COMING UP

December 2001

Dr. Walter Psoter presents PATTERNS OF CARIES OF EARLY CHILDHOOD at a special guest lecture sponsored by the Indiana Section of the American Association for Dental Research, noon-1 p.m. in DS S117. Dr. Psoter is a postdoctoral fellow in oral epidemiology whose fellowship is sponsored by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial ResearchñNational Research Service Award. He studies at New York University in New York City. Everyone welcome.

The IUPUI Office for Professional Development presents PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING AS A SPRINGBOARD TO CRITICAL THINKING, noon-1:30 p.m. in University Library, room 1125 M. Facilitator is Peg Weissinger, an instructional development specialist in the professional development office. Critical thinking is a goal of higher education, yet there is sometimes a disconnection between this desired outcome and the activities chosen to meet this objective. How effective is problem-based learning with respect to developing critical thinking skills? Peg Weissinger will review the current literature and share her dissertation research.

If you happen to be near a radio between noon and 1 p.m. today, dial into WFYI-FM 90's "Sound Medicine" program, which will feature a discussion with Dr. Vanchit John about the link between gum disease and low birthweight. "Sound Medicine" was launched a few months ago on the city's public radio station as a weekly broadcast sponsored by the IU Medical Group, Wishard Health Services, and Clarian Health. The program also airs on 2 other public stations in Indiana and one in Louisville, Ky. Dr. John, an assistant professor of periodontics, is the first IUSD dentist to participate in the program, which he taped in November with "Sound Medicine" anchor Barbara Lewis, formerly an anchor at WRTV, and Dr. Ora Pescovitz, the IU medical school's executive associate dean for research affairs and one of 4 IU doctors who take turns as hosts of the show. The goal of the program, says the IU medical school, is "to motivate and educate listeners to make sound health and medical decisions and to provide a forum for the discussion of health-related issues affecting their communities." Dr. John's 15-minute interview is one of several being featured today. Dr. Arden Christen, acting chair of Oral Biology, serves on the editorial advisory board for "Sound Medicine."

IUPUI Purchasing Services is holding a PUBLIC AUCTION OF UNIVERSITY SURPLUS PROPERTY today at 9 a.m. in the Campus Services #3 Building, 1410 Stadium Dr. Items to be auctioned include an assortment of desks, printers, desktop monitors, PCs, and miscellaneous furniture items. For more information contact Julie Featheringill (274-7404; jufeathe@iupui.edu) or Steve Staggs (274-7753;sstaggs@iupui.edu; www.purchasing.iupui.edu).

PANELS OF THE NATIONAL AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT ON CAMPUS. In recognition of World AIDS Day, the IUPUI Office of Student Life and Diversity and the IUPUI University Library are hosting an installation of 5 panels of the national AIDS Memorial Quilt. The panels will be on display Dec. 1-Dec. 20 on Level 1 and Level 2 of the IUPUI library, 755 W. Michigan St. Each of the more than 44,000 colorful panels that make up the national quilt collection memorializes the life of a person lost to AIDS. Eight individual sections, created by means of traditional sewing, as well as painting, gluing, photo transferring, weaving, needlepoint, branding, and other techniques, are pieced together into larger quilt panels which are displayed in schools, churches, community centers, and other public settings. The 5 quilt panels will be available for viewing during regular University Library hours. For additional information, including library hours, call the Office of Student Life and Diversity at 274-3931 or the University Library at 278-0232.

NATIONAL DENTAL BOARD dentistry examination, Part I retakes

NATIONAL DENTAL BOARD dentistry examination, Part II

NATIONAL DENTAL BOARD dental hygiene examination (retakes)

Legal Compliance Training for IUSD supervisors: SEXUAL HARASSMENT, 3:30-4:30 p.m. in DS114. Register no later than noon on Nov. 30 (an electronic version of the registration form is on the common drive in Academic Affairs' external folder). Send registration to Katherine English by mail, DS102, or e-mail. For more information contact Elizabeth Hatcher, director of Staff Development and Support, by e-mail or phone (274-8220).

IUSD FACULTY COUNCIL, noon in DS S116

DEAN'S STUDENT TOWN HALL, noon in DS S116

Annual meeting of the IUPUI FACULTY COUNCIL AND FACULTY BODY, 3-5:30 p.m. (check the IUPUI Faculty Council website for room assignment). IUPUI Chancellor Gerald Bepko gives his "State of the Campus" address.

