“We want to make sure people know what American Studies is and increase the presence of American Studies as a major on campus,” she said. “Beyond bringing all the majors together, we wanted to bring American Studies to the rest of Notre Dame,” she said. “We study the complexities of the American identity, or identities, and it’s really challenging and enlightening.” Ruiz said the students who founded the club were looking for a way to enrich the meaning of their major. Senior Cynthia Curley, one of the club’s founders, said her primary motivation in starting the club was to get young majors involved in the American Studies community on both an academic and social level. “The club will give members an opportunity to meet their fellow students, as well as professors, outside of the classroom and in a more relaxed setting,” he said. “And if that isn’t enough, we’ll also be making t-shirts because, apparently, Notre Dame students love t-shirts.” Although the club currently consists of only American Studies majors, non-majors are certainly welcome, Johnson said. “Hopefully we’ll be granted the status of an official student organization by April, and then things can really get started,” she said. Junior Amanda Johnson, acting vice president of the club, said once the club is officially established, the members hope to sponsor at least one event each month. Possible events include film screenings, movie nights and field trips. According to Johnson, plans for a trip to the Chicago Art Institute are currently underway. Although Notre Dame’s Department of American Studies has been in existence for nearly 40 years, the American Studies club is a recent addition to the University.The club, still waiting for official recognition from the Student Activities Office (SAO), began the initial formation process last semester, according to Jason Ruiz, assistant professor of American Studies. “The department hopes to help form a community among the American Studies majors,” he said. “That is really our goal in sponsoring the club.” Students interested in joining the American Studies club should contact Ruiz. The club’s first trivia night, hosted by the Department of American Studies, will take place March 18 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Alexander’s Grill in South Bend.
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Students cast their votes Monday for student body president and vice president, but they will not learn the results of the election until later in the week due to an alleged rule violated by one of the candidates. The results of Monday’s election will not be released until the Student Union completes its review of the allegation, Michael Thomas, vice president of elections for Judicial Council, said. “The election results will be announced as soon as the allegation process is complete,” Thomas said. “We are working to get that process done as soon as possible.” The Student Body Constitution mandates all information about allegations must remain confidential until the entire process of reviews and appeals in complete, Thomas said. The name of the candidates in question, the type of allegation and the nature of the sanction will not be released at this time. Thomas said the information is confidential so the election results do not sway anyone involved in the allegation and appeal processes. When an allegation is made against a candidate in the student body elections, it is brought before the Election Committee for review. The Election Committee met Monday evening to discuss the allegation against the candidate. The committee decided the ticket was in violation of the constitution and would receive a sanction, Thomas said. The candidates on the ticket then appealed the committee’s decision. “The Student Senate will have 48 hours from the time of the filing of the appeal to convene to hear the appeal,” Thomas said. The senators will first vote to decide to hear the appeal after brief presentations from Judicial Council and the candidate in question. “This basically works like a screening process,” Thomas said. “They decide if the appeal is legitimate.” If the Senate votes to hear the appeal, the ticket can call witnesses before the Senate and must answer questions about the allegation. After reviewing the appeal, the senators will make a final decision. “The senators can make one of two decisions,” Thomas said. “They can vote to uphold the original decision of the election committee, or they can choose to force the Election Committee to reconvene within 24 hours for the purpose of reconsidering the allegation.” After the steps of this process are complete, the Judicial Council will release the election results. The constitution requires a ticket to earn 50 percent of the vote to win the election, and with five teams on the ballot, Thomas said a runoff election is likely between the two tickets to earn the greatest number of votes. Details about a runoff election would be arranged after the results of Monday’s election are released.,Students cast their votes Monday for student body president and vice president, but they will not learn the results of the election until later in the week due to an alleged rule violated by one of the candidates. The results of Monday’s election will not be released until the Student Union completes its review of the allegation, Michael Thomas, vice president of elections for Judicial Council, said. “The election results will be announced as soon as the allegation process is complete,” Thomas said. “We are working to get that process done as soon as possible.” The Student Body Constitution mandates all information about allegations must remain confidential until the entire process of reviews and appeals in complete, Thomas said. The name of the candidates in question, the type