12-17-07

In this issue

• College news
• Holiday giving opportunities
• The Raptor Center offers holiday gift packages
• Veterinary Student Supply to be closed Dec. 24-Jan. 1
• Respectful Workplace training scheduled for Jan. 9
• Help SCAVMA raise $5,000 for Heifer International
• Calendar
• Faculty and staff news
• Paper published in Canadian Veterinary Journal
• In the media
• Research news
• Clinical studies currently enrolling in the VMC
• Links

College news (top)

Holiday giving opportunities
Don't forget the College's annual holiday giving opportunities, including --

• The Hat and Mitten Tree, located in front of the dean's office (455 Veterinary Medical Center), awaits your donations of hats and mittens for adults and children in homeless shelters. Items will be collected through Wednesday.
• Toys for Tots. Gift drop-off boxes for donations of unwrapped, new toys are available in each of the departmental and clinical office areas. Please contribute your gift by Wednesday.
• Second Harvest. Bring a non-perishable donation to help restock the food shelves. Bins are available on the fourth floor of Veterinary Medical Center near the dean's office and in the lobby area of 125/135 Animal Science/Veterinary Medicine. Donations will be collected through Friday.

The Raptor Center offers holiday gift packages
A variety of holiday gift packages are available from The Raptor Center, including --

For more information or to place an order, contact Susanna Styve at  612-624-7231 or sstyve@umn.edu. Orders must be received by noon Wednesday, Dec. 19, for delivery by Christmas.

Veterinary Student Supply to be closed Dec. 24-Jan. 1
Veterinary Student Supply (VSS) will be open regular hours this week (Monday-Thursday from noon-1 p.m. and by appointment), but closed the week of Dec. 24. During the week of Dec. 31, VSS will be closed Monday and Tuesday but open Wednesday, Jan. 2, and Thursday, Jan. 3, from noon-1 p.m. and by appointment. Regular hours will resume the week of Jan. 7.

Respectful Workplace training scheduled for Jan. 9
Have you attended Respectful Workplace training? Do you know it's mandatory for all employees? The next training session is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 9, from 1-3 p.m. in 280 Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Another training session will be held on Tuesday, April 22, from 9-11 a.m. To sign up, please contact Helen Pederson at 612-624-8673 or h-pede1@umn.edu.

Help SCAVMA raise $5,000 for Heifer International
The Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association (SCAVMA) is trying to raise $5,000 for a Gift Ark from Heifer International, a nonprofit organization that works with communities worldwide to end hunger and poverty by providing livestock, training, and related services to small-scale farmers. A Heifer Gift Ark provides 15 pairs of animals.

"If you are looking for a holiday present for the person who has everything or are looking to go beyond the normal gift, consider giving a Heifer gift," says SCAVMA president Ian Rubinoff. Every contribution made by University of Minnesota CVM students will be matched by SCAVMA, up to $2,500.

Gifts can be made online by going to SCAVMA's Team Heifer Web page. As of Friday, Dec. 14, $2,090 had been raised. For more information about Heifer International, go to www.heifer.org. If you have questions, contact Ian Rubinoff at feld0128@umn.edu.

Calendar (top)

Monday, December 17

Final examinations

New Employee Orientation
8:30 a.m.-noon
458 Veterinary Medical Center

Tuesday, December 18

Final examinations

VMC Holiday Baked Goods Contest

• Baked goods can be submitted until 10 a.m.
• Judging: 10 a.m.-noon
• Taste testing begins at noon for staff on first, second, and third shifts, as well as staff who bring nonperishable food to donate

305 VMC

Ph.D. Preliminary Oral Examination Seminar
Toll-Like Receptor Interactions and Their Contribution to Airway Inflammation
Presented by Tamene Melkamu
Advisor: Dr. Scott O'Grady
1:30 p.m.
215 Veterinary Science
Everyone is welcome to attend.

Special Seminar
Molecular Pathogenesis of a Potential Bioterrorism Agent: Francisella tularensis
Presented by J. Calvin Kouokam, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, candidate for postdoctoral postion in the Department of Comparative Oncology
2-3 p.m.
450 Cancer Center Research Building

Wednesday, December 19

Final examinations

Thursday, December 20

Final examinations

Small Animal Grand Rounds
Presented by Dr. Jeff Bender
8 a.m.
125 Animal Science/Veterinary Medicine

Ph.D. Thesis Defense Seminar
Microglia - The Double-Edged Sword in Defense and Immunopathogenesis of HSV Brain Infection
Presented by Cris Marques
Advisor: Dr. Jim Lokensgard
1 p.m.
1-101 McGuire Translational Research Facility
2001 6th Street SE, Minneapolis Campus
Everyone is welcome to attend.

