NEWS SPLASH

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Immigration Forum

An educational forum on immigration that focuses on how migration affects communities, the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana, will be held today (May 29) from 7 until 9 p.m. in room 102 of Jones Hall on the uptown campus.

The session also will include a discussion of recent initiatives moving through the Louisiana legislature. Panel members, including academic specialists on migration, immigration attorneys, community representatives and state legislators from the New Orleans area, will give presentations, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Sponsors of the event are the Stone Center for Latin American Studies and the Center for Public Service at Tulane University, along with LatiNOLA and Common Good New Orleans. For more information, e-mail James D. Huck, or call 504-865-5164.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Wave in NCAA Tourney

The Green Wave baseball team, 36-18-1 during the regular season, will play in the NCAA Tournament on Friday (May 30) in Tallahassee, Fla., against the University of Florida. The Wave received a bid to the regional tournament on Monday (May 26), claiming the No. 3 seed in the Tallahassee regional, which also will include Florida State and Bucknell universities.

The bid came to Tulane after the team went 1-2 in the Conference USA tournament and was eliminated. Friday's game against Florida, 34-22 on the year and a member of the Southeastern Conference, will take place at noon.

The winner of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional will advance to play the winner of the NCAA Stillwater (Okla.) Regional, which features host Oklahoma State, Wichita State, Texas Christian and Western Kentucky universities. From there, the winner of each regional will play a best-of-three Super Regional at a site yet to be determined and the victor will advance to the NCAA Men's College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Theater Treats

Three Tulane theater companies have a busy summer season planned for area audiences of all ages. Patchwork Players offers two plays especially for children, Summer Lyric Theater has three musical productions and the Shakespeare Festival at Tulane plans a trio of comedies for its 15th season of professional theater. All performances are on the uptown campus.

Patchwork Players, Tulane's improvisational children's theater company, starts with Hansel & Gretel, June 18–30, followed by Shorts, July 8–19. Performances are in the Rogers Memorial Chapel and reservations are available by calling 504-284-6427. All seats are $7.50, but group rates are available as well.

Summer Lyric Theatre opens with Pal Joey on June 19–22, followed by Li'l Abner from July 10–13 and Oklahoma! running July 31–Aug. 3. All performances are in Dixon Hall, and ticket information is available by calling 504-865-5269.

The Shakespeare Festival at Tulane presents three colorful comedies that explore the battle of the sexes. Taming of the Shrew is set for May 29–June 14, As You Like It is June 26–July 12 and Twelfth Night is July 23–July 26. Performances are in Lupin Theatre.

This year, the Shakespeare Festival continues its crowd-pleasing Lagniappe stage presentations in the McWilliams Hall Lab Theatre with two new offerings. Mad Wenches and Wondrous Froward Women (June 4–July 16), and What, Has This Thing Appeared Again Tonight? (July 25–Aug. 2). For ticket information for all festival performances, call 504-865-5105.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Tops in C-USA Baseball

Green Wave baseball standout Shooter Hunt was named 2008 Conference USA Pitcher of the Year and joined junior utility athlete Anthony Scelfo for first-team all-C-USA honors.

Junior middle infielder Seth Henry and freshman third baseman Rob Segedin both claimed a spot on the All C-USA second team, while Segedin and relief pitcher Nick Pepitone were named to the league’s All-Freshman Team.

Hunt earned the honors after leading Tulane and the league in opponent batting average (.148), innings pitched (85.2), total strikeouts (110), and strikeouts looking (43). He also leads the team and is tied for the C-USA mark with nine wins and paces the club while ranking second in the conference with a 2.10 ERA.

The honors were announced on Tuesday (May 20) on the eve of the 2008 Entergy C-USA Baseball Championship being hosted by Tulane at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

Grads Honored

The Tulane athletics department honored 52 graduating student-athletes at a reception on May 16 in the Hall of Fame Room at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center for Intercollegiate Athletics.

Representatives from across campus, including members of the faculty and attendees from admission, financial aid and housing offices, congratulated the seniors.