Employee training session: AMAZING ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT, 9 a.m. at Walker Plaza. To register, contact Elizabeth Hatcher, 274-8220.

CPR UPDATE TRAINING for full-time clinical faculty and staff, 1-4:30 p.m. at Walker Plaza. This is the last class before the spring. To sign up, contact Kathy Drake by e-mail or phone (274-8822).

LAST DAY OF FALL SEMESTER CLASSES

HANUKKAH begins at sundown

DENTAL FACULTY PRIVATE PRACTICE board meeting, 8 a.m. in the Dean's Office

Dean Lawrence Goldblatt has invited all faculty, staff, and students as well as some special guests to the annual IUSD HOLIDAY PARTY, 3-5 p.m. in the Student Lounge. Please drop by to join in the celebration and to wish your friends and colleagues the best for 2002.

ASSESSMENT WEEK (for dental students); FINAL EXAMINATIONS (for dental assisting, dental hygiene, and graduate students)

Legal Compliance Training for IUSD supervisors: AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, 3:30-4:30 p.m. in DS114. Register no later than noon on Dec. 7 (an electronic version of the registration form is on the common drive in Academic Affairs' external folder). Send registration to Katherine English and direct questions to Elizabeth Hatcher.

Information session for staff and faculty interested in learning about the DENTAL ASSISTANT COMPENSATION PLAN and a new employee position being created at the school for a DENTAL ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR, 8-9 a.m. in DS114. "The compensation plan has been developed to address recruitment and retention of dental assistants and to identify career advancement opportunities for dental assisting staff," says Elizabeth Hatcher, who will lead the session. "The new dental assistant administrator will support dental assisting staff members in reaching their career objectives and will address issues such as recruitment and retention." This session will be repeated twice on Dec. 19.

RESEARCH COMMITTEE, 8 a.m. in DS S421

ALL DENTAL STUDENT GRADES DUE in the Student Office by noon

FALL SEMESTER ENDS 5 p.m.

Legal Compliance Training for IUSD supervisors: FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT, 1:30-2:30 p.m. in DS S116. Register no later than noon on Dec. 14. (an electronic version of the registration form is on the common drive in Academic Affairs' external folder). Send registration to Katherine English and direct questions to Elizabeth Hatcher.

Information session for faculty and staff interested in learning about the DENTAL ASSISTANT COMPENSATION PLAN and the DENTAL ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR, 8-9 a.m. in DS114. (See details at Dec. 12 entry.)

PROGRESS COMMITTEE, 9 a.m. in DS S421

STAFF COUNCIL, noon in DS115. Meeting includes an information session about the DENTAL ASSISTANT COMPENSATION PLAN and the DENTAL ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR. (See details at Dec. 12 entry.)

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF, 10 a.m. in DS S421

CLINICS CLOSED except for Regenstrief Emergency Clinic

CHRISTMAS (school closed)

HAPPY NEW YEAR (school closed)

CLINICS REOPEN

SECOND SEMESTER BEGINS for all IUSD students

WHO'S WHO? The names of the following dental students, all of the Class of 2004, will be published in the 2002 edition of Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. IU's dental school candidates were selected on the basis of academic achievement. They are M. Kate Babione, Mary Baker, Geoffrey Banga, Svetlana Berman, Jason Bunch, Carolyn Demas, Jason Flannagan, Geoffrey Glogas, Cami Hovda, Michael Mead, Katherine Padgett, Kurt Pramuk, Jason Ringeman, Curtis Schmidt, Bradley Swanson, Samuel Tancredi, Jennifer Thiel, Rachel Trueblood, Daniel Vesbach, and Nikki Wargo.

FINE FELLOWS. In October, 6 IUSD faculty members were inducted into 2 of the dental profession's most prestigious organizations. Drs. David Vandersall and Mark Mallatt became fellows of the International College of Dentists during the college's annual convocation, held this year in Kansas City, Mo., in conjunction with the annual session of the American Dental Association. Dr. Vandersall is a clinical associate professor of periodontics, and Dr. Mallatt is a part-time professor of preventive and community dentistry and of dental hygiene. Also in Kansas City, Drs. Jeffrey Dean, Brent Garrison, Sybil Niemann, and Charles Pritchett were installed as fellows of the American College of Dentists during the ACD's annual meeting. Dr. Dean is an associate professor of pediatric dentistry and orthodontics, and Dr. Niemann is a clinical assistant professor of the allied dental programs. Dr. Garrison volunteers on the faculty as a part-time clinical assistant professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery, and Dr. Pritchett is a part-time assistant professor of orthodontics.