of allegation and the nature of the sanction will not be released at this time. Thomas said the information is confidential so the election results do not sway anyone involved in the allegation and appeal processes. When an allegation is made against a candidate in the student body elections, it is brought before the Election Committee for review. The Election Committee met Monday evening to discuss the allegation against the candidate. The committee decided the ticket was in violation of the constitution and would receive a sanction, Thomas said. The candidates on the ticket then appealed the committee’s decision. “The Student Senate will have 48 hours from the time of the filing of the appeal to convene to hear the appeal,” Thomas said. The senators will first vote to decide to hear the appeal after brief presentations from Judicial Council and the candidate in question. “This basically works like a screening process,” Thomas said. “They decide if the appeal is legitimate.” If the Senate votes to hear the appeal, the ticket can call witnesses before the Senate and must answer questions about the allegation. After reviewing the appeal, the senators will make a final decision. “The senators can make one of two decisions,” Thomas said. “They can vote to uphold the original decision of the election committee, or they can choose to force the Election Committee to reconvene within 24 hours for the purpose of reconsidering the allegation.” After the steps of this process are complete, the Judicial Council will release the election results. The constitution requires a ticket to earn 50 percent of the vote to win the election, and with five teams on the ballot, Thomas said a runoff election is likely between the two tickets to earn the greatest number of votes. Details about a runoff election would be arranged after the results of Monday’s election are released.
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Four experts contended the recent Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) contraceptive mandate is an attack on religious freedom in a panel discussion Tuesday titled “Notre Dame and the HHS Contraceptive Mandate.” Daniel Philpott, a professor of international relations, moderated the Notre Dame Right to Life-sponsored event in the Eck Hall of Law and said the United States was meant to be an example of religious freedom. “Many people feel, however, that in recent years … there’s been a move toward closure and increasing [governmental] control and management over the Church,” he said. “And perhaps nothing signifies that so much and exemplifies that so much as the recent contraceptive mandate.” Carter Snead, a professor of law and expert on public bioethics, said in March 2010, Congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which required health care plans to cover certain preventive services to women without charging them out-of-pocket costs. HHS asked the independent Institute of Medicine (IOM) to recommend which preventive measures should be covered, Snead said. In August 2011, the IOM determined all contraceptives, sterilization methods and forms of contraceptive education qualified. “Some of the drugs that are approved by the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] … can function in certain contexts to cause the death of the newly developing human embryo, not only before implantation, but also after implantation,” Snead said. “There is not just a religious liberty objection to the mandate. There is also what I will call a pro-life objection because it includes these kinds of drugs that have embryo side effects.” Snead said HHS authorized an exemption n Aug. 3, 2011 for religious employers whose purpose was to inculcate religious values, employed and served primarily people that shared its tenants and was a non-profit organization as defined by the Internal Revenue Service. On Jan. 20, HHS announced a one-year temporary safe harbor to allow non-exempt organizations that object to the mandate to find a way to comply, Snead said. He said HHS later announced it would develop rules that would try to satisfy non-exempt organizations by August 2013. Richard Garnett, associate dean for faculty research at the Law School, said the HHS mandate is a threat to the religious freedom of minority groups. “The religious freedom of … communities like Notre Dame is not just the freedom to avoid being coerced into doing evil … [but] to bear witness of the truth of the faith and to act with integrity and to act coherently in accord with their Catholic character as they understand it,” he said. Garnett said the mandate potentially violates the free exercise clause of the First Amendment by exempting some religious believers but not others. He said the Religious Freedom Restoration Act requires the government to identify a compelling reason for imposing a burden on religious groups. “Sometimes a democracy like ours, with ideals like ours, accommodates religious freedom even when it doesn’t have to,” Garnett said. “In this case, it seems to me, the better policy … would be to provide a broader religious freedom exemption to the preventative services mandate.” Even if such an accommodation was made, the exemption would still be very narrow, Garnett said. “To have that narrow exemption codified in our regulatory apparatus, it’s like leaving a loaded gun around for a kid to pick up,” he said. Lisa Everett, co-director of the Office of Family Life of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, said the Obama administration flouted the principle of equal protection under the law by exempting certain groups and not others. “The conviction of those currently in power that contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs constitute essential preventive services that enhance the health