2/1/01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Mark Grey, associate professor of anthropology, (319) 273-6496
Michele Yehieli, UNI Global Health Corps director, (319) 273-5806
Robert Koob, UNI president, (319) 273-2566
James O'Connor, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
Note to editors/news directors: The following 200 dpi JPEG images are available on the Web:
Mark Grey -- http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/photos/grey.jpeg
Michele Yehieli -- http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/photos/yehieli.jpeg
Robert Koob -- http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/photos/koob.jpeg
“Welcoming New Iowans” cover art -- http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/photos/wnicover.jpeg
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- This week, every mayor, chamber of commerce and economic development office in Iowa will receive a copy of a new book by Mark Grey, a University of Northern Iowa associate professor of anthropology. The book, “Welcoming New Iowans -- A guide for Citizens and Communities” takes a hard-hitting look at Iowa's need for new citizens.
“According to the Iowa 2010 Commission, Iowa needs 310,000 new people to ensure the state's economic and social growth,” said Robert Koob, UNI president and member of the commission. “Immigration is part of the solution to that problem.”
“Change can be unsettling,” said Grey. “And immigration is definitely about change. This book outlines the three issues most commonly associated with immigration – language, health and education. It also provides practical advice for community leaders about how to prepare for the change immigration brings. It also includes success stories from Iowa communities that have met the immigration challenge head on.”
According to Koob UNI provides Iowa communities services to help meet the challenges of language, education and health.
“Along with our programs to prepare English-as-a-second-language teachers, UNI's Continuing Education program provides translation and interpreter training for businesses and individuals,” said Koob. “We also have a special elementary teacher education degree program for adults whose native language is not English.”
A new UNI study found that Bosnian refugees and Hispanic immigrants in Black Hawk County lack critical health services.
As part of the study, the UNI Global Health Corps trained refugees and immigrants to serve as field
interviewers. This unique approach allowed them to gather information that was previously impossible to gain. Michele Yehieli, UNI Global Health Corps director, led the project. The Global Health Corps is an award-winning UNI program that trains students to conduct preventive health-education programs for diverse populations in the United States and around the world.
The complete text of “Welcoming New Iowans -- A guide for Citizens and Communities” can be found on the Web at www.bcs.uni.edu/idm/newiowans. For more information about the Global Health Corps, see globalhealthcorps.org. Information about UNI's Teacher Education Addressing Minority-Language Speakers (TEAMS) program can be found at www.uni.edut.teams. Information about translation and interpreter training can be found at www.uni.edu/contracttraining.
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2/1/01
Following is a list of hot issues and the University of Northern Iowa sources who can best address each of them. Feel free to contact the source directly.
With heating costs skyrocketing, and no end in sight, everyone could use some tips on energy conservation. Kamyar Enshayan offers a series of ideas for saving both energy and money.
Kamyar Enshayan, asst. professor, Dept. of Physics/Center for Energy and Environmental Education, (319) 273-6895
Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
January has been, for the most part, precipitation-free. But that doesn't mean we can let our guard down on the highways. Paul Waack, who teaches driver education courses for UNI, offers tips for keeping your car on the road, and out of the ditches.
Paul Waack, driver's ed instructor and instructor at Price Lab, (319) 273-2533
Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
UNI professor Ron Roberts and colleague Richard Kaplan, an associate professor at the University of South Dakota, are conducting a pilot study of shaken baby perpetrators. The two will interview individuals convicted of shaking babies to death, to determine hypotheses about the personalities of these perpetrators. According to Roberts, this is the first time shaken baby perpetrators have been studied. “It's very depressing, but it's the kind of work that truly needs to be done,” he said.
Ron Roberts: professor, Dept. of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology, (319) 273-6217
Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
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