11/6/01 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
John Vallentine, director, School of Music, (319) 273-2024
Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
Note to editors/news directors: 200 dpi JPEG images of Bruce Bengtson, and William and Charlotte Hinson are available on the Web at: http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/photos/bengtson.jpg, and http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/photos/hinsons.jpg. Images of the architect's rendering of the Russell Hall renovation are available at http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/photos/russellhall.jpg
Gifts to UNI benefit Russell Hall
CEDAR FALLS -- The University of Northern Iowa’s Russell Hall renovation project has received a boost with gifts from long-time supporters of music at the university and in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls community.
The Charlotte and William Hinson Family, which has made contributions to the university for many years, has given $250,000 toward the project. Charlotte and the late William Hinson attended Iowa State Teachers College in the 1930s. Their children, Richard Hinson and Carol Driver, are university alums and trustees of the Charlotte and William Hinson Family Foundation.
Bruce Bengtson, a 1964 alumnus of the university, has made a $250,000 donation to the project.
A Waterloo native who now resides in Wyomissing, Pa., Bengtson served as executive vice president and treasurer of Maier's Bakery in Reading, Pa., from 1975 to 1998. A popular and accomplished organist, he also is an honorary trustee of the Reading Music Foundation and was its president from 1986 to 1989.
The Russell Hall renovation and addition project is part of the university's $75 million "Students First' campaign expected to be completed by January 2005. Russell Hall is home to the UNI's School of Music (SOM) and the acclaimed Jazz Band One; and houses a series of rehearsal rooms, offices, studios, classrooms and an auditorium.
Background on Russell Hall project
John Vallentine, director of the SOM, said the program has outgrown the facility. In the last decade, the School of Music saw record enrollment and space concerns are an ongoing challenge. When the building was erected, about 40 years ago, the SOM had 21 staff members and 85 students. Today the school has more than 50 faculty and staff, and more than 300 students. Hundreds more take music courses and play or sing in ensembles.
Further, he said, the building has serious ventilation problems. The acoustics in the auditorium, classrooms and faculty teaching studios are poor as well. "This building was erected in 1962 as one of the best at that time. But there have been lots of developments and advancements in building structure and technology since then, and we'd like to take advantage of that new knowledge to benefit our students and the community as a whole," Vallentine explained.
Projected cost of the renovation and addition is $8.2 million. The university Foundation will seek $2 million in private funding; to date about $700,000 has been raised. The rest of the funding would come from the state, if approved by the Board of Regents. Featured in the addition will be a new rehearsal and performance hall, and a jazz recording studio.
The "Students First" campaign will support scholarships, academic program support and facilities, including $15 million to build the McLeodUSA Center, a multi-purpose sports arena for basketball, volleyball and wrestling. Other capital projects include McElroy Hall, which houses the Freeburg Early Childhood Program; a human performance center to be built onto the north end of the UNI-Dome; renovation of Lang Hall; and equipment for McCollum Science Hall.
The university has raised more than half the campaign's $75 million goal, including approximately $11 million for the McLeodUSA Center. The leadership gift phase of the campaign’s local drive is now underway. The Cedar Valley major gift drive kicked off Sept. 24, while the national kickoff will take place during fall 2002.
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11/6/01
News Brief
Following is a story lead and the University of Northern Iowa sources who can best address this topic. Feel free to contact the sources directly.
UNI Global Health Corps plans events
UNI’s Global Health Corps (GHC) was founded in 1996. Its mission is to educate university students about working with diverse populations in public health settings. Those students then teach at-risk populations how to improve their own health. The corps is a student-operated, locally headquartered, nonprofit organization, under the supervision of Michele Yehieli, a UNI faculty member.
GHC has educated more than 350 UNI students and provided services to more than 20,000 clients around the world, including sites in Black Hawk County, Appalachia, Bangladesh, Cuba, Ghana, Haiti, Israel and Mexico.
The group's events for the remainder of this calendar year are as follows:
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 1:30 to 2 p.m., New Iowa Healthy Youth Initiative. Nine immigrant and refugee students from West Waterloo High School will provide health education to fourth-graders at Orange Elementary in Waterloo.
Monday, December 3, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Postville Health Education. Each month several UNI students visit Postville providing health education to immigrants and refugees via the GHC Mobile Health Education Center, a 32-foot customized recreational vehicle. Location to be announced.
Nutrition Education for Seniors (ongoing). GHC recently received a contract from the State Department of Public Health to conduct research on the nutrition status of a Cedar Valley seniors. GHC provides outreach nutrition education and produce to seniors.
Contact:
Stacy Van Gorp, associate director, Global Health Corps, (319) 273-5826 or 273-6411.
(319) 273-5826,
Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
11/6/01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Aaron Podolefsky, UNI provost and vice president, (319) 273-2517
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
Note to editors/news directors: 200 dpi JPEG images of Ken McCormick, John Johnson and Al Hays are available on the Web at:
http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/photos/mccormick,jpeg
http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/photos/johnson.jpeg
http://www.uni.edu/pubrel/newsroom/photos/hays.jpeg
UNI faculty members honored for outstanding teaching, research and service
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Three University of Northern Iowa faculty members were honored for their outstanding teaching, research and public service earlier this fall.
Receiving awards were: Ken McCormick, professor of economics, Class of 1943 Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching; John Johnson, head and professor of history, Donald N. McKay Faculty Research Award; and Al Hays, professor of political science and director of UNI’s Graduate Program in Public Policy, the Ross A. Nielsen Professional Service Award. Each received a financial award of $2,000 in addition to the recognition ceremony.
Aaron Podolefsky, UNI provost and vice president for academic affairs, said that all three recipients "exemplified the ideal of the teacher/scholar. Each has a significant record of accomplishment in each of the three areas."
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11/6/01
For Immediate Release:
Contact:
Katie MacDonald, program manager, UNI Regional Business Center, (319) 236-8123; fax (319) 236-8240
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
Credit education class to be offered through UNI program
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- "Clean Up Your Credit," a credit education class for people interested in starting a business, will be offered later this month by Consumer Credit Counseling Services of N.E. Iowa, in partnership with the University of Northern Regional Business Center (RBC).
The class will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27 at the Regional Business Center, 212 E. 4th St., Waterloo. Those who sign up for the course by Wednesday, Nov. 21, will receive a free credit report from the CBE Group of Waterloo. Participants will learn how to read and understand their reports, as well as discuss a variety of credit issues that can make or break a small business.
The cost for this class is $25. For more information or to register, contact Katie MacDonald, program manager, at (319) 236-8123 or (888) 237-8124.
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11/6/01
For Immediate Release:
Contact
Katie MacDonald, program manager, UNI Regional Business Center, (319) 236-8123, fax (319) 236-8240
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
UNI Regional Business Center to offer Quick Books accounting software training
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The University of Northern Iowa Regional Business Center (RBC) will offer Quick Books Pro Training for those Cedar Valley businesses currently using, or interested in, Quick Books accounting software, beginning Nov. 27.
Certified Quick Books trainer, Gary Karr, CPA, will walk participants through the three-session program. Classes will be held Tuesday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon, Nov. 27, and Dec. 4 and 11, at the UNI Regional Business Center, 212 E. 4th St., Waterloo. The hands-on computer training class will be limited to 14 businesses. The cost per participant is $125 and includes a bound training manual.
For more information, or to register, contact Katie MacDonald, UNI RBC program manager, at (319) 236-8123 or (888) 237-8124.
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