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University of Minnesota, College of Human Ecology
September 2005
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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
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College news
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Update on strategic positioning process
Several CHE representatives have begun serving as co-chairs to the U's strategic positioning implementation task forces. The task forces will complete their work by December toward a goal of issuing a final report in early 2006 with implementation expected by July 1 of that year. A complete list of the task force chairs and committees is available at http://www1.umn.edu/systemwide/strategic_positioning/implementation_taskforces.html . The task forces held their first meetings on Sept. 16 at the North Star Ballroom in the St. Paul Student Center.
Those leading task forces, in collaboration with other co-chairs, from CHE are:
- Allen Levine, professor and FScN head, will direct the college design committee for the new combined units of the CHE, the College of Natural Resources, and the College of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences
- Kate Maple, CHE assistant dean for student services, will head up the task force on undergraduate reform of student services
- Jean Quam, professor and director of the School of Social Work,will lead the committee designing the combination of units of CHE with the College of Education and Human Development
- Becky Yust, professor and head of DHA, will head up the task force developing the new college emerging from DHA and the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
As a part of the strategic restructuring process, CHE faculty and staff are invited to attend an informational meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 28, from 3-4:30 p.m. in Room 33 McNeal Hall. Those leading the meeting are:
- Kathy Brown, chief of staff to President Bruininks,
- Carol Carrier, vice president for human resources
- Arlene Carney, vice provost for faculty and academic affairs
- Rosie Barry, human resources program director
- Valerie Watson, human resources consultant
In addition, the University Talent Connection web site has been created at http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/strategic/talent.html to assist employees in the six colleges currently affected by strategic positioning with various aspects of their transitions.
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CHE to host University of Colima Ballet Folklórico
The College of Human Ecology will host a performance by the University of Colima Ballet Folklórico at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, at Northrop Auditorium in support of its ongoing Mexico Initiative. The performance, sponsored by the law firm Fredrikson & Byron, PA, will conclude the 10-day Experience Colima series of events at the Mall of America and other Twin Cities venues.
Through its Mexico Initiative, CHE is promoting closer ties with Mexico and more outreach and engagement with Minnesota's Hispanic community. The initiative includes current discussions between the university and the University of Colima about collaboration between the institutions. The university's Office of International Programs and the Carlson School of Management are additional supporting partners for the performance.
Founded in 1981 by Rafael Zamarripa Castañeda, the Ballet Folklórico troupe has performed widely in the Americas and Europe and has received numerous awards, including a first place Millennium award in the 31st World Folklore Festival and Competition in the city of Gorizia, Italy, competing against more than 10 groups from around the world. It has represented Mexico at international events such as EXPO Sevilla '92, The Atlanta Cultural Olympics '93 and EXPO Hanover 2000.
Colima is a state located on Mexico's west-central coast and includes the resort city of Manzanillo. The ballet performance formally concludes the Experience Colima series, which began on Sept. 15, Mexico's Independence Day. The series included various seminars, exhibits, concerts, receptions and visits from Mexican dignitaries. Free tickets for the ballet are available from Paige Rohman in 32 McNeal Hall while quantities last.
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Celebration of CHE undergraduate and graduate student scholars
CHE undergraduate and graduate student scholars will be recognized on Friday, September 23rd at 3:00 p.m. with a short program in 33 McNeal Hall followed by a reception in the McNeal Hall atrium. Undergraduate and graduate students receiving 2005-06 CHE scholarships and fellowships will be recognized.
Symposium celebrates career of Regents Professor Joanne Eicher
Participants from around the world attended "The Senses and Sentiments of Dress," a symposium honoring retiring Regents Professor Joanne Eicher in DHA, on Sept. 16 and 17 on the St. Paul campus. The symposium honored human variability related to items and processes associated with dressing the human body and addressed the senses, sentiments, and emotions related to dress from historic and contemporary to intra and cross cultural perspectives. More information
School of Social Work helping with Katrina relief
Assistant Professor Liz Lightfoot of SSW carried a mini-van load of relief supplies donated by SSW constituents to Houston Sept. 11 to assist survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Additional information about SSW's effort to assist with Katrina relief and connect concerned individuals is available on the SSW web site at http://ssw.che.umn.edu/relief.html
In addition, CHE employees have an opportunity to assist Katrina relief through the upcoming Community Fund Drive. All U of M employees can donate through payroll deduction, by giving to the Local Recovery Fund, or by giving to the immediate relief fund. Information is available online at http://www.umn.edu/cfd.
