(Detailed Offshoring Study Assesses Rapid Changes Driven by Information Technology)
In a study released by ACM recently, the Association for Computing Machinery, a team of internationally recognized computer scientists, industry leaders, labor economists and social scientists cited educational policy and investment in research and development as critical elements for countries to stay competitive in today's global environment for Information Technology (IT).
Photo: School of Public Administration Professor and Regents’ Lecturer Roli Varma
The study acknowledged that global competition in higher-end technology-based skills, such as research, is increasing. It concluded that policies designed to improve a country's ability to attract, educate and retain the best IT talent are necessary to foster innovation and remain competitive in the global environment.
The University of New Mexico School of Public Administration Professor and Regents’ Lecturer Roli Varma was a member of the ACM taskforce.
“It was an honor to participate in such a high-level taskforce,” said Varma. “ACM was interested in having diverse views on the subject. I brought an international angle as well as expertise as a social scientist who has studied new immigrants in the U.S. workforce, women and minorities in information technology education, and management of industrial research and development.”
Varma attended and participated in the working meetings, which were held in Chicago, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and New York between 2004 and 2005. She also served on a subcommittee on research with Juris Hartmanis, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and Richard C. Walters, the president of the U.S. operations for a Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories.
“The sub-committee on research analyzed globalization of information technology research and produced a chapter on it,” said Varma. “I also used resources and contacts in the U.S. and in India to help the project succeed.
“Since its release on Friday, the study has drawn extensive media coverage including in the New York Times, Newsweek and CNN,” said Varma.
Titled "Globalization and Offshoring of Software," the study noted that rapid advances in information technology itself have fueled globalization trends in the software industry as well as government action and economic factors.
"We changed the world," said Moshe Y. Vardi, co-chair of the study group and director of the Computer and Information Technology Institute at Rice University. “Now, it is changing us."
Vardi cited the wide availability of low-cost, high-bandwidth telecommunications and standardized software platforms and applications as well as digitalization of work processes as driving factors.
"But we also have identified the keys to continued innovation and invention, which will sustain competitiveness in this global environment," he added. The complete Globalization and Offshoring of Software Report as well as the Executive Summary and Findings, Overview, Bibliography and Task Force Member list are available at: http://www.acm.org/globalizationreport.
With a comprehensive approach, the study considered nearly a dozen case studies of diverse firms facing offshoring challenges. The study team members conducted an extensive review of available data and literature on offshoring and outsourcing, and heard in-person accounts from many international experts.
IT Jobs Outlook Brightens
The study found that, despite intensifying competition, offshoring between developed and developing countries can benefit both parties. The study cited data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which indicates that more IT jobs are available today in the U.S. than at the height of the dot.com boom. This trend is evident despite a significant increase in offshoring over the past five years. In fact, U.S. IT employment in 2004 was 17 percent higher than in 1999, and the BLS data reveals that IT jobs are predicted to be among the fastest-growing occupations over the next decade.
The report found that IT workers and students can improve their chances of long-term employment in IT occupations by acquiring a strong educational foundation, learning the technologies used in global software, and keeping skills up to date throughout their careers.
Other steps the report deemed necessary for fostering the next generation of innovation include:
· Sustaining or strengthening technical training and education systems
· Sustaining or increasing investment in research and development
· Establishing governmental policies that eliminate barriers to the free flow of talent
William A. Wulf, president of the National Academy of Engineering, noted the unique international perspective provided by the ACM report.
"It provides a deeper understanding of the trends and forces driving globalization and offshore outsourcing of software. It also offers significant value for those shaping the policies, priorities, and investments of countries that intend to be part of the global software-systems-services industry," said Wulf, vice chair of the National Research Council, the principal operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering.
The study also found that global competition in higher-end skills, such as research, is increasing. Many companies, the study reports, have established research centers in multiple countries, although most retain strong research operations in their home country. The report also pointed to an increase in total worldwide investment in research and wider distribution of research activities around the world.
The ACM study cited many reasons for locating certain operations in specific countries, from political to linguistic and cultural to economic. In some cases, the study notes, creating collaborations outside the U.S. is often facilitated by offshore operations, but offshoring does not always result in downsizing one part of a company and building another. Offshoring can result in growing business worldwide, working globally, and creating a climate of innovation that can produce a substantial number of new jobs, including many that are high on the value chain.
Daniel T. Ling, corporate vice president for Microsoft Research, cited the report's confirmation that the U.S. faces long-term challenges from falling interest and skills in math and science programs in its primary education system.
"The perception that employment opportunities in software and related technologies are vanishing has led to a significant drop in enrollment in IT educational programs, which will in turn lead to shortages in highly trained and qualified professionals in the future. This report helps to raise awareness of the realities that face industry, students, educators and policy makers, and is important reading to advance the discussion of these issues."
The ACM report concluded that the future depends on the nation's commitment to acknowledging the challenges of the global environment. The brightness of the future for individuals, companies, or countries rests on their ability to invest in building the foundations that foster innovation and invention, the report said.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
The University of New Mexico has announced the following three finalists for the position of Director of Athletics: Rick Hartzell, Athletics Director, Northern Iowa University; Paul Krebs, Assistant Vice President / Athletics Director, Bowling Green State University; and Jim Schaus, Athletics Director, Wichita State University.
Interviews will be conducted in Albuquerque between March 3-7 by a broad-based list of constituents: alumni, Board of Regents, university faculty and staff, Lobo Club members, coaches and media.
Krebs' press conference will take place Friday, March 3 at Embassy Suites; Hartzell's is scheduled for Monday, March 6; and Schaus is slated for Tuesday, March 7. The press conferences for Krebs and Schaus will be held at the Embassy Suites, while Hartzell's will be held at the Hilton Hotel. All three press conferences are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Faculty and staff are welcomed to attend.
After the interviews have been completed, David Harris, acting president of the University of New Mexico, and the University of New Mexico Board of Regents, will select the Lobos' 12th athletics director.
"We've been very pleased with the hiring process," said Dr. Breda Bova, senior advisor to the UNM President. "We feel we have identified three candidates who are very qualified to lead the school's athletics department. We want to thank John Kasser for his guidance and consultation during the process. We also appreciate the time and diligence of the search committee for reviewing all of the applicants. We look forward to the upcoming interviews."
The University of New Mexico is seeking an athletics director to replace Rudy Davalos, who announced his retirement Oct. 11 after more than 13 years of service.
Rick Hartzell, Athletics Director, Northern Iowa University
Athletics Director at Northern Iowa since Aug. 9, 1999
Academics
* Northern Iowa student-athletes combined for 3.08 grade-point-average following the 2004 spring semester and the department’s most recent graduation rate is the best in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC)...Hartzell helped guide the university through a successful NCAA certification process
Fundraising/Facilities
* Construction is near completion on the McLeod Center, a new arena that will house the men's and women's basketball, volleyball and wrestling teams...the UNI-Dome and future McLeod Center will also be venues for concerts and special events to help generate revenue for the program
* Construction begins April 15 on a $9 million Human Performance Center
* Constructed a new football locker room and weight room, plus enhancements to the Mark Messersmith Outdoor track and field complex
Sports / Competition
* The Northern Iowa football team has claimed three conference titles in the past five years
* The UNI men's basketball team is ranked tied for 25th in the most recent Associated Press poll...UNI is 22-7 overall and 11-6 in the MVC...the Panthers qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2004 and ‘05
* The women's volleyball team has won six of the past eight MVC titles, and advanced to the Sweet 16 three times since 2000...the men's indoor track team has won six straight league championships
General
* Current vice-president of the Missouri Valley Conference administrators and chair of the MVC Sportsmanship and Officiating Committee
* NCAA men's basketball official since 1986
* Director of Athletics, Bucknell, 1988-99
* Director of Athletics and Chairman of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, 1985-88
* A 1974 graduate of Northern Iowa with a bachelor's degree in Physical Education and English, and a member of the football and baseball teams...master's degree from UNI in 1977 in Educational Administration...completed all but his doctoral dissertation in Higher Education Administration from the University of Iowa
* Wife (Jill), son (Nate, 24) and daughter (Amanda, 22)
Paul Krebs, Assistant Vice President / Athletics Director, Bowling Green State University
Athletics Director at Bowling Green since March 15, 1999
Academic
* A 76% graduation rate in the latest NCAA report is the highest in school history and the highest in the Mid-American Conference (MAC)
Fundraising / Facilities
* BGSU is in the middle of an $18 million capital campaign for athletics as part of an overall university capital campaign targeted at $110 million
* Krebs acquired a $3.5 million gift, the single highest donation ever given to the BGSU athletics department
* Currently building an $8.7 million student-athlete center with a weight room and training room for all student-athletes, plus team meeting rooms and coaches offices for football
Sports / Competition
* The BGSU football program has enjoyed its most successful five-year period in school history, compiling a 43-17 record from 2001-05...BGSU won consecutive bowl games (2003-04) for only the second time in school history and was ranked No. 16 in the nation during the 2003 season
* A total of 12 BGSU football games were nationally televised (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2) between 2003-05
* Through games of Feb. 22, the BGSU women's basketball team was 23-2, ranked 25th in the nation in the coaches' poll and has clinched the MAC East Division title with a 14-0 record
* The BGSU women's soccer team has won consecutive MAC titles
General
* A member of the NCAA Baseball Committee
* Senior Associate Athletics Director, The Ohio State University, 1993-99
* Ticket Director, University of Oklahoma, 1983-85
* A 1978 graduate of Bowling Green with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration
* Master's degree in Athletic Administration from Ohio State in 1981
* Wife (Marjori), a daughter (Taylor, 16) and a son (Jacob, 12)
Jim Schaus (rhymes with house), Athletics Director, Wichita State University
Athletics Director at Wichita State since July 1, 1999
Academics
* An 88% graduation rate in the latest NCAA report...this rate is based on student-athletes that have completed their eligibility at WSU...student-athletes at WSU have combined for a 3.0 grade-point-average every semester of his tenure there
Fundraising/Facilities
* Secured private funding for the $25 million Roundhouse Renaissance project, addressing the primary facility needs for the WSU athletics department...the facility includes an arena for basketball and volleyball, locker rooms, weight room, training room, student services building, academic center and athletic department offices
* WSU has established all-time records in all revenue areas, including $2.2 million in annual giving...Schaus orchestrated nearly $35 million in new facilities construction and secured the largest outright gift in university history ($6 million)
Sports / Competition
* Wichita State won the Missouri Valley Conference all-sports trophy in 2003-04 and 2004-05...WSU was 7th in Schaus' first season
* The men's basketball team is currently 22-7 overall and leading the MVC with a 13-4 record...the team has had 14 sellouts this year
* Four programs are nationally ranked in attendance
General
* A member of the NCAA Committee for Academic Performance
* Previous athletic administration positions at Oregon, Cincinnati, UTEP and Northern Illinois
* Director of Marketing, Washington Redskins, 1983-86
* A 1983 graduate of Purdue University with a bachelor's degree in Communications with an emphasis in Journalism and Public Relations
* Master's degree in Athletic Administration from West Virginia University in 1987
* Son of Fred Schaus, former head men's basketball coach at Purdue and West Virginia, and former head coach and vice-president of the Los Angeles Lakers...was also athletics director at West Virginia
* Wife (Priscilla), son (Kevin, 18) and daughters (Diane, 16, and Laura, 14)
Contact: Greg Remington, (505) 925-5525; e-mail: gregrem@unm.edu
A recent article published by the Geological Society of America featuring the research of UNM Professor Peter Fawcett and former graduate student Peter Castiglia, who is now a geologist with SWCA Environmental Consultants, presents evidence that El Niño-mediated winter storms are more important than previously suspected for controlling moisture availability in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands region.
