UMNEWS

UM School of Communication announces dean finalists

Tom Fiedler, the Miami Herald’s executive editor, and Sam Grogg, dean of the American Film Institute Conservatory, are final candidates for the position of dean of the School of Communication.

Fiedler started at the Herald 32 years ago as a political reporter. Through the years he was an editorial pages editor until becoming executive editor in 2001. He received a master’s in journalism from Boston University and a fellowship in journalism from Duke University. Fiedler made national news in 1987 after breaking the Gary Hart-Donna Rice story, when Hart dropped out of the presidential race.

Grogg recieved a doctorate in pop culture and film from Bowling Green University. In 1972 he co-founded the Journal of Popular Film & Television. His film credits include heading the USA Film Festival in Dallas, executive producer of Above Suspicion and The Trip to Bountiful. Grogg has a motion picture company, FilmDallas, and is founding dean of the North Carolina School of the Arts’ School of Filmmaking.

Dean Edward Pfister plans to retire in May and will maintain a teaching position.

ELsewhere

Charges pending in guinea pig incident at Indiana U

(U-WIRE) BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A self-proclaimed “prank gone bad” might come back to haunt an Indiana University freshman who tossed his guinea pig out of an eighth-floor window.

An animal cruelty case is pending against freshman David E. Feldsott at the Monroe County Prosecutor’s office. If convicted for the felony charge, he could face fines and possible jail time.

Feldsott, 19, admitted to IU Police Department officers to using dental floss, masking tape and a garbage bag to parachute the animal out of Briscoe Shoemaker on Dec. 16.

Freshman Laura Robinson led IUPD officers and Briscoe employees to the animal after she spotted the guinea pig wedged between tree branches.

“I felt so bad for the poor animal,” she said. “From the ground, I could see the guinea pig shaking.”

Janitors used the contraption normally used to pick up trash to rescue the animal by latching on to the “parachute.”

After spotting a window with its screen off on the eighth floor, IUPD officers questioned Feldsott.

“He told us his intentions were to get the animal after it landed on the ground, but [he] couldn’t get to it,” IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said.

Minger said Feldsott told officers he accepts full responsibility for the incident and understands what he did was wrong.

The guinea pig, now nicknamed “Noel” for a triumphant survival story, was adopted by a local family through the Bloomington Animal Shelter.

ETC.

The Nu Kappa Tau chapter of Mortar Board National Senior Honor Society is now accepting nominations for new members. Nominees must currently be of junior standing and have a minimum GPA of 3.42. Nominations should be turned in to Mortar Board Nominations c/o The Smith-Tucker Involvement Center (STIC) UC 209, no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 14, 2005.

By Christine Dominguez

Time to call Guinness World Records, because this one is for the books. The University of Miami School of Medicine announced on Dec. 6 that it received a historic gift of $100 million from the family of the late Leonard Miller, a longtime South Florida businessman and philanthropist. In honor of the donors and in recognition of the gift, which is the largest in the school’s history, the school has been renamed the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine.

“The Miller gift provides truly a remarkable opportunity for the School of Medicine,” said Dr. John G. Clarkson, senior vice president for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “It provides the catalyst to move this already great medical school to international prominence.”

The $100 million will be used primarily to create four Miller professorships, augment the school’s academic mission, conscript the next wave of biomedical scientists, and resolve any other of the school’s vital needs.

“The UM School of Medicine already has many world-renowned departments and this money will help to support current research endeavors and create new ones,” Manny Zusmer, second-year medical student, said.

The donation is part of Momentum: The Campaign for the University of Miami, which has raised $800 million toward its goal to raise one billion dollars by 2007. Thus far, the School of Medicine has raised more than $500 million.

“Receiving such a large donation is encouraging for the students here. It shows that the community has faith in our school, to continue to provide hope for all those suffering from disease,” Levi Kitchen, second-year medical student, said.Leonard Miller arrived in Miami in 1954 and invested $10,000 from his own pocket into a small home-building company. By the time of his death in 2002, that small company had grown into Lennar Corporation, a national company with more than $6 billion in annual revenues. During his lifetime Miller and his wife Susan were supporters of UM, particularly the School of Medicine. He served as chairman of the University’s board of trustees during the entrepreneurial development of the School of Medicine, and understood the great potential of the school.

“It’s a quite a distinguished honor that a family feels so strongly about a program to donate a huge lump sum of their entire life earnings to better and improve it,” Brooke Albright, second year medical student, said. “In a time when there is so much war and hatred around the world, it’s a good feeling to know that generosity, giving, and caring still exist.”

