http://newscenter.iupui.edu/ News about general from Newscenter en-us Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:32:58 -0500 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4471/IUPUI-Professor-Offers-New-Look-at-the-Makings-of-Entrepreneurial-Success- http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4471/IUPUI-Professor-Offers-New-Look-at-the-Makings-of-Entrepreneurial-Success- Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Indiana (IUPUI) Professor Bessie House-Soremekun would love to talk to President Barack Obama and share her insights on how to jumpstart the American economy. That would provide another platform for translating her scholarly research on African American businesses into action plans for creating and retaining jobs across all ethnic communities. In his first State of the Union address, Obama said jobs are to be the No. 1 focus of 2010. Acknowledging America’s businesses as the “true engine of job creation,” he called on lawmakers to create the conditions “necessary for businesses to expand and hire more workers.” “We should start where most new jobs do -- in small businesses . . . companies that begin when an entrepreneur takes a chance on a dream, or a worker decides it's time she became her own boss . . .” House-Soremekun’s latest book, “Confronting the Odds: African American Entrepreneurship in Cleveland, Ohio,” is a second, expanded look at entrepreneurial success in Cleveland. The book, published by the Kent State University Press, includes the life histories of African-American businesses – some successful, others not – and uses statistical analysis to identify numerous factors that contribute to success. “That is really essentially the most important question that the study addresses,” the professor-author-and entrepreneur said, “Why is it that some businesses succeed while others failed? What are the attributes that define success?” Her research shows, “financial capital is clearly at the top of the list,” as a requirement for entrepreneurial success, says House-Soremekun, who teaches in the School of Liberal Arts. Second, is the acquisition of business training – a need which the professor has addressed in the form of establishing four non-profit entrepreneurial training centers. She is still president of two of these, the Entrepreneurial Academy of Greater Cleveland and the National Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc. Networking skills are also critical for business success. “My research indicates that entrepreneurs who have high levels of social capital are simply more successful,” said House-Soremekun, who teaches in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. The book’s firsthand accounts from black business owners, “gives the reader a peek into life as an entrepreneur, including the ugliness and the rewards,” writes internationally acclaimed entrepreneur, author and CEO of Success Source, Unlimited, George C. Fraser in his note to House-Soremekun’s book. “ ‘Confronting the Odds’ is not only a history lesson, but a bold, in-your-face, multilevel system of strategies and tactics African Americans must engage in to begin the process of closing the income and wealth gap between blacks and whites in America,” Fraser says. While her research is based on interviews and research of African American entrepreneurs and provides in-depth life histories of several across a 1795-2008 time line, the principles in her “user-friendly” book is a treasure trove of principles applicable across American society, according to House-Soremekun. “These are universal principles. Two plus two is still four,” the professor says. “African American entrepreneurs have had particularly difficult constraints because of racial barriers and other kinds of hostilities they have experienced, so clearly they have had some unique challenges . . . (however) many of the recommendations here are equally germane for other racial and ethnic communities. Dr. Bessie House-Soremekun is the Public Scholar in African American Studies, Civic Engagement, and Entrepreneurship; professor of political science; professor of Africana studies; and a Faculty Fellow in the Office of Academic Affairs. She is also an inventor and entrepreneur who has established four non-profit businesses and two for profit businesses including B. House Communications, Inc., and Finders-Keepers International, a technology-based company.   -first posted 2-5-2010 Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://newscenter.iupui.edu/images/60_sq_favorite.web.jpg http://newscenter.iupui.edu/images/200_favorite.web.jpg http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4481/School-of-Social-Work-Dean-Michael-Patchner-and-Dr-James-Daley-Among-35-Experts-Working-on-New-Guide-to-Social-Work-Practice-Competencies-in-Military-Social-Work http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4481/School-of-Social-Work-Dean-Michael-Patchner-and-Dr-James-Daley-Among-35-Experts-Working-on-New-Guide-to-Social-Work-Practice-Competencies-in-Military-Social-Work Indiana University School of Social Work Dean Michael Patchner and School of Social Work Dr. James Daley were among a group of 35 experts that were brought together by the Council on Social Work Education recently to work on an initiative to bridge the gap between the number of available prepared practitioners and the demand for social services with military personnel and their families. The initiative will result in an educator's guide to advanced social work practice competencies in military social work. The meeting was the step toward a better defined focus on military social work practice with active duty, guard/reserve and veterans and their families. The guide will be reviewed over the next several months by scholars and other audiences that provide support to veterans and their families. The CSWE expects the information will be translated into a user-friendly reference accessible both online and in print by June. The CSWE is a nonprofit national association representing more than 3,000 individual members, as well as graduate and undergraduate programs of professional social work education.     Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4480/IUPUI-Police-Chief-Elected-Second-Vice-President-of-Indiana-Chiefs-Of-Police-Association http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4480/IUPUI-Police-Chief-Elected-Second-Vice-President-of-Indiana-Chiefs-Of-Police-Association Chief Paul Norris has been elected Second Vice President of the Indiana Chiefs of Police Association. Norris has been with the IUPUI Police since 2005 and has had a law enforcement career exceeding 30 years. Norris served IUPUI in the 1980’s and in 1989 went to Indiana University Police in Bloomington where he rose from lieutenant to the Chief of Police. Chief Norris then went to the University of Virginia as the Chief of Police and returned to IUPUI in 2005. Norris has expertise in the field of law enforcement training and was an instructor at the Indiana law Enforcement Academy. Norris is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy. Norris will become the 1st African American to lead the Indiana Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) in 2012 if the normal ascension of offices occurs.   Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4479/School-of-Science-Researcher-Looking-to-the-Past-to-Improve-Climate-Change-Models-for-the-Future-Uses-Prestigious-Fellowship-to-Work-with-Colleague-at-Columbia-University http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4479/School-of-Science-Researcher-Looking-to-the-Past-to-Improve-Climate-Change-Models-for-the-Future-Uses-Prestigious-Fellowship-to-Work-with-Colleague-at-Columbia-University Dr. Kathy Licht, Associate Professor of Earth Sciences in the School of Science at IUPUI, is working at Columbia University under a prestigious Marie Tharp Fellowship to expand understanding of how climate change may impact the Antarctic by looking thousands of years into the past. The ADVANCE Program of the Earth Institute at Columbia University awards several Marie Tharp Fellowships each year to promising women scientists. The fellowship program is designed to help women advance into the upper ranks of academia, positions that have traditionally been filled with men. The fellowship is named after Marie Tharp, who was the first to map details of the ocean floor on a global scale. Tharp published the pivotal interpretation of mid-ocean ridges that was crucial to the eventual acceptance of the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift. According to Licht, reliable predictions of the West Antarctic ice sheet's future response to changing climate and rising sea levels depend, to a large extent, on improving knowledge and understanding of its ice dynamics during the last glacial maximum (~18,000 yrs ago). Sediments from the Ross Sea, Antarctica contain a detailed physical record that can be used to reconstruct the glacial history of the region and therefore test the accuracy of theoretical ice sheet models required to predict future sea level rise. Licht, who led scientific expeditions to the Antarctic in 2005 and 2006, brought home samples of sediment that she and Sydney Hemming, an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University, are now analyzing. “She has equipment I don’t have and I have samples she doesn’t have, so it seems like a good match” Licht said. The data from Licht’s on land samples from the 2006 expedition will be compared with sediment samples Hemming has collected from the polar region’s ocean floor. The analysis of the two sets of sediment samples will provide insights into the stability of the ice sheets, Licht said. “For example, if ice in one area of the Antarctic ice sheet became unstable, it likely broke up into many icebergs. Those icebergs drifted around in the southern ocean, dropping pieces of rock they were carrying.” Hemming and Licht are trying to link sediment collected from the ocean floor back to land to identify from which parts of the ice sheet they came. Since the locations of where Licht’s samples are known, it will be possible to link with greater confidence Hemming’s samples from the sea floor back to the continent so it can determined which parts of the ice sheet collapsed in the past.   “We are looking back at sediment from the last and previous ice ages to see what parts of the ice sheet break down and which parts are most susceptible to global warming from the historical data we are collecting,” Licht said. “That will help the climate change modelers see what targets they need to hit if they are going to model the past. If that can be done, then there is more confidence in the projections going forward.”   Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://newscenter.iupui.edu/images/60_sq_licht_kathy_img_0867_small.jpg http://newscenter.iupui.edu/images/200_licht_kathy_img_0867_small.jpg http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4477/Hall-of-Fame-Inducts-Tennis-Player-Golfer-Two-Basketball-Standouts-and-First-IUPUI-Metros-Team http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4477/Hall-of-Fame-Inducts-Tennis-Player-Golfer-Two-Basketball-Standouts-and-First-IUPUI-Metros-Team A woman tennis player, a men’s golfer, two individual men’s basketball players, along with the entire 1972 IUPUI men's basketball team are the newest members of the IUPUI Athletics Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies for Matthew Crenshaw, Adam J. Darrow, Kim Leon King, Michelle (Cunningham) Sorrell and the 15-member 1972 Metros squad took place during the Hall of Fame Banquet held Friday, Jan. 29, 2010, at Scholars Hall at University Place Conference Center and Hotel. About 200 people attended the event. The Hall of Fame recognizes and honors those individuals who have made exceptional contributions to IUPUI’s achievements and prestige in the field of athletics, and who have continued to demonstrate values imparted by intercollegiate athletics. The 1972 team, known as the Metros, is the first group to be inducted to the IUPUI Hall of Fame collectively. Creation of the team is recognized as the beginning of the athletics program at IUPUI. The squad played seven intermural games during January and February of 1972 under head Coach George Dickison, ending with a 1-6 record. Team members included Joe Lentz, Dave Wood, Marc Coapstick, Toby Malachi, Steve Wilson, David Burton, Ed Finch, Hogan Black, Tom Fox, Craig Marshall, Bud Melton, Jerry Sommerman and Shelton Oaks. Nick Kellum, the first IUPUI athletic director and a Metros assistant coach, represented the team during the awards presentation. Inductees King and Crenshaw also represent the IUPUI basketball program. As a junior, King, a top guard, lead the Metros to the program’s first-ever winning season in 1980-81. With 1,227 points in his four-year career, his career point total is fifth-all time. His 19.3 scoring average in 1978-79 is the highest ever by an IUPUI freshman. King, a 1982 engineering and technology graduate, is retired and lives in Munice. Crenshaw, a 2004 SPEA graduate, is the men’s basketball program’s all-time leader in assists. He garnered national attention for the IUPUI program with a game-winning jump shot in 2003 that sent the Jaguars to their first-ever NCAA Tournament . Crenshaw played professionally in the U.S. and overseas before joining the IUPUI coaching staff in 2006. Darrow is the first men’s golfer inducted into the Hall of Fame. IUPUI’s All-time leader for lowest career stroke average, Darrow helped power the Jaguars to the conference crown in 2005. He is among IUPUI’s top 10 all-time in rounds played (66). The 2006 general studies graduate continues to pursue a professional golfing career. Sorrell was a four-time All Mid-Continent Conference tennis player. Her .900 winning percentage during the 2003-04 season, Sorrell’s best season of play, remains the second-best in school history. The 2005 business graduate contributed to back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths in 2003 and 2004. Sorrell resides in Indianapolis where she is an assistant coach for the Pike High School tennis teams. The Hall of Fame is sponsored by the Jaguars Letter Club and the Indiana University and Purdue University Alumni Associations. The Jaguars Letter Club, founded in 1993 by the IUPUI Office of Alumni Relations, unites former athletes, coaches, trainers and managers in support of the IUPUI athletics program.   Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://newscenter.iupui.edu/images/60_sq__dsc8170_a.jpg http://newscenter.iupui.edu/images/200__dsc8170_a.jpg http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4475/From-the-Desk-of-the-Chancellor http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4475/From-the-Desk-of-the-Chancellor Orange plastic fencing is not attractive—but it signals where change is coming to IUPUI! On the east side of campus, the new parking garage is rising up from the ground as you can see from the pylons in the photo. Scheduled to be open in August, the garage will accommodate 1,300 parkers. On the west wide of campus, the Glick Eye Institute is under construction. Wishard has begun Phase I of its activities in conjunction with the land swap. Larue Carter Hospital is being demolished and the State Board of Health Building is scheduled to come down. Plus, near my own office in the Administration Building, Citizens Thermal will be laying new utility lines. All this will require shifting parking spots as well as street and lane closures. On the south side of campus, in May the NCAA will begin construction of a major addition. That will change parking near the Indianapolis Tennis Center as portions of our property there will be used for construction staging. The best way to cope with all this for the next few months is to keep informed. Here are three resources that will help you follow the construction timelines and plan your trips to campus. 1.The IUPUI Master Plan web site is now live. It contains information about the construction projects as well as updates on how they will affect traffic. 2.Parking and Transportation Services also posts updates. Follow them on Twitter (IUPUIPARK) and find out where spaces are available. 