The research describes results or evidence of a mid-Holocene wet climate episode not recognized in any other record from southwestern North America. The Holocene is generally recognized as the last 10,000 years of Earth’s history.
“Contrary to the current paradigm for climate in the region, our results establish that Holocene moisture availability is not solely controlled by summer monsoon precipitation. We’re helping to redefine a 50-year-old paradigm of climate conditions in this area over the last 10,000 years,” said Castiglia.
“Our main finding is that millennially spaced wet periods have caused currently dry basins in the Chihuahuan Desert to fill with regionally unprecedented amounts of water several times over the last 10,000 years,” he said.
A comparison that people in New Mexico can identify with is the size of these lakes. They had an area approximately 51 times the surface area of an almost full Elephant Butte Reservoir and spanned the border between the United States and Mexico. During a period that was previously thought to have warmer temperatures than present, one lake had 1.5 times the surface area of an almost full Elephant Butte reservoir.
The research studied lake level variations preserved as well-defined beach ridges in the Laguna El Fresnal and Laguna Santa Maria sub-basins in northern Mexico. The millennially spaced episodes of increased precipitation are punctuated by periods wet enough to establish large pluvial lakes (those formed by abundant rainfall) in the currently dry basins in the Chihuahuan Desert. The area encompasses a critical climatic boundary region between the subtropics and the middle latitudes.
“We were surprised the lakes were so young,” said Castiglia. “We didn’t know lakes this large could exist at this time. The strong correlation with other wet and cold events documented in records from outside the monsoon moisture system shows that winter storms played a more important role in controlling regional climate than previously suspected. Understanding the magnitude, frequency, and mode of moisture trends in the borderlands region is a central component for water management policy and climate change research.”
Using a lake-level record from a closed basin in the modern North American monsoon moisture period, Castiglia and Fawcett reconstructed changes in wet and dry periods. A series of lake high stands in the United States and Mexico borderlands region is synchronous with ice rafting events in the North Atlantic and glacial advances throughout the western United States, as well as wet and cold intervals recorded in other sediments, tree rings, and ice cores.
The few existing records examining climate change from this same region lack sufficient detail and resolution to establish that winter storms are important for driving millennial-scale climate oscillations in this semiarid region of North America, he says.
According to the research, the findings dramatically alter the climatic framework used by geologists reconstructing past climate change, archaeologists describing human responses to environmental change, and water managers tasked with balancing environmental, agricultural, and urban water needs in drought-stressed southwestern North America.
“Understanding the magnitude, frequency and mode of moisture trends throughout the U.S. – Mexico Transboundary region is a central component of the numerous federal programs concerned with climate change research,” said Castiglia.
Federal agencies tasked with developing long-term water management plans for the borderlands region include the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, International Boundary and Water Commission, and Comisión Nacional del Agua of Mexico. This record will allow policy makers and water managers to identify historic wet intervals and place the present drought conditions in the context of the last 10,000 years.
“This is the first of what I hope leads to other studies of hydrology of the systems involved,” said Castiglia. “I hope it can be linked to regional archaeological evidence of human migration patterns. The key step is to use these field data to test climate models as a basis for sound policy decisions related to resource-management in the region.”
The research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation, Los Alamos National Laboratories and UNM.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Tribal Homes Benefit Through Alternative Energy Use
A University of New Mexico Board of Regents member is recognized in a new book profiling women engineers. Sandra Begay-Campbell is included in the book "Changing Our World: True Stories of Women Engineers." The book was launched at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. on Feb. 21 and is published by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Photo: UNM Regent Sandra Begay-Campbell
Begay-Campbell is included in the chapter "Women in Power." The book describes her effort to provide electricity through solar panels and other alternative energy solutions to hundreds of remote tribal members on the Navajo Reservation.
"I get to work with my own native people. I give them a new way to think about having electricity. It's very rewarding," Begay-Campbell says in the book.
The book also mentions that Begay-Campbell takes time to mentor teens and that three of her cousins are studying to be engineers.
"The UNM School of Engineering is extremely proud to have Regent Begay-Campbell as one of our distinguished alumnae and for her to be included in this important book," said Joseph Cecchi, dean of the School of Engineering. "To be sure, she is a tremendous role model for Native American students and young women who aspire to be scientists and engineers. At the same time, she is an incredible role model for all engineers in the thoughtful and integrative way she approaches engineering problems."
Begay-Campbell is currently employed at Sandia National Labs. She received a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from UNM in 1987 and a masters in Structural Engineering from Stanford University. While attending UNM, she became involved in the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, eventually rising to the position of executive director of the national non-profit organization.
Since 2001, Begay-Campbell has served the University of New Mexico as a regent. In October 2005, she received the UNM School of Engineering Distinguished Engineering Alumnae Award. She was a recipient of the Governor's Award for Outstanding Women from the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women in 2000.
Begay-Campbell has performed considerable public service, applying her expertise and knowledge to the special needs of women and minority students in engineering.
Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: gregj@unm.edu
The University Libraries at the University of New Mexico recognizes Denver documentary filmmaker and novelist Gene Guerin as the winner of the 2005 Premio Aztlan Literary Prize. He will receive $1,000 and deliver a public lecture on Tuesday, April 11 at 4 p.m. in the Willard Reading Room in UNM's Zimmerman Library.
His book, "Cottonwood Saints," a UNM Press publication, will be available for purchase. Prior to the reading, a talk for students takes place, also in the Willard Reading Room, at 11 a.m. Both events are free and open to the public and light refreshments will be served at the public lecture.
A national literary award established to encourage and reward emerging Chicano/a authors, the Premio Aztlan was founded in 1993 by author Rudolfo Anaya and his wife Patricia.
To be considered, each entrant must have authored two or fewer books as well as take an active role in the Chicano/a community. Former Premio Aztlan recipients, Denise Chavez, Pat Mora, Alicia Gaspar de Alba and Sergio Toncoso and Mary Helen Lagasse, have become well known literary figures.
"Cottonwood Saints," in its second printing, has been hailed as an impressive debut novel by media, booksellers and writers. Booklist compared reading "Cottonwood Saints" to "thumbing through old family photos with a beloved elderly relative."
Guerin was born in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and like Michael in "Cottonwood Saints," was a man of the cloth. After his ordination in Rome, Italy, in 1967, Guerin served churches in Santa Fe and Albuquerque until his dispensation from duties seven years later. Guerin is currently a freelance writer and documentary film producer in Denver, where he lives with his wife, Rita. They have two grown children.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Author, former Control Data CEO to speak at free business breakfast
The Anderson Schools of Management at the University of New Mexico and 770 KKOB-AM will host Robert M. Price, the former CEO and Chairman of business legend Control Data Corporation, at a free business breakfast on Friday, March 31 at the Student Union Building at UNM.
Price, who is also the author of The Eye for Innovation: Recognizing Possibilities and Managing the Creative Enterprise, draws on 40 years at the forefront of the computer industry as he explains the principles that transformed Control Data from a small upstart into a company with 45,000 employees and revenues topping $1 billion.
Price will present to the Albuquerque business community his argument that innovators are made, not born, and that successful businesses must deliberately foster innovation to stay ahead.
WHAT: Business Breakfast with Innovator and Author Robert M. Price
WHEN: Friday, March 31 from 7:30-9:00am
WHERE: University of New Mexico Student Union Building
RESERVATIONS: Free and open to the public. Reservations required as seating is limited. RSVP to (505) 767-6795 or rsvp@770kkob.com.