The Miller School of Medicine is continually growing, with new programs and projects currently underway. Recently, the school was awarded a $13 million grant from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, creating the Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research. The University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital Center for Patient Safety is a pioneering, first-of-its-kind facility that is dedicated to inspiring the growth of patient safety knowledge through research and clinical investigations. In addition, the school also received a $5 million grant from the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation, which will go towards creating Miami GeneCure Diagnostics, Florida’s first comprehensive medical genetics diagnostic laboratory.

“[The Miller] gift is about moving to greatness, not about funding the day-to-day operations of the medical school. It ensures that for the coming decades the School of Medicine will have the financial foundation to invest in biomedical scientists to help develop our centers of excellence in research and patient care, and to enhance our educational mission,” Clarkson said.

Christine Dominguez can be contacted at c.dominguez3@umiami.edu.

Children were left parentless. Entire towns were wiped out. In one horrific moment, over 150,000 people lost their lives and mill-ions more were left homeless when a massive tsunami hit the coastlines of South Asia. Amid the overwhelming tragedy, the world-and UM-has responded with relief efforts.

Vithya Balasubramaniam, sophomore, witnessed the devastation as it occurred in Sri Lanka. Balasubramaniam was on a volunteer trip to work in orphanages in areas that were war-torn from 20 years of civil war.

“On Dec. 26, around noon, about three hours after the tsunamis hit, we were driving toward the coast and a tractor stopped in front of me and I saw dead bodies in it,” Balasubramaniam said.

She was originally told that there was a bit of a flood, and it wasn’t until the next morning when she was watching BBC that the tsunami had hit all of South Asia and parts of Africa.

“We spent the next two days going to the displacement centers donating supplies and basically listening to what they had to say to us-how the water came up to them, how they lost their families,” she said. “Listening to them was the hardest part because you couldn’t tell him it’s all going to be OK because you really don’t know.”

Balasubramaniam realizes that she could have been directly hit by the tsunamis had she left earlier in the day.

“I think I got lucky for a reason, and I’m very thankful that I was there are the time to help people, to listen to their stories and to tell people here,” she said. “They basically have nothing and who knows how long that’s going to last.”

Relief initiatives have already begun at UM, with students and administration stepping forward to aid in the efforts. Approximately 80 UM students are from the affected areas, and all of them were contacted immediately after the tragedy.

“I sent out an email to all international students to let them know that we were here to support them, especially if they were having trouble re-entering the U.S.,” Teresa de la Guardia, director of International Student and Scholar Services, said. “We wanted to offer our support right away. I did get a couple of emails back from students saying that they appreciated that we were reaching out.”

Administration is encouraging a collaborative effort from the UM community.

“One important thing is really helping students who want to coordinate fundraising efforts rather than lots of little events that might not be as successful,” Pat Whitely, vice president of Student Affairs, said. “The administration will work with students who want to raise money and help in any way we can.”

The Council of International Students and Organizations [COISO] is dedicating the semester to raising money for tsunami victims.

“COISO should take a leading role because we represent the international student body and those affected by the disaster,” Ciara Mohamed, COISO president, said. “I hope that we, along with the rest of the University, can coordinate an outstanding relief effort.”

Both Balasubramaniam and Sanjeev Chatterjee, a resident master at Eaton who also traveled to the region, said that it’s very important to pay attention to where the money donated is going.

“The issue is in the long run how do you bring back these people on their feet. People who have survived have only the shirts on their backs. They have lost their identities,” Chatterjee said. “Support the organizations that are invested in the long term.”

“It’s going to take years and years to rebuild what they had. All the donations that are going to UNICEF and the Red Cross are coming from us,” Balasubramaniam said. “If that money stops, then the relief stops. Donating once isn’t enough. Just don’t stop.”

>> There will be an open mic event to raise money for the tsunami tragedy all day Feb. 3 on the UC Patio. The proceeds will go to the Red Cross International Relief Fund.

Megha Garg can be contacted at m.garg2@umiami.edu.

TODAY JAN 21

The University of Miami’s Department of Art & Art History and The New Gallery, in collaboration with Africana Studies, will hold a special opening reception for Africa/A Harvest of Quiet Eyes from 7-9 p.m. at The New Gallery. The exhibition runs through Feb. 12 and is free and open to the public.

SUNDAY JAN 23

Jazz Concert on the Green, performed by University’s Studio Jazz Band, will be from 3-5 p.m. on the University Green. All students are welcome to bring blankets for picnics and concessions will also be available.

The Rock Climbing Club will hold a meeting for any students interested at 7 p.m. on the second floor of the Wellness Center.

MONDAY JAN 24

The Toppel Orientation for juniors and seniors is all week long, with five sessions on career programs and events, features of CaneZone, internships, job search resources, and more. Call 305-284-5451 to RSVP.

The Tau Rho Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority will hold is opening ceremony for Delta week at the UC Patio at noon.