of women … in the administration’s mind … trumps any right that religious employers might have to refuse to pay for such essential services,” she said. Everett said pregnancy is not a disease and many contraceptives are actually dangerous to women’s health. “We call on President Obama and our representatives in Congress to allow religious institutions and individuals to continue to witness to the faith and all its fullness, conscious that it is precisely this faith that protects the dignity of women,” she said. Gabby Speach, a senior and member of Notre Dame Right to Life, said female advocates of the mandate have charged to oppose it is to wage a war on women. But contraception cannot properly be called health care, she said. “Based on our standard conception of health, then fertility and pregnancy cannot be considered diseases that need a cure, and contraceptives are not medicines that cure fertility and pregnancy,” she said. Speach said contraception is easily accessible through drugstores, doctors and in some states, through Medicaid. She said it is also available at religious institutions for non-contraceptive reasons. “If you need contraception for a medically necessary reason that’s not a contraceptive reason, you can get it here [at Notre Dame],” Speach said. “To say that opposing the mandate is a war on women is to twist the rhetoric.” Everett said HHS could develop a policy allowing religious institutions to act in accord with their moral principles. “To me, one possibility would be to have employers offer insurance coverage for family planning methods that are in accord with their moral principles,” she said. Contact Marisa Iati at miati@nd.edu read more
Fifteen years ago, physics professor Randy Ruchti started the QuarkNet Center at Notre Dame to develop an interest in particle physics among students and provide research opportunities for high school teachers across the country. Now, professor Mitchell Wayne and the University run the national QuarkNet program, currently comprised of 50 centers nationwide involving more than 500 high school teachers. As a result of its growth and progress, the National Science Foundation awarded the Department of Physics a $6.1 million gift to support the educational program. “It’s important to receive funding from the government to continue research and do broader education outreach to bring the excitement of physics to high school students and teachers,” Wayne, the program’s principal investigator, said. Local high school teachers meet every week at Notre Dame’s QuarkNet Center on Eddy Street to discuss curriculum development, methods for bringing research into the classroom and ways to get their students excited about science. These teachers and students collaborate each year to conduct research at the center. Wayne said one of the two detectors that discovered the groundbreaking Higgs boson particle has components built by local high school teachers and students working with Notre Dame professors and students in the lab. “I’ve seen some of our local students really get excited about scientific research and go on to do well in science fairs and decide to study physics in college,” Wayne said. “A couple years ago, we saw the first of our QuarkNet students receive a Ph.D. in physics who began as a high school junior in our lab. It’s great to see the local teachers get involved, conduct research and get excited about physics.” Last December, the University submitted a proposal to receive an additional five years of funding, Wayne said. “We then had a joint review with the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., during the springtime,” he said. “We were officially notified a few weeks ago of this award.” Wayne said the department will use the $6.1 million award to support other QuarkNet centers through stipends. “It all goes to helping our staff to provide help and support to high school teachers across the country,” he said. Education and outreach are important pillars of the department’s mission, Wayne said. “It’s really important for Notre Dame to be giving back to the community, especially in S.T.E.M. [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] areas,” Wayne said. “Our center provides professional development for local high school physics teachers and helps get students interested in the subject.”
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Observer Staff Report Undergraduate tuition will increase to $44,605 for the 2013-14 academic year, according to a Feb. 13 University press release. The rise in tuition amounts to a 3.8 percent increase over the current cost, an uptick consistent with the previous three years’ tuition rate increases. This 3.8 rate of increase is the lowest since 1960. Including average on-campus room and board rates of $12,512, total student charges for next year tuition will be an estimated $57,117. The release paraphrased University President Fr. John Jenkins’ statement in a recent letter to parents of returning students. “Fr. Jenkins wrote that Notre Dame seeks to return the highest value for the students’ educational investment. He said new resources will help Notre Dame grow in areas such as internships, study abroad programs and undergraduate research,” the release stated. Jenkins pointed to a high four-year graduation rate, average salaries and average satisfaction from post-graduate surveysas metrics proving the tuition to be a worthwhile investment. In the statement, Jenkins assured students the University will make the best use of these funds to continue to offer an excellent education and experience. “We are committed to careful stewardship of the University’s resources so that we may offer your student the best possible educational experience and prepare them well for life beyond Notre Dame,” Jenkins said.