“It’s an opportunity to get all the different groups together and go out on a good note,” said Shawn McWashington, director of Student-Athlete Academic Services at Tulane. “(The student-athletes) are happy at this time of year, especially when they can show their family and friends where they’ve spent their last four years. It gives them a chance to shake hands and meet different personnel. Everybody is just always appreciative.”

Tulane athletes recently received excellent marks at the national level for their performance in the classroom, as all eight of the school’s current varsity sports teams scored well above the national averages in the most recent multiyear Academic Performance Rates released by the NCAA.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Xerox Spotlights Tulane

Staff members with the Tulane document and visual communications services department are featured in a video on the Xerox website in conjunction with a global launch of several new Xerox printers.

The video, featured on the front page of the Xerox site, discusses the “power of partnership” in Tulane’s positive experience with Xerox products in rebuilding operations after Hurricane Katrina. In the video, the university is described as a “special customer” by Russell Peacock, Xerox Office Group president.

Video footage showing Tulane offices is included in the presentation, along with extensive interviews with Robert Morton, assistant director, and Mike Britt, director, both with document and visual communications services at Tulane.

Free Skin Cancer Tests

May is National Skin Cancer Awareness Month, and in recognition, the Tulane Cancer Center is offering free skin cancer screenings on Tuesday (May 27). Appointments are required.

The tests will be given from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Tulane Cancer Center Comprehensive Clinic, 150 S. Liberty St.

Doctors recommend the screenings for anyone who has experienced severe sunburn or has a history of sun exposure, who has fair skin and burns easily, and or is experiencing a recent change in the appearance of a mole. Skin cancer screenings involve a head-to-toe physical skin assessment by a Tulane dermatologist. 

All participants will receive a complimentary bottle of sun screen (SPF 30), and those requiring follow-up after screening will be encouraged to contact their personal physicians or they will be referred to a Tulane physician. 

To make an appointment, contact the Tulane Call Center at 504-988-5800 or 800-588-5800. Discounted, secured parking is available in the Saratoga Parking Garage, located on the corner of Cleveland and Saratoga streets in downtown New Orleans.  The clinic is located on the ground floor.


 

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Army ROTC Honors

The Army ROTC commissioned six Tulane graduates during commencement to be second lieutenants in the Army, Army Reserves and National Guard.

Tulane graduates commissioned from the Orleans Battalion and their posts include Nicholas Allen, Military Intelligence (Reserves), New Orleans; Andrew Oracz, aviation, Louisiana National Guard; Kristoffer Chamales, infantry, Fort Lewis, Wash.; Charles Howard, infantry and military intelligence, Fort Lewis; Jeffrey Johnson, armor and military intelligence, Fort Bliss, Texas; and Ryan McMenamin, JAG Corps.

They were commissioned in a ceremony on Friday (May 16) at the National World War II Museum.

Goodbye, Bikes

Tulane Public Safety officers will be removing abandoned bicycles on the uptown campus today through Friday (May 21–23).

Each year following spring commencement, officers remove bicycles locked to fixed objects such as bicycle racks, handrails and trees. Danny Lawless, director of public safety, said the removal takes place between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. on those days.

"Faculty, staff and students commuting to campus by bicycle should not allow their bicycle to remain on campus during the dates and times designated for removal," Lawless said. "Students residing in uptown residence halls will be allowed to secure their bicycles in their residence hall rooms during the dates and times noted for removal."

Lawless added that abandoned bicycles take up valuable space on campus bicycle racks, and they "tend to attract an unsavory element to campus."

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Just Ducky

The memory of John Karlem “Ducky” Riess lives at Tulane. Two honor societies — Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa — presented awards in Riess’ honor to a student and a faculty member during commencement week. Phi Beta Kappa presented its Riess Award to Carmella Vizza, an ecology and evolutionary biology major from San Antonio, while ODK honored neuroscience program leader Beth Wee with its Ducky Award.

Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest and most prestigious undergraduate honors society in the United States, honored Vizza at a ceremony on Thursday (May 15) when Vizza was inducted into the chapter’s 99th class. The 88 candidates who were invited to the induction ceremony represent the top 8 percent of the graduating class of Newcomb-Tulane College.

