5/3/01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Justin Sell, UNI assistant athletic director/operations, (319) 273-6050
James O'Connor, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
UNI-Dome arena to be closed beginning Monday, May 7 for roof repair
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Due to roof repair scheduled to be completed during the summer, the arena area of the University of Northern Iowa's UNI-Dome will be closed beginning Monday, May 7. The UNI-Dome is expected to re-open Monday, Aug. 20.
Justin Sell, UNI assistant athletic director/operations manager, said sports camps normally held in the UNI-Dome have been moved to other facilities on campus including the West Gym, the Wellness and Recreation Center, and Nielsen Fieldhouse at Price Laboratory School/Northern University
High School. Sell said the American Youth Basketball Tournament and an NUHS 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament also were relocated to these spaces.
"It has taken a cooperative effort to retain and relocate so many events and our coaches have been fantastic," said Sell. He also worked with Cedar Falls Schools administrators and parents to relocate the CFHS graduation exercises to the West Gym.
University offices housed in the UNI-Dome will remain open. Parking lots around the facility also are scheduled to remain open. Contractors will use an area near the north UNI-Dome garage door entry for building access. The tunnel from the Physical Education Center to the UNI-Dome will be closed.
###
(Part of the EducatioNet series from the University of Northern Iowa)
For release during May 2001
Contact: Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
While children are enthusiastically singing the praises of Harry Potter and his adventures, parents everywhere are worried. Some pundits, among them Fletcher A. Brothers, leader of Freedom Village U.S.A., a faith-based home for troubled teens, maintain that Harry Potter is evil incarnate. The concern is that Potter, who is a wizard, will influence children negatively and lead them to believe that the pursuit of sorcery is a noble, even laudable endeavor.
But Gina Burkart, a University of Northern Iowa instructor who is writing a textbook built around the Harry Potter novels, says the books could well be a blessing in disguise.
Throughout the four-book series, Harry is confronted by many real-life issues such as child abuse, discrimination and peer pressure.
"These books present an opportunity for children to discuss those situations and develop critical-thinking skills," explains Burkart, who presented her ideas during the Christian Art and Soul conference in February.
She's been reading the books to her children, ages 7, 5 and 4, and says they not only enjoy them, but learn from them. "Just the other day, my 5-year-old said, 'Mom, people are mean to Harry because he's different. That's just like some people being mean to others because of different skin color or attitudes.' I was very impressed that she'd been able to draw the correlation between what happened to Harry and what goes on in real life."
Burkart says there are other lessons to be gleaned from the Harry Potter series. For example, in one of the books, Harry wants to buy some new things but is living on a limited budget. "So he uses his budgeting skills and saves the money. That's something a lot of our kids don't think about," she says. "Harry and friends sometimes break the school rules, and are punished. There's a chance to talk about making good choices and bad choices."
Burkart understands religious leaders' concerns, though, that children who read the Potter books -- or any books with fantasy themes -- might become confused. "But I've never believed in putting children in a shell and isolating them. You have to, as a parent or educator, discuss the issues and extract the good messages. For instance, in these books, Harry's mother is killed, but Harry is saved by his mother's love. This parallels the new testament story of a savior who does the same thing," she says.
"The fantasy world of magic has been used for years to teach children about the nature of good and evil."
One of the biggest benefits of the Harry Potter books, says Burkart, is that they've gotten children excited about reading. "Let's channel that excitement with discussions, at home and in classrooms, and help our children decipher what's really going on."
As soon as he began offering a free grammar service about a year ago, Dr. Grammar was deluged with e-mail. Offered to University of Northern Iowa students and Internet surfers, the service answers questions about punctuation, attribution, style and use. There are 30,000 hits per month on his "frequently asked questions" Web page alone.
"I think older people have gotten away from the tools. Many of them don't own dictionaries or usage texts," says Dr. Grammar, who is really UNI English Professor James HiDuke. "And younger people don't even know such things exist. So they're looking for any help they can get."
He says humans learn language -- and its rules -- between ages 2 and 5 by ear. "And we actually kind of understand it at the time. Without knowing a noun is called a noun, we knew where nouns went in a sentence. We picked it up through our ears, but now we do a good deal of our writing on a computer and the computer doesn't give us any aural feedback. We don't get the language back to our ears."
He says that a student who makes 100 errors in a 10-page paper will, by reading aloud, pick out 75 of those errors on his or her own. "They recognize it when they get the language in their ears. They'll actually sit there and say, 'Oh my gosh, I can't believe I wrote that.'"
Quite simply, says HiDuke, students routinely leave high schools completely unprepared to write at the university level. "And that's one of my biggest frustrations."
Contributing to the problem are teachers who, pressed for time, simply do not correct students' incorrect grammar. "There's also a philosophy that says we don't want Johnny to feel bad about the work he's done, so we don't give him any negative feedback," explains HiDuke. "But that's wrong. Someone has to say that there are rules for written language, and that the rules should be followed."
