3/14/01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Farzad Moussavi, associate dean, UNI College of Business Administration, (319) 273-6243
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The author of the "New York Times" best seller "Power Sleep" will explore the nature of sleep in a presentation Friday, March 23, on the University of Northern Iowa campus.
Author James D. Maas, Weisse Presidential Fellow at Cornell University, will present "Power Sleep: Increasing Productivity and Quality of Life," from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Friday, March 23, in room 109 of the Curris Business Building. His presentation is free and open to the public. It precedes a teaching development workshop Maas will present for faculty in the UNI College of Business Administration (CBA).
"Nearly every college student is a walking zombie," asserts Maas, who adds that 43 percent of adults are moderately to severely sleep deprived and men over 35 spend only 5 percent of sleep time in deep (delta wave) sleep.
"To be a peak performer you need to be fully alert, dynamic, energetic, in a good mood and cognitively sharp," says Maas. "You must be able to concentrate, remember, make critical and creative decisions, communicate persuasively and be productive all day long. None of this is possible without quality sleep.
"Furthermore, healthy sleep has been proven to be the single most important determinant in predicating longevity. It is more influential than diet, exercise or heredity-- but our modern culture has become a study in sleep deprivation. We must learn to value sleep, yet most of us know very little about the incredibly varied activity that occurs during the course of each night and how it affects health, happiness and performance."
The information provided in Maas's presentation will increase a person's daytime alertness, psychological mood, productivity, creativity and quality of life, according to Farzad Moussavi, associate dean of UNI's CBA. Moussavi says Maas is one of the most sought after speakers in the country, and his book has been translated into nine languages.
Maas's clients include IBM, Apple Computer, Pepsi-Cola, Seagrams, Royal Cruise Lines, the Marriott Corporation, Mutual Life, and MCI/Universal Studios. He also makes frequent appearances on television programs such as "NBC Nightly News," "Today," "Good Morning, America," "The View" and ABC's "20/20." "Oprah" recently devoted an entire hour's show to his work on sleep and performance.
Maas is a professor and past chair of the Department of Psychology at Cornell University. In addition to his best-selling book, he has produced nine prime-time national television specials for PBS and his films have won awards at 42 major film festivals.
Maas received his B.A. degree from Williams College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell. He teaches psychology to 1,700 students each year in the world's largest single lecture class, and conducts research on the relationship between sleep and performance.
More information about Maas' book and work can be found on his Web site, www.jamesmaas.com.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Alicja Boruta-Sadkowski, UNI instructor of modern languages, (319) 273-6951
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- "Reflections of a Belarusian Folklorist" will be the subject of a 7 p.m. lecture Thursday, March 22, in the Great Reading Room of Seerley Hall at the University of Northern Iowa. The lecture will be in Russian, with simultaneous translation into English by an interpreter.
The presentation, by Vladimir Vasilevich, is free and open to the public. His lecture is sponsored by UNI Russian and East European Studies (REES) and UNI's International Programs Office. A reception will follow the lecture.
Vasilevich is a professor of folklore and ethnography from the Belarusian State Pedagogical University in Minsk, Belarus. He has published seven books and more than 200 articles. He will be at UNI for two weeks, and will be visiting Russian-language classes.
For more information contact Alicja Boruta-Sadkowski, UNI instructor of modern languages, at (319) 273-6951.
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