The Business Breakfast is sponsored by PNM, The Anderson Schools of Management at UNM, Presbyterian Health Services, and Wagner Mechanical and is part of 770 KKOB-AM's quarterly Business Breakfast series.
Contact: Sophie Martin, (505) 277-7117; e-mail: martin@mgt.unm.edu or Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Gospel sensation Robert J. Ray will be guest conductor for a gala benefit concert at the University of New Mexico this spring. The event will help establish an endowed choral scholarship in Ray's name earmarked for African American music students, announced UNM Professor of Music Bradley Ellingboe.
Photo: Robert J. Ray
Ray, professor of music at the University of Missouri at St. Louis, will lead the University Chorus and UNM Women's Chorus Las Cantantes in performances of his "Gospel Mass" and "Gospel Magnificent," Tuesday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m. at Popejoy Hall. Tickets are $20 adults, $18 UNM faculty and staff, $15 students and senior citizens, and available at UNM ticket offices or www.tickets.com.
A second benefit concert will be held Sunday, April 23, at 3 p.m. at the Rio Rancho High School Auditorium. Tickets are $10, children 12 and under are free; available only at the door. Both are official Albuquerque Tricentennial events.
Ray annually conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and travels the world giving lectures, workshops and presentations on African-American music. He has performed as a solo pianist with the Seoul Philharmonic, the Champaign-Urbana Symphony and others. As accompanist, he has worked with legendary singers such as Bobbie McFerrin and the late William Warfield.
Ellingboe, who was named director of Choral Activities this past fall, said the April 25 concert will also serve as the debut for UNM's new Children's Chorus, led by UNM Asst. Prof. of Music Regina Carlow.
"One of my first efforts in my new role was to launch a $300,000 fundraising campaign for choral music scholarships," Ellingboe said. "This is the third endowed scholarship fund to be started. Ultimately, we hope to endow 16 scholarships to help young singers with educational expenses and raise the bar regarding choral music in the state."
UNM's first choral scholarship was named for famed composer Morten Lauridsen and awarded this past fall to Mexican tenor Roberto Gomez who is pursuing a master's in vocal performance at UNM. The second scholarship, almost funded, honors Ellingboe's predecessor John Clark, who retired last May after 33 years as Director of Choral Activities.
Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
Corporate donations can help an institution like the University of New Mexico implement and sustain programs that require funding above and beyond the normal scope of departments' regular budgets. Over the past 25 years, Wells Fargo has surpassed more than $1 million in contributions to various programs at UNM and the impact of those donations have been felt across the institution's campuses.
"Wells Fargo has been a wonderfully generous corporate partner with UNM and many other institutions for many years," said Michael Carroll, president of the UNM Foundation and vice president of Institutional Advancement. "We're very fortunate to have them and a great leadership team in the state open to helping out with some of our very important priorities."
UNM will recognize Wells Fargo's generosity with the presentation of a lithograph by Clinton Adams, a founder of UNM’s Tamarind Institute. The presentation will take place Wednesday, Feb. 22, at the Anderson Schools' of Management Annual Executive Lecture Series.
Richard Kovacevich, president and CEO of Wells Fargo, is the featured speaker for the event, which will be held in the SUB Ballroom. The event begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by Kovacevich’s lecture at 6:15 and dinner at 7 p.m.
With more than 1,200 team members in 53 communities throughout the state, Wells Fargo has been an important corporate citizen demonstrating outstanding philanthropic spirit, supporting a variety of programs at UNM.
More than 30 units have benefited from their support including:
* $25,000 to our public television station, KNME
* $28,000 to the Valencia Branch campus in Los Lunas
* $54,000 to the Cancer Research & Treatment Center
* $93,000 to the Presidential Scholarship Program, including sponsorship the past 13 years of the PSP’s annual banquet, which will take place next Tuesday, Feb. 28
* $142,000 to University Libraries
* $150,000 to the College of Education in support of their Secondary Schools Literacy Project, providing critical community outreach in our state
* $250,000 to the athletics department, including support of the ski team, women’s basketball and golf and the Lobo Booster Club
* $400,000 to the Anderson Schools of Management, including a $50,000 gift and additional $100,000 pledge in support of their new Student Financial Services and Events Centers
Other gifts, which help to illuminate the breadth of Wells Fargo’s generosity to UNM include:
* Support of the Marimba Equipment Fund at the College of Fine Arts
* Contributions to the Harwood Foundation museum in Taos
* Lodestar Astronomy Center operating support
* A gift to the Bruce King reading room, which will be dedicated on April 6 at the School of Law
Wells Fargo representatives have served on advisory boards at UNM, including the Anderson Schools of Management Foundation Board, the Carrie Tingley Board of Trustees and the Valencia Campus Development Board.
The generosity of Wells Fargo also extends to the individuals who have been a significant part of its generosity and the Wells Fargo Foundation has matched their contributions dollar-for-dollar.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
The Provost’s Committee for Staff (PCOS) announced the recipients for the Spring 2006 Provost’s Scholarship awards at a reception recently. Krista Allen, Kristin Garrison and Felicia Herrera were each awarded a scholarship to help defray costs associated with academic books, course fees and supplies. The scholarships were presented by interim Provost Reed Dasenbrock.
Photo: (l. to r.): Interim Provost Reed Dasenbrock, Krista Allen and Kristin Garrison.
Krista Allen
Allen serves as faculty support supervisor at the School of Law. Allen put her education on hold due to the financial constraints of being a single parent, but has resumed the pursuit of an undergraduate degree through the Staff as Students program.
In addition to her work and academic load, she participates in the Mentorship Program through the Health Sciences Center to increase her knowledge of budgets and finance. Allen plans to complete degree requirements for a bachelor of science degree in May 2009.
“I appreciate the work of the Provost’s Committee and the administration of this award,” said Allen. “It’s very helpful to staff in achieving their educational endeavors.”
Kristin Garrison
Garrison, who is pursuing a master’s degree in speech language pathology, is an associate scientist in the Center for Infectious Diseases at the Health Sciences Center. Her research focuses on the examination of a swallowing dysfunction in patients with Oculopharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy, a rare genetic disease that affects the musculature of the face and pharynx. She will present her findings at a national conference in March.
Garrison has a strong commitment to the profession of speech language pathology and hopes to be employed in a hospital setting or rehabilitation facility following her graduation in December 2006. She plans to use the scholarship to meet the costs of books and the extra hour of tuition not covered by tuition remission.
“It’s helpful to have the scholarship for books,” said Garrison. “I’m working half-time since I’m pursuing my degree so any scholarship helps out quite a bit.”
Felicia Herrera
Herrera is an administrative assistant in the central administration office at UNM’s Taos branch campus. She is pursuing a degree in University Studies with an emphasis in English, language literacy and sociocultural studies and communications.
A full-time employee as well as a full-time student, Herrera hopes to pursue a master’s degree in educational leadership upon completion of her undergraduate degree. She plans on using the scholarship to help with the cost of special course fees.
A fund, in support of the scholarship, has been setup through an account at the UNM Foundation. UNM employees interested in contributing to the fund will have the option to do so through payroll deductions. The purpose of the foundation account is to help grow the fund and provide increased financial support to UNM staff. The scholarship is awarded each semester.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Over the next few weeks, Telecommunications will be auditing records in preparation for a project beginning in May to replace all DTerm II telephones on main campus served by our telephone switch located in building 256. Staff from Telecommunications will be contacting users to confirm the physical location of each set in preparation for the replacement.
Verifying this information is important for a smooth implementation process – if the phone location is not verified, it will be disconnected at the end of the project.
Please be prepared to verify and/or provide the following information when contacted: building, floor and room number. In locations where room numbers are not utilized, Telecommunications staff will visit the site and mark the location of each telephone on a floor plan of the building.
There is no cost to departments for the replacement of the telephone sets. All costs associated with the project will be absorbed by UNM Telecommunications as part of a larger switch equipment upgrade /replacement project.
Contact Telecommunications Customer Service at 7-1111 or via e-mail at: telecom@unm.edu with questions regarding this project.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
KNME-TV’s weekly public affairs news magazine In Focus presents a look at higher education in New Mexico on Friday, Feb 24 at 7:30 p.m. The broadcast will repeat on Sunday, Feb 26 at 6:30 a.m. Kate Nelson moderates a roundtable of the secretary of the New Mexico Higher Education Department and leading college representatives from around the state.
Topics on the agenda include increasing minority graduation rates, college affordability, ways two year and four-year colleges can cooperate to serve students better and the challenges of leading New Mexico's institutions of higher learning into the 21st century.
Guests include:
* Secretary of Higher Education Beverly McClure
* Interim Provost Reed Dasenbrock, University of New Mexico
* President Michael Glennon, Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute
* President Steve McCleery, New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs
In Focus is an in-depth, television news magazine focusing on the events, topics and issues shaping peoples lives in the Southwest, covering issues that New Mexicans want to know more about, and a fusion of KNME’s award-winning journalistic, documentary and cultural local-production.
Support for the 39-week season of In Focus has been provided by McCune Charitable Foundation.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
The Center for Southwest Research continues its celebration of the History of Albuquerque with a special program looking into the musical traditions of the city on Friday, March 3. The program gets underway at 5 p.m. with a tour of the galleries in Zimmerman Library. At 6 p.m., Enrique LaMadrid of the Spanish and Portuguese Department will present a program in the Willard Reading Room that deals with the way traditional New Mexican music has morphed into a major element of current pop culture.
LaMadrid will talk about how the traditional instruments of violin and guitar now are joined by brass instruments for a richer sound. Two graduate students will play as part of the program.