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The River In another fish-related incident, Jackman also cut a finger two weeks ago while rehearsing a scene in which his character, known only as The Man, prepares a fish for dinner. That injury required five stitches. While medics were called to the Circle in the Square Theatre after his on-stage mishap, no stitches were required this time. Directed by Ian Rickson, The River is Jez Butterworth’s follow-up to the Tony-nominated Jerusalem. The play, which had an acclaimed run helmed by Rickson in 2012 at London’s Royal Court Theatre, tells the story of a man and a woman in a remote cabin on the cliffs on a moonless night. The man, while an expert fly fisher, is apparently not familiar with this episode of The French Chef. Those Wolverine healing powers would definitely come in handy right about now. At the evening performance of The River on November 5, Hugh Jackman cut a finger while gutting a fish on stage, according to The New York Times. This led to the Tony winner visibly bleeding on stage for a majority of the play. Related Shows View Comments Show Closed This production ended its run on Feb. 8, 2015
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About the Artist: With a desire to celebrate the magic of live theater and those who create it, and with a deep reverence for such touchstones as the work of Al Hirschfeld and the wall at Sardi’s, Squigs is happy and grateful to be among those carrying on the traditions where theater and caricature meet. He was born and raised in Oregon, lived in Los Angeles for quite a long time and now calls New York City his home. An Act of God Related Shows Praise be! An Act of God opens officially at Broadway’s Studio 54 on May 28. The show stars Emmy winner Jim Parsons as the titular deity. The comedy was written by God (sure) and has been transcribed by David Javerbaum, who also collaborated with the Holy Father on The Last Testament: A Memoir. Joe Mantello directs.To celebrate the sacred occasion, Broadway.com resident artist Justin “Squigs” Robertson” penned this sketch of the Great White Way’s holy trinity. Move over, Sistine Chapel. Front and center is the Almighty Himself (as portrayed by Parsons), as well as Tim Kazurinsky and Christopher Fitzgerald as His angels Gabriel and Michael.Happy opening to the cast of An Act of God! Sending you all the Praise Hands emoji.
View Comments Show Closed This production ended its run on Aug. 2, 2015
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Show Closed This production ended its run on Sept. 10, 2016 Fun Home Lea Salonga, currently headlining Allegiance on Broadway, will lead the first international production of Fun Home in Manila in her native Philippines in late 2016. The Tony winner herself announced in the Philippine Daily Inquirer that she would play Helen Bechdel in Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron’s Tony-winning tuner, the role originated by Judy Kuhn.”Everyone in the theater was in tears at the curtain call (yours truly included),” said Salonga of her experience of watching the Broadway production. “I don’t recall a musical having that kind of effect. No big dance numbers, no large cast. Just a story about a family and its unique brand of dysfunction so specific, we all could find something to relate to.”Salonga earned a Tony Award for Miss Saigon, her Broadway debut. Her additional Great White Way credits include Les Miserables (playing both Eponine and Fantine), Flower Drum Song and Something Good. On screen, her singing voice can be heard as two Disney princesses: Jasmine in Aladdin and Fa Mulan in Mulan. She recently served as a judge on The Voice of the Philippines.Based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, Fun Home charts a girl’s quest to come to terms with her father’s unexpected death. As she moves between past and present, Alison dives into the story of her volatile, brilliant father and relives her unique childhood at her family’s funeral home. The Main Stem production, which is running at Circle in the Square, won five Tonys, including Best Musical.Along with Kuhn, the Great White Way company currently includes Michael Cerveris, Beth Malone, Emily Skeggs, Gabriella Pizzolo, Roberta Colindrez, Zell Morrow, Joel Perez and Oscar Williams. View Comments Related Shows
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‘Cagney'(Photo by Carol Rosegg) Related Shows Main Stem vet Robert Creighton will give his regards to Broadway! He is set to lead the new tuner Cagney at the Westside Theatre—Upstairs. Directed by Bill Castellino, tickets are now on sale to the production, which will feature choreography by Joshua Bergasse, a book by Peter Colley and music and lyrics by Creighton and Christopher McGovern. Previews are scheduled to start on March 16, with the show officially opening off-Broadway on April 3.Along with Creighton (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) as James Cagney, the cast includes Jeremy Benton (42nd Street), Danette Holden (Annie), Bruce Sabath (Company), Josh Walden (Ragtime) and Ellen Zolezzi (Seussical).Cagney follows the life of James Cagney from the streets of New York to his rise from a vaudeville song-and-dance man to one of the brightest stars of Hollywood as the original tough guy. The score blends original music with classic George M. Cohan favorites: “Give My Regards To Broadway,” “You’re A Grand Old Flag” and “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”The production will feature sets by James Morgan, costumes by Chip Schoonmaker, lights by Michael Gilliam, sound by Janie Bullard and projections by Mark Pirolo.Cagney received its New York premiere at the York Theatre Company last spring—the actors are all reprising their roles from the production. Show Closed This production ended its run on May 28, 2017