Tulane is the Alpha of Louisiana chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. The Karlem Riess Memorial Award is a $500 cash award given to an outstanding Alpha chapter inductee who has demonstrated a breadth of experience in the liberal arts and sciences. Riess served as a member and officer of the Phi Beta Kappa Alpha of Louisiana chapter for more than half a century.

Wee, professor of practice and codirector of undergraduate and master’s programs in neuroscience, is the 2007–2008 recipient of the Ducky Award for exemplary service presented by Tulane’s chapter of ODK. The Tulane circle of the national honor society, which recognizes and encourages superior scholarship, leadership and exemplary character, was installed in 1930.

Riess was an emeritus professor of physics who died in 2005 at the age of 92. For more than 70 years, Riess served Tulane University, where he received his undergraduate degree in 1933 and returned as a faculty member in physics after graduate study. He was faculty adviser to fraternities for more than four decades and the university marshal who led graduation processions for 25 years.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Newcomb-Tulane Awards

Top graduating students in scholastic achievement received honors on Friday (May 16) at the Newcomb-Tulane College undergraduate awards ceremony in McAlister Auditorium.

The R.C. Read Scholars Award went to Andrew David Farrier, while the Edward Ambrose Bechtel Medal for Cocurricular Achievement was presented to Christopher Michael Ordoyne.

Lauren Katharine Ruth received the William Wallace Peery Medal for Academic Excellence, which is bestowed each year upon the member of the William Wallace Peery Society who has achieved the most distinguished academic record.

The society was established in 1964 by Mrs. Peery in memory of her husband, the late Dr. Peery, who was a professor of English and served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1955 to 1964. Membership is awarded to those students who have earned the highest cumulative grade point averages over the course of their undergraduate careers.

Seniors chosen for the William Wallace Peery Society are Julie Nicole Burgess, Cullen William Burke, Christina Maria Caskey, Andrew David Farrier, Sarah Lynn Henkle, Maria Nichole Kanopoulos, Heather Laura Klavan, Cassandra Jean Kovach, Lucas Alan Lockhart, Travis Glenn Mandel, Jennifer Marie O'Keeffe, Rastin Mohammed Rastgoufard, Lauren Katharine Ruth, Whitney Nicole Shaffer, Samantha Burris Weil and Pat Winston Whitworth III.

The ceremony marked the first time that undergraduate schools joined together for the awards ceremony, in addition to the Center for Public Service and the Teacher Certification and Preparation program.

Jewish Scholars

The Tulane Jewish Studies Program is hosting a retreat of Jewish scholars sponsored by the Foundation for Jewish Culture on Sunday and Monday (May 18–19).

Tulane is one of the schools that has received a grant from the foundation to fund a visiting professor of American Jewish history for two years. Michael Cohen of Brandeis University will begin teaching at Tulane in the fall semester.

Tulane is one of six pilot sites of the foundation’s Jewish Studies Expansion Project, which is aimed at enhancing Jewish studies at underserved colleges and universities around the country by hiring two-year postdoctoral Schusterman Teaching Fellows in Jewish Studies. The three-year initiative is supported by a grant of more than $1 million from the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.
 
The Schusterman Teaching Fellow at Tulane will organize events and lectures on campus, join in scholarly conferences and events, and more generally act as a “beacon” among faculty, students and the community, according to Brian Horowitz, holder of the Sizeler Family Chair and director of Jewish studies at Tulane. Cost-share contribution from the dean’s office of the School of Liberal Arts made Cohen’s two-year visit to Tulane possible, Horowitz adds.

 

Friday, May 16, 2008

Commencement, Live!

Tune in to the University Commencement ceremony on the Internet on Saturday (May 17).

The university will provide live video streaming starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday when the ceremony begins at the Louisiana Superdome.

Google Vote

Vote online to support a Lusher Charter School student who is a national finalist in a Google art contest.

The artwork of Cameron London, an elementary student at Lusher in New Orleans, is among the 50 finalists in the National Doodle4Google Contest. The winner will be determined by online voting, which ends on Saturday (May 18). To vote for London’s art work, check in Region 7, grades 4–6, on the website.

The design that receives the most votes wins $25,000 for the school and $10,000 for the student.

