4 OPPORTUNITIES TO GIVE 5 AND HELP HUNDREDS. On Thursdays throughout February -- with only the slightest break in your routine -- you can help ensure that 21 of our students and 4 of our faculty will be providing dental care to patients in need during the dental school's 3rd annual Alternative Spring Break, scheduled once again in rural Mexico and Haiti. Instead of buying your lunch from vending machines, cafeterias, or restaurants, bring a 5-dollar bill to the basement at lunchtime on Thursdays, when volunteers will be waiting to serve you 2 slices of yummy pizza, a delicious dessert, and a drink. The Alternative Spring Break service-learning program relies on grants and donations for funding, and each student volunteer helps raise money to cover expenses by participating in fund-raising projects such as this one. It's always fun to have a good excuse to nibble some pizza, especially when the cause is as worthy as this one. Hey, for this low price you might even invite a friend to lunch. (When was the last time you were able to pick up a tab-for-2 with a 10-spot?)

Tax-deductible cash donations are also welcome (Indiana gives a tax credit) -- write a check to the IU Foundation (with the memo "Service Learning Account 38-D008-54-6") and give it to Pamela Lovejoy in the Office of Development, DS110.

Volunteering their services in Mexico this year are lst year dental hygiene students Rachel Gardner and Angelique Rainey; 4th year dental students Sean Cook, Emily Eberhardt, Jeremy Felt, and Hilehito Lin; 3rd year dental students Caroline Derrow, Afaq Kheiri, Jeremy Sorhus, and Bradley Swanson; and 2nd year dental student Jacob Froerer. Faculty mentors for the Mexico group are Dr. Angeles Martinez Mier, assistant professor of preventive and community dentistry; and Dr. Daniel Gomes, associate instructor in the Department of Periodontics and Allied Dental Programs.

Dental students who will travel to Haiti include John Brewster, Reve Chaston, Rory Frederick, Doug Huynh, Sarah Laux, Wendy Maple, Corbin Milenbaugh, and Daniel Nguyen, 4th year; and Carolyn Demas and Suzan Harris, 3rd year. Faculty mentors are Dr. Timothy Carlson, professor of operative dentistry; and Dr. Samuel Campbell, associate professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery.

Anyone with questions about Alternative Spring Break or with recommendations regarding others in the community who may want to help fund the program or donate materials should get in touch with Dr. Carlson, Dr. Martinez Mier, or Dr. Karen Yoder, director of the Division of Community Dentistry.

CE course CPR: BASIC LIFE SUPPORT FOR DENTISTS AND ALLIED DENTAL PROFESSIONALS, led by CPR teaching coordinator Kathy Drake; 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at Walker Plaza. Call 615-0002.

CE course RADIOLOGY FOR DENTAL PERSONNEL (laboratory), by Gail Williamson, professor of dental diagnostic sciences; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. in DS S131 (Screening Clinic). Call 615-0002.

Since the due date for FACULTY ANNUAL SUMMARY REPORTS falls on Saturday this year, you have until today to submit 2 copies of your FASR and related materials to Executive Associate Dean Chris Miller, office of Academic Affairs, DS102. Submit a copy to your department chairperson as well.

Support the Alternative Spring Break trips to Haiti and Mexico by buying a PIZZA LUNCH for $5 in the basement. Food available beginning at 11:30 a.m.

IUPUI FACULTY COUNCIL, 3:30-5:30 p.m. in IH 100

CE course RECENT ADVANCES IN PERIODONTAL DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT, by Drs. Michael Gossweiler and Vanchit John, assistant professors of periodontics; 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency, 1 South Capital. Call 615-0002.

CE course MULTIPLE HARD AND SOFT TISSUE LASERS, by Dr. Robert Convissar, director of Laser Dentistry, Flushing (N.Y.) Hospital Medical Center; 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at Walker Plaza. Call 615-0002.

CE course RADIOLOGY FOR DENTAL PERSONNEL (laboratory), by Prof. Gail Williamson; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. in the Screening Clinic. Call 615-0002.

FEAST DAY OF ST. APOLLONIA, Patroness of Dentistry

Lunch Box Discussion PROVIDING EFFECTIVE VERBAL FEEDBACK, by Dr. Darlene West, clinical assistant professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery; noon-1 p.m. in DS S421. All faculty, staff, and students are welcome. No registration is required.