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Laura Benanti & Zachary Levi in ‘She Loves Me'(Photo: Joan Marcus) Will he like me? Where’s my shoe? These are the pressing questions She Loves Me’s Laura Benanti and Zachary Levi ask as their characters blossom from bickering parfumerie co-workers to dear friends to head-over-heels lovebirds. Now it’s your turn to ask the stars your questions. That’s right; the pair is coming to Broadway.com HQ for a round of Ask a Star. Is vanilla really their favorite ice-cream flavor? What is the most romantic thing someone has ever done for them? How much do first impressions really matter when it comes to true love? What would a Gavin Creel fragrance line be called? Ask away below, and tune in later as the couple interviews each other with your questions! Related Shows Zachary Levi <a data-cke-saved-href="https://broadway.wufoo.com/forms/m8jjrb606on96d/" href="https://broadway.wufoo.com/forms/m8jjrb606on96d/">Fill out my Wufoo form!</a> Laura Benanti
She Loves Me Star Files Show Closed This production ended its run on July 10, 2016 View Comments
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Todrick Hall as Lola in ‘Kinky Boots'(Photo: Matthew Murphy) Show Closed This production ended its run on April 7, 2019 Related Shows View Comments
Todrick Hall is currently stepping into a dream on the Great White Red Way as Kinky Boots’ glitzy, glamorous Lola. The YouTube sensation and Broadway alum will take a brief break from strutting onstage in six-inch heels to play a round of Ask a Star at Broadway.com headquarters. This means we need your questions! Want to know what it was like to spend Turkey Day with Grammy-grabbing goddess Taylor Swift? What’s his favorite aspect of his Lola look? Which dream role has he got his eye on next? Ask Hall anything and everything below, and be sure to tune in when Kinky Boots’ sizzling star takes a seat on the Broadway.com Ask a Star couch to reveal the answers!<a data-cke-saved-href="https://broadway.wufoo.com/forms/m1sx86t01txyxa8/" href="https://broadway.wufoo.com/forms/m1sx86t01txyxa8/">Fill out my Wufoo form!</a> Kinky Boots
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Georgia vegetable growers expected a bad crop year. Many farmers planted early and hadplants freeze in the field, forcing them to replant.Then just as the weather seemed to cooperate, a heat wave moved into the South,speeding up plants’ growth. Instead of spreading out the harvest, it’s all coming to market atabout the same time.”We’re trying to market all the acreage in a compressed marketing season,” said Bill Mizelle, aneconomist with the University of Georgia Extension Service. “This has led to a drop inmany prices.”Squash and zucchini growers are hardest-hit, with prices just over half theirlate-spring levels. “The less than $4 (per bushel) they’re getting hardly coversharvesting costs,” Mizelle said.Other affected crops include cabbage and cucumbers, both with prices aboutthree-fourths of normal.Not since 1992 have vegetable prices been this low. Between those lows, prices setrecord highs. In 1994, for instance, a three-quarter-bushel box of yellow straightnecksquash sold for nearly $15.Low wholesale prices usually get passed on to retail markets, meaning savings forshoppers.Farmers who planted early did so to get a jump on the marketing season. That’s normal, Mizelle said.Early in the harvest, prices are usually higher.”When there is a relatively small amount of anything onthe market, prices go up,” he said. It’s part of the law of supply and demand. With a stable demand, a lowsupply drives up prices. If the supply is high, prices drop.So during an average year, prices start high and then drop as the harvest continues.Early this season, though, very little produce came on the market. That kept prices fairlyhigh, but only for a short time.Mizelle said prices depend entirely on weather and timing. If Georgia vegetables comein early, they overlap with Florida produce. If they come in late, they overlap withvegetables from the Carolinas. Both can drive prices down.The year has started badly for vegetable farmers. And it isn’t likely to get much better.”Unless the weather changes significantly, thiscompressed marketing season will keep prices low,” Mizelle said. “I’m sorry to say it, but 1996 is shaping up as a less-than-exciting yearfor Georgia vegetable growers.”
