. in room 2018 of the UNM Center for the Arts building. The lecture is presented as part of the John Gaw Meem Lecture Series.
Steiner, an environmental planning expert whose research has influenced National Park Service and Arizona's development and preservation policies, presents "Design and Planning for the First Urban Century."
From 1993 to 1999, Steiner served on the board of trustees of the Desert Botanical Garden and chaired the long-range planning committee for the garden, which produced a new master plan in 1998 that led to a $16 million capital development campaign.
Steiner was the recipient of the Rome Prize Fellowship in Historic Preservation and Conservation at the American Academy in Rome in 1998. He is currently on the board of directors for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Steiner, who received his Ph.D. and master's degrees in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania, also earned a master's in Community Planning from the University of Cincinnati.
Steiner authored several books including "Human Ecology: Following Nature's Lead," "The Living Landscape," and "To Heal the Earth."
The lecture is free and open to the public.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920
University of New Mexico Vice President for Student Affairs Eliseo Torres, Ph.D. is hosting educators from private and public schools from several communities in Mexico on campus next week. The group is working with Torres to set up a special summer program for high school juniors, seniors, and recent graduates from Mexico.
"We hope to attract more than 50 students to the campus this summer from Mexico," says Torres. "We will assess their language skills, work with them in small groups and as individuals to prepare them for enrolling in college in the United States, especially at UNM." The university has only a small number of Mexican students, but Torres hopes that by working with Mexican educators, he can find a way to increase that number. Mexican universities normally combine high school and college age students in one institution. That is only one of many cultural differences in higher education between the two countries.
Torres visited several communities in Mexico last September to find contacts willing to introduce their students to UNM. Now many of the educators he met with will visit the campus to get a better idea of what the university might offer. He will host educators from Mexico City, Juarez, Cuernavaca, Cuidad
Chihuahua, Guadalajara, and Monterrey.
The three week summer program will cost the students about $1,500. During that time, they will live in the dorms, take classes and travel in the region on supervised field trips. The school officials will be visiting campus on Feb. 9 and 10, and the student bridge program will be held from July 11-31, 2004.
Contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277-5627
The University of New Mexico’s Department of Geography will host a lecture by Kurt Menke, a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialist with the Earth Data Analysis Center (EDAC).
In his lecture titled, “Conservation GIS in New Mexico,” Menke will discuss the role of Geographic Information Systems and Geospatial Analysis in Conservation in New Mexico.
The lecture will be held Tuesday, Feb. 10, from 7 to 8 p.m. at the UNM Science and Technology Research Park auditorium located at 800 Bradbury S.E. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Menke’s numerous projects at EDAC range from local to global and cover a broad range of topics including transportation, communications, natural resource management and health care.
Menke also works independently with several non-profit conservation groups focusing on GIS as it applies to ecological conservation initiatives. He has worked with the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, the Wildlands Project, The Re-Wilding Institute, the Border Cats Working Group, the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project and Forest Guardians, helping them to design maps and conduct spatial analyses to promote their conservation efforts.
Recent accomplishments include the completion of a statewide Bureau of Land Management Wilderness Inventory document that included more than 200 detailed maps and numerous statistics, completion of the New Mexico Highlands Wildlands Network Vision and the Southern Rockies Wildlands Network Vision. Menke also currently serves as Secretary of the New Mexico Geographic Information Council.
Contact: Steve Carr (505) 277-1821
Samantha Phillips, a University of New Mexico senior majoring in music education, qualified for the final round of the National Opera Association competition in Kansas City, Mo., in late January.
Phillips was one of only six finalists chosen this year to compete in the scholarship division of the NOA competition. Competing in the NOA is not new to Phillips; she placed in the top six last year. Her division's age range included people 18-24, with Phillips among the youngest
"I made the finals last year as well. I feel so thankful to have been a part of this competition two years in a row," Phillips said.
Phillips performed lead roles in several major productions here at UNM including the role of 'Pasasha' in Igor Stravinsky's "Mavra" and 'The Countess' in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro." She will be performing the title role of Martha in F. Von Flotow's production in late April.
"I feel so blessed to have studied with such great teachers in the music department, and I have been given so much opportunity to succeed here at UNM," Phillips said.
Phillips plans to do her student teaching in music education in May 2005, after which she plans to audition for graduate school and The Young Artists Program.
Contact: Pablo Seifert (505) 277-5813
In response to the Feb. 4 announcement by University of Texas Regents authorizing planning for a potential bid to operate Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the University of New Mexico is determined to keep all of its options open.
University of Texas Regents' advisors indicated they would be approaching New Mexico universities about a collaboration on the potential bid. UNM administrators say it is too soon to make any commitments.
"The University of New Mexico is not committed to any potential bidders at this time," says UNM President Louis Caldera. "The University does currently have a formal relationship with Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of California that supports UNM's academic and economic development goals, including technology transfer. We believe that no bid can succeed that does not further the relationship between UNM, LANL, and the lab's managing partner institution."
In October 2003, Caldera and LANL Director Pete Nanos signed a formal memorandum of understanding, which underscores continued cooperation between the two institutions and opens up new research and employment opportunities for the University. Along with greater opportunities for collaborative research and student programs, the MOU establishes a UNM/LANL Joint Science and Technology Laboratory and a Collaborative Research Program encompassing the areas of bioscience, materials, quantum information science, and computer science.