Support the Alternative Spring Break trips to Haiti and Mexico by buying a PIZZA LUNCH for $5 in the basement. Food available beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Before you surrender your heart to the pleasures of Valentine's Day , please make sure you've got your house in order for the school's upcoming Research Day. RESEARCH DAY REGISTRATION MATERIALS ARE DUE TODAY. Information and forms are located at the INAADR link (Indiana Section of the American Association for Dental Research) on the Intranet's Explorer Launchpad. To register, you must send 3 items to Susan Crum: 1) an electronic copy of your abstract (prepared as a Microsoft Word document), sent either as an e-mail attachment -- the preferred method -- or on a disk or CD; 2) a hard copy of your research abstract, which has been carefully proofread by you (watch out for symbol conversion problems); and 3) the registration form, which you can download from the INAADR Website or pick up from the Dean's Office, Library, or Oral Health Research Institute. Registration forms from staff and students must bear the signature of their faculty mentor. Susan's campus mail address is Publications DS B32, and her e-mail is smcrum@iupui.edu.

STAFF COUNCIL ANNUAL FLOWER SALE IN FULL BLOOM. Brighten your day -- or someone else's -- with a bouquet of great-smelling, eye-pleasing, spirit-lifting carnations. These little beauties -- available in red, white, and pink -- are being offered to us once again by our favorite petal-pushers: volunteers of the IUSD Staff Council. Inflation-resistant after all these years, the council's flowers are still going for a buck apiece. Margie Ellison is accepting pre-orders for 10 or more flowers by e-mail (maelliso@iupui.edu) from Feb. 7 through Feb. 13. You may also purchase flowers today without having placed a pre-order. The sale begins at 7:30 a.m. in the school's main lobby. IUSD has a terrific Staff Council -- let's support it generously on this occasion. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

IUSD ANNUAL VALENTINE'S DANCE and hors d'oeuvre buffet, 7:30 p.m.-midnight at The Riverwalk, 6729 Westfield Boulevard. Tickets for this semi-formal event are $20 per person and are on sale through Feb. 7. All faculty, staff, and students welcome.

STAFF COUNCIL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, 12:30-1:30 p.m. in DS245

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, 9 a.m. in DS S421

CE mini-lecture NUTRITION IN DENTAL HEALTH, by Dr. Sara Blackburn, co-director of the Dietetics Internship, Nutrition and Dietetics Program, IU School of Medicine; 8:30-10:30 a.m. at Walker Plaza. Call 615-0002.

Support the Alternative Spring Break trips to Haiti and Mexico by buying a PIZZA LUNCH for $5 in the basement. Food available beginning at 11:30 a.m.

STUDENT AFFAIRS COUNCIL/DEAN'S STUDENT TOWN HALL, noon in DS114

RESEARCH COMMITTEE, 8 a.m. in DS S421

Community dentists are in the dental school's clinics today to join our students in the GIVE KIDS A SMILE program, a nationwide event sponsored by the American Dental Association. The program, which is being coordinated locally by the Indiana Dental Association and Dr. George Willis, associate dean for Clinical Affairs, provides treatment to low-income children. Watch for more details by e-mail.

CE course QUICKBOOKSâ 2003 IN YOUR PRACTICE, by QuickBooksâ trainer and editor Susan Gunn; 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at Walker Plaza. Call 615-0002.

Today is Dental Illustrations' DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING MATERIALS FOR POSTERS to be presented at the upcoming AADR/American Dental Education Association meetings in San Antonio, Texas. The division's services and supplies are free to those presenting posters at these meetings, but today's deadline must be observed. Service will NOT be provided on posters submitted after today (no exceptions). For more information about Dental Illustrations' poster services, contact Mark Dirlam, division supervisor, by e-mail.

Indiana Section of the AADR presents 50 YEARS OF DISCOVERY, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT: APPLICATIONS TO CRANIOFACIAL RESEARCH, by Dr. Eric Everett, assistant professor of oral facial genetics and dermatology; noon-1 p.m. in DS S117. Everyone welcome.

IU's Human Resource Services presents BODY TALK: UNDERSTANDING NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION, the second session of a 4-part training course for IUSD's faculty and staff; 1:30-4:30 p.m. at Walker Plaza. For details, contact Katherine English, 274-7758.