Goldstein Museum has new web site
The Goldstein Museum of Design's website has a new look. The elegant new design more closely reflects the aesthetic of the DHA site and will be a showcase for images and information about the collections, exhibitions, and research of The Goldstein. The home page remains at http://goldstein.che.umn.edu, but bookmarks for specific pages on the former Goldstein site may have changed. Comments about the new design may be directed to goldstein@che.umn.edu.
Upcoming career development events
Sessions of the Worklife Effectiveness Program, Employee Career Enrichment Program, and the Center for Human Resource Development will be offered on St. Paul Campus this year. Offerings in October are:
- Family Caregiving Strategies, Elder Care Initiative, Tuesday, Oct. 4, noon-1 p.m, 155 Peters Hall (ITV)
- Job Stress and Burnout in Your Career, Career Development, Thursday, Oct. 13, 11:30 a.m.- 1 p.m., 274 McNeal Hall
- Dealing with Conflict, Supervisory Cinema, Tuesday, Oct. 18, noon-1:30 p.m., 125 Coffey Hall
- Midlife Career Development, Career Development, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., 22 McNeal Hall
To register for these programs, go to www.umn.edu/ohr/worklife.
MINCAVA Domestic Violence Awareness Month activities in October
Domestic Violence Awareness Month is a time to raise public awareness about domestic violence. It has been observed since October 1987 as a time to mourn those who have died as a result of abuse, celebrate those who have survived, and connect with those who work to end it. Ultimately, it is a time for communities to take collective action against domestic violence.
- In recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA) will host the following activities:
- Clothesline Project Decoration: Thursday, Sept. 29, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., Peters Hall Atrium
- Bake Sale for Survivors of Hurricane Katrina and Its Aftermath: Friday, Sept. 30, 8:20 a.m. - 5 p.m., Peters Hall Atrium
- Silent Speaks: Digital Storytelling for Healing and Violence Prevention, Thursday, Oct. 27, noon - 1 p.m., 280 Peters Hall
If you need any assistance or further information for these events, please contact Yukiko Nakajima (Phone: 612-624-3059 or email: ynakajim@che.umn.edu). Return to top
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| faculty and staff news |
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In the media (see the Faculty and Staff News page for links to available stories)
- William Angell, DHA, was interviewed on WCCO July 27 by Pat Miles discussing radon in Minnesota homes..
- Pauline Boss discussed grief on a Sept. 9 KSTP-TV special, "Mission Katrina: Minnesota Answers the Call."
- Francis Busta, FScN, is quoted in the July 5 SITNews and July 21 Scripps Howard News Service discussing the vulnerability of America's food supply to terrorist attack.
- Francisco Diez-Gonzales, FScN, discussed the freshness of lettuce July 29 on WCCO-TV.
- William Doherty, FSoS, was quoted in the Aug. 21 New York Times article "When He's Not the Better Half," discussing media coverage of controversial issues of the wives of male politicians. He also wrote an article for the September eMaxHealth, available at http://www.emaxhealth.com/26 /3114.html, discussing "After an Affair: How Marital Therapy Heals the Wounds."
- Daniel Gallaher, FScN and CHE associate dean, was interviewed by Dennis Douda of WCCO-TV July 29 discussing a fatty acid he is researching which brings relief to arthritis sufferers.
- Alan Levine, FScN professor, is quoted in the Tallahassee Democrat in August, discussing the brain triggers which may cause America's obesity crisis. He was also quoted in the Aug. 21 Chicago Tribune discussing the root cause of overeating.
- Marlene Stum, FSoS, is quoted in the Aug. 14 Hometown Life discussing the need for family estate planning before a crisis.
- Esther Wattenberg, SSW, was quoted in the July 31 Star Tribune discussing "Children in a Meth-Endangered Environment", a conference she helped organize to draw attention to children of meth-addicted parents.
- Oliver Williams, SSW, is quoted in the Sept. 7 Newswise discussing finding solutions to domestic violence through rethinking traditional approaches.
Selected faculty and staff highlights
- Jeffrey Edleson, SSW faculty, is the co-principal investigator with Roger Roffman of the U of Washington on a newly funded research project focused on motivating substance abusing men who batter to seek both domestic violence and substance abuse treatment services before the criminal justice system becomes involved. The three-year developmental study is funded with a $1.395 million grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
- Karen LaBat and Elizabeth Bye, DHA faculty, presented a workshop on "Apparel Sizing: New Technologies to Provide Better Fit for Larger Americans" at the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences annual conference in Minneapolis. Two hundred attendees learned about the Human Dimensioning Lab and the use of scan technology to measure and assess body shape and size.