4 DENTAL STUDENTS JOIN COMMUNITY OUTREACH EFFORT. The dental school was well-represented at a health fair organized by the IU medical school and held in October at the Westside Community Health Center. The center was selected, says fair organizer Amanda Myers, a fourth-year medical student, because it is in a medically underserved area that also has active community leadership to encourage residents to take advantage of what the students and faculty had to offer. The dental school team included dental students Monie Applegate and Rafah Abdelmonem, both in their second year; and first-year students Laura Kukelhan and Lisa Waters. Dr. Charles Smith, part-time associate professor of preventive and community dentistry, served as a faculty mentor.

"Our students provided free dental screenings and education," says Dr. Karen Yoder, director of Community Dentistry. "They all said that it was a good experience."

The medical students assisted medical school faculty and staff physicians in providing free screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and colon cancer in adults. Vision and hearing screenings were offered to children. Students from the allied health sciences school also provided screenings and other services. While the students were on the giving end, they also reap benefits, notes Dr. Palmer MacKie, clinical assistant professor of medicine. "Standard medical practice is good for setting bones and writing prescriptions, but I think that students discover that people and communities have different needs and different voices."

The medical students have already started planning next year's health fair, with Monie Applegate representing the dental school on the planning team.

A FINELY TUNED DUO. The outstanding work of Amir Haider and Farah Khan in the Cariology Research Laboratory is so well-synchronized that they often seem to be laboring as one "super-helper" instead of as two separate individuals, says a faculty colleague, who was undoubtedly pleased when Amir and Farah were recently named the winners of the IUSD Staff Team Award.

Recognition has come swiftly for this exceptionally gifted team-of-two: Research analyst Amir Haider joined the staff in 1999, and research technician Farah Khan about 8 months ago. They are employed through the Oral Health Research Institute and are stationed in the cariology lab on the 4th floor of the dental school.

Amir and Farah work well not only with one another but also with other faculty, staff, and student researchers whose studies lead them to the cariology lab, says an award nominator. "They are two of the most easy and understanding people to work with in the school."

Collaborative spirit and amiability aside, Amir and Farah are also quick thinkers and innovators. A nominator sites an example: "Both Amir and Farah are extremely involved in designing changes in our models to study different products. In the last trimester, we were approached by a company that wanted to test a food product in our model. We had never done anything similar before. I explained the problem to Amir and Farah and told them I did not have a lot of time to try and solve it, but that I would give them the liberty to explore some ideas. They came up with a new buffer system in which to dissolve this food product so that we could test it in our model. All of this was due to their own creative interests and work. Thanks to them, we obtained another customer for the lab and about $30,000 in projects."

CELEBRATED ATHLETES IN DENTISTRY'S PAST. Dr. Arden Christen's love of dental history has led him onto the fascinating path of three dentists of yesteryear who achieved fame in the wide world of sports. The November 2001 issue of the Journal of the History of Dentistry carries two articles by coauthors Dr. Christen and Joan Christen, research associate in Preventive and Community Dentistry, on the lives of Olympic track and field stars Walter Tewksbury and Alvin Kraenzlein and GPA hall-of-famer Cary Middlecoff. Tewksbury and Kraenzlein were pals and roommates who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania College of Dentistry in 1899 and 1900, respectively. Between them, they won 9 Olympic medals in track and field at the Paris Games in 1900. Dr. Kraenzlein set 8 athletic world records--6 of them while he was a dental student. Golf pro Dr. Middlecoff, a 1944 dental graduate of the University of Tennessee, won 40 professional tournaments during his mid-20th century career, including the Masters (1955) and 2 U.S. National Open titles (1949 and 1956). In 91 tourneys, he never placed lower than third. (Dental history aficionados may also be interested in a bit of dentist-as-athlete trivia closer to home: IUSD's own Gregory Bell, a member of the DDS Class of 1961, of Logansport, was a track star on the Bloomington campus who won a gold medal for his long jump during the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. At age 25, he became the 5th man in the world to jump 26 feet. His story can be found in the Fall 1987 issue of the IUSD Alumni Bulletin, pages 20-22.)

End December 2001 Calendar