Thousands of school children across the country submitted designs for the contest and Lusher Elementary students won three out of the top seven designs in the state. Lusher also is one of six schools in the country in a commercial shown nationwide on YouTube and the Doodle4Google site.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

New Institute Leader

Molly Travis, associate professor of English, will serve as the new interim executive director of the Newcomb College Institute.

Travis, named to the position by Provost Michael Bernstein, will replace Rebecca Mark, who had served in the interim position for two years. Mark, also an associate professor of English, will step down from the position effective July 1 as she takes a yearlong sabbatical.

Bernstein praised Mark’s work with the institute. “At a crucial time in the university's history, she brought vision and commitment to the pursuit of women’s education, the further development of research and scholarship in gender studies, and the implementation of a wide array of programming of interest to women,” he said.

Travis is a specialist on 19th- and 20th-century American and British literature. A recipient of the Tulane Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 1999, she has worked to revise and reconfigure the undergraduate curriculum. She also has been a Newcomb Fellow since she joined the Tulane faculty in 1989.

Bernstein said a nationwide search for the first permanent executive director of the institute will be launched during the 2008–2009 academic year.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Public Opinion

Tulane University President Scott Cowen and other key figures in the New Orleans rebuilding effort will participate in a panel on Thursday (May 15) to discuss government actions in the post-Katrina environment and the attitudes of Katrina-affected residents as measured in public opinion polls.

The event is part of the annual conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. Conference chair is Frank M. Newport, editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll.

Cowen will participate in the panel at 4 p.m. on Thursday at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, 500 Canal St., along with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin; Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu; Xavier University President Norman Francis, who also is chair of the Louisiana Recovery Authority; and Donald Powell, former federal coordinator of Gulf Coast Rebuilding.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Lewy Lecture

The first John E. Lewy, MD, Memorial Lecture is scheduled on Thursday (May 15), featuring Dr. Jane Schaller, executive director of the International Pediatric Association.

The event will be held at 7:30 a.m. in the Tulane School of Medicine main auditorium at 1430 Tulane Ave. A continental breakfast will be served at 7:15 a.m.

Schaller will speak on “International Pediatrics.” She also is visiting professor of pediatrics at the University of British Columbia and Karp Professor of Pediatrics Emerita at Tufts University.

Lewy was the longtime professor and chair of pediatrics in the School of Medicine.

New Council Leader

R. Hunter Pierson Jr. has been named chair of the President’s Council of Tulane University. The council is an advisory body for the Tulane administration.

Pierson, who resides in New Orleans, is a graduate of Louisiana State University. He is a member of the advisory board at Tulane University Medical Center, a member of the Business School Council, a former member of the Tulane University Medical Center Board of Governors, and past chair of the board of directors of the Tulane University Hospital and Clinic. He also is co-chair of Promise and Distinction: The Campaign for Tulane, the largest university fund-raising effort in Louisiana’s history.

In 1999, Pierson and his wife established the Catherine and Hunter Pierson Chair in Neuroscience at Tulane. His wife, Cathy, is a former chair of the Board of Tulane.

Hunter Pierson heads Pierson Investments, a private investment firm that owns and manages timberland, commercial real estate, and securities. He is a director of Deltic Timber Corp.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Deanship Continues

James M. MacLaren will continue to serve as dean of Newcomb-Tulane College through the 2011–2012 academic year. The announcement was made by Provost Michael Bernstein.

MacLaren had assumed interim leadership of the newly formed college in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and then was initially appointed to a two-year term by Interim Provost Paul Barron. MacLaren will now extend that duty to a full five-year term. 

The creation of Newcomb-Tulane College was a signature part of the University's Renewal Plan." James has brought great energy, engagement, and wisdom to the task of guiding the college through its crucially important early years," Bernstein said. "His continued stewardship of the college will be of great benefit to the Tulane community in the years ahead."

MacLaren, who joined the Tulane faculty in 1990, is a professor and former chair of the physics department. A recipient of the Sigma Xi Young Scientist Award in 1994, MacLaren was also recognized for excellence in undergraduate teaching at Tulane in 1999.

Student Art on Display

The Carroll Gallery in the Woldenberg Art Center is sponsoring its 2008 Bachelor of Arts Exhibition, showing the works of 14 students.

