Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

INSIDE IOWA STATE
October 12, 2001

Announcements

Open change period for Merit staff under way
ISU Merit employees can change their benefits plans during the "open change period" from Oct. 5 to Nov. 5. They can change medical and dental insurance benefits as well as flexible spending accounts (health care and dependent care). Information on benefits changes will be mailed to employees' office addresses soon. For more benefits information, see the Benefits Office Web site at http://www.iastate.edu/~hrs_info/benefits/ or contact the office, 4-7680 or benefits@iastate.edu. The open change period for faculty, P&S and supervisory merit staff begins Nov. 5.

Workshop on making Web sites accessible
Web creators on campus are invited to a free workshop, "How to Make Your Web Site Accessible" from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, in 236 Memorial Union. Participants will learn easy ways to make Web sites accessible not only for those with visual, hearing and mobility impairments, but for those using new technologies, such as Web phones and palm pilots. To sign up for the free class, see http://www.iastate.edu/news/today/01/oct/accessible.html.

Diversity office has new name
Iowa State's Affirmative Action office has changed its name to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity. The change went into effect following Board of Regents, State of Iowa, approval Sept. 13. According to Carla Espinoza, director of the office, the change is intended to better communicate the duties and responsibilities of that office, and to more accurately reflect university priorities and goals in the areas of diversity and access. Evie Myers serves as associate director of the office, located in 101 Wallace Road Office Building.

Walesa talk is Oct. 15
Lech Walesa, Poland's first democratically elected president and recipient of the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize, will speak on leadership, democracy and freedom at 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 15, in Stephens Auditorium. His talk is free. An electrician by training, Walesa headed the striking, but outlawed, labor union, "Solidarity" in Gdansk.

Survey expert to give talk
Don Dillman, a rural sociologist at Washington State University, Pullman, and pioneer in the development of modern survey methods, will present a seminar, "Cars, Stamps, Telephone Dials and Hotlinks: Some Thoughts about 37 Years of Conducting Sample Surveys," at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19, in the Memorial Union Sun Room. Dillman helped develop and popularize modern mail and telephone survey methods and surveying via the Internet. He received three degrees from ISU.

Tickets available to food prize presentation
The recipient of the 2001 World Food Prize, Per Pinstrup-Andersen of Denmark, will receive the $250,000 prize during an award ceremony at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, at the Des Moines Civic Center. Pinstrup-Petersen is the director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute. This year's celebration, the 15th anniversary of the World Food Prize, will honor Iowan and Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug. ISU faculty, staff and students can request (free) tickets to the event via e-mail. Send your name, mailing address and number of tickets sought to Judith Pim, jpim@ruan.com. Tickets will be mailed to you.

United Way drive at 67 percent of goal
Through Oct. 4, the Iowa State community had pledged $148,914 to the 2001 United Way campaign. That amount represents just under 67 percent of the university's fund-raising goal of $223,000. While the official campus campaign period ended Oct. 5; pledges will be accepted for several weeks yet.

APHC coming to Stephens Auditorium
A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor will air live from C.Y. Stephens Auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2002. WOI Radio will host the production and station members will receive the first opportunity to purchase tickets to the radio show. Tickets will go on sale to members sometime in December and to the public after that; details will be announced later this fall.

In Touch luncheon is Nov. 8
The ISU women's center's next "Women in Touch" luncheon on Thursday, Nov. 8, will feature a talk by Amy Slagell, ISU English, on communication problems titled, "The Art of Disagreeing Agreeable." The luncheon starts at noon in the Memorial Union Sun Room. The cost is $12 and includes a soup and croissant lunch. Registration is required and can be done online only at http://www.iastate.edu/~mswc. For more information, call the women's center, 4-4154.

Free flu shots Oct. 29-Nov. 16
Free flu shots for faculty and staff will be offered by occupational medicine staff weekdays from Oct. 29 through Nov. 16. The Centers for Disease Control recommend immunizing high-risk individuals first; occupational medicine staff suggest that those individuals visit the ISU clinic during the first week. High-risk individuals include those who are 65 years or older, have chronic pulmonary or cardiac disorders or immune-compromising disorders, pregnant women who will be in the second trimester during influenza season, or health-care workers. For more information on high-risk individuals, contact the Occupational Medicine office, 4-0874. Clinics will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in 205 Technical and Administrative Services Facility (TASF). Limited parking is available in front of the facility.

WOI Radio fund drive is Oct. 12-19
The WOI Radio group will hold its fall pledge drive Oct. 12-19. The group includes WOI-AM and WOI-FM, Ames; and KTPR-FM, Fort Dodge. The stations' goal is to surpass last fall's fund-raising drive, which collected $246,090 in pledges from listeners.

Meyer named to Ag communications post
Brian Meyer has been named interim director of the College of Agriculture Communications Service. Meyer has worked as a communications specialist for the office since 1990. The former director, Karen Bolluyt, retired at the end of September after 23 years at ISU.