NEWS SPLASH

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Jones Hits Baseball Milestone

Tulane baseball head coach Rick Jones has the most wins in Tulane history. He reached his record-breaking 642nd win when the Green Wave shut out Le Moyne College, 6-0, on Sunday (Feb. 22).

The record win took place at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. Jones broke former baseball coach Joe Brockhoff’s record, which stood at 641 wins since Brockhoff’s retirement following the 1993 season.

“This is certainly a memorable day for me, as coach Brockhoff was such an icon in Tulane athletics history,” Jones said. “This kind of milestone doesn’t happen without the great support that I have had from my administration or the tremendous assistant coaches, past and present, and of course the many great players to whom I am truly indebted.”

Jones, who is currently in his 16th season as the Green Wave skipper, boasts a 642-307-2 record at Tulane, giving him a .676 winning percentage, the highest winning percentage in the Tulane baseball record books.

He was honored at a pregame ceremony on Wednesday (Feb. 25) before the Green Wave game against the University of Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks.

Golf Fund-raiser

Tulane Athletics is planning the inaugural Tulane Classic fund-raising golf tournament, which will take place on Monday, March 30, at English Turn Golf and Country Club.

The tournament will be Tulane Athletics’ premier spring event. Proceeds will benefit Tulane student-athletes and their endeavors in competition, in the classroom and in the community. In addition, many current student-athletes as well as former letter winners from all sports and eras will be on hand to participate.

The shotgun start will be at 12:30 p.m. The tournament cost will be $200 per golfer or $750 per foursome. Food, giveaways and prizes will be provided. Each participant receives a free ticket to the Green Wave baseball game against Louisiana State University on March 31.

For additional information, e-mail Sue Bower or call 504-865-5513.
 

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Celebrating Sisterhood

Members of the Tulane community who belong to sororities will be wearing badges or Greek letters on Monday (March 2) in celebration of International Badge Day.

This year’s theme is “Keep Your Fraternal Experience Close to Your Heart,” and all national and international sorority groups will be participating.

On Monday, members of the Panhellenic Council at Tulane and National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations will be distributing information on the event in the Lavin-Bernick Center from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Faculty and staff members of the university who are alumnae of a sorority are encouraged to participate in the event, which is held in celebration of sisterhood.

For additional information, e-mail Elizabeth McCoy.

Benefit Aids Elderly

A benefit with food and music will take place on Friday, March 6, for Shared Housing of New Orleans, an organization that helps elderly or disabled individuals remain in their homes instead of being in a nursing facility.

The benefit is at 7 p.m. at Hoshun Asian Restaurant, 1601 St. Charles Ave., according to Marion Strauss, an occupational therapist who is on the clinical faculty of the Tulane School of Medicine. Straus also is the volunteer director of Shared Housing of New Orleans.

The organization matches homeowners who are elderly or disabled with a “homeseeker” who provides light housekeeping and companionship in return for room and board. The group carefully screens all persons involved with the program.

For additional information, e-mail Strauss.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Tulane on Track

Dear Tulanians and Friends,

The economy may go up and down, but we can always count on one thing: February means Mardi Gras in New Orleans -- parades, beads and doubloons.

At Tulane, while we enjoy this unique New Orleans tradition, we are singularly focused on our most important job, which is keeping the university moving forward even during these tough times.

In this spirit, we want to make sure we can continue to provide scholarships to our outstanding students and to support our community engagement initiatives in health care and public school reform. Your giving is imperative to meeting these goals as we keep Tulane On Track for our students and our community.  

Meanwhile, many of you have told me that the time you spent at Tulane was some of the best of your life and I’ll bet that includes some great Mardi Gras memories. So take a moment and watch what’s happening at Tulane as Carnival approaches, including how some of our great students will be celebrating.

Scott S. Cowen
President

Crescent City Cool

The Big Easy is one of the 15 coolest cities in North America, according to msn.com, which recommends those locations as the best travel sites.

“Whether you’re looking for world-class museums, breathtaking architecture, lush parks and gardens or vibrant nightlife, take your pick of these cities and enjoy the diversity that each has to offer,” the msn.com Web site says.