- Lloyd Metzger, FScN faculty, received the 2005 American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) Foundation Scholar Award at the annual meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 25. Dr. Metzger was recognized for his visionary leadership in dairy-foods research, teaching and outreach endeavors. Metzger's research program is based on developing an understanding of the structural and functional role of natural and process cheese components, particularly during cheese manufacture. His development of Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA) methodologies for small-scale manufacturing is now used by major dairy companies throughout the United States. Metzger has been an assistant professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition since July of 2000 and is Director of the Mn-SD Dairy Foods Research Center.
- Paul Rosenblatt, FSoS faculty, has a forthcoming book entitled "Two in a Bed: The Social System of Couple Bed-Sharing" to be published in 2006 by the State University of New York Press.
In memoriam
Joan Gordon, FScN emeritus professor, died in Minneapolis on Aug. 24 at the age of 82. Dr. Gordon received her Ph.D. in home economics, with a minor in agricultural biochemistry, from the University in 1953. She joined the University faculty in 1947 and became an assistant professor in 1954. She was promoted to associate professor in 1955. She went to Pennsylvania State University to be a professor in food and nutrition in the College of Human Development from 1960-1967.
She returned to be a professor at the University of Minnesota in 1967. She served as chair of the Food Division in the School of Home Economics from 1970-1972. Joan was very instrumental in the leadership following the administrative changes in the early 1970s which made it reasonable to create a new department by combining the Food Department and the Nutrition and Food Service Administration Department (College of Home Economics) with the Food and Industries Department (College of Agriculture) to form a new and present Department of Food Science and Nutrition. Upon her retirement in 1993, she became emeritus professor and continued in that position until her death.
During her University of Minnesota career, she completed 16 masters students and 9 Ph.D. students, and she had numerous undergraduate advisees. She maintained contact with many of her former students through the years. In recognition of her work, she received numerous awards and honors. Her teaching primarily addressed the chemical and physical interactions resulting from preparation and processing of foods. She pursued research in the areas of cereal, dairy and meat chemistry; the effects on conventional and microwave heating on foods and the sensory characteristics of food. She applied several new analytical methods to the study of food. She authored more than 150 scientific papers, and maintained an active research program well into her retirement.
A Memorial Scholarship honoring Joan Gordon has been established through the Department of Food Science and Nutrition and the University of Minnesota Foundation.
USDA graduate fellowship grant awarded
FScN has been awarded a $138,000 grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The National Needs Graduate Fellowship Grant will support the training and education of two Ph.D. students who will take a multi disciplinary approach to examine the production of specific bioactive components from dairy products, their incorporation into food products, their impact on the sensory properties and the acceptability of the foods, (food science) the decision processes relating to peoples choice to include the products in their diets, and the clinical effectiveness of the products for weight loss (nutrition). Growing evidence suggests that calcium can play an important role in successful weight loss and that dairy products appear to enhance its effectiveness.
Graduate education is a major function of the Food Science and Nutrition department and the grant funds will help assure quality fellows. The project co-directors are professors Marla Reicks and Zata Vickers. Professors Lloyd Metzger and Susan Raatz will also direct research activities.
New faculty
Xiaoli Chen, M.D., Ph.D, FScN assistant professor, is the endowed General Mills Chair in Genomics for Healthful Foods. Chen trained at the University of Georgia in Athens and received her Ph.D. in nutrition. She has spent the last four years in the Diabetes Branch of NIDDK/NIH in which she conducted studies related to insulin resistance and diabetes using proteomics, and micro array techniques.
Velmer Burton, Ph.D., Ed.D., SSW professor, will be joining the School in August. Professor Burton earned his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Cincinnati, his Ed.D. in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania, and his B.S. and M.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati. He has a certificate from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. He served as Chancellor of University of Minnesota, Crookston and has published extensively on community corrections, delinquency, and strain theory.
New staff
- Glen Beltt, CHE e-communications manager
- Julie Brand, research associate with InformeDesign
- Katrina Ginther, DHA advising coordinator
- Kerry-Ann Hamilton-Rose, SSW office specialist
- Xiaoming Liu, FScN post doctoral associate in Professor Lloyd Metzger's lab
- Wanda Loerch, DHA advising coordinator
- Linda McElmurry, CHE personnel specialist
- Terry Simon, FScN scientist in Professor Lloyd Metzger's lab
- Brandon Thorne, student support, CHE professional and community engagement
- Kate Walthour, SSW admissions director
- Susan Johnston Webster, administrative fellow, CHE professional and community engagement unit
- Peng Zhou, FScN post doctoral associate in Professor Lloyd Metzger's lab
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