There are also a number of songs that have been written about Albuquerque that will be part of the discussion. The program is free and the public is welcome to this glimpse into Albuquerque traditions and music.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
Anderson Schools of Management goes west with Professional MBA; Intel Corporation to host inaugural class
In anticipation of a planned west side campus for the University of New Mexico, Dean Chuck Crespy announced today that the Anderson Schools of Management will launch the first UNM west side degree program in September of this year. The Professional Master of Business Administration (PMBA) will closely mirror Anderson’s popular Executive MBA program, and the inaugural (2006-2008) classes will be hosted by Intel Corporation on their Rio Rancho campus.
“Anderson saw the need for significant business education on the west side of Albuquerque several years ago, when we recognized that increasing numbers of our MBA students were commuting across the river to earn their degrees," said Crespy. "We are proud to be the first full degree program offered by UNM on the west side.”
The Intel Corporation serves as the host of the inaugural class. Intel Strategic Analyst for Fab/Sort Manufacturing Lawrence J. Alei, who serves on the Anderson Schools’ Foundation Board, says, “Investing in the community is an Intel tradition, and UNM’s Anderson School is an excellent educational institution. Hosting the Professional MBA is another way of putting our corporate values into practice, and we are proud to help make UNM’s expansion to Sandoval County possible by hosting the first class of this first west side MBA.”
The PMBA program is endorsed by the Rio Rancho Regional Chamber of Commerce. “The new Professional MBA program will be a tremendous asset to the Rio Rancho region,” said Kim Hedrick, Chair of the Rio Rancho Regional Chamber Board of Directors. “As a graduate of UNM’s executive MBA program, I know its true value. The excellent level of curriculum offered will provide long-term benefits to all students in a close-to-home location.”
The PMBA will be held two evenings per week for 28 months, with students studying in a cohort of 54. Like the highly successful Anderson Executive MBA, the PMBA is expected to attract professionals seeking to advance their existing careers. But there are differences between the two degree programs. Anderson Associate Dean Kate Livingston has managed the Executive program since 1995 and will direct the PMBA.
According to Livingston, “UNM’s Executive MBA program really targets professionals who have a minimum of three to five years’ significant work experience," said Livingston. "With the Professional MBA, we are opening the program up to qualified younger managers, who may have slightly less experience under their belts, but who are on the fast track to greater responsibility within their companies. More seasoned managers may also find the PMBA attractive because of the location and the evening schedule.”
Admission to the PMBA program is conducted on a rolling basis, with classes beginning early September. Admission requirements include satisfactory Graduate Management Admission Test scores, undergraduate GPA, and a personal interview. The cost of the program for the 2006-2008 class is $24,960, prorated over the 28 months.
Additional information is available online at pmba.mgt.unm.edu, by e-mail pmba@mgt.unm.edu or by phone at (505) 277-2525.
Contact: Sophie Martin, (505) 277-7117; e-mail: martin@mgt.unm.edu or Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Michael E. Campana, director of UNM’s Water Resources Program and the Albert and Mary Jane Black Professor of Hydrogeology, has been appointed to the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council Committee on Further Studies on Endangered and Threatened Fishes in the Klamath River.
Photo: Klamath River in Oregon
The Klamath River, which heads in Oregon and flows to the Pacific Ocean in California, used to be the nation’s third most productive salmon river, but has seen its fishery reduced dramatically in recent years due to development in the basin. Several of its fish species are classified by the Federal government as either endangered or threatened under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act.
The Klamath basin has the all the elements for a classic Western water conflict: endangered and threatened fish species, Native American tribes, fishermen, environmentalists, the Federal government, hydroelectric plants and irrigators.
Farmers use irrigation water supplied by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Irrigation Project, which supplies water to about 240,000 acres in California and Oregon. The water usage can endanger fish in the Klamath River by reducing flows or changing water temperatures. Hydroelectric plants can block fish from reaching upstream spawning areas.
“The Klamath River situation has been categorized by some as the archetypical ‘fish vs. farmers’ conflict,” said Campana. “To some, irrigated agriculture is the culprit, threatening the fish, while others question the excessive concern for fish and the seeming disregard for the welfare of people and the local irrigation-based economy.”
The NAS-NRC “Klamath 2” committee will build upon the work of the first Klamath River committee, which issued its report in 2004. Its specific charges will be to: review the Bureau of Reclamation’s effort to reconstruct the “natural” (pre-development) flows of the Klamath River; review a study of habitat needs for coho salmon and other anadromous fishes; review and evaluate the implications of those studies vis-à-vis threatened and endangered species; and identify additional data and information gaps.
The appointment to the committee will suit Campana appropriately. He has been at UNM for nearly 17 years, but will depart for Oregon in May and will head the new Institute for Water and Watersheds at Oregon State University.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
How do archivists handle a major name change for a Native American group? University Libraries at the University of New Mexico has just completed a change in the online archiving system that identifies the pueblo of Ohkay Owingeh. It is the first library in the nation to do make the change. Historical information about the pueblo can now be found by using Ohkay Owingeh or San Juan Pueblo.
For the past four centuries the pueblo has been known as San Juan Pueblo in New Mexico, but last December the tribal government formally changed the name back to the designation tribal members use when speaking of the pueblo. The name means place of strong people in Tewa.
The San Juan Pueblo designation came about in 1598 when Don Juan de Oñate explored the territory on behalf of the King of Spain and decided to name the community San Juan de los Cabelleros, in honor of his personal patron saint.
The online access points are now available for anyone using the University Libraries online catalog.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
Zebulon Montgomery Pike was marked as a suspicious person from the moment he showed up in the Southwest. In the exhibit on the History of Albuquerque in the Center for Southwest Research in Zimmerman library, you can see a part of a letter sent by the governor of New Mexico, Don Joaquin Real Alencaster in 1806 to his soldiers in the northern part of the territory to be on the lookout for Pike.
Photo: Zebulon Montgomery Pike
Pike had been sent by the government of the United States to map and explore the western territories, and crossed the international border into sovereign Spanish territory in the San Luis Valley of what was then northern New Mexico. His men built an armed stockade there and raised the U.S. flag over it. Looking upon Pike as a trespasser and a spy, the New Mexico Spanish soldiers arrested him and his men and escorted them down to Chihuahua, Mexico, the headquarters of the Spanish military commandante.
As they passed through Alburquerque, Pike and his captors dined with the priest of the San Felipe de Neri church, and looked around at the community. One of the first tourists to Alburquerque, Pike later reported that the Spanish people of the community were exceedingly kind, generous and hard working.
The Spanish eventually released Pike and the published version of his trip “Exploratory Travels through the Western Territories, 1805-1807, by Order of the Government” is on display as part of the exhibit.
But Pike may have had a more lasting impact on the city he passed through than he intended. His map of the trip, on display in the exhibit, drops the letter “r” from Alburquerque and labels the friendly community, Albuquerque, the misspelling of its original name that persists today.
The History of Albuquerque exhibit will be on display at the Center for Southwest Research through November as part of Albuquerque’s tricentennial celebration. The exhibit has historic documents, maps and artifacts from throughout the city’s 300 year history.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
Hurry, hurry! ¡Ándale¡, ¡ándale¡ Everyone wants answers quickly and UNM’s CIRT has provided a tool to help. FastInfo, a knowledge base on the Web at FastInfo, currently supports several campus departments.
“I believe many more UNM departments will be able to reduce cost and increase customer satisfaction using this technology,” said Danny Lee, CIRT knowledge management specialist.
Commonly asked questions are posted and range from “How do I forward UNM email to my Yahoo account?” to “What are flexible spending accounts?” Relevant departments, in these instances, CIRT and Human Resources, provide answers.
Adopted last year to assist the CIRT Support Center, the project quickly widened to include Project LINK’s Service Center. Under the guidance of Associate Controller Frances Starnes, the “finance” section of FastInfo was developed to support the first Banner module implementation.
CIRT employees realized that the product could be adapted to assist most any department. Currently, FastInfo has searchable knowledge bases for admissions and recruitment, registration, financial aid, housing, graduate studies, and human resources.
“Employees and job applicants can get most of their general human resources questions answered through Fast Info,” said Kim Singleton, staff recruiting
services supervisor.
If a user is unable to find the right answer in the system, FastInfo provides several channels to obtain expert help.
“You can submit a question to a consultant, chat online with an expert, or request someone from the department call you back at a convenient time,” Lee said.
A high percentage of users locate answers online, he said, noting, “FastInfo is not intended to replace phone consultants, but by eliminating many basic and repetitive requests, it does free up expert time to concentrate on more complex questions.”
Any department on any UNM campus can be added to FastInfo. Adding a department requires some implementation work handled by the CIRT Support organization and generally takes a few weeks.
For an initial discussion, department representatives should contact Lee at abqdan@unm.edu.
Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
A revised schedule has been posted for the open forums of the candidates for UNM Provost/Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Uday Sukhatme
Open forum with staff: Monday, Feb. 27, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., Roberts Room, Scholes Hall
Open forum with students: Monday, Feb. 27, 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Santa Ana Room at the Student Union Building
Open forum with faculty: Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Santa Ana Room of the SUB
Reed Dasenbrock
Open forum with staff: Wednesday, March 1, 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., Roberts Room, Scholes Hall
Open forum with students; Wednesday, March 1, 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Santa Ana Room at the SUB
Open forum with faculty: Thursday, March 2, 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Lobo Room A at the SUB
Ramón Gutiérrez
Open forum with students: Friday, March 3, 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Trailblazer/Spirit Room at the SUB
Open forum with staff: Monday, March 6, 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. in the Roberts Room, Scholes Hall
Open forum with faculty, Monday March 6, 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Santa Ana Room at the SUB.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
Anderson Schools of Management Assistant Professor Michelle Arthur will speak on “Work-Life Programs and Firm Performance” at the Willard Reading Room in Zimmerman Library on Thursday, February 23, 2006 at 2 p.m. Her lecture is part of the University Libraries Faculty Acknowledgement Series, which honors members of the UNM faculty for their scholarly accomplishments.