Promoting travel to New Orleans, the Web site describes the city this way: “Packed with revelers during the annual Mardi Gras festival, the French Quarter in New Orleans remains lively the remainder of the year. Much of the architecture in the French Quarter dates back to the brief period of Spanish rule in the late 1700s, with many buildings having survived fires and hurricanes in the centuries since.”

The other cities on the list are Washington, D.C.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Chicago; Savannah, Ga.; Denver; New York; Vancouver, British Columbia; Philadelphia; Boston; Las Vegas; Minneapolis; Nashville, Tenn.; Austin, Texas; and Portland, Ore.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Weekend for Wave Fans

The Tulane uptown campus will be busy with athletics events on Friday through Sunday (Feb. 20–22), with games by the men’s and women’s basketball teams and four baseball games.

The Green Wave action starts on Friday (Feb. 20) with the season-opening baseball game against LeMoyne College at 6 p.m. at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

A Mardi Gras ticket special for $20 will provide entry into events on Saturday (Feb. 21) — the noon baseball game against LeMoyne and back-to-back basketball games in Fogelman Arena. The women’s basketball team plays at 1 p.m. in a senior day game against the University of Central Florida, followed at 3:30 p.m. by the men’s team against Marshall University.

Baseball will continue at 4 p.m. on Saturday with the second game of a doubleheader with LeMoyne. The series with LeMoyne continues on Sunday at 1 p.m. For ticket information, call 504-861-9283.

Learn About Aging

The first lecture in the Aging Seminar Series will be held at 4 p.m. on Feb. 27 on the topic, “Diet Restriction Versus Diet Selection: A Convergence of Concepts.”

The session, being held in room 403 of the J. Bennett Johnston Health and Environmental Research Building, 1324 Tulane Ave., is open to interested researchers, faculty, students, and staff.

Guest speaker will be Donald K. Ingram of the Nutritional Neuroscience and Aging Laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. For more details, contact the Tulane Aging Interest Group, 504-988-3369.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Awards for Research Days

Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and medical students received awards for having top presentations during the 20th Annual Tulane Health Sciences Research Days held on Feb. 11 and 12.

The senior vice president’s award for graduate students went to Rebecca L. Brocato, Shaowei Chen and B. Duygu Ozpolat, while a similar award to a postdoctoral fellow went to Fenglei He.

Haig Goenjian received the School of Medicine dean’s award for a medical student, while John C. Carlson got the similar award for a resident or fellow.

The School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine dean’s award for a public health masters student was given to Sophie Lindemaier, while the doctoral student award went to Mark J. Wilson.

Thanh Duc Dang took the undergraduate award and Roy Dory received the graduate student award presented by the dean of the School of Science and Engineering.

Specialty awards included: the Michael A. Gerber Prize for Molecular and Cellular Biology, to Thomas C. Freeman and Shelby M. Padway; the award for cancer research, to Partha K. Chandra; the award for bioenvironmental research, to Santosh Yadav; the award for research in infectious diseases, to Upal Roy; and the award for research in gene therapy, to Trivia Frazier.

Ole Miss on the Way

A four-game football series between Tulane and the Ole Miss Rebels will begin with the first game at the Louisiana Superdome on Sept. 11, 2010.

The series was announced by Rick Dickson, Tulane athletics director. After the 2010 game, Tulane will travel to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., on Sept. 22, 2012. The series will continue in 2016 with the Rebels returning to New Orleans, and the Green Wave will make the short trip to Ole Miss in 2017.

“We’re pleased to restart this four-game, home-and-home series,” Dickson said. “This adds back another of our historic rivalries to our schedule along with Alabama, Georgia Tech and others.”

One of oldest rivalries for both schools, the Green Wave and University of Mississippi will play each other for the first time in nine years for the 70th edition in 2010. Tulane and Ole Miss first met in 1893, which marked the first year of hosting a varsity football program for both schools.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Tulane Hosts Conference

Tulane is hosting a national conference and training program through tomorrow (Feb. 18) for the federal Office of Research Integrity.

The session, Research Integrity Officer Boot Camp, opened on Sunday (Feb. 15) at Loew’s Hotel, 300 Poydras St., for 26 participants, mostly from the southeastern United States, in addition to staff from the Office of Research Integrity. Also attending is the project director, David Wright of Michigan State University, who created the program and provides the training through a federal grant.