Support the Alternative Spring Break trips to Haiti and Mexico by buying a PIZZA LUNCH for $5 in the basement. Food available beginning at 11:30 a.m.

AMERICAN PROSTHODONTIC SOCIETY annual meeting, Chicago, Ill.

138th annual Chicago Dental Society MIDWINTER MEETING, McCormick Place, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago

STUDENT RESEARCH SUBCOMMITTEE, 8 a.m. in DS S421 (proposal submission deadline is Feb. 14)

ADA seminar for 3rd and 4th year dental students: SUCCESS: AN ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE TO STARTING YOUR DENTAL PRACTICE, 8 a.m.-noon. in DS S116. Attendance is required. Clinics are closed and there are no special clinic assignments this morning. Students who have already scheduled an activity that conflicts with the seminar should see Dr. Margot Van Dis, associate dean for Student Affairs, before today.

IUSD ALUMNI RECEPTION co-sponsored by Dean Lawrence Goldblatt, the IU School of Dentistry, and the IUSD Alumni Association, 5-6:30 p.m. in room E261 (East Building) of McCormick Place, Chicago. Held in conjunction with the Chicago Midwinter Meeting. Everyone welcome. RSVP to Karen Deery, 274-8959.

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FIXED PROSTHODONTICS annual meeting, Chicago

IUSD FACULTY MEMBER AMONG "NATION'S MOST PROMISING." Congratulations to Dr. Joan Kowolik, who has been awarded a prestigious fellowship by the American Dental Education Association. An assistant professor of pediatric dentistry, Dr. Kowolik is one of 21 dental faculty members in the nation to be accepted as a fellow in the ADEA Leadership Institute for 2003-2004.

The ADEA describes the Institute, now in its 4th year, as "a year-long program designed to develop the nation's most promising dental faculty to become future leaders in dental and higher education." Presented in 4 phases, the Institute will include self-assessment, peer-assessment, in-depth leadership development, team building, administrative competencies , and analysis of issues critical to dental and higher education.

Following an orientation program in San Antonio, Texas, in March, fellows of the Leadership Institute will convene quarterly at sites around the country, including Washington, D.C., where the group will participate in a legislative workshop.

A member of the IU faculty since 1998, Dr. Kowolik is the tutor trainer for the school's Problem-Based Learning program through the Office of Dental Education. She chairs the PBL case writing panel and has been called upon to play an increasingly larger role in IUSD's student assessment process, a critically important component of the Indiana Model of Dental Education. She has participated in several assessment conferences for higher education here and abroad.

HISTORY AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. On Dec. 27, 2002, people all over the globe were asking a barrage of questions about the supposed cloning of a human being by the Clonaid company after the group's CEO, Brigitte Boisselier, grandly announced the arrival of the world's first cloned infant, a baby nicknamed Eve.

But just three days before her announcement -- in what now seem like simpler times -- those with an inevitable curiosity about the cloning of humans were turning for answers to a less colorful but highly reputable organization known as the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The Association produces Science magazine as well as "Science Update," a series of nationally syndicated radio "shorts" providing answers to callers with an interest in wide-ranging topics in science.

When a "Science Update" caller asked if -- theoretically -- a human being and its clone would have identical fingerprints, the AAAS sought the expert opinion of our own Dr. William Babler, associate professor of oral biology.

In a radio spot airing Dec. 24, Dr. Babler said that a clone's fingerprints would probably be very similar to those of the cell donor, but not exactly the same. "What your fingerprints are, are a history of a certain time in your prenatal development," he said in part. Although fingerprints have a very strong genetic factor, Dr. Babler says that a variety of other factors, including the environment of the womb, can influence the prints. Even the fingerprints of identical twins, for example, aren't exact duplicates of one another. And Dr. Babler says that environmental factors might come into play even more so with a clone than a twin, since the clone and the human who donated the cloning cell would have been raised in different wombs.

Dr. Babler holds a PhD degree in biological anthropology from the University of Michigan, and he also completed a 3-year fellowship in craniofacial development at the University of Virginia. His dissertation addressed the prenatal origins of population differences in human dermatoglyphics, which is the study of friction ridges on the skin that are used in forensics to establish identities and in medicine to screen for genetic abnormalities. He testified as an expert witness concerning fingerprint evidence during Daubert court hearings in Pennsylvania and Florida in 1999 and 2000. Daubert hearings are special hearings to determine a challenge to the scientific basis of evidence being used in a trial. He joined the IU faculty last year.