Arthur has a Ph.D. in Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Chicago, Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests include diversity in organizations, human resource strategy, organizational reputation, and work-family human resource initiatives. She teaches business and the family, managing people and workplace behavior.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
Not long after the Iron Curtain came down, Hungarians started arriving at the University of New Mexico. One at a time, they came as visiting research scholars to spend a semester studying alternative dispute resolution, mediation and arbitration.
“Conflict is a component of the work place,” said Zsof í a Drjenguszky, a doctoral student in sociology from Budapest. Drjenguszky is enrolled in human resources in the public sector taught by Zane Reeves, professor in public administration. She is also taking an introductory course on alternative dispute resolution and a class in theory of conflict, both taught by School of Law Professor Scott Hughes.
“I am also taking an intensive mediation training over two weekends. We work with real mediators in small groups. Although the training is controlled, it gives us real world experience,” Drjenguszky said. Her semester also includes tagging along with Reeves to observe arbitration in the courts.
The program got its start when Julius Rézler, a professor emeritus from Loyola University, relocated to Albuquerque and to UNM. Rézler, an economist, sociologist and labor arbitration specialist, became Reeves' colleague.
“He became my mentor and encouraged me to become an arbitrator. It was his dream to train arbitrators at UNM to go back and introduce the art of dispute resolution in Hungary,” Reeves said.
Rézler, who died in 2001, established the Julius Rézler Foundation in 1995 to introduce and develop dispute resolution and arbitration techniques in Hungary and Central Europe.
The foundation currently offers four different types of scholarships for Hungarian post-graduate students and young researchers. Since 1995, 22 scholarships in Hungary and 16 scholarships to UNM have been granted.
Of the students, Reeves said, “They are outstanding, eager and delightful students. It is amazing to see how well they do when they go back.”
And they do quite well. Some former Rézler students organized the Julius Rézler Mediation Institution in Hungary.
“The purpose of this organization is to use the knowledge in Hungary that we gained in the USA. So, we do mediation, we train and we conduct research in the field of conflicts and conflict resolution. Our specialty is that the members have the highest qualifications on ADR (alternative dispute resolution) in Hungary and most of the people are working on Ph.D. in this topic,” said Eszter Balogh, who came to UNM in 2003 and now teaches conflict resolution at Corvinus University.
Many of the visiting researchers have been law students. Hughes became acquainted with the program when one of the Hungarian students showed up in his legal writing course about five years ago. “ADR was her real interest, not legal writing. I fell in love with the students and with what they wanted to do,” he said.
He added that his American students “adopt” the Hungarian students. “They take them home, invite them places. They bring a broader worldview to New Mexico. Our entire program is enriched by having these students here,” he said.
Maria Kulisity, now a junior judge at the Capital Labor Court of Hungary and labor and employment law instructor, attended UNM in 2004. She said, “When I was in Albuquerque , I researched the connection and interaction between the judicial system and alternative dispute resolution. I gained lots of experience and knowledge, more that I can even imagine. Nowadays in Hungary we are building an alternative dispute resolution system because in the past for a long time we didn't have any,” she said.
She added that the Hungarians are also building an alternative dispute resolution system connected with the courts in response to a European Union directive.
Steve Borbas, university planner, is the students' unofficial Hungarian “dad” in Albuquerque . Borbas sets up living arrangements for the students with his next-door neighbor, shuttles the students to and from campus and arranges cultural outings. “They come over to do their laundry or just chat,” he said, adding that Hungarian conversation helps him stay in touch with his own heritage.
“Every time when I think of New Mexico, I realize that it was one of my happiest periods of my life and often I miss it very much. I can say on behalf of the other scholars, too, that we all loved and enjoyed the time in Albuquerque and got lots of professional and personal experience. Somehow we all work with alternative dispute resolution and the UNM program gave us the start and the determination for this,” said Kulisity.
Edward Teller, co-developer of the atom bomb in Los Alamos, was Hungarian. New Mexico now hosts Hungarians with more peaceable goals.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Co-editors Christopher Schmidt-Nowara and John Nieto-Phillips will present their book “Interpreting Spanish Colonialism: Empires, Nations, and Legends” as part of the 2006 Open Doors Regional & Scholarly Writers Series at the University of New Mexico's Zimmerman Library. The lecture will take place in the Willard Reading Room on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 4 p.m.
Published by UNM Press, “Interpreting Spanish Colonialism: Empires, Nations, and Legends” offers a compelling examination of how historians in Spain and the Americas have come to understand and write about the Spanish colonial past and its meanings. The book brings together scholars from Spain , Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States to retrace the link between historiography and nation-building in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It also explores how and why Spain and its colonies came to be depicted as “backward” and “marginal” to other European and U.S. “modern” regimes.
This event is co-sponsored by University Libraries' Division of Iberian & Latin American Resources & Services (DILARES), CHIPOTLE (Chicano/Hispano/Latino/Program), the Latin American & Iberian Institute, and the Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections (CSWR).
For general information on this event call 277-0818. For information about how to schedule an interview with the editors contact Amanda Sutton, UNM Press, at 277-0655 or asutton@unm.edu.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
Pam Lambert has been named director of the Judicial Education Center, a component of the Institute of Public Law in the University of New Mexico School of Law.
She replaces Paul Biderman who was named IPL director in December. Lambert was selected based on the recommendation of the Judicial Education and Training Advisory Committee, appointed by the New Mexico Supreme Court. The committee is made up of representatives of the various state courts the JEC serves.
Lambert, who has worked with the center for eight of the 18 years she has been with the Institute of Public Law, will manage staff, project development and funding for the JEC. Her responsibilities also include fund raising, financial and conference planning, publication and web development, and coordination of the center’s efforts with the judiciary and other agencies, local to international.
Lambert previously provided legal and policy analysis for New Mexico’s Department of Health and the Health Policy Commission, and supplemental legal services for the University Counsel’s Office at UNM.
She has been a long-standing member of the University Hospital Biomedical Ethics Committee, which provides on-call ethics consultations; the Albuquerque Regional Hospital/Ardent Central Institutional Review Board, which reviews experimental research protocols for Ardent-owned hospitals nationwide; and the Adelante Human Rights and Behavioral Support Committee, which reviews the use of psychoactive medications and behavioral support programs and policies.
She has served as chair of the Health Law Section of the State Bar; as adjunct faculty for the UNM School of Law National Health Law Moot Court competition; and as a guest lecturer on health law, medical ethics and the American legal system for the UNM Health Sciences Center, TVI Community College and other organizations.
Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
The Center for Advanced Scholarship in Teaching and Learning at the University of New Mexico presents, “Success in the Classroom: Sharing Practices that Work,” a conference to be held in the Student Union Building on Friday, Feb. 24 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Open to the community and all UNM faculty, students and staff, the conference features more than 30 UNM faculty who will deliver short presentations about methods they use in the classroom and online that have improved student learning.
“The conference is slated to become an annual event,” said co-organizer James Burbank, who, with Earth and Planetary Sciences Professor Gary Smith made the event happen.
“We decided to organize this conference because we believe that UNM faculty members comprise the best resource for informing one another about successful teaching. We want to show that UNM places a great emphasis on the quality of teaching and learning that happens at the university. What is needed is a forum for exchanging ideas and building future communications,” Smith said.
“The conference provides an opportunity for faculty to present innovative ideas that will enliven and inspire teaching and student learning,” Burbank said.
The CASTL sponsored event received support from the Office of Graduate Studies, the College of Arts and Sciences and various academic departments.
Conference attendance is free and no registration is required. Registration is required, but at no cost, for the limited seating luncheon featuring UNM Presidential Teaching Fellow Tim Moy, history, who will present his approach to using controversy and role-playing as a medium for teaching, with a focus on how his class studied the decision to drop atomaic bombs at the end of World War II.
For more information about the conference or to reserve a spot for the luncheon, contact CASTL at: castl@unm.edu or call 277-3341.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Three candidates have been invited to campus to interview for the post of UNM Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. The three finalists are Reed Dasenbrock, Ramon Gutierrez and Uday Sukhatme. The finalists were selected by a 13-member search committee from a national search process that began in October 2005.
Uday Sukhatme
Sukhatme has been the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo since 2002. Previous positions he has held include serving as Interim Vice Provost for Academic Programs at the University of Illinois at Chicago; Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago; Head of the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois at Chicago; and Professor of Physics at SUNY Buffalo and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Sukhatme holds an Sc.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; a S.B. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and a B.Sc. Honors in Mathematics from the University of Delhi, India.
He will be on campus for interviews on Monday, February 27, 2006, and will attend a one-hour open forum with students at 2:30 p.m. in the Santa Ana Room at the Student Union Building. On Tuesday, February 28, 2006, he will attend an open forum with Faculty at 2:30 p.m. in the Santa Ana Room of the SUB.
Reed Dasenbrock
Dasenbrock is currently the Interim Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of New Mexico (UNM). He has held positions as the Dean of College of Arts & Sciences at UNM, and as Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences & Director of the Arts and Sciences Research Center at NMSU. He has also been a Department Head in English.
Dasenbrock holds a Ph.D. in English from the Johns Hopkins University; an M.A. in English from the Johns Hopkins University; a Bachelors degree in Philosophy and English from Oxford University and a B.A. from McGill University.