The exhibition continues through Friday (May 16), when there will be a reception from noon until 2 p.m. Regular gallery hours are on Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Art work will be on display by students William Bell, Ellen Bull, Linda Canzoneri Cantero, Jason Cooper, Marion DiPasquale, Jill Fallon, Daniel Greifinger, Cynthia Diane King, Colin Meneghini, Kerry Nakayama, Shannon Rainey, Dorion Ray, Arthur Terry and Ellen Walker.

Friday, May 9, 2008

On C-USA Honor Roll

Nearly half of Tulane’s student-athletes were named to the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the 2007–08 academic year.

Commissioner Britton Banowsky recognized 83 members of the Green Wave. Ten Tulane student-athletes also earned the Commissioner’s Academic Medal, which is awarded to students with a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or higher.

The Tulane track and field team featured four medalists: Brooke Bruns, Molly Callender, Whitney Hampton and Nicolette Taku. Medals also went to Steven McGinity of the football team; Corrie Gurucharri, Samantha Holt and Jacquelyn Obert of women’s soccer; Elizabeth Carey of women’s swimming and diving; and Ashley Bernards of the volleyball team.

Fifty-seven student-athletes were named to the Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the second-straight year. To be named, student-athletes must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.

Funds for the Environment

Tulane students raised $1,111 for the Gulf Restoration Network through the Phelps Residence Hall program “Marsh Madness.”

Resident advisers Lindsay Wooliscroft and Danielle Gallaspy organized the event, held in April with help from Hire Tulane, the Residence Hall Association and JL, Warren, Patterson and Wall residence halls.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Top Neurosurgeon

Dr. Charles B. Wilson, a Tulane alumnus and member of the Board of Tulane, received the 2008 Cushing Medal, the highest honor granted by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.

He received the honor on April 28 at the association's annual meeting in Chicago. The award recognizes Wilson's leadership and distinguished service in the field of neurosurgery.

A pioneer in the treatment of pituitary tumors, Wilson began attending Tulane on scholarship, receiving his undergraduate degree in 1951 and his medical degree in 1954. He also is a member of the Tulane Health Sciences Center Board of Governors.

Wilson said, "My indebtedness to Tulane is huge as is my confidence in the current leadership to lead Tulane to the top ranks of academic excellence in the years ahead."

He was the Tong-Po Kan Professor of Neurological Surgery and chair of neurosurgery at the University of California–San Francisco, where he established the Brain Tumor Research Center. He retired from active practice in 2002.

Wilson is now on staff at the Health Technology Center, a long-range forecasting think tank based in San Francisco. He just completed a term on the National Cancer Advisory Board and is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

Wilson cofounded Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance, working in sub-Saharan Africa. More recently, he was appointed senior adviser to the University of California–San Francisco Global Health Sciences as director of surgery programs, with a focus on delivering surgical services in rural Uganda.

Writers in Spotlight

Two nationally acclaimed authors who served as writers-in-residence at the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women will lead master classes on Friday (May 9) during the sixth annual Saints and Sinners alternative literary festival in New Orleans.

Michelle Tea and Dorothy Allison will lead discussions during the festival, being held at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, 717 Orleans Ave.

Tea, who was on the Tulane campus in February to serve as the Zale Writer-in-Residence, will speak at 1:30 p.m. on Friday on the topic, "Your DIY Career — How to Build a Sustainable Writing Life From the Ground Up." She is the author of four memoirs and recently published her first novel, Rose of No Man's Land.

Allison's talk, "Uncensored," is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday during the literary festival. She served as the Zale Writer-in-Residence in 1995 on the Tulane campus.

Allison, the author of award-winning novels Bastard Out of Carolina and Cavedweller, recently was awarded the Robert Penn Warren Award for Fiction.

Tickets for the festival can be purchased in the lobby of the Bourbon Orleans Hotel starting at 9 a.m. on Friday.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Public Health Awards

Four students who participated in the Prevention Research Center's Health Promotion Practicum Program have won awards in the Department of Community Health Sciences poster session contest.

All School of Public Health students must complete a practicum, and all community health sciences students must submit a poster describing the learning objectives, activities and outcomes of their internships. At the end of the spring and fall semesters, the posters are reviewed by faculty and awards are given.