Representing Tulane at the sessions are Laura Levy, associate senior vice president for research, who gave the welcome at the opening session on Sunday, and Brian Weimer, the university’s research integrity officer.

The New Orleans program is one of five Research Integrity Officer Boot Camps to be held in various geographical areas of the nation with the intention of reaching the top 100 institutions that receive funding from the National Institutes of Health.

The boot camp is comprised of facilitated discussions and hands-on exercises on critical aspects of the officers’ role in handling allegations of research misconduct. By providing a forum through this program, participants can discuss the critical skills they need to accomplish their work and the most important problems they face. 

Looking for Interns

The Scott S. Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives is seeking graduate students to apply for the Jones Scholars Internship Program for the fall 2009 semester.

An information session about the program and application process is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Wednesday (Feb. 18) in room 209 of the Lavin-Bernick Center.

Through this innovative paid internship program, Tulane graduate students have an opportunity to support the transformation of public education taking place in New Orleans. The deadline to apply is March 19.

Jones Scholars spend a semester working directly for a charter or traditional public school in Orleans Parish, or with one of the nonprofit organizations that support them, on a project that is focused on improving college readiness, decreasing dropout rates and easing the transition from high school to college.

In return for the work completed by a Jones Scholar over the course of a semester, the Cowen Institute provides a competitive financial stipend of $6,000. Jones Scholars are expected to work a minimum of 20 hours per week on assigned projects.

Additional information is available by e-mailing Felicia R. Brown, program director, or calling 504-274-3682.

Students for Life Speaker

Austin Ruse, president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, will speak on the Tulane campus today (Feb. 17) at a meeting hosted by Tulane Students for Life.

Ruse will speak at 3:45 p.m. in the Qatar Ballroom at the Lavin-Bernick Center. He also is founder of the International Organizations Research Group, a research institute that publishes scholarly findings on organizations such as UNICEF, the U.N. Population Fund, the World Bank and the World Health Organization.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Tulane On Call

The Tulane Hospital for Children will be the topic for discussion today (Feb. 16) on Tulane Medical Center’s call-in television series, “Tulane On Call.”

The series, which airs on Cox Communications New Orleans’ cable channel 10 at 7 p.m., will feature Dr. Michael Kiernan and Dr. Steve Weimer discussing pediatric services.

The 30-minute program airs live each Monday night for an initial 13-week run and repeats on Tuesday evenings at 8 p.m. Long-time television host Jerry Romig moderates the program, which features interviews with top physicians from Tulane Medical Center and offers one-on-one expert advice to the viewing audience through live phone calls.

Because of the Mardi Gras holiday, no program will air on Feb. 23. The schedule of upcoming topics is: March 2, Dr. Benjamin Lee, robotic urology surgery for cancer of the kidney; March 9, Dr. Oliver Sartor, the mission of the Tulane Cancer Center; March 16, Dr. John Piogott, the Tulane Heart Center; March 23, Dr. Hans Andersson, the Hayward Genetics Center at Tulane; and March 30, Dr. Gabriella Pridgian, the Tulane-Lakeside OB/GYN program.

King Cake Celebration

Tulane Dining Services hopes to set a record by baking New Orleans’ largest king cake on the uptown campus on Wednesday (Feb. 18). 

The 300-foot diameter king cake will be engineered and constructed by Tulane Dining Services staff in cooperation with Tulane students. Tulane faculty and staff members as well as students are invited to participate by decorating the king cake on the Lavin-Bernick Center Quad starting at 1 p.m. Anyone interested in decorating the cake or in taking part in the cake-eating contest that will take place at 3 p.m. must sign up using the online form.

The king cake will be given away in one-foot sections.  To reserve a section, complete the online form.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Buzz With the Hornets

“Tulane Night at the Hive” is on Wednesday, March 18, when Tulane students and employees can take advantage of special ticket offers to see the New Orleans Hornets play the Minnesota Timberwolves in pro basketball.

The game is at 7 p.m. in the New Orleans Arena. Faculty and staff members as well as students who purchase a $20 or $30 ticket online for the game will receive a free Hornets cap with a Tulane logo. Hats may be picked up at Section 308 during the game.