Dr. Babler's "Science Update" interview is available in RealAudio at www.scienceupdate.com. Choose the Dec. 24 2002 entry in the archives.

Further interviews with Brigitte Boisselier, on the other hand, are apparently on hold for the time being. Shortly after announcing Clonaid's success at producing the first cloned human, she retreated from the media spotlight and as of this writing has yet to produce any evidence to support her claims. A representative of Clonaid is scheduled to appear in a Florida court on Jan. 29 to discuss the subject further.

ON THE GO AT THE MIDWINTER. Two of our radiology faculty members will have plenty to do to keep themselves busy at the Chicago Dental Society's Midwinter Meeting. At the invitation of the Society, Prof. Gail Williamson and Dr. Edwin Parks, associate professor of dental diagnostic sciences, are presenting a course 4 times during a 2-day period. It is titled "Better Techniques, Better Radiographs: How to Improve Your Radiographic Skills."

AND, SPEAKING OF CHICAGO…Christine Tressel, the medical producer for the Chicago affiliate of ABC News (WLS), came to town with her news team on Jan. 21 to interview Dr. Bruce Matis, professor of operative dentistry, on the topic of tooth-whitening products. The piece is scheduled to be televised in the Chicago viewing area in mid-February, and the station also plans to feed the report to other ABC affiliates around the country.

Several patients participated in the taping as well as 4th year dental student Jeremy Sorhus, 2nd year dental hygiene student Jamie Hobbs, advanced standing student Dr. Ruta Zekonis, faculty member Dr. Ted Allerheiligen, and graduate students Dr. Jennifer Barnes and Dr. Kawther Mirza. The taping took place on the 4th floor in the Clinical Research Section, which is under Dr. Matis' direction, and in the Dental Hygiene Clinic and Microbial Caries Model Facility.

For the past decade, Dr. Matis has conducted numerous tests on a variety of tooth-whitening products and agents. He is a consultant to the ADA's Council on Scientific Affairs.

A special word of thanks goes to 4th floor staff members Judy Young, Susan Plymale, Yvonne "Yo" Baynham, and Amir Haider, who went out of their way to assist with numerous production details during a taping session that lasted more than 4 hours.

The IU dental school last worked with Ms. Tressel and WLS in 1995, when she interviewed Oral Health Research Institute researchers Dr. George Stookey and the late Dr. Bradley Beiswanger. That report, Ms. Tressel tells us, so impressed the ADA when it aired that the Association presented WLS with an award.

STAFF EXCELLENCE. Congratulations to Karen Liford, coordinator of Comprehensive Care Clinic A, for being the latest recipient of the Staff Council's Staff Excellence Award. To praise Karen's record of service, her nominators focused on an assortment of numbers. One mentions her expertise at supervising 2 dental assistants while also arranging patient appointments for 32 dental students in a 16-chair clinic. Another says she's "one in a million." Yet another observes that she can do "50 things at once."

Karen has been honing her impressive skills for nearly 24 years. Many IUSD "long-timers" may have forgotten that Karen's career actually got under way in the former Department of Periodontics, where she worked as a dental assistant for about a year after graduating from IU's dental assisting program in 1979. She then transferred into the school's "Main Clinic" in the former Department of Operative Dentistry and has been a key player in the Comprehensive Care Clinic system since its beginnings in 1992.

Students salute her managerial skills and her eagerness to do more than duty calls for in helping 3rd year dental students become acclimated to the clinic environment. Faculty are appreciative of her "extraordinary knowledge of dental materials and techniques" and for the sizeable contributions she made to the school's efforts to computerize the Comprehensive Care Clinics. "The comp care administration regularly seeks her advice on potential changes or improvements that are contemplated for our clinics," states a faculty member.

And, best of all, her talent and work ethic are complemented by a personality that ensures any visit to Clinic A is a pleasant one. "Karen has an outstanding personality," a nominator writes, and the statement is echoed by many others. "She is very positive in her outlook, and she sees the best in everyone and every situation."

End February 2003 Calendar

Send items for March calendar by Feb. 25: Indiana University School of Dentistry, Room B32, 1121 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis IN 46202-5186. Fax: (317) 274-7188. E-mail: smcrum@iupui.edu