In the spring poster session held on April 24, first place went to Dawn Glapion for "Neighborhood Design for the Elderly and Disabled Populations of New Orleans."

Second-place winners were Lauren Futrell, "Food Ubiquity Study," and Neal Goldenberg, "Community Gardens as a Way to Promote Individual and Community Health in New Orleans." Camillia Easley won third place with "Steps to a Healthier New Orleans: Corner Store Initiative."

The Prevention Research Center offers practicum internships in the field of health promotion with up to three partners each semester. The next round of practicum internships will be announced at the end of May.

Dining Services Says Thanks

As the semester winds down, Tulane Dining Services is sponsoring "customer appreciation week" on campus with food and beverage specials.

Faculty and staff members can take advantage of complimentary wine, beer and cheese at the 1834 Club from 4:30 until 6 p.m. today (May 7). From 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. today in the Lavin-Bernick Center Food Court, Dining Services is offering a ribeye steak and baked potato for $5.99, as well as free bread pudding or cheesecake with the purchase of either the steak entree or crawfish etoufee.

In McAlister Market today, anyone purchasing a bag of chips receives half off dips and salsas. On Thursday (May 8) at the Drawing Board in the Richardson Memorial Building, the special is a free 20-ounce fountain beverage with the purchase of any sandwich.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Institute Focuses on African-American Writers

Nghana Lewis of Tulane University’s Department of English and African and African Diaspora Studies is offering a Teacher Institute for Advanced Study for school teachers starting on June 2.

Sponsored by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities from June 2 until July 2 at Tulane, the seminar is entitled “African-American Louisiana Writers: A Critical Introduction.” The goal of the institute is to provide insight into the contributions of these writers to American life, history and culture.

Enrollment is open to kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers and librarians throughout the greater New Orleans and river parishes region. Participants will receive a stipend valued at $575, three graduate credits and 45 continuing learning units. Registration fees and tuition for the institute have been waived by Tulane.

Lewis will discuss writers including Tom Dent, Brian Keith Jackson, Arna Bontemps, Marcus Christian, Olympia Vernon, Ernest Hill, Louis Edwards, Huey Newton, Fatima Shaik, Louis Edwards, Alice Dunbar-Neson, Ernest Gaines and Victor Sejour.
 
For information, call 504-957-2684 or e-mail Lewis.
 

Tune In

Trenton Holliday, an associate professor of anthropology at Tulane, will be featured in a History Channel special entitled “Clash of the Cavemen.”

With exciting new research in anthropology, archaeology and genetics, the show follows early humans through a season of survival. It will first air on Saturday (May 10) at 4 p.m., central time. The show is scheduled to repeat on Sunday (May 11) at 7 and 11 p.m.

Set in 25,000 B.C. Europe, the show spotlights two species of primitive humans as they struggle to survive. The Neanderthals are natural hunters, built for brute strength and well-adapted to the cold. However, they lack the understanding of technology and ability to speak in abstract terms that our species has. The Cro-Magnon homosapiens are smarter but more fragile.

Holliday is a paleoanthropologist/human paleontologist who specializes in Late Pleistocene human evolution. His research interests include examining evolutionary changes in body size and shape among fossil hominids, recent humans and extant nonhuman hominoids.

Holliday teaches courses in Human Origins, Adaptation and Human Variability, The Neandertal Enigma, Human Evolution and Human Functional Morphology.

 

Monday, May 5, 2008

Gift from Spain

Carlos Westendorp, Ambassador of Spain to the United States, will visit Tulane University today (May 5) to announce his government's gift of 135 books of works from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries to the university's Latin American Library.

Most of the books are on Latin American literature, history, geography, politics, urbanism, international relations and other subjects in the humanities and social sciences and a few titles explore Spanish history and language. 

Hortensia Calvo, Doris Stone Director of the Latin American Library, says that the valuable acquisitions include several facsimile editions of chronicles of discovery and conquest from the 16th and 17th centuries, including José de Acosta's Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias, originally published in 1590. Also noteworthy is the 18th-century El Lazarillo de ciegos caminantes by Antonio Carrió de la Vandera, a postal inspector who narrates a curious trip from Buenos Aires to Lima.