Tulane Night festivities include a Buzz Fest pre-game party outside the arena from 5:30 until 6:45 p.m., a performance by the Shock Wave Dance Team, singing of the national anthem by the Green Envy a cappella group and presentation of the colors by the Tulane Navy ROTC Color Guard.

Summer Lyric Auditions

Summer Lyric Theatre at Tulane University will hold auditions on Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 14 and 15) for its 42nd season, featuring performances of Oliver!, Company and South Pacific. 

For performers age 17 and older, group dance auditions will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday in Dixon Hall. Dancers are encouraged to bring tap shoes. Vocal auditions will be held in five-minute blocks in the Dixon Annex Recital Hall beginning at 12:30 p.m. and singers should call 504-865-5271 to schedule an audition time.

Auditions for performers age 16 and under will be held on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Dixon Hall. Because the performers will learn and perform a short bit of choreography, they should wear comfortable clothes. Vocal auditions will begin at 2 p.m.

All dancers and singers are asked to bring a current photograph and resume. Singers also need to bring sheet music for a two- to three-minute song. An accompanist will be provided for the vocal auditions.  

Oliver! begins rehearsals on May 28 and runs June 18–21. Rehearsals for Company begin June 22 and the show runs July 9–12. The season closes with South Pacific, performing July 30–Aug. 2, with rehearsals beginning July 13.  

Mature, classically trained singers and seasoned character actors along with traditional musical comedy performers of all ages are needed and encouraged to audition for the upcoming Summer Lyric Theatre season.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Volleyball Coach Resigns

After 14 years in New Orleans, head volleyball coach Liz Kritza announced her resignation on Feb. 10 to accept the head coaching position at the University of Colorado.

In her playing days at Tulane, Kritza was a Green Wave student-athlete standout. She then served as assistant coach and became head coach for the volleyball team in January 2005. The team won its first conference championship in 2008, tying a C-USA record with 15 wins.

Kritza has guided the team to a 76-39 overall record and a 42-21 mark in Conference USA action. A native of Colorado Springs, Colo., Kritza begins duties at Colorado immediately.

“We are greatly appreciative of the dedication and efforts of Liz and her staff,” said Rick Dickson, athletics director. “We are beginning the search for a replacement immediately and will seek candidates that exemplify the qualities that Tulane values.”

Tulane earned its first berth to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 after winning both the C-USA regular season and tournament championships. Tulane advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament after defeating Tennessee Tech in four sets but fell to Western Michigan in the second round.

Kritza was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2008 after guiding Tulane to 28-6 record both years. The Green Wave recorded its first win over a ranked team in over a decade by defeating then-14th-ranked Middle Tennessee in five sets in 2008. In the process, Tulane also set a school record with 17 straight victories and increased the program’s home winning streak to 24 straight at Fogelman Arena. Kritza was named the C-USA Co-Coach of the Year and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Coach of the Year, both for the second straight season.

As a Green Wave player, Kritza was a four-year volleyball letterwinner in 1995–98. She earned her degree from Tulane in 2000 and served as assistant coach in 1999–2004.

Rookie of the Week

Tulane women’s basketball guard Indira Kaljo was named Conference USA Rookie of the Week on Feb. 9. The Green Wave junior averaged 22.5 points per game, tying her career-high with 23 on Feb. 8 in Tulane’s win over East Carolina University, including a three-pointer with 0.1 seconds left for the win.

In that game, Kaljo connected on 6-of-7 from the 3-point range as Tulane won in its pink uniforms. The Green Wave donned pink as part of the WBCA Pink Zone campaign against breast cancer. Kaljo turned in an emotional performance, having lost her mother to breast cancer in 2001.

For the week, Kaljo connected on 16-of-25 from the field, including 11-of-15 from behind the three-point arc for a percentage of .733 from deep.

The Green Wave are 14-10 this season, 6-4 in Conference USA action. Tulane takes on the University of Houston today (Feb. 12) at 7 p.m. at the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

News From Africa

Gwen Thompkins, the East Africa correspondent for National Public Radio, will discuss her experiences on Thursday (Feb. 12) at 4 p.m. in the Aron Common Room of Robert C. Cudd Hall. Thompkins is a 1987 graduate of Newcomb College at Tulane University.