The University of New Mexico is the largest research and degree granting university in the state with an enrollment of more than 25-thousand students. It is a Carnegie Research/Doctoral Extensive institution with a budget of $1.4 billion. Contract and grant funding in FY 2003 exceeded $255 million.
Contact: Susan McKinsey (505) 277-1989
What was life like in central and southern Mexico before the Europeans landed on the continent? How did people live and govern themselves? What part did religion play in their lives?
You can now see how the peoples of Mexico recorded their own history in an exhibition of codices on display in the Hertzstein Room on the second floor of Zimmerman Library.
The exhibit, "Mesoamerican Codices and Their Depictions: History Recorded, History Erased" will be on display throughout the spring semester. The codices are pictographic manuscripts that were created by the Mesoamerican people on either on long strips of material or on single panels.
The manuscripts graphically depict plants and animals, scenes of historic importance, and descriptions of gods and religious ceremonies, along with a series of symbols that furnish specific information about the scenes.
At the beginning of the Spanish conquest and colonization of the Mesoamerican people, the codices were routinely destroyed as the Spanish sought to remold indigenous life and society.
As a result, only a small number of codices exist from the pre-Columbian period. The exhibit features a facsimile of one of these, the "Códice Boturini," that describes aspects of tribal history in the valley of Mexico.
There are also a number of codices that were produced as the Spanish began to learn more about the codices manuscripts and value them for their use in settling matters of government.
One codex on display is a petition from members of an Indian community, asking the Spanish authorities to allow them to expand the amount of irrigated land in the community. Other codices show animals common to the area, and scenes from everyday life.
"This exhibit is meant to showcase a part of our collection that people might not be familiar with," says Russ Davidson, Curator of Latin American and Iberian Collections. "It should be of particular interest to pre-Columbianists, ethnohistorians, and others who want to know more about the early contact period. It is also an opportunity to learn more about the rich diversity in Mesoamerica."
This exhibit is the latest in a continuing series of exhibits organized by the UNM General Library's Division of Iberian and Latin American Resources and Services. The Division manages the extensive Latin American collection which contains nearly 45-thousand books and pamphlets, half a million microforms, and large holdings of rare and unique prints, posters, manuscripts, and related material.
Contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277-5627
Exagen Diagnostics, Inc., an emerging leader in the discovery and development of practical prognostic genomic markers for serious diseases, has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with the University of New Mexico's Science and Technology Corporation (STC).
STC licenses innovative technology developed at UNM, including therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices and drug discovery tools. The agreement gives Exagen exclusive rights to several patents for a novel FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) process developed at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center.
Exagen is in the process of developing a breast cancer prognostic that will help physicians determine which newly diagnosed patients should consider aggressive treatment.
Exagen is also developing hepatitis C prognostics that will identify patients who are most likely to develop liver disease and patients who are most likely to respond to treatment with interferon and ribarivan.
The company discovers genomic markers and turns them into practical FISH tests. The test reagents will be distributed through large diagnostic laboratories with broad reach.
"We believe that this FISH technology is an excellent fit for the products that Exagen is developing and we are very pleased to be able to license this technology in New Mexico," says Lisa Kuuttila, president and CEO of STC. "UNM alumna and Exagen CEO Waneta Tuttle is the kind of serial entrepreneur we need in New Mexico and we believe she has put together an outstanding company with Exagen Diagnostics."
For many years, FISH has been a widely used, powerful and versatile tool for the detection and localization of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) within cell or tissue preparations.
UNM researchers have discovered a faster, less expensive way to take DNA apart, label DNA segments of interest, and put it back together. Donald M. Thompson, science research administrator in the Obstetrics and Gynecology department at the UNM Health Sciences Center, and Gloria Sarto, M.D., formerly a member of the faculty in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, developed the technology as a diagnostic tool to improve detection of specific DNA information in fetal cells.
"When combined with Exagen's own FISH-related inventions, the licensed technology provides the assay format for our prognostic genomic markers," says Waneta Tuttle, Ph.D., president and CEO of Exagen Diagnostics. "It's an exciting and very powerful diagnostics tool that allows us to conduct patient testing using familiar, multiplexed fluorescent FISH assays instead of the more cumbersome and expensive alternative methods."
Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
About Exagen Diagnostics, Inc.
Exagen's mission is to enable better treatment choices for cancer and chronic infectious diseases through discovery and commercialization of accurate and practical prognostic tests. Exagen is developing products for disease prognosis and therapy management that are expected to significantly improve clinical outcomes.
About Science and Technology Corporation University of New Mexico
The Science and Technology Corporation is a nonprofit corporation owned exclusively by UNM to protect and transfer faculty inventions to the commercial marketplace.
Contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277-5627
The University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning presents San Francisco landscape architect Mary Margaret Jones, who will lecture and present, “Projects of Process and Place,” on Friday, Feb. 6, at 4:30 p.m. in the UNM Center for the Arts, room 2018. Jones is the John Gaw Meem visiting lecturer
Senior principal and president of Hargreaves Associates, Jones is the 1998 Prince Charitable Trusts Fellow of the American Academy in Rome and a visiting critic in landscape architecture at the Harvard Design School.
Hargreaves Associates, with offices in Cambridge, Mass., New York City and San Francisco, have received numerous national and international awards for innovative design work. As principal-in-charge, Jones and Hargreaves completed the Sydney Olympics 2000 Public Domain and the University of Cincinnati Master Plan. A current project is the Native American Cultural Center & Museum in Oklahoma City.
The lecture is free and open to the public
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920