UW News

May 1, 2012

News Digest: Roundtable on education May 2, political cartoonist speaks, entrepreneurs share insights, Honors: Bob Morgan, students

News and Information

Evans School Faculty roundtable on education May 2
Some urban school districts use a portfolio strategy as they seek to improve education. This means developing a diverse mix of schools and granting them autonomy over budgets and hiring, while holding them accountable to performance standards.

But what are the effects of such reforms on student achievement? What counterarguments are made, and what are the challenges facing these pioneering districts?

Join the Evans School of Public Affairs for “Strife and Progress: Transforming Public Education in Big Cities,” its third and final faculty roundtable in celebration of the school’s 50th anniversary. The roundtable will be 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 2, in Kane Hall’s Walker-Ames Room. RSVP to esevents@uw.edu or call 206-221-7779.

The opening lecture by Paul Hill, founder of UW Bothell’s Center on Reinventing Public Education, will present results of a three-year study of six cities using the portfolio strategy. The lecture will be followed by a discussion with Evans School faculty Mark Long, William Zumeta, alumna Edie Harding of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Evans School doctoral candidate Katharine Destler.

 

Political cartoonist Aislin to speak May 10
For Terry Mosher and cartoonists like him, the jokes the thing that tells the truth.

Mosher, best known as Aislin, the political cartoonist whose work is published in The Montreal Gazette, will speak at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, May 10 in 210 Kane Hall on “The Arctic and Inuit in the Hearts and Minds of Editorial Cartoonists.”

An exhibit of Canadian political cartoons about the Arctic and the Inuit people, including several by Mosher, will be exhibited in  the Allen Library North Lobby May 5 to 30.

In a late-April interview, Mosher said the Inuit and the Arctic are featured in lots of Canadian editorial cartoons because of tremendous national concern for precious land and the 50,000 members of the tribe. “The Inuit have survived phenomenal hardships, and the north is really our last frontier,” Mosher said.

Mosher, whos president of the Association of Canadian Editorial Cartoonists, said he didnt so much choose his profession “as back into it.”

“I like to draw. I pass comment on the public parade, things that concern us,” Mosher said. The reward, he said, is to cause reaction. “The society that can laugh at itself is a healthy society indeed – and the Inuit are very, very good at laughing at themselves,” Mosher said.

His visit and the exhibit are sponsored by the Canadian Studies Center, the Jackson School of International Studies, the UW, the Consulate General of Canada Seattle, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (the national Inuit association in Canada) and the UW Libraries.

Bob Morgan receives leadership award
R.L. “Bob” Morgan
, senior technology architect for UW Information Technology, has received the Internet2 Presidents Leadership Award. The award recognizes individuals from the Internet2 membership for their exemplary service to the national and global research and education community. Internet2 is a member-owned advanced technology community founded by the nation’s leading higher education institutions.

Entrepreneurs share insights with UW researchers
The University of Washingtons Center for Commercialization has added four additional industry experts to its Entrepreneurs-in-Residence program. Through the program, entrepreneurs with specific subject expertise and industry experience become acquainted with UW faculty who are translating fundamental research results into practical applications.

The entrepreneurs help identify UW technologies with commercial promise and consult with researchers, providing expertise about target markets, product development and fundraising.

Students An, Woelfer garner awards
Jonathan An, a first-year student at the School of Dentistry, has won a Hatton Award from the American Association for Dental Research. An will represent the U.S. in the International Hatton Awards competition in Brazil in June, said Dr. Linda LeResche, the schools interim associate dean for research.  His winning presentation was titled “Modulating Alcohol Effects on the Midface by Vitamin A Derivatives,” and his preceptor was Dr. Timothy Cox, pediatrics and oral health sciences.

Jill Palzkill Woelfer, a doctoral student in the Information School, has been awarded the 2012 Graduate School Medal. The award, which is given to one UW student each year, recognizes Woelfers commitment to homeless young people and dissertation research about ways such people use technology. Read the iSchool story about Woelfer:http://ischool.uw.edu/feature/jill-woelfer-awarded-graduate-school-medal