Other treasures among the books are several volumes documenting a botanical expedition through the Magdalena River region in present day Colombia led by Spanish scientist José Celestino Mutis. The limited edition facsimile contains lavish, oversize illustrations of flora and fauna by Mutis.

Other books are facsimile editions of Las obras y relaciones de Antonio Pérez (1631) by a Spanish statesman who served as secretary under Philip II and Orthografía española by Spain's Royal Academy of the Language, first published in 1741.

The books are published or copublished by the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo, a government agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain dedicated to fostering cultural and educational endeavors in Latin America and other regions.  

Friday, May 2, 2008

Take Control of Your Diabetes

Leading specialists from across the country, including many from Tulane University, will offer practical advice to those living with diabetes at a conference on May 10 from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner, La. The “Taking Control of Your Diabetes” conference will present information on the latest developments in treatments, complications of the disease, psychological barriers to controlling diabetes, nutritional issues and more.

Lunch speaker will be Urban Miyares, a blinded Vietnam War veteran. Presumed dead following an ambush on his platoon, Miyares was found in a coma in a body bag, and subsequently was diagnosed with diabetes. Miyares has succeeded in his life and career as an entrepreneur, motivational speaker, mentor, television and film personality, and world-class athlete.

Registration fee is $10 per person in advance or $15 at the door and includes lunch, healthy snacks and all conference activities. Financial assistance is available. Onsite registration begins at 7:30 a.m. To register or get more information, call 800-998-2693 or go to Taking Control of Your Diabetes.

A simultaneous continuing medical education program for healthcare professionals —“Making the Connection: Cutting Edge Strategies in Diabetes Care” — provides healthcare professionals the opportunity to observe and interact with people who have diabetes and are engaged in their own intensive educational environment while earning continuing medical education credits. For more information, go to the continuing medical education site Taking Control of Your Diabetes.

Care for Mothers

A study involving researchers at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and other institutions showed that hospital education programs can change physician behavior related to care of mothers after they’ve given birth.

An article on the study appears in the May 1 New England Journal of Medicine. Focusing on postpartum care, the study showed dramatically reduced rates of uterine bleeding when doctors were encouraged to prescribe the drug oxytocin to women just after delivery to contract the uterus and prevent hemorrhaging. The program also resulted in fewer episiotomies — surgical incisions to prevent tearing of the vagina during delivery. Although the episiotomy procedure is still widely performed, studies have shown that it is not beneficial.

“The goal of this study was to change medical behavior and to create a sustainable intervention. We did that, and we found a profound compliance rate,” said Pierre Buekens, coauthor of the study and dean of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. “We need strong programs like this to help us change medical behaviors and save more lives.”

The study, which was conducted in Argentina and Uruguay, was funded by the Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research and the National Institutes of Health.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Perspective on Lebanon

Lebanon and its money as the gateway between the Middle East and the West will be the theme of a colloquium today (May 1) at the Tulane University A. B. Freeman School of Business.

The second annual colloquium on "Historical Perspectives on the Modern Middle East" will be held in Room 131 of Goldring/Woldenberg Hall I from 5 until 7 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

The event will feature scholarly presentations putting Lebanon in historical context to show the country's importance in the modern Middle East, with particular emphasis on Lebanon's role in trade and banking from classical times to modern times. Presenters include Fred Naiden, assistant professor of history at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, and Kenneth W. Harl, professor of history at Tulane, with comment and analysis by Paul A. Rahe, professor of history at Hillsdale College.

The event is being co-sponsored by the Freeman School, and the history department, with funding from the William S. Paley Foundation.

Employee Fans

Tulane baseball will host a faculty and staff appreciation day at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium on Friday (May 2) when the Green Wave takes on Conference USA foe Central Florida University. 

All faculty and staff will receive free admission to the game and their guests may purchase tickets for only $5. To order tickets call 504-861-WAVE or visit the Tulane Ticket Office located in the James W. Wilson Jr. Center located on Ben Weiner Drive.

The first pitch of the game will be thrown by staunch Tulane baseball fan Charlotte Travieso, director of the Office of Alumni Affairs and executive director of the Tulane Alumni Association.