As the guest of the John J. Witmeyer III Dean’s Colloquium, Thompkins will reflect on the path that has taken her from the classrooms of Tulane to her current position as a journalist in Africa. She will share her unique perspective on the political and social realities of modern-day Africa, as well as her observations on what it takes to have a successful career in journalism.

Thompkins, who for many years worked as a reporter and editor at The Times-Picayune, is based in Nairobi, Kenya, but covers a variety of nations from the Horn to the heart of Africa. From 1996 to 2006, Thompkins was the senior editor of Weekend Edition Saturday, with Scott Simon. In the aftermath of Katrina, Thompkins and NPR producer Sarah Beyer Kelly filed a series of radio stories from New Orleans, where Thompkins was born and raised. The storm submerged Thompkins’ New Orleans home in nine feet of water, but she is rebuilding.

The event is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow the lecture. The event is being hosted by Cocurricular Programs of Newcomb-Tulane College. For more information, contact Sarah Mohl at 504-314-2801.

Renowned Philosopher Visits

Acclaimed international philosopher Etienne Balibar will be on the Tulane uptown campus on Thursday and Friday (Feb. 12–13) for a lecture, seminar and colloquium.

The visit is hosted by Jean-Godefroy Bidima, professor in the Department of French and Italian and holder of the Yvonne Arnoult Chair in Francophone Studies. The events are open to the public.

Balibar is emeritus professor of moral and political philosophy at the University of Paris X- Nanterre and distinguished professor of humanities at the University of California–Irvine. He also teaches seminars at the Centro Franco–Argentino de Altos Estudios de la Universidad de Buenos-Aires and the Center for Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University.

On Thursday (Feb. 12), Balibar will deliver a talk titled “Strangers and Enemies: From Politics to Philosophy" at 5 p.m. in Freeman Auditorium in the Woldenberg Art Center. On Friday (Feb. 13) from 10:30 a.m. until noon, a seminar is scheduled in room 201 of the Newcomb Art Department that will feature Balibar and be moderated by John Protevi, professor of the French and Italian at Louisiana State University.

A colloquium titled “Race, Classes, History, Citizenship and Cosmopolitanism: A Conversation With Etienne Balibar” will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday in room 201 of Hebert Hall. The discussion will include presentations by Michael Pelias, Long Island University–Brooklyn; Robert Harvey, State University of New York–Stony Brook; Nick Nesbitt, University of Aberdeen, Scotland; and Laura Hengehold, Case Western Reserve University.

Presenters from Tulane will include Bidima; Richard Velkley, Celia Scott Weatherhead Professor of Philosophy; and Idelber Avelar, professor of Spanish and Portuguese.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Cooley To Sign Book

Peter Cooley, English professor, will give a reading and sign his new book, Divine Margins, at 6 p.m. today (Feb. 10) at Octavia Books, 513 Octavia St.

The volume of poetry is Cooley’s eighth book. For additional information, contact Octavia Books, 504-899-7323 or e-mail Cooley.

Black Arts Festival Lecture

Renowned psychologist and author Na’im Abkar will give a lecture at Tulane on Wednesday (Feb. 11) as part of the 2009 Annual Black Arts Festival in celebration of Black History Month.

The African American Congress of Tulane is hosting the speech at 7 p.m. in the Kendall Cram Room of the Lavin-Bernick Center. The program is free and open to the public.

Akbar was acclaimed by Essence magazine as “one of the world’s preeminent psychologists and a pioneer in the development of an African-centered approach in modern psychology.” His books include Akbar Papers in African Psychology, Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery, The Community of Self, Visions for Black Men, and Know Thyself.

He was chair of the Morehouse College Psychology Department and is currently on the faculty in the Department of Psychology at Florida State University.

A reception and book signing will precede the event at 6:30 p.m. in the same location. For more information about this program or other Black History Month events taking place at Tulane, call the Office of Multicultural Affairs, 504-865-5181.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Women of Excellence

Three members of the Tulane community — a student, a faculty member and an administrator — are nominees for the 2009 Women of Excellence Awards sponsored by the Louisiana Legislative Women’s Caucus.

