Vol. 39, No. 82, March 13, 2008     /     Log Archive

Congratulations to coach Matt Bollant and the women's basketball team on last night's tournament win (see item below). They're a fantastic 26-4 and just two games away from an NCAA bid. If you still haven't caught a game at the Kress, now's the time. The semifinal doubleheader Friday (March 14) has Wright State vs. Milwaukee at 5:30 p.m. and UW-Green Bay vs. Cleveland State at 8. Go Phoenix! In news today:

New blog features discussion on "Growing Academic Excellence"
At UW-Green Bay's Mid-Year Convocation on Jan. 14, Chancellor Bruce Shepard challenged the campus community to begin growing the excellence of the University's academic programs. One area of excellence, he noted in the speech, has long been UW-Green Bay's programs in the environmental sciences and policy. Since then, senior and retired faculty in environmental sciences and policy and business have begun a conversation about opportunities to grow excellence and build on our strength in this area. A new blog, "Growing Academic Excellence-Sustainability," will now give the entire campus community an opportunity to join the discussion. The blog is online at https://blog.uwgb.edu/excellence/. To comment on a blog post, click on the headline of that particular post. Then scroll down and leave a comment in the reply box below the post.

First-ever 'Arabic Day' is on its way
Instructor Ilham Ashour informs us of plans for Arabic Day on Tuesday, April 1, with activities in the Union's Phoenix Rooms between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sponsors are the Humanistic Studies academic unit and the new Arabic Club. Entertainment, food sampling, henna decorating, "your name written in Arabic script" and other attractions are promised for visitors to the "Arabic Cultural village." The event will require an admission ticket... we'll have full information in our next issue... but mark your calendars.

Remarks remembering the late Anne Kok at 4:30 p.m. today
The campus celebration of the life of Anne Kok takes place today (Thursday, March 13) from 4 to 6 p.m. in the lobby of the Weidner Center. The formal program will be from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Students focus in on lighthouse pin as fundraiser for Kok project
The student Social Work Club, mourning the recent passing of the program's chairperson, Anne Kok, has settled on a project as a remembrance and tribute. Explains club co-chair Steph Steinke, "We are selling pins in remembrance of her and her life. They have a lighthouse with the words "SAIL ON" in the beam of light. We chose this because of Anne's love of sailing, and... she was like a beam of light guiding people to where they needed to go." The pins are $5 each, with students earmarking the proceeds for a charity in Jordan with which Kok was affiliated. If you'd like to buy one, contact Steinke at steisl08@uwgb.edu.

Update on Anne Kok Social Work Scholarship
The University Advancement Office reports that gifts continue to be received to create the Anne Kok Social Work Scholarship at UW-Green Bay. Contributions will continue to be accepted as the family and University collaborate to establish eligibility and award guidelines. Call the Advancement Office, 465-2074, for information.

Photos from Rotunda Day, with student stars and VIP guests
This year's Posters in the Rotunda event in Madison was a success! Eight students traveled with several faculty advisers (Johnson, Breznay) to proudly display their research to legislators (Soletski, Cowles, Hansen) and Regents (Crain) and other VIP visitors. Photos can be found by clicking the second link (Posters), scrolling down to the bottom of the main column and clicking on the picture at http://www.uwgb.edu/research/.

State Assembly offers its version of budget-repair bill
The Republican-dominated Wisconsin Assembly voted late last night to approve its own version of a budget-repair bill, rejecting the earlier proposal by Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. Could be another long stalemate, analysts are saying. See newspaper coverage at http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=727811.

Racing the deadline for Founders Awards nominations
With the run-up to spring break (March 15-23) don't forget that nomination forms for the 2008 Founders Association Awards are available electronically at http://www.uwgb.edu/sofas/founders. The Awards & Recognition Committee encourages anyone from the UW-Green Bay community (faculty, staff, students, and community members) to submit a nomination(s) prior to the March 23, 2008, deadline. The Web site includes descriptions of award criteria and a list of previous award recipients. If the individual(s) you nominate is selected as a finalist, you will be contacted to provide further detail such as background info and letters of support. All awards will be presented at the campus-wide convocation in August.

Questions? Ask Sutton, Jeon, Kimball, Lacey, Rogers, Snyder, Toonen, White
If you have any questions about the Founders Award nomination process, please feel free to contact Brian Sutton, Chairperson of the Awards & Recognition Committee, or any Committee member — Woo Jeon, Steve Kimball, Karen Lacey, Emily Rogers, Jan Snyder, Linda Toonen, or Jill White. Awards & Recognition Committee members are not eligible for nomination.

Talk on tropical migrants highlights ornithology gathering here this weekend
The Cofrin Center for Biodiversity at UW-Green Bay is co-sponsoring a free conference this weekend (March 14 and 15) on citizen-based bird monitoring. On Friday evening, Craig Thompson, Wisconsin DNR biologist and Chair of the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative International Committee, will make a public presentation on Wisconsin birds in the tropics, "Making Conservation Connections South of the Border," at 6:30 p.m. in Mary Ann Cofrin Hall Room 204. There is no charge for the talk, and anyone with an interest in birds is invited.

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The weekend's gathering — the second annual WBCI Birder Conference — offers a variety of talks and field trip opportunities. Prof. Bob Howe is among the presenters, and owls, whip-poor-wills, marsh birds and Kirtland's warblers are among the topics. For more information about the full conference, see: http://www.wisconsinbirds.org/BirdMonitoring.htm.

