Thursday, Nov. 8 - UofL vs. West Virginia Tailgate. Join the UofL Alumni Association tailgate between 4 and 7 p.m. at the West Virginia Alumni Club adjacent to Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, W.Va. $50 (includes full menu and hosted bar). Free parking at the WVU Coliseum with shuttle buses to the stadium.
Saturday, Nov. 10 - "Santaland Diaries" performance and reception, Actors Theatre, 316 W Main St, Louisville. Join the Alumni Association for a 6 p.m. discussion with hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar before seeing this hilarious anti-holiday farce written by David Sedaris. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. $30.
Wednesday-Sunday, Nov. 14-18 - "Angels in America, Part I: Millennium Approaches," by Tony Kushner, directed by Rinda Frye, UofL's Playhouse, 1911 S. 3rd St. Winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize, this epic weaves the lives of fictional and historical characters into a dynamic nexus of social, sexual and political revelations. $12. 502-852-6814.
Friday-Saturday, Nov. 16-17 - UofL vs. USF "Weekend in the Sun". The Cardinal football team faces USF in Tampa Bay on Saturday. The day before, the Alumni Association is hosting a golf scramble and beach party. On game day, come out to the tailgate at the Lower Galley Restaurant in Raymond James Stadium (kickoff TBA). See the alumni calendar for details.
Sunday, Nov. 18 and Friday, Nov. 23 - Day at the Races. The Red Barn Alumni Association's Day at the Races will be on Sunday, Nov. 18, and the UofL Alumni Day at the Races is the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Friday, Nov. 9 and Sunday, Nov. 11 - "The Marriage of Figaro," presented by the UofL Opera Theatre, Kentucky Center's Bomhard Theater, 501 W. Main St., Louisville. Guest artists from Poland join UofL artists to perform Mozart's most popular opera; 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Sunday. For tickets, call 502-584-7777.
Saturday, Nov. 10 - Dave Brubeck Jazz Quartet in concert, Louisville Memorial Auditorium, 970 S. Fourth St. The 8 p.m. concert is sponsored by the School of Music. For tickets, call 502-852-6907.
Thursday, Nov. 29 - UofL vs. Rutgers tailgate. Before 7:30 p.m. home football game, come out to the Liberty Mutual UofL Alumni Association's Tailgate Central at Jim Patterson Stadium, Central Avenue and Third Street. Includes $1 drinks, $1 hot dogs, music, games, a rock climbing wall and contests. Free admission.
Accountability
$1 million gift to help homeless single parents earn degrees
A $1 million commitment from Lewis S. "Sonny" and Gladys Bass will help launch a project to assist homeless single parents who want to earn a college degree. UofL President James Ramsey announced the gift Oct. 26 during a groundbreaking ceremony for the Louisville Scholar House, a partnership among Project Women, UofL and the Kentucky Housing Corp. The 56-unit Scholar House development will provide housing for single-parent families while they attend UofL and other local colleges and universities.
Community partnerships
State panel approves $1.3 billion TIF for Health Sciences Center
A state panel approved a $1.3 billion tax increment financing (TIF) project Oct. 25, moving a 30-block health and life sciences center in downtown Louisville closer to reality. Kentucky's State Tax Increment Financing Commission approved the application from Louisville Medical Center Development Corp., which will result in a $345 million bond issue. If approved by the commonwealth, the bond will pay for a health and life sciences research park that is projected to create 8,700 new jobs and bring $1.2 billion in private money to Louisville over the next 20 years.
Focus on Students
Cardinal Cam provides student view of campus
Hang out with a freshman during Welcome Weekend. Go on a Habitat for Humanity project with UofL law students. Watch our engineering students build a race car. UofL's new Cardinal Cam video diary lets you experience college through our students' eyes. We provide the camcorders, they provide the insight - and entertainment. Check it out at the UofL home page (link above).
Research in action
Looking "down on the farm" for energy answers
The nation could learn something from Kentucky's farmers when it comes to finding alternative fuel resources. Many state farmers grow corn and then have it refined locally into ethanol, which they then use to fuel their farm machinery. Cam Metcalf, director of UofL's Kentucky Pollution Prevention Center, says if more communities adopt this practice it will help to make alternative fuels more affordable and improve the nation's energy security. The KPPC is studying how to encourage renewable energy throughout rural Kentucky with help from a $2 million federal grant secured by Sens. Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning.
Groundbreaking discovery
Engineered tissue holds promise for repairing heart attack damage
Researchers at UofL's Cardiovascular Innovation Institute have shown it may be possible to one day repair damage from a heart attack by using a "patch" grown from the patient's own cells. Stuart Williams and Jay Hoying are part of a team investigating whether lab-grown heart patches can replace the natural network of blood vessels damaged by a heart attack. The scientists grew tissue containing small blood vessels in the laboratory using cells taken from a mouse's heart. They then transplanted the tissue to the surface of the mouse's heart after it suffered an acute heart attack. Follow-up evaluations showed an improvement in the affected area.
Research that makes a difference
UofL research helping conquer infant killer
Rotavirus infection may soon join the list of devastating childhood diseases that have been sidelined by vaccines. Rotavirus infection is a leading cause of severe diarrhea that each year kills 600,000 infants worldwide. Its impending demise is largely due to a worldwide vaccine trial conducted partly in Louisville and co-authored by a former UofL Kosair Charities pediatric infectious disease fellow, Dr. Gary Marshall. The study demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the rotavirus vaccine and led directly to its FDA licensing in 2006. Since then, millions of children have been vaccinated.
Educational excellence
College of Education helps improve civic education in Kentucky
A democratic government is "of the people, by the people, for the people," President Abraham Lincoln said. It requires citizens to be actively engaged in political affairs. But a 2006 U.S. Department of Education survey showed that just one out of four students had a proficient knowledge of civics. UofL's College of Education and Human Development is addressing this problem as a leader in forming a statewide network of 250 social studies teachers developing new lesson plans on civics.
Making the grade
UofL's newest school receives accreditation in just 5 years
The Council on Education for Public Health has awarded the UofL School of Public Health and Information Sciences SPHIS full accreditation just five years after the school was created. SPHIS is one of only 40 accredited schools of public health in the nation and the only one that combines the disciplines of public health and information sciences. According to the American Public Health Association, the demand for public health professionals has sharply increased since 9/11, making advanced degrees in the field needed.
Honoring excellence
A&S names 20 for Hall of Honor
UofL's College of Arts and Sciences will induct 20 people into its new Hall of Honor on Nov. 9 as part of its 100th anniversary celebration. The award honors A&S alumni, faculty, administrators, staff and supporters who have made significant and lasting contributions to A&S, the university, the community and larger society. Those honored include elected officials, civil-rights activists, child advocates, scholars, athletes and writers.