Dasenbrock will be available for an open forum with students on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 at 2:30 p.m. in the Santa Ana room of the SUB. He will meet with faculty in an open forum on Thursday, March 2, 2006 at 2:30 p.m. in the Lobo A room at the SUB.
Ramon Gutierrez
Gutierrez is currently a Full Professor and Chancellor’s Associate Endowed Chair at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) where he has been employed with since 1982. His previous positions include Associate Chancellor at UCSD; Chair, Department of Ethnic Studies at UCSD; Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at UCSD; Director of the Committee on Latino Research with the UC System; and the Director of the Chicano Studies Program at UCSD.
He holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Wisconsin; a M.A. in History from the University of Wisconsin; and a B.A. in Latin American History, University of New Mexico.
Gutierrez will be available for an open forum with students on Friday, March 3, 2006, at 2:30 p.m. in the Trailblazer/Spirit room of the SUB. He will meet with faculty in an open forum on Monday, March 6, 2006 at 2:30 p.m. in the Santa Ana room of the SUB.
The Provost/Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs provides institutional and divisional leadership in achieving the University’s education, research, and public service missions; serves as the University of New Mexico’s chief academic officer and provides administrative leadership to all the operating units of the Academic Affairs and Student Affairs including schools and colleges, research units and Provost’s staff.
Reporting to the Provost are institutional research; international, evening and weekend, university extension and student services programs; the University’s four two-year Branch Campuses and its eleven Main Campus schools, colleges and programs: Anderson Schools of Management, Architecture & Planning, Arts & Sciences, Continuing Education, Education, Engineering, Fine Arts, Graduate Studies, Law, University College, and the University Libraries.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
Regents’ Professor of Public Administration Mario Rivera was recently appointed to the Executive Council of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration or NASPAA. Rivera, who was elected by the membership to a three-year term through 2008, joins 16 others on the executive committee.
“It’s a real honor for the University and the School of Administration to be appointed to the Executive Council of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration,” said Rivera.
Rivera is also the editor of The Journal of Public Affairs Education (J-PAE), along with former School of Public Administration chair Bruce Perlman, who serves as editor-in-chief. Both were appointed to the positions late last year. UNM was selected to edit the publication through a competitive process. Perlman and Rivera encourage submissions from UNM faculty members pertaining to public policy and matters of public administration.
The journal is a publication dedicated to advancing teaching and learning in public affairs, which includes the fields of policy analysis, public administration, public management and public policy. Published quarterly by the NASPAA, The Journal of Public Affairs Education features commentaries, special issues, book reviews and peer reviewed scholarly articles on pedagogical and curricula issues in public affairs education.
“We feel the appointment is consistent with UNM’s character and a hallmark of a prominent research intensive university, and also its strategic plan which calls for research and publication activities on a national and international basis,” said Rivera.
Rivera, who has been at UNM since 1993, has also served on several other NASPAA committees including the Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation (2002-05), the steering committee of NASPAA’s Inter-American Network for Public Administration Education (1997-99) and its Undergraduate Section Committee (1990-96).
NASPAA was founded in 1970 and serves as a national and international resource for the promotion of excellence in education and training for public service. Its institutional membership includes 253 U.S. university programs in public affairs, public policy, public administration and public management. It is an institutional membership organization existing to promote excellence in public service education.
The organization accredits all MPA and Master of Public Policy programs in the United States, and represents them before the accreditor of accrediting organizations, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and before Congress and the U.S. Department of Education, on policy concerns affecting public affairs programs around the nation.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
“A Life in Balance: The Art of Conrad House” is currently on display at the UNM Jonson Gallery. The exhibit includes nearly 60 artworks by Conrad House, a prolific Native American artist who earned his fine arts degree from UNM in 1980. Organized by the Jonson Gallery, this is the first retrospective of artwork by House (1956 – 1980) to be shown since his death in 2001.
Photo: Blue Heron by Conrad House
From drawing, painting, prints, and collage to assemblage, textiles, beadwork, glass and ceramics, House was always exploring the endless possibilities of creativity that he needed to release. In some of the most complex, multi-layered, overlapping, and intersecting forms of his drawings and paintings, that creativity seems about to spin out of control -- even though he never let that happen.
Throughout his life, House kept learning, asking questions, reading and exploring new artistic mediums. A man of Diné and Oneida heritage, House respected his Native cultures, referring to honored art forms and family histories. To him, Diné chief’s blankets were among the great masterpieces of art and had as strong and lasting an impact on his art as any work by Picasso.
The exhibit continues through March 10. Gallery hours are 10 a.m to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. The gallery is at 1909 Las Lomas NE. On Tuesday, March 7, Joyce Szabo, UNM professor of art and curator of “A Life in Balance” will speak on the work of Conrad House. For gallery information call (505) 277-4967.
Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: gregj@unm.edu
The University of New Mexico English Department's creative writing program starts a new tradition this year with the Spring Writers Festival, Wednesday-Friday, March 1-3.
The festival is part of the Poets and Writers series, a monthly reading which brings celebrated authors to UNM.
This semester, English professor Lisa Chavez and graduate student Izzy Wasserstein transform the monthly format to bring three authors for one big writing gala.
“In the past the events have been isolated,” Wasserstein said.
He hopes the combined event will draw writers and readers from UNM and the community together in a broader discussion of writing across genre and geography.
All readings start at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Fiesta room. Books by the featured authors will be sold at all events.
Demetria Martinez, author, activist, lecturer and columnist, will read fiction Wednesday, March 1. Her books include “Confessions of a Berlitz Tape Chicana: Collected Columns,” the widely translated novel “Mother Tongue,” winner of a Western States Book Award for Fiction, and two books of poetry.
H. Lee Barnes will read creative nonfiction Thursday, March 2. His books include “The Lucky,” a novel, two collections of short stories, “Gunning for Ho” and “Talk to Me, James Dean,” and “Dummy Up and Deal,” a narrative nonfiction. He also writes screenplays.
Jim Daniels, known for his portrayals of the urban working class, will read poetry Friday, March 3. He has written nine collections of poems, including “Show and Tell: New and Selected Poems,” which was a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize. He also writes fiction and screenplays.
“They are all writers that Lisa and I admire a great deal,” Wasserstein said.
In addition to readings, the festival will include afternoon panel discussions on several topics:
– “Writing and What Else?: Ways to Make a Living as a Writer,” March 1, 3:30 p.m., English Department Lounge, Humanities Building
– “We Do it All: Writing Across Genres,” March 2, 3:30 p.m., English Department Lounge, Humanities Building
– “Film Screening and Panel Discussion: Writing for Film” March 3, 3:30 p.m., Humanities 108
Whether this will become an annual event is up to future organizers, Wasserstein said, “it's certainly something that we hope will become a tradition.”
Contact Izzy Wasserstein at: wasserst@unm.edu for more information.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Computer-assisted hunting, or cyberhunting, is on its way to being outlawed in New Mexico thanks to students participating in the Wild Friends Program. The program, aimed at school-age youth, is a component of the Center for Wildlife Law at the University of New Mexico Institute for Public Law.
Students adopt compelling wildlife issues, initiate legislative bills or memorials, and work to advance them through the legislative process. The students have won a number of awards, including the 2005 Conservation Award from the New Mexico/Arizona Chapter of the Wildlife Society for “outstanding contributions to wildlife conservation.”
Cyberhunting came to the national forefront with news of a Web site in Texas that allowed people with computers to shoot live game via a camera-equipped rifle. Texas has since banned remote game hunting, along with 12 other states.
New Mexico’s State Legislature has passed a similar bill, drafted originally by Wild Friends students and sponsored by Sen. Michael Sanchez (D-Belen), said Wild Friends program director Carolyn Byers. About 400 Wild Friends students accompanied by 60 adults, including parents, teachers, school administrators and volunteers, traveled to Santa Fe during the session to work the bill through the legislature.
The governor has promised to sign the legislation into law, Byers said.
Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
The University of New Mexico Office of International Programs and Studies seeks nominations of deserving faculty, staff and students for the 2005-06 International Excellence Awards.
The International Excellence Awards honor individuals who made outstanding contributions to further UNM's international mission. An awards committee, comprised of staff, faculty and students, makes the selections. One full or part time faculty member from main campus, one from Health Sciences, one staff and one student, will be selected. The student may be international, domestic, graduate or undergraduate, but must be enrolled full time. Members of the awards committee and staff of the OIPS 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
** Providing international experiences for our students
** Bringing international perspectives into the curriculum
** Outstanding contributions to international understanding and goodwill
** Other international activities that benefit the campus and the larger community
To make a nomination, submit a letter with a copy of the nominee's CV or resume to Ken Carpenter, OIPS, Mesa Vista 2111, MSC06 3850, by Friday, March 17. E-mail submissions may be sent to carpenk@unm.edu .
This year's recipients will be honored at a reception on Wednesday, April 12 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Hodgin Hall, Bobo Room. For more information contact Ken Carpenter, OIPS, 277-4032.
