Featured Articles

UW-Eau Claire hosting faculty From Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Important notice regarding health insurance programs

Center for Awareness of Sexual Assault provides round-the-clock crisis hotline

Where did Jesus bathe? Jol’s ground-penetrating surveys support archeology dig in Nazareth

Foundation receives $615,000 estate gift

Campaign makes sweeping impact on foreign languages department

29th annual holiday music concert set for Dec. 7

Turtle Island String Quartet to perform solstice celebration

Winter weather advisory

UW-Eau Claire one of few universities hosting faculty From Eastern Europe and Central Asia
UW-Eau Claire is one of 12 universities in the United States bringing faculty from newly independent states in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to their campuses to help the scholars learn about Western-style higher education.

“It’s an incredible opportunity for everyone involved,” Karl Markgraf, director of the Center of International Education said of the Open Society Institute’s Faculty Development Program. “It gives the fellows a chance to learn how we do higher education in a free society. And it gives our students and faculty an opportunity to learn about parts of the world that are not widely known.”

Teimuraz Papaskiri, a history professor from Tbilisi State University in Georgia, will join UW-Eau Claire’s history department in January 2004, making him the university’s fourth fellow through the program. Full story.

Important notice regarding health insurance programs
The Dual Choice Enrollment period has reopened and will remain open until 4:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5. Read more.

UW-Eau Claire’s Center for Awareness of Sexual Assault provides round-the-clock crisis hotline

Erica Eul, CASA victim services coordinator

UW-Eau Claire students who are dealing with sexual assault issues can now get help at any time thanks to a new crisis hotline that has been staffed 24 hours a day since Nov. 24.

Students dealing with sexual assault issues are encouraged to call the hotline at (715) 836-HELP for support and information, said Erica Eul, the university’s newly created Center for Awareness of Sexual Assault’s (CASA) victim services coordinator.

“We have a team of 24 trained student volunteers who will staff the hotline,” Eul said, noting that she also will take calls when she’s available. “In addition to the victims, we’re also here to talk with the victim’s friends, parents and other loved ones who have questions or concerns.” Full story.

Where did Jesus bathe?
Jol’s ground-penetrating surveys support archeology dig in Nazareth

While in Nazareth with Harry Jol last summer, Bryan Frenz used ground penetrating radar equipment to help determine if the tunnel area, considered by some to be the site of an ancient bathhouse, is worth excavating.

The work of a UW-Eau Claire geographer and his student research assistants are helping to shore up the confidence of an American archeological excavator’s belief that they have found a Roman bathhouse from 2,000 years ago in the town where Jesus was raised.

Last summer Harry Jol, associate professor of geography, and Bryan Frenz, a geography major from Tomah, took their ground-penetrating radar equipment to Nazareth at the request of Richard Freund, who has been involved with important Holy Land digs at the ancient city of Bethsaida and Qumran in the Jordan Valley. Full story.

Foundation receives $615,000 estate gift
The UW-Eau Claire Foundation has received a gift of $615,000 from the Wayne Canar Trust, established more than 30 years ago by Wayne Canar, former Mondovi businessman and entrepreneur.

The gift will become a part of the UW-Eau Claire Foundation’s Excellence Fund endowment, said Carole Halberg, UW-Eau Claire Foundation president. Annual earnings from the endowment support student scholarships, faculty/student research, the Honors Program, faculty development and the university’s other areas of greatest need. Full story.

Gifts open windows to the world
Campaign makes sweeping impact on foreign languages department

Lee Ann Pignet, a senior Spanish education major at UW-Eau Claire, introduces elementary students to Spanish language and culture during the Spanish in the Schools program. The program was made possible through one of many recent campaign gifts designated for UW-Eau Claire's foreign languages department. (Eau Claire Leader-Telegram photo by Steve Kinderman)

For a microcosm of the impact of UW-Eau Claire’s Fulfilling the Promise of Excellence campaign, one need look no further than the university’s foreign languages department. There, campaign gifts literally are opening up a world of opportunities for students and faculty — as well as for others in the local community.

“These gifts to our department represent the difference between standing still and moving forward,” said Richard Gunn, professor emeritus of foreign languages, chair of the foreign languages department in the 1980s and 1990s, and interim department chair from July 2001 through July 2003. “Funding from the university budget allows us to maintain and sometimes move forward, but the Foundation gifts help us to accelerate the move forward.”

Read more about a number of gifts directed to people and programs in the foreign languages department that are supporting a variety of areas.

29th annual holiday music concert set for Dec. 7
The UW-Eau Claire’s music and theatre arts department and the UW-Eau Claire Foundation will present their annual holiday gift to the community at 2 and 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, when six music ensembles will perform the university’s 29th annual Holiday Concert in the festively decorated Zorn Arena.

“This concert has been the university’s and foundation’s gift to the Eau Claire community for nearly three decades,” said Chancellor Donald Mash. “It is our way of sharing our talent and expressing our appreciation for the excellent relationship the university enjoys with the Chippewa Valley.”

The free concert will feature both individual and combined performances by the Wind Symphony, conducted by Richard Mark Heidel; the Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Nobuyoshi Yasuda; the Symphonic Choir and Women’s Concert Chorale, directed by Alan Rieck; and the Concert Choir and The Singing Statesmen, directed by Gary Schwartzhoff, who also serves as executive director for the Holiday Concert. Full story.

Tickets are free but must be reserved in advance at the Service Center, (715) 836-3727, or online.

Turtle Island String Quartet to perform solstice celebration Dec. 8
“Solstice Celebration: The Festival of Lights” is the title of Turtle Island String Quartet’s concert of world holiday music at the UW-Eau Claire Monday, Dec. 8. The Artists Series presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Gantner Concert Hall of Haas Fine Arts Center.

Its name derived from American Indian creation mythology, Turtle Island String Quartet has been a singular force in the creation of bold new trends in chamber music for strings. The ensemble fuses the classical quartet aesthetic with 21st-century American popular styles. Full story.

Winter weather advisory
With winter weather upon us, it's time to review UW-Eau Claire's practices in the event severe weather strikes.

In general, when inclement weather threatens operations at UW-Eau Claire, the university will remain open to the extent possible. If necessary, the chancellor may close the university to the public or cancel classes, but state employees will be expected to report to work.

In response to local weather conditions, the chancellor may release employees. In such instances, no employee will be required to remain at work.

Employees covered by a labor agreement should check their respective bargaining agreements for specifics about excusing employees from work and related issues.

Employees not covered by a labor agreement may use vacation, compensatory time, personal holidays or leave without pay to cover time lost if they are ordered to leave work or if they request or are allowed to be excused from work when they believe that weather conditions or emergency situations make it unsafe to get to or remain at work.

Local media will be notified if the chancellor decides to cancel classes. However, announcements by local media are advisory only. For official information concerning university operations, call the Chancellor's Office at 836-2327 after 7 a.m. or call your supervisor.

University Bulletin
Published weekly during the fall and spring semesters by the UW-Eau Claire News Bureau. News items and notices should be sent to the News Bureau, Schofield 201, by 10 a.m. Monday for publication in the following week’s issue. E-mail submissions to Liz Wolf Green at greenew@uwec.edu are encouraged. Faculty/staff news items are published on a space-available basis.