Featured Articles

Receptions today to welcome Chancellor Designate Brian Levin-Stankevich

Campus 'celebrities'' promote reading through McIntyre Library's National Library Week campaign

Celebration marks American Indian Awareness Month

Speakers to visit UW-Eau Claire this week

UW System gives guidance on political activities

MyBlugold replaces Web site's Blugold Insider

Marketing students shine at national competition

Artists Series presents Scotland's Battlefield Band

April 7-8 symposium to focus on Eastern Europe

Symphony Orchestra to present spring concert

15th annual Mathematics Retreat set for April 10

Cyberbullying research gets media attention

Sign of spring

Receptions today to welcome Chancellor Designate Brian Levin-Stankevich
UW-Eau Claire faculty and staff are invited to a welcome reception from 9:30-11 a.m. today for Dr. Brian Levin-Stankevich, UW-Eau Claire's chancellor designate, and Debi Levin-Stankevich. The event wil be in the Spruce-Tamarack Room of Davies Center, with a program to begin at 10 a.m. Students are invited to meet Levin-Stankevich during a 2 p.m. reception in the Presidents Room, Davies Center. Before the morning reception, Levin-Stankevich will hold a news conference at 9 a.m. in the Eagle Room of Davies Center. The news conference will be the first opportunity for local media to meet with Levin-Stankevich since he was appointed chancellor by the UW System Board of Regents on Feb. 10. Levin-Stankevich will officially begin his duties as chancellor on June 1.

Campus 'celebrities' promote reading through McIntyre Library's National Library Week campaign

Rama Yelkur, left, and Andrew Phillips are among the UW-Eau Claire "celebrities" featured on posters for McIntyre Library's National Library Week campaign. (Photography by Rick Mickelson, LTS) )

UW-Eau Claire's McIntyre Library has launched a new campaign in honor of National Library Week, April 2-8. National Library Week was started in 1958 by the American Library Association to recognize the contributions of libraries, librarians and library workers to their schools, campuses and communities. For years ALA has promoted libraries and literacy by having celebrities pose for "READ" posters. McIntyre Library asked eight campus "celebrities" to pick their favorite books and pose with them for UW-Eau Claire's own set of READ posters, which will be on display in the library's Grand Corridor and in various locations across campus. Read more about National Library Week at UW-Eau Claire.

This illustration was created for American Indian Awareness Month by UW-Eau Claire student Michael Ojibway.

Celebration marks American
Indian Awareness Month
The theme is "Honoring Education" for UW-Eau Claire's celebration of American Indian Awareness Month throughout April. Most events are free and open to the public. An opening reception will be today from 4-6:30 p.m. in the Council Fire Room of Davies Center. The reception will include a performance by Native Roots, an intergenerational theatre troupe from Waaswaaganing (Lac du Flambeau), and a presentation by the Native American Student Association titled "History of Boarding School Education: A Local Perspective.” See the complete schedule of American Indian Awareness Month events.

Speakers to visit UW-Eau Claire this week

Dr. Jeffrey Kaplan

UW-Oshkosh associate professor of religion Jeffrey Kaplan: The global response to the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad will be the topic of a multimedia presentation Thursday, April 6, at UW-Eau Claire. Dr. Jeffrey Kaplan, an associate professor of religion at UW-Oshkosh, will deliver the presentation, titled "The War of the Cartoons," at 8 p.m. in Room 101 of Hibbard Hall. For more information contact Dr. Scott Lowe, chair of the philosophy and religious studies department, at (715) 836-2993 or lowed@uwec.edu. Full story.

Dr. Michael Knetter

Blugold alumnus and UW-Madison business dean Michael Knetter: Dr. Michael Knetter, a graduate of UW-Eau Claire and the current dean of the UW-Madison School of Business, will give a presentation titled "Higher Education in Wisconsin" on Friday, April 7, at 3 p.m. in Davies Theatre. For more information contact Linda Glenna, academic department associate and internship coordinator for the department of economics, at (715) 836-5743 or glennale@uwec.edu. Full story.

Michigan State University visiting professor Richard Bellon: UW-Eau Claire's Seminar on the History of Science will present a lecture contrasting evolution and intelligent design at 4 p.m. Friday, April 7, in Room 007 of Phillips Science Hall. Dr. Richard Bellon, visiting assistant professor in the Lyman Briggs School of Science at Michigan State University, will speak on "A Considerable Revolution in Natural History: The 19th Century Triumph of Evolution and the 21st Century Failure of Intelligent Design." For more information contact Dr. Robert Greene, senior lecturer of philosophy and religious studies, at (715) 836-3167 or greener@uwec.edu. Full story.

UW System gives guidance on political activities
With spring elections taking place this week and many campaigns gearing up for the November elections, UW-Eau Claire faculty and staff are encouraged to review the UW System guidelines on political campaign activities at system institutions. The guidelines are available on the government relations pages of the UW System Web site.

MyBlugold replaces Web site's Blugold Insider
The Blugold Insider, a secure UW-Eau Claire Web site containing password-protected information, news and useful links, has a new name: MyBlugold. It also has new capabilities and a new look. The new capabilities are some of the first elements of the Blugold System to be migrated to the Web.

For example, the advising and course-searching functions introduced to faculty and staff last fall are now available to students. Students can review their grades and other academic information under the "MyInfo" tab. They also can request degree audits (including "what-if" degree audits) and unofficial transcripts. Also, advisers can now request a "what-if" degree audit online under MyBlugold's "Teaching and Advising" tab. This capability has been enjoyed by students for the past couple of years, but MyBlugold opens up this option to advisers.

