University of Minnesota, College of Human Ecology
March 2006
NewsNotes is a monthly publication for College of Human Ecology faculty, staff, and friends. It includes important college announcements, news, events, and faculty and staff accomplishments. Submit NewsNotes items to Glen Beltt, gbeltt@umn.edu
Closing events for the College of Human Ecology will be celebrated on April 7.
College news
Celebration events set for April 7
The College of Human Ecology will celebrate its history and people with gala events from 3 to 8 p.m. on April 7. A storyteller's gathering and all-college reunion will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. in the St. Paul Student Center. Events will conclude with a gala reception from 5 to 8 p.m. in McNeal Hall that will include the current exhibition in the Goldstein museum, live music, and a closing ceremony. Hors d'oeuvres and beverages will be served for both events. The events mark the closing of the college and the transitions of CHE faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends to associations with new colleges. RSVPs for both events may be submitted on line at http://forms.che.umn.edu/admin/gala.
Preserving Our Legacy: The CHE Archiving Project
The CHE Archiving Project seeks to ensure that the rich interdisciplinary legacy of the College of Human Ecology is preserved, including for the departments that are continuing as part of new collegiate homes. Members of the CHE community have the opportunity through June 2006 to draw on the project coordinator/archivist, Renee Obrecht-Como, to go through files and prepare them for transfer to the University Archives. If you have administrative files, professional papers, course materials, reports, and other materials that are no longer used, contact Renee at 612-624-9664 or robrecht@umn.edu to learn more.
Exhibit to feature student design work An exhibition running through May 2 at the Hennepin History Museum showcases the work of University of Minnesota interior design students under the direction of Tasoulla Hadjiyanni who developed designs for affordable housing that serve the unique cultural needs of Somali and Hmong residents of the Twin Cities. More information about the exhibition may be found at http://www.ur.umn.edu/unsreleases/find.php?ID=2758 .
CitySongs to hold benefit concert Twin Cities gospel treasure Robert "Eddie" Robinson and other guest musicians will perform a benefit concert for CitySongs at 7:15 p.m. on April 20, at the First Universalist Church of Minneapolis. Tickets are available at http://www.ticketweb.com.
Family Policy Forum Series on government role in family policy Rob Grunewald, associate economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis will present "Family Policy from a Public Goods Perspective" from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 21 in Room 1-115 on the first floor of the Carlson School of Management. The event is part of the Family Policy Forum series presented by the Family Policy Minor and the Children, Youth and Family Consortium.
FScN offering national food entrepreneur program The University of Minnesota and the University of Nebraska are offering the Food Processing Center's nationally recognized "From Recipe to Reality" seminar. This is the only program in the nation that provides complete assistance to individuals wanting to start a food business. Market research, product development, food safety, labeling, and pricing are a few of the topic areas for this one day workshop. The date of the seminar is April 11 on the St. Paul Campus. For more information, contact Lori Engstrom at lmengstr@umn.edu .
Wayne Caron, FSoS, appeared on WCCO-TV and Radio on Feb. 14 to discuss the opportunities and risks of online dating.
Francisco Diez, FScN, provided a lengthy interview on food contaminants for "Access Minnesota," a weekly public access radio show for the week of Feb. 12.
Jodi Dworkin, FSoS, appeared on WCCO Radio on Feb. 28 to discuss her online course and workshop for parents of college students on the issue of alcohol.
Al Levine, FScN, discussed the potential effectiveness of a new weight loss drug called Acomplia for a Feb. 15 article in the Star-Tribune.
Lloyd Metzger, FScN, talked about the work of the regional Dairy Foods Research Center to expand cheese consumption, the potential for cheese consumption to lower blood pressure, and other issues in a recent story in Agri News.
Dan O'Sullivan, FScN, was interviewed by the Minnesota Farm Guide for a Feb. 2 story regarding his research on various strains of Bifidobacterium, a beneficial human digestive bacterium also used in foods such as yogurt and sour cream.
Oliver Williams, SSW, was interviewed about domestic violence, the influence of hip hop, re-entry from prison, and other issues by Ember Reichgott Junge on her program "Women on the Move" broadcast Feb 16 on "VoiceAmerica."
Selected faculty highlights
Bill Angell, DHA, hosted a reception in January on behalf of the American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists for the director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Radiation and Indoor Air who was in the Twin Cities to recognize Minnesota's leadership in reducing the risk of lung cancer from indoor radon and to kick off the national Radon Action Week.
Margarita Billings, a former FScN faculty member, died at home at the age of 90 on Jan. 23.
James Boyd-Brent, DHA, recently curated an exhibition of watercolors called The Watercolor Studio, which included his own work, at the Winona Arts Center.
Tasoulla Hadjiyanni, DHA, is an inaugural member of the Women's Faculty Cabinet established fall semester to provide a leadership base to improve and enrich the academic and professional environments for women faculty on the Twin Cities campus.
FSoS will celebrate the career of Jan Hogan, FSoS and CHE interim dean, on March 24. As part of the activities there will be a special Think Tank session from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. focusing on the human ecological model. Following that a reception will be held in Jan's honor from 2 to 4 p.m. For more information on attending these events, please contact Jennifer Welsh at 5-7036.
"The Journey to School: Illustrations from Popular American Magazines" by Barbara Martinson, DHA, is a chapter in the book Rituals and Patterns in Children's Lives edited by Kathy Merlock Jackson and published by the University of Wisconsin Press. Also, her poster design for the Textile Center's 10th anniversary won the Juror's Choice Award in the Design Educator's National Exhibition.
Steven McCarthy, DHA, had a peer-reviewed article published in Convergence: The Journal of Research into New Media Technologies.
Lloyd Metzger, FScN, has been appointed Director of the Joseph J. Warthesen Food Processing Center.
Mark Umbreit, SSW, and the Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking has received a grant to support the Muslim Restorative Justice Outreach Project from the U.M. Office for Public Engagement.
