11/26/02
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Lori Smith, instructor of physical education, Malcolm Price Laboratory School, (319) 273-2558
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
Malcolm Price Laboratory School receives grant
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The University of Northern Iowa's Malcolm Price Laboratory School recently received a $155,000 grant from the National School Fitness Foundation.
Funds will be used to collect research and data gathered from students grades six through 12, and later from parents and the community. The program's goal is to fight the epidemic of obesity and chronic inactivity among youths. The grant includes brand new fitness center cardiovascular training equipment and on-going curriculum for regular use. Funds will also purchase a computer and printer, and bio-impedence machines to collect and record research data.
According to Lori Smith, physical education instructor at MPLS, "The equipment will bring our PE program into the 21st century with full use of technology needed for valuable assessment."
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11/26/02
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Susan Salterberg, program manager, UNI Center for Energy & Environmental Education, (319) 498-4516
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
UNI to offer teacher workshop on waste reduction
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The University of Northern Iowa Center for Energy and Environmental Education and the Iowa Recycling Association are sponsoring "Waste Reduction: Addressing the Overlooked 'R' in Grades 7-12," a workshop for teachers. Participating teachers may earn one graduate credit through the two-part workshop at the Johnston Public Library, Jan. 18, and April 5, 2003. Cost is $50.
To earn credit, each instructor must teach a waste reduction unit in his or her school. Teachers participating in the workshop may be from various disciplines, including English language arts, social studies, math, science and/or business.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has provided support for the program.
For more information on the workshop, contact Susan Salterberg at (319) 498-4516 or salterberg@uni.edu. To register, call 1-800-648-3864 or register online at www.uni.edu/ceee/wastereduction/workshop.html.
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11/26/02
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Gayle Pohl, associate professor of communication studies and co-chair, Meryl Norton Hearst Lecture Series, (319) 273-6308.
Christopher Martin, associate professor of communication studies and co-chair, Meryl Norton Hearst Lecture Series, (319) 273-2788
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
UNI Hearst Lecture Series Dec. 4 focuses on 'Constructing Community through Communication'
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- "Constructing Community through Communication" will be the topic presented by Thomas Steinfatt, at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 4, in the Lang Hall Auditorium on the University of Northern Iowa campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Steinfatt is the program director and professor of communication at the University of Miami and a leading expert on intercultural communication, communication in the spread of AIDS, organizational communication, communication in Southeast Asia, linguistic relativity, propaganda and persuasion. He has published four books and was recently appointed as a Fulbright Scholar to Southeast Asia for Jan.-June 2003 to work to repair damage done to the Cambodian higher education system by the Khmer Rouge.
The Meryl Norton Hearst Lecture Series is supported by an endowment from James Schell Hearst, author, poet and professor of creative writing at UNI from 1941 until his retirement in 1975.
The UNI Department of Communication Studies and the College of Humanities and Fine Arts sponsor the 2002-2003 series.
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11/26/02
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Cynthia Goatley, director, Graduate Program in Women's Studies, (319) 273-6270
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
SAVE forum actors to be the topic for UNI CROW forum lecture Dec. 2
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- "Finding a Voice: Ethnography of the Origins of SAVE Forum Actors" will be the topic of the next CROW (Current Research on Women) Forum lecture, at noon, Monday, Dec. 2, in Baker Hall, Room 161 on the University of Northern Iowa campus.
The lecture will be presented by Karen Mitchell, UNI associate professor of communication studies, and Jana Gymer-Koch, UNI graduate student from Cedar Falls.
The next program in the CROW Forum series will be Feb. 2, 2003, when Barbara Cutter, UNI assistant professor of history, will present "Moral Womanhood, Race and the Politics of Nineteenth-Century U.S. Women's History."
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11/26/02
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.
Price Lab instructor says McDonalds can't be blamed for obese kids
Parents of kids who ate daily at McDonalds are now suing the fast-food giant, alleging the burgers and fries consumed caused obesity. Lori Smith, a physical education instructor at Malcolm Price Laboratory School, says the very notion that a restaurant is responsible for an individual's weight is absurd.
Smith, named the 2001 Iowa physical education teacher of the year, says obesity in this country has reached epidemic proportions, and she doesn’t lay the blame at McDonalds' doorstep. "There is no single entity that is responsible. It's a societal phenomenon. Technology has made our lives easier, but it has also made us unhealthier. We no longer have to walk to work, or even get up to change the channel. As a result, we've become very sedentary."
She sites high use of computers and video games as another factor that increases the sedentary lifestyle.
Smith would like to see more schools doing what Price Lab does: offer quality daily physical education for students. "We are responsible for children's well-being, for teaching them how to take care of themselves. School is a primary place for doing that. And parents and families have to play a role too, by modeling healthy lifestyles."
Contact:
Lori Smith, instructor, Malcolm Price Laboratory School, (319) 273-2559
Gwenne Culpepper, University Marketing & Public Relations, (319) 273-2761