Another contributor to the problem might be a common teaching method that allows students to write papers and read them in front of the class. "So Johnny reads that paper and receives applause for whatever it is that he's produced. No one knows what the spelling or punctuation is like, but they're applauding. By the time he gets to me, Johnny's had 12 years of applause. He comes to the university setting expecting more applause, and that's when someone finally says, 'You don't understand the code.' But Johnny can't understand it because no one' s ever taught it to him."
He says parents can help in a number of ways.
(Part of the EducatioNet series from the University of Northern Iowa)
For release during May 2001
Contact: Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
Joan Thompson is a working mother of three children, two of whom are extremely active in extra-curricular activities. On any given day, this busy parent is running hither and yon, making sure each child gets to soccer, Girl Scouts or some other after-school activity. Getting the family home for a nutritious dinner can be tricky. So, like a lot of parents, Thompson occasionally swings by her favorite fast-food restaurant.
"Too many of us beat ourselves up because we took the kids to McDonald's," says the health educator for the Department of Wellness and Recreation Services at the University of Northern Iowa. "I think the guilt is more harmful than the food itself. If you're busy, don't apologize for giving your children fast food. One high-fat meal won't make or break you nutritionally. It's what you eat on a consistent basis that counts."
She suggests parents encourage children to get vegetables like tomato, lettuce and pickles on hamburgers to beef up the nutritional value. Look for salads and grilled chicken options. Also, it's a good idea to vary the kind of restaurant. Thompson is a fan of restaurants that serve tacos or sub sandwiches, both of which tend to be loaded with lettuce, tomatoes and wholesome cheese. Just don't super-size the meal. "I think that's when a lot of problems start to happen," says Thompson. "Those super-sized portions are just too large. Even adults don't need that kind of volume."
Thompson says there are ways to serve "fast food" without ever setting foot in a fast-food restaurant or spending much money. Further, you could probably do it faster than making a trip past the drive-through window. It just takes planning and a little re-defining of the phrase "fast food."
For instance, says Thompson, tortillas made in the microwave and topped with the cheese and veggies take about a minute to make, are nutritionally sound, and cost just pennies to serve.
Taking the kids to soccer practice after school? A busy parent could certainly opt to stop at fast-food restaurant but, says Thompson, it's probably easier to pack a cooler the night before, filling it with sliced fruit, sandwiches and mini cartons of milk. "I find that doing this sort of thing is actually faster and more convenient than pulling into a drive-through."
First, read. "Have magazines and books in the house. Let your children see you reading. If mom and dad don't look at a book, then little Johnny figures reading is not a worthwhile pursuit."
Second, play writing games. Suggest your child write about the family vacation. Then encourage the child to find more information on the subject, and learn to document the resources.
Third, pay attention to a child's homework assignments. "Parents have to care in tangible ways," says HiDuke. "So ask them to read aloud their assignments. And you don't have to applaud -- just listen and treat it seriously. Then look at the printed copy, because what we say is one kind of language and what we write is another."
He says parents also can encourage a child to read signs -- in stores, on the highway, at the gas station. Then give awards if the child can explain what makes a sign's grammar correct or incorrect. "One of the things I do is carry a big Magic Marker with me when I go to the mall, and I correct signs," says HiDuke. "I find that adults are usually very receptive to it."
Finally, show your child what you write and how you write. For example, if you're upset with service rendered by the utility company, sit down and write a letter. "But show your child how you're writing it, and help the child figure out how the language in this letter is different from language used in a letter to your friend. Point out commas and semi-colons, and ask, 'Why do you think this is here?'"
HiDuke knows there are, however, parents who struggle with grammar themselves, and might not feel comfortable guiding their child through the treacherous waters of the English language. In that case, says HiDuke, there's an opportunity for mutual learning. Parents who don't read regularly can start. "You might even read your child's textbook," he suggests.
"The important thing is to be an example."
HiDuke's Web site and "frequently asked questions" can be accessed at www.drgrammar.org.
5/3/01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Lt. Col. Michael DePuglio, head, UNI Department of Military Science, (319) 273-6178
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack presented University of Northern Iowa Cadet, Seth Hall, from Cedar Falls, the "Governor's Cup" during a 2 p.m. ceremony Wednesday, May 2, in the Governor's Office. This award is presented annually to the most outstanding Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadet in each ROTC program throughout Iowa. The winner of this award must have demonstrated a superior level of leadership.
Hall is a UNI graduate student in communication studies with a 3.08 grade-point-average (GPA). He received his undergraduate degree in 1998 from UNI in public administration with a 3.75 GPA. Hall is an operations officer for the UNI ROTC Cadet Battalion and will enter the regular United States Army following his graduation Saturday, May 5.
###