The registration system is currently under development, and this spring may be the last time that students register using the original Blugold System.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out MyBlugold. It is accessible from the quick links on the UW-Eau Claire home page. More information about MyBlugold is available online.

Marketing students shine at national competition

Left to right: faculty coach LaNette Flunker, Katie Anderson, Brandon Hall, Lindsey Zastrow and John Kyriagis (contributed photo) .

UW-Eau Claire marketing student Lindsey Zastrow, a senior from Green Bay, took first place in the service category and fourth place overall in individual competition at the National Collegiate Sales Competition held March 17-18 at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. "Our students made an impressive showing and represented UW-Eau Claire extremely well," said LaNette Flunker, senior lecturer in management and marketing and the faculty coach for the UW-Eau Claire team. "It should be noted that Lindsey was less than one point away from entering the championship round." The UW-Eau Claire team placed sixth nationally, beating teams from such schools as Babson College, Baylor University, Harvard, Purdue, Texas State University and University of Houston. The team consisted of Zastrow and senior John Kyriagis, Plymouth, Minn., as individual competitors, with seniors Katie Anderson, Oakdale, Minn., and Brandon Hall, Wausau, serving as alternates and support team. Full story.

Artists Series presents Scotland's Battlefield Band
UW-Eau Claire's Artists Series will present Battlefield Band, the premiere representative of Scottish music on today's world music scene, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 6, in Schofield Auditorium. Under the banner "Forward with Scotland's Past," Battlefield Band has performed on the international scene for more than three decades. Inspired by their rich heritage of Celtic music and fired by the strength of the modern Scottish cultural scene, the group mixes the old songs with new original material, performing on a unique fusion of ancient and modern instruments. Full story.

April 7-8 symposium to focus on Eastern Europe

Cartographer: Gene Leisz, LTS

The 10th annual symposium on Eastern Europe will be held Friday, April 7, and Saturday, April 8, at UW-Eau Claire. The free conference is titled "East Europe and Its Neighbors." The symposium will offer retrospectives, analysis and perspectives by eight diplomats and academics who are both shapers of policy and scholars of the area. The symposium is sponsored by UW-Eau Claire's departments of history, political science and foreign languages; the Russian and East European Area Studies Program; UW-Eau Claire Learning and Technology Services and the Office of Continuing Education; UW-Madison Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia and the Center for European Studies, both of which are funded by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Resource Center (Title VI); and the Friends of the Symposium. For more information, contact Paulis Lazda, UW-Eau Claire professor of history, at (715) 836-4735 or lazdapi@uwec.edu. See the full schedule of symposium events.

Symphony Orchestra to perform spring concert
UW-Eau Claire's Symphony Orchestra will present its spring concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 9, in Gantner Concert Hall of the Haas Fine Arts Center. The Symphony Orchestra is directed by Nobuyoshi Yasuda, associate professor of music. The concert will feature Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3 in D minor with the Women's Concert Chorale conducted by Alan Rieck, associate professor of music. Mezzo soprano Kathryn Proctor Duax, professor of music, will perform as a guest soloist. The performance is one hour and 50 minutes without intermission. Full story.

15th annual Mathematics Retreat set for April 10

Dr. Herbert W. Hethcote

The faculty, staff and students of the UW-Eau Claire mathematics department will celebrate the 15th annual Mathematics Retreat on Monday, April 10. Area teachers, their students and parents are especially invited and encouraged to attend. From 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. students and faculty of UW-Eau Claire will give a variety of mathematics presentations. At 2 p.m. Dr. Herbert W. Hethcote, this year's distinguished visiting speaker, will present a talk appropriate for a general audience on "Modeling Infectious Diseases." At 5:30 p.m. Hethcote will give a talk geared towards math majors on "Modeling Rubella Vaccination Strategies in China." Full story.

Cyberbullying research gets media attention

Dr. Justin Patchin

Dr. Justin Patchin, UW-Eau Claire assistant professor of criminal justice, recently has received extensive attention from national and regional media for his research on cyberbullying. Patchin and his co-researcher, Dr. Sameer Hinduja, assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice at Florida Atlantic University, have been studying cyberbullying for several years and have found that an alarming number of middle and high school students report being harassed, bullied and threatened via the Internet and other electronic mediums.

Patchin and Hinduja's research was featured in a recent UW-Eau Claire news release that resulted in coverage by regional and national media, including FOX News, Wisconsin Public Television's "Here and Now" program, Wisconsin Public Radio's "Westside" program, WEAU-TV 13, California Public Radio News, Maryland Public Television and Radio Disney.

Sign of spring

UW-Eau Claire biology department greenhouse manager Johanna Oosterwyk snapped this photo of a blooming Echinopsis tubiflora, or Hedgehog cactus, last week in the greenhouse. She made a special evening visit to take the shot, as the plant, native to South America, particularly Argentina and Brazil, blooms around 9 p.m. The flower then stays open from 12 to 36 hours, depending on its environment, Oosterwyk said. Oosterwyk said she suspects the greenhouse acquired the cactus as part of its plant rescue collection. The UW-Eau Claire greenhouse is one of about 60 Plant Rescue Centers nationwide that receive shipments of confiscated plants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service The program is an extension of the Endangered Species Treaty, Oosterwyk said. "When people try to bring plants into the U.S. without permits the plants are confiscated, checked for pests or diseases and offered back to the country of origin," she said. "If that nation doesn't want them they are shipped to a Plant Rescue Center. Many of our orchids as well as cacti and succulents came through this program."

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 Julie Poquette at poquetjm@uwec.edu are encouraged. Faculty/staff news items are published on a space-available basis.