Iowa Space Grant Conference to be held Dec. 6

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The Iowa Space Grant Consortium (ISGC), a NASA-sponsored group aimed at promoting aerospace research and education, will hold its 12^th annual conference Friday, Dec. 6, at the Iowa Valley Community College District in Marshalltown.

Cathy Bigelow, an administrator at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), is the invited speaker for the conference. She will speak on "9-11's Impact on Aviation Research in America" at 12:15 p.m. in Dejardin Hall of the Iowa Valley Continuing Education conference facility.

Bigelow, who has been with the FAA since 1994, is the deputy program director of the Airport and Aircraft Safety R & D Division at the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center at Atlantic City International Airport in New Jersey. She provides research guidance in the areas of fire, atmospheric hazards, safety risk analysis, aging aircraft, catastrophic failure prevention, propulsion and fuel systems, advanced materials and crashworthiness.

Recipients of consortium research grants also will report on their projects at the conference. The researchers are from the consortium's academic members -- the University of Northern Iowa, Drake University, Iowa State University and the University of Iowa -- as well as its affiliates in industry, state government and aerospace associations.

Additional information on the conference is available at the ISGC Web site at www.ia.spacegrant.org, or from the consortium office, 1-800-854-1667.

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12/2/02

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Gayle Pohl, UNI associate professor of communication studies and adviser, PRSSA (319) 273-6308

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

UNI Public Relations Student Society of America receives national award

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The University of Northern Iowa Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) received the "Outstanding PRSSA Chapter of the Year Award" at the recent national PRSSA conference in San Francisco.

The award winner is chosen from more than 200 PRSSA chapters throughout the country. UNI PRSSA and its chapter adviser, Gayle Pohl, associate professor of communication studies, also won the prestigious award in 1998.

In addition to the chapter award, Jackie Wilson, a senior public relations major from Waterloo, was presented with the first Lawrence Foster Scholarship. Wilson is a member of PRSSA and an officer in PRide.

The UNI PRSSA has an active student-run public relations firm, PRide (Public Relations Internships Develop Expertise), that participates in campus and community events, and gives students a wide variety of professional experiences.

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12/2/02

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Laura Jackson, UNI associate professor of biology, (319) 273-2705

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

UNI's Jackson to read from her book on farms and ecosystem Thursday, Dec. 5

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Laura Jackson, UNI associate professor of biology, will read selections from a book she co-edited, which deals with farms and the ecosystem. The reading will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5, at Bought Again Books, 909 W. 23^rd St., in Cedar Falls. She also will be available to sign copies of the book.

Jackson's book, "The Farm as Natural Habitat: Reconnecting Food Systems with Ecosystems," brought together writers representing the fields of sustainable agriculture, conservation biology and ecological restoration to link food and farming to biological diversity. She said it offers compelling examples of an alternative agriculture that can produce not only healthful food, but fully functioning ecosystems and abundant populations of native species.

The book was favorably reviewed in the November issue of the prestigious professional publication, Science. Says the reviewer, "Given that so much land is devoted to growing our crops, it is relevant for all of us to wonder how we might use this land better. 'The Farm as Natural Habitat' provides excellent food for thought on the subject."

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12/2/02

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Darrell Wiens, UNI professor of biology, (319) 273-6880

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

UNI student awarded for research

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- University of Northern Iowa student Krista Todd, a senior biology major from Washington, D.C, was recognized at the 2002 annual meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Todd received first place in the undergraduate student poster presentation competition for her entry, and interview relating to "Simulate Microgravity's Effect on the Contractile Ability of Developing Chick Heart Tissue Explants." Her research used chick embryos to simulate the impact of gravity on developing heart tissue. The co-authors on the project were Eric Askeland, a senior biology major from Fort Dodge, who helped with additional research this fall; and Darrell Weins, UNI professor of biology.

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(Part of the EducatioNet series from the University of Northern Iowa)

For release during December 2002

Contact: Gwenne Culpepper, UNI Office of Public Relations, (319) 273-2761

Personality disorder in teen girls sometimes masked by general angst and moodiness

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The angst, moodiness and general melancholia that is a teenage girl's life is legendary. Books have been written about it. Television shows have been produced about it. And therapists everywhere have offered hints and ideas about how to deal with it.

Catherine DeSoto, an assistant professor of biological psychology at the University of Northern Iowa, has some new information. After two years of research involving more than 300 women, DeSoto now believes that fluctuating estrogen levels that occur during adolescence may well be the cause of an increased rate of borderline personality disorder (BDP) in teenage girls. Symptoms of BDP include mood instability, low self-image, easy distraction, problems within relationships and suicidal tendencies. As many as 10 percent of those with BDP will end their lives via suicide.

At first glance, the symptoms are similar to those reported by frustrated parents of moody teen girls. "But there's a difference. Think of Glenn Close in 'Fatal Attraction,'" says DeSoto. "These girls are emotionally volatile. For example, instead of crying about the break-up of a relationship, they'd be likely to go out and slash tires or think about death."

Through DeSoto's research, women were asked to provide a saliva sample four different times during a single month. The estrogen level in the saliva was measured. "What we found was that women who had a sharper rise in estrogen during week two of their menstrual cycles tended to have more negative symptoms," said DeSoto. Furthermore, she explained, among young women who had relatively high levels of symptoms, starting oral contraceptives -- which have estrogen in them -- worsened the symptoms.

Although the findings aren't conclusive, DeSoto said some valuable information has been gained. "It may be that girls who exhibit these symptoms, or are diagnosed with BDP, shouldn't take oral contraceptive but should explore other birth-control options. Hormonally-based methods which do not cause a daily rise and fall of estrogen might be a better choice for these young women."

She encourages mothers and daughters to talk with their physicians about BDP, especially if symptoms have worsened after beginning to take oral contraceptives, and to bring to the attention of their physician any information on the disorder.

Her research is more proof that estrogen affects brain and cognitive functions, a concept often rejected until the 1960s. It is now generally accepted.

"My mother told me, for example, that years ago pregnant women who had morning sickness were told that the nausea was caused by their own negative views of the pregnancy. Now we have women going through menopause and they're told the same sorts of things, that the symptoms are all in their heads. Women's bodies and brains are affected by estrogen levels, and it's not all in their heads. If doctors really want to help women, this must be recognized."

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