Monday, December 24

Holiday (University offices closed; no classes)

Monday, December 25

Christmas holiday (University offices closed; no classes)

What's ahead

Holiday (University offices closed; no classes): Jan. 1

National Bird Day Event: Jan. 6, noon-4 p.m., The Raptor Center. Join The Raptor Center, Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota, Minnesota Avian Adoption and Rescue Services, Chicken Run Rescue, and Audubon Minnesota for an afternoon of birds! For more information, visit www.cvm.umn.edu/raptor/news/home.html

Respectful Workplace Training: Jan. 9, 1-3 p.m., 280 Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. All College of Veterinary Medicine employees must attend one session. To sign up, please contact Helen Pederson at 612-624-8673 or h-pede1@umn.edu.

Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology Symposium: Jan. 18, Rochester, Minn. To register, go to www.dtc.umn.edu/cgi-bin/bicb.php. For more information about the Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology program, visit www.r.umn.edu/19_BICB.htm

Portrait Photo Session: Jan. 18, 2-5 p.m., 115 Pomeroy Student-Alumni Learning Center. A portrait photographer will be available to take faculty photos for use in the VMC referral book and other College publications and Web pages. Registration is not required.

North American Veterinary Conference (NAVC): Jan. 19-23, Orlando, Florida. For more information, go to www.tnavc.org/mynavc/

NAVC Alumni Reception: Jan. 19, 6-9 p.m.

Martin Luther King Day holiday (University offices closed; no classes): Jan. 21

CVM Seminar on Teaching -- The One-Minute Preceptor, presented by Karyn Baum and JoAnn Wood: Jan. 25, noon, Pomeroy Student-Alumni Learning Center. Sponsored by the Office of Academic and Student Affairs.

Go to the Academic Health Center's calendar of events.

Go to the University of Minnesota campus events calendar.

Faculty and staff news (top)

Paper published in Canadian Veterinary Journal
"Cytologic and Ultrastructural Evidence of Spermatid Selection in a 1/29, 14/20 Centric Fusion Bull," a paper by Alvin F. Weber, James Waddell, Mel L. Fahning, Lance C. Buoen, and Bradley E. Seguin, was published in the  December 2007 issue of Canadian Veterinary Journal. Dr. Fahning and Dr. Weber are retired professors.

In the media (top)

Veterinary behaviorist Dr. Margaret M. Duxbury offered some advice to dog owners on  HometownSource.com: Dog behavior is malleable and can be changed in even older dogs.

The Raptor Center was part of a retrospective story about an invasion of great gray owls on WCCO-TV on Dec. 8. The story is online at http://wcco.com/pets/great.gray.owls.2.606878.html

Research news (top)

Clinical studies currently enrolling in the VMC
For a list of clinical studies currently rolling in the Veterinary Medical Center, visit the Clinical Investigation Center Web site at http://www.cvm.umn.edu/cic/current.

Links (top)

AVMA News Bytes and other news
www.avma.org/news/info_rss.asp

CVM This Week
Back issues of CVM This Week, from June 2004 to today's issue, are at            http://www.cvm.umn.edu/newsandevents/publications/cvmthisweek/home.html.

Hills pet food distribution program
Order online through the Hills online ordering system at https://www.summationdata.com/hpn. For more information about the Hill's Pet Food Distribution program, contact Jaime Nett at nett0049@umn.edu or Alisha Leonard at leona156@umn.edu.

Housing
For information about student and off-campus housing, including a housing and roommate search service, go to http://www.housing.umn.edu/.

Job openings
For information about positions available at the College, visit   www.cvm.umn.edu/About/HumanResources/Employment   /. For detailed information about current job openings, how to apply, and application materials, go to the University of Minnesota Office of Human Resources at http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/employment/index.html.

The VMC Pulse
Issues are available online by logging in at   http://www.cvm.umn.edu/vmc/staffresources/Pulse.html.

University of Minnesota Legislative Network News
http://ga4.org/u_of_m_leg_net/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=8620389&r=

Veterinary conferences
Dates, places, and links for national and international veterinary conferences are on the College Web site atnbsp;   http://www.cvm.umn.edu/newsandevents/conferences/home.html.

Veterinary Medical Library
For information about the Veterinary Medical Library, including new acquisitions, visit http://www.vetmed.lib.umn.edu/news.

Veterinary Practice News
Did you know that you can get a free subscription? Subscribe (or renew) online at www.vetpracticenews.com.

CVM This Week is a weekly newsletter for faculty, staff, and students of the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Please submit news and calendar items to Sue Kirchoff, editor, at kirch004@umn.edu before noon Friday.

The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer.