2/20/01
Contact:
Doreen Hayek, projects administrator, UNI Information Technology Services (319) 273-7300
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --The University of Northern Iowa will host a "Spotlight on Educational Technology" workshop Friday, Feb. 23, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., in the Schindler Education Center (SEC). The workshop will include 24 winning "Showcase" presentations, demonstrations from UNI faculty, and an open house about technology in the classroom. The Spotlight day is free to the public.
Since 1995, prekindergarten -12 schools, along with higher education institutions across Iowa, have submitted applications describing their educational technology projects, competing for $1,000 awards "to enhance their innovative and exemplary ways of using technology as a resource," according to Doreen Hayek, projects administrator with UNI Information Technology Services. During that time, more than 1,400 total projects have been submitted to the Showcase.
Showcase awards for 2000-2001 have been granted to 23 individual projects and one collaborative project. All but three of the winning teams will make a15-minute presentation and have a table display.
UNI faculty and staff who use technology in their courses will make presentations on their work, in SEC 130. Those presenting, their topics and times are: Jennifer Cooley, Modern Languages, "Integrating Web-based Audio, Video and Text for Second-language Learners," at 9 a.m.; Martha Reineke, Philosophy and Religion, "Designing a Web Site for Teaching and Learning," at 9:30 a.m.; Donna Vinton, Career Services, "Shared Resources, Shared Learning," at 10 a.m.
Also, DeWayne Purdy, Communication Studies, "Enhancing a Classroom-based Writing Course with WebCT," at 10:30 a.m.; Patricia Higby, Physics, "Teaching Astronomy, Geology, and Physics with WebCT," at 11 a.m.; Roy Sandstrom, History, "Technology in General Education: the Humanities Sequence," at 11:30 a.m.; Ken Atkinson, Philosophy and Religion, "Replacing Course Packets with Web-based Materials," at noon.
Siegrun Wildner, Modern Languages, "Enhancing Classroom-based Courses with Web Tools: Applications and Considerations," at 12:30 p.m.; Karla Krueger, College of Education, "INTIME: Integrating New Technologies Into the Methods of Education," at 1 p.m.; Belle Cowden, Continuing Education, "The ICN: What is it and how is it being used at UNI?," at 1:30 p.m.; Julie Heiple, Data Access Administrator, "MyUNIverse: A Look at UNI's Student Portal," at 2 p.m.
The Spotlight day also will include an open house, displays, and demonstrations by the UNI Information Technology Services-Educational Technology staff (ITS-ET). Vendors also will have demonstrations. The Iowa Educational Technology and Training Institute will also discuss future projects.
For more information, contact Doreen Hayek, (319) 273-7300. Further details are posted on the Showcase on Educational Technology Web site at http://www.uni.edu/ietti/showcase.
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2/21/01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Lawrence (Larry) Escalada, assistant professor of physics and science education, (319) 273-2431
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The University of Northern Iowa Department of Physics will host the UNI/Area Education Agency 7 Physics Olympics Regional Competition in the UNI-Dome, from 9 a.m. to noon, Thursday, Feb. 22.
Some 200 high school and middle school/junior high students within a 50-mile radius of Cedar Falls will be participating. Schools competing are Cedar Falls, Waterloo Columbus, Denver, Dike-New Hartford, Jesup, North Tama (Traer), Don Bosco (Gilbertville), Gladbrook-Reinbeck, Dunkerton, and Immaculate Conception (Gilbertville).
According to Larry Escalada, UNI assistant professor of physics and science education, and the event coordinator, UNI has been hosting the regional Physics Olympics since the early 1970s. He said teams will put their understanding of physics principles to the test by competing in five events: self-propelled catapult, mouse-trap car, toothpick bridge building, soda straw arm, and water heater.
Students will work in teams designing and building their devices. In order to win an event, the "cars" must be able to: carry and launch a ping-pong ball the furthest distance; travel a certain distance in the shortest period of time; support the largest applied force; support a given mass from the longest soda straw arm; and facilitate the largest temperature increase for a given volume of water.
The two school teams with the highest and second highest total scores from all five events will qualify for the state competition, to be held at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, April 3. In addition, event team winners that are from non-team winning schools will also be invited to the state competition.
For more information, contact Larry Escalada, (319) 273-2431.
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2/21/01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Martha Reineke, project director and professor of religion, (319) 273-6233
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The University of Northern Iowa's three-month long series, "Picturing Faith: American Religious Life Yesterday and Today" will continue Friday and Saturday, Feb. 23 and 24, with a lecture and photo exhibition opening. Both events are free and open to the public.
Friday, David Morgan, professor of art at Valparaiso University in Indiana, will present a 3 p.m. lecture on "Popular Religious Images and the Modern American Home," in the art auditorium, Room 111 Kamerick Art Building. He will examine how familiar religious artifacts are displayed in the home and used in domestic rituals. The role of mass-produced images, certificates and statuary in acts of commemoration and rites of passage will receive particular attention. Morgan is the author of the ground-breaking book "Visual Piety: A History and Theory of Popular Religious Images."
Morgan will be on hand Saturday, Feb. 24, for the 2 p.m. opening of a photographic exhibition by Sheri Huber-Otting, "Visions of Faith," at the Hearst Center for the Arts, 304 Seerley Blvd., Cedar Falls. The exhibition will feature Huber-Otting's images of objects in the home which are central to the religious faith of the home's occupants. The exhibit will show the diverse religious and cultural traditions represented in homes in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls community. These images include religious paintings, scriptures, images of deities and saints, altars, prayer rugs, calligraphy, icons and amulets. The exhibition will run through March 23.
At the opening, Huber-Otting and Morgan will discuss the exhibition from their perspectives. A reception hosted by the Northeast Iowa Print Club will follow the public lecture.
The "Picturing Faith" series will conclude April 20 and 21, with a lecture and tour of religious architecture in Waterloo, led by Peter W. Williams, Distinguished Professor of Comparative Religion and American Studies at Miami University of Ohio.
The series has been made possible through a grant from Humanities Iowa, with additional funding from the Grout Museum, the Hearst Center for the Arts, and, at UNI, the Meryl Norton Hearst Chair in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, the Department of Philosophy and Religion and the University Museum. Martha Reineke, UNI professor of religion, is the project director. For more information, contact Reineke at (319) 273-6233.
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2/21/01 -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Christopher R. Edginton, professor and director, School of Health, Physical Education & Leisure Services, (319) 273-2840
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa –- Christopher R. Edginton, professor and director of the School of Health, Physical Education and Leisure Services (HPELS) at the University of Northern Iowa, has received the 2000 National Literary Award from the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). The award was presented to Edginton in Phoenix as part of the organization's annual congress.
The NRPA presents the award annually to the writer or publisher who has made the most significant contributions to the park and recreation field's understanding of new innovations, refined philosophic thought and tenets, trends and/or research in parks, recreation and conservation. The association is a non-profit service organization dedicated to promoting the importance of recreation and parks, and ensuring that all people have an opportunity to find the best and most satisfying use of their leisure time.
Edginton was honored for his body of work. He has authored nearly 200 articles on topics such as organizational goals, leisure management, leisure programming and leadership. Spanning the globe, he has published articles and/or made presentations in Japan, Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China, Korea, Australia, Canada, Great Britain as well as the United States. He has also co-authored nearly a dozen textbooks
Edginton has directed more than $24 million in grants and contracts funded by local, state and federal agencies. His major research interest has focused on the study of organizational goals in public leisure service organizations, and he has conducted extensive studies on this topic in the United States, Canada and Australia. He has been identified as a leading proponent of contemporary management concepts in the park and recreation field.
In addition, Edginton has been active in professional organizations. He is a past president and past member of the board of directors of the American Association for Leisure and Recreation, past managing editor of Leisure Today, and guest editor of publications such as Leisure Today, Recreation Canada and the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
In 1985, Edginton founded the nationally award-winning "Camp Adventure Youth Services" program that annually sends more than 600 college students from all academic disciplines worldwide to provide recreation services to children and youth. This service is provided through contracts with the U.S. military, U.S. Embassies and, in some countries, civilian groups. The scope of the program has grown exponentially, and in 2000, nearly 500,000 children were served by it, based on daily participation rates.
His most recent awards, include the Innovative Teaching Award from the Society of Park and Recreation Educators (2001) and an honor award from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (2001).
Edginton received his B.A. in recreation from San Jose State College, an M.S. degree in park and recreation administration from the University of Illinois, and his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.
Before coming to UNI, he worked as director, professor, associate professor, and head of departments at many institutions, including the University of Oregon; North Texas State University; Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia; the University of Waterloo, Ontario; and the University of Iowa.
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2/21/01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Mike Millar, Chair, Inter-American Studies Committee, (319) 273-2170
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The Oscar-nominated "Salvador," a 1985 film from director Oliver Stone, will be the fourth offering in the University of Northern Iowa's "Human Rights in the Americas - II" film series, at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 28, in Room 115 Seerley Hall.
Nominated for two Academy Awards, "Salvador," tells the story of the experiences of American combat photojournalist Richard Boyle during the bloody El Salvador civil war of the early 1980s. The film features James Woods as Boyle, the reckless photographer who takes off for Central America with his friend Dr. Rock (Jim Belushi) as the war heats up. According to Mike Millar, chair of the UNI Inter-American Studies Committee, as the range and magnitude of the carnage become increasingly apparent and the extent of the Reagan administration's involvement is revealed, Boyle begins to sober up, both literally and physically.
The event is free and open to the public.
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