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By Dan RahnUniversity of GeorgiaPaul Raymer’s fields of dreams have canola growing in them all over Georgia. After 15 years of seeing sputtering starts a few acres at a time, he’s convinced it’s on the verge of happening now if it’s ever going to happen at all.”We’ll have a small crop this year,” said Raymer, a crop scientist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “I expect the acreage to continue to grow fairly rapidly if the market opportunities come.”The next year will likely decide the fate of the fledgling Farmers Oilseed Cooperative and Raymer’s vision of a substantial canola crop in Georgia. The FOC will soon begin selling stock in an effort to raise the capital needed to build an oilseed crushing facility in the state.Huge marketThe new crushing plant would be a huge market for Georgia-grown canola. If the plant becomes a reality, Raymer said, so will canola in Georgia.”It’s an ‘if you build it, they will come’ kind of thing,” he said.The problem with growing canola in Georgia has always been the sporadic market. Raymer, who has worked with the crop since the late 1980s, knows Georgia farmers can grow canola.”It’s at least as stable as anything else we grow,” Raymer said. “In the 15 years I’ve worked with canola, I’ve only lost a handful of trials. I’ve lost a lot more corn, soybean and even wheat trials. Canola has been pretty consistent over the years.”The problemThe problem has been finding a market. For the past few seasons, that’s meant shipping it by rail to Windsor, Ontario. Shipping costs leave little room for profit.”For the coming season,” Raymer said, “we’re looking for whole-seed export markets. We haven’t capitalized on the state’s excellent ports.”Such markets would enable Georgia farmers to ease back into the canola-growing business while the crusher is being built.The FOC facility would provide a canola market for farmers throughout the state. “Arrangements need to be made for consolidation points to allow growers statewide a nearby delivery point,” Raymer said. “The co-op board members agree with that in principle, but the details need to be worked out.”‘New’ cropCanola is a relatively new crop, though its predecessor, rapeseed, has been grown for a ground cover, animal forage and its lubricant oil for centuries.In the early ’70s, Canadian scientists bred new varieties with low levels of erucic acid, which makes rapeseed a good lubricant, and high levels of oleic acid, which makes olive oil so good.They renamed the plant canola (for Canada-oil-low-acid). And the crop has taken off. With a myriad of uses, the oil is most popular with health-conscious cooks for its low levels of saturated fats and high levels of monounsaturated fats.The toughest thing about growing canola in Georgia is its narrow planting window. “You’ve got four weeks, from late October to late November, to seed it and get it established,” Raymer said.Glorious viewOnce established, fields of canola become glorious expanses of bright yellow flowers over green foliage in March and April. The seeds can be harvested by late May. That’s early enough for farmers to plant soybeans or cotton after them in a double-crop scheme.Raymer has been breeding varieties for a decade. He released a new UGA variety, Flint, three years ago. Flint is a proven performer, topping the field trials before and since its release.”It has improved cold tolerance, resistance to blackleg (a critical disease in canola)and is well-adapted to the upper coastal plain,” he said. “It provides about a 10-percent improvement in yields over the varieties planted in the mid-’90s.”A new UGA release this year will be available to growers in 2004 (to a limited extent, in 2003). “It’s comparable to Flint in yields and other traits,” Raymer said. “But it matures earlier.”
