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Date: 4/4/00
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***Corrected day and date***
Contact:
Charline Barnes, Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, (319) 273-6396
Vicki Grimes, Office of Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
Note to editors: A black & white photo is available for downloading at: http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/photos
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa—President-elect of the International Reading Association (IRA), Carmelita Williams, will visit the University of Northern Iowa on Wednesday, April 5. Williams is scheduled to speak at the Iowa Reading Association conference, April 6-8, in Des Moines.
Charline Barnes, UNI assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, said Williams became interested in UNI in 1998. Williams “attended the IRA conference in Orlando, Fla. and heard our curriculum and instruction reading faculty present an all-day workshop on our “America Reads” program. She felt our program was better developed and reached out better to pre-service teachers providing a comprehensive opportunity for literacy instruction. She has wanted to visit our program ever since.” Williams will visit the “America Reads” site at North Cedar Elementary in Cedar Falls on April 5. Barnes' undergraduate class is presenting their research entitled “Work Study Reading-Tutoring Program - One University's Response to the America Reads Challenge” at the Iowa conference.
Williams is a professor in the School of Education and director of the Center of Excellence for Service Learning and Literacy at Norfolk University, Norfolk, Va. She is committed to the diversity of education among all people. She believes that “when we come together to share experiences, to generate ideas for new activities and reinforce the benefits of education, we also share a responsibility to make tomorrow better for all children. Through continued research in best practices, strong teacher preparation programs, comprehensive resources, we can make a difference. We are persons from all walks of life seeking to improve the quality of education for all, to create an awareness of the importance of education for all to promote the best and highest educational achievement for all.”
The first African-American from a historically black university to head the IRA, Williams received her B.A. from Talladega College, Ala. She got her M.A. degree from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and Ed.D. in reading education from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She also attended the Kellogg Institute at Appalachian State University, N.C. for postdoctoral work. Williams has co-authored two texts for college developmental reading programs, including “Fundamental Communication Skills.” She has received various federal and state grants. She is the recipient of the State Council of Higher Education's Outstanding Faculty Award and the Training of Teacher Trainers Fellowship for doctoral study. Her term as president of the 93,000-member IRA begins in May 2000.
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NOTE TO EDITOR: Carmelita Williams will be available to the media for questions and pictures at the following times and locations:
DATE TIME/LOCATION
Wednesday, April 5 11 a.m., Schindler Education Center Room 116
Wednesday, April 5 3:30 p.m., North Cedar Elementary School, Cedar Falls
Wednesday, April 5 6:30 - 8:30 p.m., Schindler Education Center
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Scott Cawelti, Chair, Critical Writing Conference Committee, (319) 273-3810
Vicki Grimes, Office of Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Robert James Waller, former professor and dean of the University of Northern Iowa's College of Business Administration, who received international acclaim as the author of the New York Times' number one bestseller, “The Bridges of Madison County,” will speak at the 2000 Celebrating Critical Writing Conference at UNI, Friday, April 7.
His address, at 3:15 p.m., will be on “Getting the Words Rightly Set: Technique, Magic, Execution,” a lecture on non-fiction writing. He will speak in UNI's Schindler Education Center. He also will deliver a public lecture at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 6, in Russell Hall, “The Bridges of Madison County: The Perquisites and Costs of Fame” for the Reninger Lecture Series.
Waller taught economics and decision theory at UNI for 22 years, part of that time as dean of the then School of Business. He traveled internationally, teaching his theory on interpretive structural modeling, a method of problem-solving in business and other arenas. While on the business faculty, he published numerous academic articles and personal essays, and authored three books.
In 1990, he wrote “Bridges” and printed eight copies on a dot matrix printer, giving them to friends. The novel, published by Warner Books without fanfare or promotion, was propelled onto the New York Times bestseller list after only four months. It remained there for 163 weeks, 38 as number one, until it was replaced by his second novel, “Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend.” His next three books also appeared on the New York Times list.
Chair of the Celebrating Critical Writing Conference Committee, Scott Cawelti, says of Waller, who also wrote frequently for the Des Moines Register, “`Bridges' was a huge success, with 7.2 million copies sold. In addition to its long run on the New York Times bestseller list, it has been translated into 18 languages.”
Other events at the critical writing conference will include sessions on a wide variety of writing techniques and genres.
For more information, contact Scott Cawelti at (319) 273-2761.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Marilou Kratzenstein, UNI professor of music, (319) 273-2442
James O'Connor, Office of Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
Note to editors: Photos are available for downloading at http://www.uni.edu/gbpac/preview/phototour/#organhall
CEDAR FALLS — The Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center's Jebe Hall, with its cutting-edge acoustic design – and the Wolff Organ, hand-crafted specifically for this setting – will debut at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 15, during the gala opening of the center on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa.