3.Our Wishard neighbors are also eager to keep their staff and visitors informed. For information on the new hospital, see http://www.wishardfacts.org. You can even become a fan on Facebook. Comments? Write chancllr@iupui.edu   Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4478/IUPUI-Professor-Awarded-Four-Year-125-Million-Grant-to-Study-Gene-Expression-in-Optic-Nerve-to-Understand-Brain-Injury-Disease http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4478/IUPUI-Professor-Awarded-Four-Year-125-Million-Grant-to-Study-Gene-Expression-in-Optic-Nerve-to-Understand-Brain-Injury-Disease According to the Centers for Disease Control, millions of Americans are affected by brain injury and brain disease each year. In an effort to better understand the brain’s reaction to injury and disease, the National Institutes of Health’s National Eye Institute recently awarded Teri Belecky-Adams, assistant professor of developmental biology at Indiana University – Purdue University School of Science, a four year, $1.25 million grant to study the development of cells and specific gene expressions in astrocytes present in the optic nerve. Found in every kind of brain disease and brain injury, astrocytes cells make it difficult for the brain to heal and to overcome injury or disease. By understanding what kind of factors regulate certain gene expressions in astrocytes cells in the optic nerve, scientists gain a deeper knowledge of brain injuries and the brain’s response to disease and injury. “We are specifically interested in the development of cell type and factors that might regulate how a cell gets transformed into reactive astrocytes, inhibiting the brain’s response to injury and disease,” said Belecky-Adams. “Studying the expressions in the optic nerve will give us results that will be applicable to other cell types throughout the body.” The study is a collaborative effort between the IU Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine, scientists within the IU School of Medicine, and researchers at the University of Wisconsin, and will engage undergraduate, graduate and post doctoral students in research. Primarily focused on neurobiology, Belecky-Adams’ works focuses on understanding the roles of proteins, known as the TGF-Beta family of growth factors, in the eye. By understanding the mechanisms of cells in the eye, scientists will one day be able to understand and apply this knowledge to eradicate congenital defects and treat injured or degenerating neurons, like those present when injury or disease occurs. Belecky-Adams received her B.S. from the University of Wyoming and earned her Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine studying psychology, neuroscience, cell biology and anatomy. She has secured nearly $4 million in grant awards for research in the field of regenerative biology and neurobiology. For more information about this project and other related initiatives at the School of Science, go to www.science.iupui.edu About the School of Science at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis The School of Science is committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service in the biological, physical, behavioral and mathematical sciences. The School is dedicated to being a leading resource for interdisciplinary research and science education in support of Indiana's effort to expand and diversify its economy. For more information go to www.science.iupui.edu.   Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://newscenter.iupui.edu/images/60_sq_tbadams_clip_image002.jpg http://newscenter.iupui.edu/images/200_tbadams_clip_image002.jpg http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4474/National-Art-Museum-of-Sport-Offering-Limited-Edition-Prints-of-Peyton-Manning http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4474/National-Art-Museum-of-Sport-Offering-Limited-Edition-Prints-of-Peyton-Manning As Peyton Manning’s and the Indianapolis Colt’s second Super Bowl approaches, the National Art Museum of Sport (NAMOS) at University Place – IUPUI is offering for sale limited edition giclee prints of James Fiorentino’s watercolor of Peyton Manning. The watercolor by the young New Jersey-based sport artist is in the permanent collection of NAMOS, the nation’s premier sport art museum. Fiorentino made the limited edition of giclees (digital prints) available to the Museum as a fund raiser for its Endowment Fund. All proceeds from the sale of the 18-inch by 24-inch giclee prints at $200 each go into the endowment. At age 15, Fiorentino was the youngest artist to have work included in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Still in his early 30s, he has been selected as one of the five United States artists to exhibit artwork on the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa. He has worked with professional athletes, teams and sporting events including legends like Muhammad Ali, Joe Namath, Ted Williams and Yogi Berra. NAMOS was founded in New York in 1959 by artist-sportsman Germain G. Glidden and moved to University Place on the IUPUI campus in 1994, its second home in Indianapolis, the "amateur sports capital of the world." The Museum includes over 900 paintings, prints and sculptures depicting more than 40 sports ranging from the games of the Inuit people to auto racing, from ice tennis to football. It is open to the public free of charge at 850 W. Michigan St. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information and to order Peyton Manning giclee prints, call 317-274-3627 or arein@iupui.edu.   Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://newscenter.iupui.edu/images/60_sq_manning01.jpg http://newscenter.iupui.edu/images/200_manning01.jpg http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4472/IUPUI-Adjusts-TV-Lounge-Hours-for-Big-Game-Colts-Cheer-Squad-Includes-Six-from-Campus http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4472/IUPUI-Adjusts-TV-Lounge-Hours-for-Big-Game-Colts-Cheer-Squad-Includes-Six-from-Campus This Sunday (Feb. 7, 2010), the TV lounge at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Campus Center will have special hours for students watching the Colts take on the Saints in the 2010 NFL Championship Game. The Campus Center will open at noon Sunday, and as usual, will close at 9 p.m. However, students who are in the TV lounge on the building’s Theatre Level watching the game by 8:30 p.m. may stay until the game ends. Meanwhile down in South Florida, six IUPUI students regularly seen at Lucas Oil Stadium games will cheer for the hometown team on the sidelines at Sun Life Stadium. The six are Indianapolis Colts cheerleaders Abbey, Ashley, Kim, LeAndra, Sarah and Travasha. Read their story, as published this month in “Sunday on the Sidelines,” IUPUI Magazine, Winter 2010: Through the week, six young women work hard in IUPUI classrooms preparing themselves for careers in professions ranging from the law to nursing, from teaching to dentistry, from physical therapy to tourism. Then comes Sunday: Game Day — TV’s bright lights, more than 60,000 Hoosiers roaring with enthusiasm as the same six women join with their fellow Indianapolis Colts cheerleaders to make each Lucas Oil Stadium home game a special event. For Abbey, Ashley, Kim, LeAndra, Sarah and Travasha, cheering for the Colts extends a career they have loved for much of their lives, and makes the hours of practice, personal appearances and game days worthwhile. It may take long hours of practice, but for the six, it’s time well spent. They know that career demands await them when diplomas are handed out and stadium lights go dark. Abbey, from the southern Indiana town of Ferdinand, plans to be a dental hygienist once she completes training in the IU School of Dentistry. Ashley, an Avon native, wants to be a nurse, probably in pediatrics, once she graduates from the IU School of Nursing. Kim grew up in Indianapolis and attended IU Bloomington before transferring to IUPUI. She wants to become a preschool teacher when she leaves the IU School of Education. LeAndra, who is from Kokomo, hopes to become a physical or occupational therapist when she finishes up in the IU School of Physical Education and Tourism Management. Sarah, from Indianapolis, is in her second year of law school in the IU School of Law-Indianapolis, and has two internships with career options, one in family law, the other in sports and entertainment law. Travasha, a native of Texas, is planning for a career in event planning, though she may explore the possibility of an entertainment career once she graduates from the School of Physical Education and Tourism Management.   For more stories from the IUPUI Magazine, go to: http://magazine.iupui.edu .       Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://newscenter.iupui.edu/images/60_sq_travasha_dsc0661.jpg http://newscenter.iupui.edu/images/200_travasha_dsc0661.jpg http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4461/IUPUI-Admin-and-Others-Are-Among-Diversity-Champions http://newscenter.iupui.edu/4461/IUPUI-Admin-and-Others-Are-Among-Diversity-Champions An Indiana business magazine recently recognized Kenneth B. Durgans, Ph.D., IUPUI's chief diversity officer, as a “champion” for his "leadership in the industry and advocacy for inclusion." Durgans, assistant chancellor of diversity, equity, and inclusion at IUPUI since July 2008, is a recipient of an Indiana Minority Business Magazine’s 2010 Champion of Diversity award. The magazine recognized 13 individuals, organizations and institutions for their efforts in diversity and outreach during an awards dinner on Jan. 15, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. Those honored included 1982 IU School of Law-Indianapolis alumnus Judge G. Michael Witte, who was the first Asian American trial judge to be elected in the state of Indiana; and Rose Mays, Ph.D., a recently retired School of Nursing at IUPUI faculty member who received the Rosa Parks Trailblazer Award, a distinctive award for those who have gone “exceedingly above and beyond in their professional lives.” “Every year we recognize people throughout the state who are not only leaders in their industry, but they are also advocates of inclusion,” said IMBM Publisher and President Carolene Mays, in a press release announcing the winners. “I’m very proud of the 2010 Champions of Diversity award recipients who have proven to reach beyond the dividers, and strive for the inclusion and prosperity of others.” Minority venders, impressed with Durgans' efforts to increase minority participation and diversity on the IUPUI campus, were among those who nominated Durgans for the Champions award, said Rickie Clark , founder of the Indiana Minority Business Magazine. The Indiana Minority Business Magazine is a statewide publication of the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper and is distributed quarterly.   Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://newscenter.iupui.edu/images/60_sq_ken durgans at mlk dinner tn_a_dsc65630.jpg http://newscenter.iupui.edu/images/200_ken durgans at mlk dinner tn_a_dsc65630.jpg