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Whether a child’s been back at school three weeks, three days or three hours, germs are multiplying. And with the added stress of a new school year, children are more likely to get sick.“It’s important to keep children’s stress under control and to teach them strategies for handling stresses when they come up,” said Diane Bales, a Cooperative Extension human development specialist with the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences.The body’s reaction to stress is to send out a hormone known as cortisol. While cortisol helps the body handle stress, it also temporarily suppresses the immune system.“Some children tend to get sick more easily when they go to school for the first time or move to a different group of children,” she said, “because they’re exposed to different germs.”In the face of snotty-nosed children and mounting stress, helping a child stay healthy may seem impossible. But Bales said parents can take steps to keep illnesses manageable. And when children do get sick, she has simple tips on keeping them nourished.Illness prevention starts with “good, regular, hand washing on the part of both adults and children and good cleaning practices to cut down on the spread of germs,” she said.While clean hands and surfaces may help reduce illnesses, it’s not the only factor. A healthy child starts with parents who help them build healthy bodies at home.“Good nutrition, regular physical activity and adequate rest are all important,” she said. “Good nutrition is essential for providing a child’s body everything it needs to stay healthy. Including a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and low-fat dairy products is important.”When a child does get sick, she still needs to eat. Bales unravels the food mystery with a few simple tips based on common childhood illnesses.Colds. “A child with a cold needs to drink lots of fluids, especially water and juice, so he stays hydrated,” she said. Other good foods include soup, yogurt, ice cream and applesauce. “It’s fine to give your child milk if she wants it.”Fevers. “Children lose lots of fluids during a fever, so it’s important to keep them hydrated,” Bales said. “Encourage your child to eat small amounts of light foods, but don’t force her.” Call a doctor if your child’s fever stays high or persists for more than 24 hours.Vomiting. “When your child is vomiting, don’t give him any fluids or foods,” she said. “Offer him some fluids about an hour after he has quit vomiting.” After a few hours have passed with no vomiting, Bales suggests small portions of mild foods such as bananas, rice, applesauce and toast.Diarrhea. “One of the biggest risks is dehydration,” she said of diarrhea. “Offer your child fluids over and over. Try diluted juice or sports drinks if she won’t drink water.” When a child has regular diarrhea – three times in three hours – an oral rehydration solution “helps restore the balance of electrolytes in your child’s body.”Sore throats. “Warm liquids are best because they’re soothing to the throat,” Bales said. Warm liquids include soup, tea with honey and hot chocolate. For children who push aside warm liquids, cold liquids such as Popsicles, ice cream, frozen yogurt and milkshakes may also help.If your child is still sick after 24 hours, call the doctor.“It’s very important to call your child’s doctor if you have any questions,” Bales said, “or if your child doesn’t seem to be getting well.”
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University of Georgia plant breeders want to take genomic research from the laboratory and translate it into wide-spread use in plant breeding programs, particularly to develop better disease-resistant agricultural crops. “Over the last 10 years there has been a huge investment in basic genomics research,” said Charles Brummer, professor and plant breeder with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “Now we are trying to move the science to practical plant breeding programs and make progress in the real world.” A detailed DNA or genetic map of a plant helps breeders select favorable traits from it to produce plants for better food production, flavor or disease resistance. “Understanding how the DNA or genes on individual chromosomes affect traits in a plant is complex, but we are making great advances in our ability to use genetic data to help with selection” Brummer said. Using a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural and Food Research Initiative, the team will apply marker-assisted selection to soybean, peanut and watermelon breeding programs and create an online plant breeding textbook with a detailed module on translational breeding. The book will be freely available around the world and be used in introductory and advanced plant breeding courses. “Our goal is to make better cultivars and better plants and teach others how to do it as well,” Brummer said.Brummer will work with other plant breeders in the UGA Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics to do the work, including Roger Boerma, Steven Knapp, Cecilia McGregor and Peggy Ozias-Akins. Michael Orey from the UGA College of Education and Maria Monteros of the Samuel R. Nobel Foundation will also collaborate.
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