Jebe Hall was designed to accommodate two distinct musical functions in the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center. An outstanding organ hall needs a highly reverberant space to fully realize the impact of organ music written for large European churches and cathedrals. A choral rehearsal space needs a “dry” environment, one with little reverberation, to capture the exact sounds the voices are producing. Acoustic Dimensions Inc., Larchmont, N.Y., has accomplished both purposes in Jebe Hall using the most recent developments in acoustic design technology. The company's acclaimed work includes the new Myerson Symphony Hall in Dallas.
Careful placement of Jebe Hall within the building allowed additional volume over an adjacent student lounge to be coupled with space within the hall. The roof over this space is thick concrete with a suspended, heavy-plaster ceiling to separate reverberation spaces. This additional volume, carefully separated from the primary volume of the hall, allows the lengthened reverberation time needed for magnificent organ music. In addition, the walls are solid masonry construction to support strong bass response. Sound-lock vestibules at every entrance provide full isolation from other activities in the building. To change the acoustics for choir rehearsals, retractable acoustic drapes were designed into both primary and secondary space volumes and can be drawn to reduce reverberation.
This technology produces an ideal setting for the Wolff Organ opus 43 which graces Jebe Hall. The instrument was built using a combination of centuries-old hand-crafting traditions and the latest advances in instrument design and engineering. The builder, Wolff and Associates Ltd., Laval, Canada, is one of the leaders in the field and completes approximately one organ each year.
Custom-made specifically for the University of Northern Iowa, the organ is designed according to historic tonal principles, but simultaneously takes advantage of current technology. For example, the organ has mechanical key action, just as all organs had prior to the advent of electricity. The keys are short and the pedalboard is flat, just as they are on historic instruments. These traditional elements provide students with the experience of making music in a manner similar to that of composers who lived centuries ago.
However, certain modernizations are desirable for teaching music in the 21st Century. Historic organs require all organ stops to be changed by hand. The Wolff organ offers the technical improvements of electric stop action and a solid–state, multilevel combination system capable of providing 128 memory levels. Historic organs were also pumped by hand, resulting in a variable air supply. The Wolff instrument is equipped with a wind stabilizer, which allows the organist to select either variable or steady wind pressure when playing more modern music.
As all hand-crafted organs of yesterday and today, the Wolff Organ opus 43 is a one-of-a-kind instrument, a unique work of art not to be duplicated in other situations. Constructed over a two-year period at the Wolff workshop in Laval, the instrument was completed in September 1999, dismantled, crated and delivered to the university, where it was re-assembled, regulated and tuned to the specific acoustical requirements of Jebe Hall.
For more information about the Wolff organ or Jebe Hall, contact Marilou Kratzenstein, UNI professor of music, at (319) 273-2442.
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4/4/00 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Gerri Perreault, Director, UNI Leadership Studies Program, (319) 273-6898
Vicki Grimes, Office of Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
Local media professionals share experiences and views at the 2000 Leaders on Leadership series, April 6
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa—The University of Northern Iowa's Leadership Studies Program will continue its spring 2000 Leaders on Leadership series on Thursday, April 6, with a panel presentation and discussion. The presentation is from 3:30-4:45 p.m. in Room 423 of the Schindler Education Center.
The panel features Nancy Raffensperger, managing editor of the "Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier," Julie Kraft, TV consultant for Frank N. Magid Associates in Cedar Rapids, and Jim and Lou Porter of KBBG Radio. They will share their experiences and views on leadership as media professionals.
The program is free and open to the public. Reservations are requested. Call the UNI Leadership Studies Program at (319) 273-6898 to make a reservation.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Nancy Sheerer, Scholarship Day Secretary, (319) 273-2078
Vicki Grimes, Office of Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa —Some 50 high school graduates will compete for a number of full-time, four-year tuition scholarships at the University of Northern Iowa Art Scholarship Competition Day 2000 Friday, April 7.
The scholarship competition includes a presentation by a keynote speaker, exhibitions, lectures, demonstrations and other special events that will give participants information about UNI programs and facilities, according to Mary Frisbee Johnson, head of the UNI Department of Art.
Keynote speaker, at 9:45 a.m. in Kamerick Auditorium, Room 111, will be Rebecca Cummins, who received her B.F.A. from UNI in 1979. She received her M.A. from the University of New Mexico in 1982. She is on the faculty of the Humanities Department, and a candidate for a doctorate in creative arts, at the School of Social Science, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. Her work deals with the sculptural possibilities of light, and the history and the magic of optical phenomena.
A new event, the Junior Portfolio Critique Session, has been added to this year's program. A select group of juniors will have their portfolios reviewed by UNI art faculty. The session is aimed at assisting juniors in the preparation of their portfolios, and for art scholarship competition in the future.
Registration will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the first floor south lobby of the Kamerick Art Building on Thursday, and continue from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Friday. Works in the scholarship competition will be judged, beginning at 9 a.m. Friday. The scholarship exhibit will be open for viewing between 10 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. Friday.
For more information, contact Nancy Sheerer at (319) 273-2078 or the UNI Department of Art at (319) 273-2077.
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