Yvette Jones, chief operating officer and senior vice president, is among the nominees in the education and research category. Joining Jones on the list of nominees is Carol McMichael Reese, the Harvey-Wadsworth Professor of Urban Affairs in the School of Architecture, who is up for the award for volunteerism and civic involvement.

Tulane senior Shivani Gupta is nominated in the young woman of excellence category. Gupta and Reese both were nominated by the Tulane Center for Public Service.

The annual awards program recognizes and honors the professional achievements and contributions of extraordinary women who personify excellence in their area of specialty and in community service, as well as demonstrating integrity and character. The award recipients will be announced on Feb. 27, and the Women of Excellence Awards Gala will be held on May 6 in Baton Rouge, La.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Football’s New Class

Ten players from Louisiana highlight Green Wave football’s 2009 class, head coach Bob Toledo announced Wednesday (Feb.4) on National Signing Day.

The Tulane signees include 14 offensive prospects, 11 defensive standouts and a two-time all-state kicker. A total of 24 high school seniors, a prep school standout and a Division I transfer signed National Letters of Intent to suit up for the Green Wave next season.

The new class includes six defensive backs, five offensive linemen, five wide receivers, four defensive linemen, two running backs, two tight ends, one linebacker and one special team player.

“We wanted recruits with speed, and we think we recruited a lot of speed,” Toledo said.“Obviously, we wanted size with linemen, and we did that as well. Overall, I think it was a really good recruiting class from top to bottom.”

Toledo’s third class also includes eight three-star recruits, according to the various scouting services, and eight Tulane signees are rated in the Top 100 nationally at their respective positions.

Architecture Exhibit

The Tulane School of Architecture is presenting a one-day projection of photos and films from a recent model-building workshop. The exhibit takes place today (Feb. 6) in room 305 of Richardson Memorial Hall.

“Making/Exhibition Projection” will be available for viewing from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. The presentation, a looped sequence of photos and films showing a repetitive series of fabricated wood objects, is from a model-building workshop presented for second-year students as part of their design studio curriculum.

Michael Gruber, an architect with Richard Meier and Partners in Los Angeles, presented the workshop and introduced students to tools and various methods of wood model construction. In subsequent shop sessions the students practiced cutting, joinery and assembly techniques.

Gallery Show Ends Saturday

The Newcomb Art Gallery’s exhibit, “Shirin Neshat: Women Without Men,” will be on display through Saturday (Feb. 7).

Gallery hours are 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. today (Feb. 6) and Saturday for the four video installations by Neshat, an Iranian American artist. Based on Shahrnush Parsipur’s novel of the same name, the exhibition presents single narratives from the author’s interwoven tale of outcast Iranian women.

An internationally acclaimed artist, Neshat spoke about her work in a lecture on the Tulane campus on Jan. 30.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

New Directories Available

The new printed campus telephone directories are now available. Copies can be picked up in the Lavin-Bernick Center near the information desk on the uptown campus.

Individuals and departments also can pick up copies at the telecommunications offices — on the uptown campus at the telecommunications building (phone number, 504-865-5206) and on the downtown campus at 1440 Canal St., suite 1710 (phone number, 504-988-5414).

The directories include the latest campus maps, yellow pages and general campus information, as well as listings for faculty, staff, students and departments. The phone directory project is a joint effort between the telecommunications offices, the publications office and technology services.

Studio Open House

A Studio in the Woods is hosting an open house featuring artist-in-residence Anne Devine on Sunday (Feb. 8) from 1 until 4 p.m.

Devine will share the plans for her project, “hard sweet hard,”a series of investigational walks in the woods and the surrounding environment of Greater New Orleans, as well as a solo performative distance walk from New Orleans to Hopedale, La.

The 35-mile “hard sweet hard” walk, to take place on Feb. 14–15, will be on a 35-mile walking route that highlights the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet and brings attention to its de-authorization and closure. Devine’s walk also creates a “second line” as she returns to the path of Hurricane Katrina.

The open house also will include a talk by Doug Meffert, deputy director of the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research, about the changing landscape of Southern Louisiana.

A Studio in the Woods is located at 13401 River Road on the West Bank of Orleans Parish. It is a Tulane University program dedicated to preserving the endangered bottomland hardwood forest and providing within it a peaceful retreat where visual, literary and performing artists can work uninterrupted.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Looking for Nominations

Nominations are now open for the 2009 Newcomb alumnae awards, and March 31 is the deadline for submissions.

