UNI co-sponsors conference to explore 'Building Community in the Midst of Diversity'

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- "Building Community in the Midst of Diversity," a workshop to help individuals create positive neighborhoods and communities, will take place Friday and Saturday, Oct. 25 and 26, at the Waterloo Center for the Arts, 225 Commercial St., Waterloo. It is sponsored by the University of Northern Iowa's Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC), and Neighborhood Services of Waterloo.

Keynote speaker is Juan C. Moreno, a diversity and inclusion specialist at the University of Minnesota Extension Office. Previously, he was director of affirmative action and equal opportunity, and interim dean of students at Metropolitan State University in the Twin Cities. He is founder of the Diversity Institute at the University of Minnesota.

Workshop sessions will cover cross-cultural communication, involving citizens in planning, and team building and conflict resolution. Speakers are Jim Day, diversity consultant; Pam Hays, executive director of the YWCA of Black Hawk County; Allen Hays, director of the COPC and UNI's graduate program in public policy; and Louis Starks, city of Waterloo planner.

Cost to attend is $12 before Oct. 18, and $15 after that date. Cost includes dinner on Friday, Oct. 25. To register, or receive more information, contact Cheryl Faries, (319) 287-8164, cheryl.faries@uni.edu.

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10/3/02

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

James Lubker, dean, College of Humanities and Fine Arts, (319) 273-2725

Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761

One of the world's greatest phoneticians to lecture at UNI

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Peter Ladefoged, the man who trained Rex Harrison for his famous "My Fair Lady" role, will present a public lecture at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10, in Room 108 of the University of Northern Iowa's Communication Arts Center. His topic will be "Recording Endangered Languages."

James Lubker, dean of UNI's College of Humanities and Fine Arts, said Ladefoged is widely recognized as "one of the world's greatest phoneticians."

Ladefoged is a professor emeritus and former head of linguistics at UCLA, where he was recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award. He has traveled the world, recording and studying myriad languages. Born in England, he holds both an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He has published extensively, both articles and books, on everything from information conveyed by vowels, to phonetic studies, to tongue shape.

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10/3/02

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Cheryl Smith, UNI program associate, Iowa Space Grant Consortium, (319) 273-6809

Vicki Grimes, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761

Iowa space group issues challenge to Iowa K-12 classrooms

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The Iowa Space Grant Consortium, in partnership with WHO Radio and the "Earth and Sky" radio program, is issuing its third annual challenge to any Iowa classroom from kindergarten to grade 12. The classroom that scores highest on a quiz based on the content of "Earth and Sky" will win a prize package totaling as much as $5,000.

Any K-12 classroom of students attending a charter, public, private, religious or home school in Iowa is eligible to compete.

"Our aim is to get kids interested in science using the excitement of space," said William Byrd, director of the Iowa Space Grant Consortium, a NASA-supported organization aimed at increasing interest in aerospace education and research. Academic members of the group are the University of Northern Iowa, Drake University, Iowa State University and the University of Iowa.

During Space Week, Oct. 4-10, WHO Radio (1040 AM) will broadcast special editions of the "Earth and Sky" program daily between 6:30 and 7 a.m. Program topics will include the greenhouse effect, volcanoes, the moon and asteroids.

On Friday, Oct. 11, a Space Week quiz will be posted on the precollege page of the ISGC Web site. There will be three different versions of the quiz: for grades K-3, 4-8 and 9-12. Questions will be taken from material in "Earth and Sky" broadcasts and the supporting activities. Classroom teachers will administer the quiz and forward the results to the ISGC office.

The winning class, to be announced Thursday, Oct. 24, will receive a Meade ETX Astro telescope, a trip to the Science Station and IMAX Theatre in Cedar Rapids, an inservice program for teachers at the school and a collection of curriculum materials.

Complete details, including an entry form, are available on the precollege page at http://cosmos.ssol.iastate.edu/isgc/.