TUESDAY JAN 25

United Black Students will host “Black Men Who Have It All,” a dinner and discussion, at 8 p.m. at the Faculty Club as part of Wake Up! Make the Dream a Reality, a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

THURSDAY JAN 27

Spring Involvement Fair will be from 11-2 p.m. in the UC Patio. Student organizations will be passing out information for those interested in participating.

FRIDAY JANUARY 28

The first ‘Canes Night Live of the semester, Art Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll will be from 7-11pm on the UC. There will also be a student art exhibit hosted by the Art Students League. Following the event will be a Tsunami Relief benefit concert at the Rat until 1am featuring several live bands.

MONDAY JANUARY 31

The Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies is hosting a lecture by Dr. Robert Rockaway, Professor of Jewish History at Tel Aviv University on ‘But He Was Good To His Mother’: The Lives And Crimes Of Jewish Gangsters from 8 – 10 p.m. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. at The Miller Center. The lecture is free and open to the public. To RSVP call 305-284-6882

Black Awareness Month, BAM 2005 “Going BLACK,” begins and will continue through the month of February.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 3

The Screaming Monkeys will hold a tsunami relief open mic marathon. All proceeds will go to the American Red Cross International Relief Fund. Participants can read works by artists from the tsunami stricken region or can also read an original work. Readers will attain sponsors for each poem or story they read.

By Natalia Maldonado

More than 200 students living in the Hecht, Stanford and Eaton residence halls reported symptoms of a gastrointestinal illness [GI] over a 24-hour period that started on the evening of Dec. 15, when many students were getting ready to leave campus for winter break.

Dr. Howard Anapol, Director of Student Health Services, first received a call early in the evening about a student with stomach illness.

“It sounded like a typical call,” Anapol said. “I later received a call from a resident master. He told me that there were many sick students, some at the emergency room.”

Over the next 24 hours more students reported symptoms, which included nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and in some cases, fever. The Miami-Dade County Public Health Department [MCPH] was on campus Dec. 16 to investigate the cause of the illness.

Although the final report has not been released yet, results suggest that the outbreak was caused by Norovirus, a group of viruses that cause stomach flu or gastrointestinal illness and are spread by coming in contact with food or people infected with the virus.

“It started a few hours after I’d eaten,” Reed Hoffman, freshman, said. “I was packing to go home and I couldn’t do anything. I had no energy and started throwing up all night. I had to change my flight [home] till the day after.”

Though the timing of the outbreak seemed unfortunate to most, the winter break actually helped reduce the risk of re-infection on campus, since the virus can be active for days or weeks before it dies off, Dr. Anapol said. In addition, the University used the time off to disinfect the affected areas.

“During the break, the University cleaned, disinfected, and sanitized all common surfaces to include all bathrooms on campus and all food service facilities,” Mel Tenen, director of Auxiliary Services, said. “The guidelines used for that cleaning were provided by the Miami-Dade County Health Department.”

According to Linda Gilardi, director of Quality Assurance for Compass Group, of which Chartwells is a member, outbreaks of Norovirus are fairly common, especially in crowded areas. A similar case occurred early in January when about 100 passengers on a Royal Caribbean cruise were sick with Norovirus-like symptoms.

“It’s prevalent in South Florida in this climate,” Gilardi said. “It seems to emerge every winter. They call it the winter flu.”

Although most students felt better within one or two days, some felt the experience was more than inconvenient. A group on TheFacebook.com titled “I survived Chart[well]’s food poisoning” had 38 members and stated “real good planning, Charties, thanks from the bottom of my aching, vomiting stomach.”

Matt Rosenberg, freshman, joined the group on TheFacebook.com after he spent all day vomiting, unable to eat.

“The last night [before break] was ridiculous,” Rosenberg said. “There were people throwing up all over the place. They had to call the paramedics.”

The MCPH inspected all university facilities and found no violations.

“They’ve been here three times for three inspections after the GI breakout,” Tenen said. “They have found no violations at UM. For that matter, they have found no violations for the past two years.”

Inspections of the food facilities consisted of investigations of cleanliness, hygiene, safe food handling practices and proper temperatures for both cold and heated foods.

According to the health report from MCPH, “[the sickness] was not a result of food poisoning, rather an exposure to Norovirus.” The illness may have been spread by point-source contact, meaning that many people became sick simultaneously and that the source of illness cannot be pin-pointed to one person or food.

Precautions that can be taken to avoid coming in contact with Norovirus include paying strict attention to hand washing, especially after using the toilet and before preparing food, thoroughly washing fruits and vegetables before consumption, and keeping all toilet areas clean.

For more information on the gastrointestinal illness on campus visit www.miami.edu/student-health.

Natalia Maldonado can be contacted at n.maldonado@umiami.edu