Award categories are outstanding alumna, alumna of the year, service and loyalty alumna and young alumna. Instructions on making nominations and a list of past award recipients are available from the Newcomb Alumnae Association.

Carol Lavin Bernick, a 1974 graduate, was named outstanding alumna last year. A member of the Board of Tulane, she is the chair of the Alberto-Culver Co.

Stand Up Tulane

A discussion of personal and community safety called Stand Up Tulane will take place on Tuesday (Feb. 10) in the Lavin-Bernick Center.

The event will be held at 7 p.m. in the Kendall Cram Lecture Hall. Among the panelists will be representatives from Tulane Student Health, the Tulane Police Department and student affairs, as well as student leaders, counselors and a sexual assault nurse examiner.

Sponsors of the meeting include the Student Health Center, Peer Health Advocates of Tulane, the Rape Emergency, Awareness and Coping Hotline, the Center for Educational Resources and Counseling and the Office of Wellness. Anyone with questions can e-mail Maeghan Livaccari.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Focus on Maya

“Maya Calendars and Creation” will be the topic of discussion at the sixth annual Tulane Maya Symposium and Workshop starting on Friday (Feb. 6) at Tulane University.

The symposium will continue through Sunday (Feb. 8) at various locations on the uptown campus. Through a series of lectures, workshops and roundtable discussions, specialists at the symposium will discuss the final baktun, or cycle, of the current era of the Maya long-count calendar, which began more than 5,000 years ago and ends on Dec. 21, 2012.

The Stone Center for Latin American Studies and the Middle American Research Institute are hosting the event. More details are available in the full symposium schedule.

TMC Makes List

In the spring issue of Nursing Professionals magazine, Tulane Medical Center is on the “2009 Top 100 Hospitals to Work for” list, based on a national survey of hospital nurses.

Early in 2008, the magazine sent a survey to 25,000 randomly selected hospital nurses throughout the country measuring their job satisfaction. The questions covered such questions as how hospitals manage personal training and development, whether they are family-friendly employers, if they offer flexible working arrangements and if they promote equality and diversity in the nursing workforce.

Tulane Medical Center, New Orleans’ preeminent teaching hospital, is a partnership hospital jointly owned by HCA and Tulane University. The center is an acclaimed teaching, research and medical facility that includes the downtown campus at 1415 Tulane Ave. and Tulane-Lakeside Hospital in Metairie, La.

Monday, February 2, 2009

See the Simulation Center

The Tulane School of Medicine is inviting medical students, residents and faculty members to tour the new Tulane Center for Advanced Medical Simulation and Team Training.

Tours will be available on Tuesday through Thursday (Feb. 3–5) at the center, 131 S. Robertson St. in downtown New Orleans. The $3 million simulation center is for comprehensive training of medical students and other healthcare professionals.

Hours for the tours are Tuesday, 9–11 a.m.; Wednesday, noon–2 p.m.; and Thursday, 3–5 p.m. For information, call 504-988-9150.

Staff members of the simulation center will be on hand to describe the various simulators and room configurations.

Ready to Walk?

The Tulane 10K-A-Day program begins today, with employee walking groups scheduled to start on several Tulane campuses.

The wellness campaign for Tulane employees includes a walking program designed to help participants gradually achieve a healthy goal of 10,000 steps per day. Walking groups will take place before work, during lunch and after work for about 25 minutes. Groups are meant for anyone, at any fitness level.

Walking groups will be exercising on the uptown campus, at University Square, at the downtown campus and at the Tulane National Primate Research Center in Covington, La.For additional information, e-mail Erica Taylor or call 504-247-1720.

Participants who register for the program, wear a pedometer and log their steps on the website have a chance to win gift-card incentives.

The TU Wellness Committee also will hold Weight Loss Lunch and Learn meetings at noon on these days: Friday (Feb. 6) at the Tulane National Primate Research Center Auditorium in Covington, La.; Feb. 10 at 1440 Canal St., in the Diboll Auditorium; Feb. 17 at the Elmwood campus; and Feb. 19 in the Lavin-Bernick Center on the uptown campus in the Rechler Room (202).