PREVIOUS INTERNATIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS RECIPIENTS
2004-05
Professor Nitant Kenkre, Director of the Consortium of the Americas and Distinguished Professor of Physics & Astronomy
Hillard Kaplan, Professor of Anthropology
Dale Alverson, Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Center for TeleHealth
Marjorie Devon, Director of the Tamarind Institute
Cally Ingebritson, graduating senior in Latin American Studies and Spanish
2003-04
Professor Michael E. Campana, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences and Director of the Water Resources Program
Manon Robyn Côté, Program Coordinator, Latin American & Iberian Institute
Jason Ben-Meir, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Sociology
2002-03
Professor Guillermina Engelbrecht, Director, Latin American Programs in Education, College of Education
Professor Arthur Kaufman, Department of Family and Community Medicine
Ruth Hashimoto, University Volunteer
Carolyn Gonzales, Public Affairs
Deborah Boehm, Graduate Student, Department of Anthropology
2001-02
Professor Peter Pabisch, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
Lawrence Carreon, Physician Assistant, Student Health Center
Alyssa Cymene Mathilda Howe, Doctoral Student, Department of Anthropology
2000-01
Dr. Ramiro Jordan , Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Executive Director of the Ibero-American Science and Technology Education Consortium (ISTEC)
Dr. Laura Martinez, Associate Professor of Nursing and Coordinator of the Program for Mexican Nurses
Fred Perez, Director of Recreation Services
Jijun Tang, President of the Chinese Student Friendship Association and Ph.D. student in Civil Engineering
1999-00
Dr. Dorothy Vanderjagt, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Co-Director of the Minority International Research Training program.
Rosario Johnson, Department Administrator, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
1998-99
Dr. Robert H. Glew, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Co-Director of the Minority International Research Training Program
Cynthia D. Garcia, Financial Aid Advisor, El Centro de la Raza
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Two University of New Mexico faculty members have been awarded guest professorships at Humboldt University in Berlin. David Craven, Art and Art History professor in the College of Fine Arts; and Susanne Baackmann, associate professor of German Studies in the Foreign Languages and Literatures Department, College of Arts and Sciences, both received the Spring 2007 Rudolf Arnheim professorship in art history and cultural studies.
Photo: Susanne Baackman and David Craven
This prestigious senior guest professorship, which goes to scholars with international reputations and major publications in the visual arts, is one of the highest awards given by Humboldt to senior scholars from other institutions.
Both Craven and Baackmann have been at UNM since 1993 and have, between them, published five books and edited a sixth since joining the UNM faculty. As scholars-in-residence at Humboldt, they will each conduct research on their respective book manuscripts and give public presentations in Berlin based on their projects.
The Rudolf Arnheim professorship was named for an art historian who studied at Humboldt in the 1920s. The annual selection of recipients is made by a committee of art history faculty at Humboldt as well as representatives of other agencies.
Baackmann will use the Rudolf-Arnheim professorship to work on her book, “Memories of War, Wars of Memory,” a study on Germany 's ongoing search for a post-Berlin Wall unified identity.
Craven will continue work on several books including editing and translating an anthology on the new German art history from the 1970s through the 1990s.
Craven and Baackmann will also edit and prepare for publication a selection of the papers to be presented at “Modernism—Fascism—Postmodernism,” a conference scheduled for Sept. 20-23 at UNM.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
J.B. Jackson lecture features CUNY professor
The University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning presents the sixth annual J.B. Jackson Lecture featuring Setha Low, professor of environmental psychology and anthropology at the City University of New York, on Friday, Feb. 24, at 4:30 p.m., in Northrop Hall, Room 122 on the UNM campus. This event is free and open to the public.
Low's lecture, “The Architecture of Fear: Gated Communities in America ,” will explore the reasons people move into gated communities and how satisfied are they with the lives they lead there.
“A gated community reinforces the norms of middle-class lifestyle,” writes Low, “in a historical period in which everyday events and news media exacerbate fears of violence and terrorism.”
“Studying a topic that elicits such strong feelings, both pro and con, Low took the novel step of actually interviewing residents of gated communities in depth,” said Chris Wilson, J.B. Jackson Professor of Cultural Landscape Studies in the UNM School of Architecture and Planning.
Low's recent book, “Behind the Gates: Life, Security, and the Pursuit of Happiness in Fortress America,” from which her talk is drawn, is based on eight years of ethnographic research in San Antonio, New York City and Long Island.
Through vivid profiles of individuals and families, she uncovers the hopes and fears that have propelled so many people into gated neighborhoods that they have become the fastest growing form of housing in the United States in the past 20 years.
“Setha Low is the leading anthropologist in the United States today studying how people create their communities and public spaces, and how, in turn, they are shaped by those spaces and buildings,” Wilson said.
President-elect of the prestigious American Anthropological Association, Low is author of numerous books, including, “On the Plaza: The Politics of Public Space and Culture.”
John Brinckerhoff Jackson, for whom the lecture is named, died in 1996. He is credited with creating the field of landscape studies. The annual J.B. Jackson Lecture honors a person who has made a significant contribution to cultural landscape studies.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
University of New Mexico Dickason Professor of Law Sherri Burr will give a brief presentation on actress Hattie McDaniel's contributions to the film industry following the unveiling this Thursday of a new postage stamp in McDaniel’s honor. Omer Rogers of the United States Postal Service will unveil the 2006 African American History Month Heritage Stamp Feb. 16 during the Third Biennial Africana Studies Symposium at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Mo.
McDaniel, who worked behind the scenes to change Hollywood's view of minorities, appeared in more than 300 films and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1939 for her role in "Gone with the Wind."
Burr is a distinguished speaker at the symposium. She will deliver the annual Felice Hill Gaines Lecture on the topic "Race and Racism in the New Millennium: The Economic Impact of Unconscious Bias.” She will discuss discrimination she says is often present at an unconscious level in the light of legislation that outlawed discrimination.
Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
UNM has received a $30,000 grant from the National Writing Project to improve student writing and learning. Funding will establish the High Desert Writing Project, an opportunity for Albuquerque-area teachers to participate in summer and school year programs focused on improving writing skills.
The High Desert Writing Project summer institute will be held from June 1 to June 30. Participating teachers will study successful classroom strategies to teach writing, read and discuss research, and improve their knowledge of writing by writing themselves.
Leading the writing project is Richard Meyer, professor of Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies at the UNM College of Education. Meyer believes Albuquerque is an excellent site for the project because it includes the largest school district in the state and has a diverse student population. The project will also serve teachers and students in nearby counties.
The National Writing Project, a federally funded professional development program with 189 sites, provided more than 6,000 programs for K-16 teachers across the country in the 2003-04 school year. The emphasis on writing, while not new to the National Writing Project, is particularly timely as both the SAT and ACT have added writing components to their college admission tests. The call for a “writing revolution” in the National Commission on Writing publication “The Neglected R” has also sparked renewed interest in writing.
Interested teachers may e-mail Rick Meyer at: rmeyer@unm.edu or call 505.277.6376. More information about the National Writing Project is available at: Writing Project.
Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: gregj@unm.edu
William Kane, a professor of health education at the College of Education, is the recipient of two recent honors. In December, the American Association for Health Education recognized Kane with a national scholarship in his name. The William Kane Scholarship will be awarded annually to an outstanding undergraduate student majoring in health education.
The American College of Preventive Medicine also honored Kane for outstanding leadership. A proclamation cited Kane's restoration and development of a solid financial status for the organization, his leadership in launching the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and his development of the College's continuing education program.
Kane has been on faculty at UNM since 1991.
Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: gregj@unm.edu
The Provost’s Committee for Staff (PCOS) has extended the nomination deadline for its 17th Annual Outstanding Staff and Workgroup Awards, which are presented annually each spring. The deadline for nominations is Monday, Feb. 20, at 8 a.m.
Staff, faculty and students may nominate UNM staff employees including regular current, non-faculty, any full or part-time individual staff or workgroup who has provided extraordinary service to the Provost’s units. Previously nominated staff or workgroups may be nominated again, provided the nominee(s) is not a past recipient of the award. A workgroup can be comprised of an office, department, division or section. Current Provost’s Committee for Staff members are not eligible for the award and self-nominations will not be accepted.
A selection criterion includes demonstrated extraordinary achievement in one or more of the following areas: service to UNM or the community; exemplify University values (excellence; integrity & professionalism; diversity within the academic community; creativity & initiative; academic freedom; and access & student success) in an exceptional manner; and/or contribute substantially to significant team or department accomplishments.
Members of the Provost’s Committee for Staff will screen nominees. A list of individuals and the workgroup is then forwarded to the Executive Vice President and Provost for Academic Affairs for approval.
Nomination forms must be submitted online at: Nomination form. For more information contact Vanessa Shields at 277-0896 or by e-mail: vanes06@unm.edu.
The awards ceremony will be held Wednesday, April 5, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Student Union Building Ballroom B. Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Reed Dasenbrock will present a plaque and a monetary award to the individual staff selected. Certificates will be presented to the winning workgroup. A permanent plaque, listing the workgroup, will be on display in Scholes Hall.
Two employees from the University of New Mexico , passionate about their communities, are recipients of UNM's first annual Sarah Belle Brown Community Service Award. Charlie Gallegos and Sam Slishman, were recognized Feb. 4 during the halftime ceremony at the UNM vs. Utah men's basketball game. Each received a cash award of $2,500.
The awards were created in the name of Sarah Belle Brown, a public servant for more than 30 years. She is the wife of Doug Brown, New Mexico State Treasurer and a former UNM regent.
Gallegos is a carpenter with the Physical Plant Department, where he has been employed for 23 years. His work includes repairs and construction at the School of Medicine and the Health Sciences Center. As a lay minister, he performs communion and offers spiritual guidance for patients at University Hospital and the Cancer Research and Treatment Center.
“I've met a lot of doctors and nurses who have respect for what I do,” said Gallegos, who also is on call for the UNM Mental Health Center , where he provides Spanish translation.
Gallegos once opened his home to a Mexican family whose relatives were being treated after an automobile crash near Albuquerque. He helped arrange transportation and funding for the family to return home after two of their children died. Gallegos also finds time to help at the Bernalillo County juvenile detention home.
Slishman, assistant professor of emergency medicine, says his personal fulfillment comes through community service and engagement. As a physician, the number of drunks he treated in the University Hospital emergency room troubled him.
He recalled, “Something that bothered me quite a bit was taking care of intoxicated people and setting them loose the next morning. The hospital was struggling with finances and also with the general public waiting to be seen. It seemed like a simple solution to take care of intoxicated people in a separate location.”
In 2002, Slishman formed a non-profit organization, the Endorphin Power Company. The name is derived from the role that exercise plays in lessening the chances of relapse and depression from alcohol.
Slishman learned that Bernalillo County was involved in purchasing the old Charter Hospital on Zuni Boulevard for use as a detox center. “We knocked on every door around the hospital to gather support,” he said. The facility was approved and last October opened as Metropolitan Assessment and Treatment Services.
The owner of a building used as a church near the new center called Slishman and said “‘I heard what you guys are doing. Do you want to buy my building?' “I thought it would be a good idea to renovate it to become a community center, providing services aimed at the graduates of the detox center,” Slishman said. He recruited hundreds of volunteers to spruce up the building and surrounding grounds.
An outreach program has grown out of Endorphin Power Company. Volunteers visit homeless shelters to bring clothing to people and determine needs. A volunteer also provides foot care by treating lacerations and cysts -- common medical needs of the homeless.
“This company and this project makes me feel like I am doing something that improves peoples lives, as opposed to just keeping them alive in the ER,” Slishman said.
Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: gregj@unm.edu
The geography department at UNM continues its 2005-06 lecture series with University of New Orleans assistant professor Ron Hagleman who will give a lecture titled ‘Hard Times in the Big Easy: Hurricane Katrina and the Hazards of Place.’ The lecture will be held Friday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium (rm. 208) of the UNM Science and Technology Park, located at 800 Bradbury Dr., S.E. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Hurricane Katrina was - to many scientists, policymakers, and New Orleans residents - a forgone conclusion. When, not if, and where were the questions being asked by most local and regional managers about Hurricane Katrina making landfall. This sense of inevitability came from an awareness of the myriad of ways in which the city of New Orleans and its surrounding areas are at risk from environmental change, both chronic and acute. Since being established as an outpost for French colonial resource extraction in the early 1700s, New Orleans has been under siege by its natural setting.
In response to nature's advances, the city has existed in a continuum of technocratic fixes to regional environmental hazards, with the most "heroic" and place altering of efforts coming on the heels of environmental disasters. A brief history of environmental management and an assessment of the accumulation of the Hazards of Place endemic to New Orleans are presented along with the results of hurricane evacuation surveys conducted in the months prior to Hurricane Katrina. Further discussion will be held on the reconstruction and possible futures of the city.
Hagleman is an assistant professor at UNO specializing in urban and hazards geography with a focus in the historical geography of the environment and environmental management-related social impact assessment. Hagleman has participated in numerous state and federally funded research projects focused on the human impacts of both chronic and acute environmental change in the Gulf Coast region.
Imagine a job that takes you to Lisbon , Taiwan and Burkina Faso . Imagine, too, that each day you get to make a difference in someone's life. Foreign service opens up that world of possibilities, and more.
Martin Brennan, the University of New Mexico 's ambassador in residence, has worked for the U.S. Department of State across the globe. He took the position at UNM – he's located in Career Services – to bring awareness of job possibilities to university students.
“People in the Southwest are well suited for foreign service – they already live and work in a multicultural society. We want foreign service to look like the United States – we want more Hispanic and Native Americans to apply,” Brennan said.
Brennan said that interested students and others can apply to take the foreign service exam, scheduled on April 8. Individuals need be between 20 and 59, a U.S. citizen and available for worldwide assignment.
Foreign language skills are not required, he said. “The test focuses on U.S. history, the Constitution, politics, cultural trends, world politics, geography and western civilization. It also assesses a person's English language skills and ability to write clearly,” he said.
Foreign service has multiple career tracks, he said, including management, politics, economic development, consular and public diplomacy. “I've worked as a political officer, but also worked in economic development, public affairs and commerce. No day or post is the same,” he said.
The State Department provides language instruction for the individual and spouse as well as providing housing, utilities and education for one's children when overseas.
“You also receive a ticket to travel to the U.S. each year – by congressional mandate – as well as the opportunity to travel to other parts of the globe,” he said.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
The Spring Vendor Fair, hosted by the UNM purchasing department, is scheduled for Wednesday, April 26, in the Student Union Building ballroom from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The fair allows participants networking opportunities to create new business opportunities and strengthen existing business relationships within the UNM community. It also helps to provide small and disadvantaged businesses a greater opportunity to compete fairly and equally in the market.
University purchasing agents, staff and faculty will be attending the fair to learn about the products and services area businesses can provide. Other institutions including TVI, Santa Fe Community College, Sandia Laboratories, the City of Albuquerque and PNM will be in attendance to help businesses learn about procurement opportunities with their institutions.
The business participation fee is $40, which includes a booth consisting of a 6' skirted table, 8' background curtain, two chairs, one line identification sign (35 letters) and one parking pass.
Interested participants are encouraged to register early. “Early bird” booths will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Vendors assigned an “Early bird” booth will enjoy a prime location at the entrance of the vendor fair.
“Early bird” booths will be pre-assigned in the order in which the registration form and payment are received – the earlier the registration form and payment are submitted, the greater the chance a vendor has to receive this prime location to advertise their business. Approximately 80 booths will be available for vendors and institutions.
If you own a business and are interested in participating, please complete the registration form available from the UNM Purchasing Department web site at: http://www.unm.edu/~purch/dobus.html and submit payment by the registration deadline of Friday, March 31, 2006. Registered participants will receive a letter confirmation, a map to the Student Union Building, a map to the parking structure and a parking pass two weeks prior to the fair.
For more information contact Alicia Sanasac at 277-1735 or via e-mail at: aagomez@unm.edu.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
An African American Male Summit for college, middle and high school students will be held Saturday, Feb. 18, to encourage educational goal setting, facilitate African American male empowerment and positive self-identity, and foster male leadership development.
President of the Huey P. Newton Foundation David Hilliard, former chief of staff for the Black Panther Party, will provide a keynote address. UNM is hosting the Black Panther Party's 40 th anniversary celebration Feb. 16-21.
The free summit includes food, prizes and presenters and will be held at the Student Union building, ballroom C, from 8 a.m.- 3 p.m.
UNM African American Student Services, UNM Admissions, and the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., sponsor the event.
To register, visit www.iotapsilambda.org or for more information, call Charles Becknell, Jr. at 505-277-4883.
Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
The Huey P. Newton Foundation, honoring the legacy of the Black Panther Party, and the UNM African American Studies Program, mark the 40th anniversary of the Black Panther Party Feb. 16-21. An unprecedented slate of speakers and special guests, including a host of former Black Panthers, are scheduled to visit the main campus, said Finnie Coleman, AAS director.
Events include a series of panel discussions, book signing, performance, luncheon and more.
Participants include David Hilliard, who was a founding member of the Black Panther Party and served as its chief of staff, and Fredrika Newton, Black Panther Party member and wife of the late Huey P. Newton, along with former Black Panther Party members Ericka Huggins, director of the BPP school (The Oakland Learning Center) and Billy (Che) Brooks, who served as deputy minister of education for the Chicago chapter.
The UNM Bookstore will serve as the launch site for the anticipated release of “Huey: Spirit of the Panther (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2006).” Hilliard, a co-author, and Newton, will be present to sign copies of this and other books on Friday, Feb. 17, from 10-11:30 a.m.
Elaine Brown, the only woman to chair the party, will speak at luncheon Sunday, Feb. 19, from 11:30- 1 p.m. in the SUB. In the afternoon, Hilliard, Brooks and film artists host a film festival dedicated to the history and legacy of the party.
A panel discussion “Origins of the Black Panther Party” featuring Brown, Hilliard, Newton and Huggins is set for Saturday, Feb. 18, from 10-11:30 a.m. in the SUB. At 1:30 p.m., Dorion Hilliard and James Calhoun will present “Black Panthers to Hip Hop.” At 9 p.m., the Black Panther F.U.G.I.T.I.V.E.S. and Thomas Mapfumo, along with other performers, will be at Keller Hall.
Dennis Banks, co-founder of the American Indian Movement, and Mark Rudd, co-founder of the Weather Underground, will join Hilliard to discuss resistance movements of the 1960s and 70s on Tuesday, Feb. 21, from 1 - 3 p.m. at the SUB.
A gala benefit scheduled for Friday, Feb. 17, has been cancelled.
Held in honor of Black History Month, all events are open to the public, most are free. Click here for schedule, ticket prices and detailed information.
For more information, call the UNM African American Studies Department, 505-277-5644, or email afamstds@unm.edu or coleman@unm.edu , or visit: http://www.unm.edu/~afamstds/history.htm.
Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
The 2006 Sin Fronteras Film Festival and Conference will be held in Albuquerque April 20-23. The festival is accepting film submissions through Feb. 15. Sin Fronteras is New Mexico’s premier Latino festival presenting the voice and vision of the Americas showcasing documentaries and short and feature films by Latino filmmakers, or with Latino-themed content.
In its fourth year, new aspects of the festival include an emphasis on filmmakers and scholarly work and awards for best films.
The University of New Mexico Student Organization for Latin American Studies (SOLAS) and UNM Arts of the Americas Institute in the College of Fine Arts collaborated on the events to be held at several venues, including UNM, the KiMo Theatre, National Hispanic Cul