March 24 is deadline for Grants in Aid of Research
The Research Council invites members of the UW-Green Bay faculty to submit proposals to be considered for small Grants in Aid of Research. The funds must be used in support of faculty research. The number of applications received and the amount of funding available for distribution in each grant cycle will determine the number of awards that can be made. While all proposals will be considered, preference will be given to tenure-track faculty and those individuals who have not received funding recently. Please refer to the full guidelines at the Research Council Web site http://www.uwgb.edu/rc/. The Grants-in-Aid of Research funding opportunity deadline is Monday, March 24; please note that only electronic submissions are accepted and should be mailed to the Institute for Research at stresearch@uwgb.edu.

For Prine, Lampanelli, GB Symphony, Eikenberry/Tucker tickets, inquire here
It's a busy couple of weeks at the Weidner Center... starting with the Green Bay Symphony this Saturday... the 'Destined to Live: Surviving Cancer as a Couple" lecture Tuesday night (March 18) with actors Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker... followed by folk legend John Prine on March 28 and insult comic Lisa Lampanelli on March 29. The University Ticketing & Information Center in the University Union can set you up. Or visit http://www.uwgb.edu/weidner/.

Campus hosts symposium highlighting Fox River Watershed research
Students from area high schools will display their research alongside research of university and agency scientists at the Lower Fox River Watershed Monitoring Program's fifth annual Watershed Symposium on Wednesday, March 19 from 8:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. in Mary Ann Cofrin Hall. The project is designed to enhance student, teacher and community understanding and stewardship of the Fox River Watershed. Another goal is to establish a long-term monitoring program that will provide high-quality data to be used in making resource management decisions. For more information about the Lower Fox River Watershed Monitoring Program, visit the program's Web site at http://www.uwgb.edu/watershed.

High schools from Oshkosh, Appleton, Green Bay area
High school students and teachers visiting campus for the March 19 watershed symposium are from Green Bay Southwest, Green Bay Preble, Green Bay East, Appleton East, Oshkosh North and West De Pere.

Business owners win 'Elevator Pitch' contest
Two area business owners won cash prizes for 90-second "pitches" for their businesses during the Entrepreneur's Connection Conference Feb. 28. Top prize of $750 went to the owner of a business that consolidates medical records enabling self-insured organizations to minimize health insurance costs. Another entrepreneur, who offers a design concept that achieves energy use reductions, took the $500 second place award and the $250 people's choice award. For more on the conference and contest, sponsored in part by the University's Small Business Development Center, http://www.uwgb.edu/univcomm/news/archive/2008/08-57.htm.

Overview of Regents' 'big picture' discussion of tuition and financial aid
Although Wisconsin currently ranks as the tenth-most affordable state in comparison to peer four-year colleges, it provides relatively low levels of financial aid. As previously noted here, the UW System Board of Regents took the novel approach of devoting its monthly meeting March 6 to a "big picture" roundtable. The tuition-aid gap was a primary topic. The System's synopsis is now posted at http://www.wisconsin.edu/news/2008/r080306.htm.

NYT crunches numbers on demographics, college admissions game
Projections show that high-school graduates will peak next year after a 15-year climb. The New York Times, while focusing mostly on elite East Coast colleges, nonetheless shares some interesting analysis at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/education/09admissions.html?ex=1362715200&en=5be30d024b8342af&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss.

Economic impact of colleges and universities?
A new article in Change magazine offers suggestions for conducting more accurate economic impact studies on higher education institutions: http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/change/sub.asp?key=98&subkey=2552.

UW-Stout's record gift to create center for ethics
UW-Stout has received a record gift of $3.5 million; the money is for scholarships and development of a center for ethics to ensure all students learn the significance of a code of standards in their professional and personal lives. Learn more at http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news_local.asp?id=BG1EQEQKB7L.

UW's stem cell patents upheld
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office acted this week to uphold the final two major human embryonic stem cell patents held by the private research support organization of UW-Madison, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. See http://www.madison.com/tct/news/276565.

NASA publicizes all-women Mars team
A NASA news site has finally caught up to the LOG and highlighted the story we brought you when it happened, Feb. 23, about the first all-woman team to direct the Mars rover. Aileen Yingst of Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium and UW-Green Bay, of course, was prominent in that effort. See the NASA account at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/12mar_spiritday.htm?list186195.

Women's team opens Horizon Tourney with a 'W'
The crowd was plenty loud (what was that reporter writing about?) for Wednesday night's exciting 83-67 victory over Loyola for the UW-Green Bay women's basketball team. The Kress Events Center contest was a quarterfinal game in the Horizon League post-season tournament. The No. 1-seeded Phoenix will play No. 4 Cleveland State at the Kress Friday night and, if all goes well, advance to the conference finals at noon Sunday (March 16). For more, http://uwgbathletics.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/031208aaa.html.

Curtains for men's basketball at the Resch?
Green Bay Athletics Director Ken Bothof told the Green Bay Press-Gazette he is close to finalizing a new five-year deal to continue playing Green Bay home games at the Resch Center. Among the discussion points: the possibility of using curtains to close off one end of the spacious 9,700-seat venue. The results would include a louder and more intimate atmosphere. See http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080313/GPG020101/803130607/1229/GPGsports.

Hopes are high for Phoenix men in 2008-09
With a "tweaked" offense and less youth, optimism is high that the Green Bay men's basketball team under Tod Kowalczyk will improve on this year's record, next season. That's the annual post-season recap of Press-Gazette beat writer Rob Demovsky, at http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080313/GPG020101/803130606/1229/GPGsports.

Brief
Prof. Cristina Ortiz (Spanish/Humanistic Studies) was invited to teach a graduate seminar on March 12-13 as part of the Master of Arts in Euroculture offered by the Universidad de Deusto (Bilbao, Spain). The topic of her seminar extends from her research and is titled "National Films and Global Markets in the Latin American Context." Students from a variety of European countries as well as from countries of the former Soviet Union take part in the master's program.

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