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Coming to Terms--UI study finds that spatial consistency helps tots learn words

Due to a delivery system snafu, the April issue of Spectator was not emailed to all of our subscribers. You can find the content online by clicking here. Find out how UI Libraries is “crowdsourcing” civil war diaries, meet a UI alum using theater to bridge an Iowa City racial divide, and see for yourself just how lovely the UI campus has looked this spring.

BEING DEAN

CLAS Dean Linda Maxson to step down this year

For the past 15 years, Linda Maxson has had “the best job in the world.” Every day, she gets to work with biologists like herself, musicians and artists, and journalists and social workers as dean of the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. But the job is coming to an end soon: Maxson will step down at the end of this fiscal year. More

Related: Djalali named dean of UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

SPACE ACE

Faculty funding to help advance X-ray astronomy

UI researcher Randall McEntaffer has received a NASA Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowship to develop X-ray reflection gratings for future NASA missions. The instruments will be carried aboard space telescopes. More

LAW AND ORDER

Law professor looks to impact of Wal-Mart’s Mexican bribery investigation

An investigation started in April by the Department of Justice into allegations that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. paid bribes to Mexico government officials may not reach a settlement that’s helpful for the company, says UI law professor and corruption law expert Joe Yockey. More

Related: UI student photographs Iowa’s chambers of justice

CELLULAR GLUE

Researchers study role of cell binding in neurodevelopmental disorders

A particular group of molecules in the brain’s cerebral cortex disrupts how cells bind to each other to form neural circuitry, according to UI biologists. More

HIGHWAY TO HARM?

Researcher: Mineral in roads leading to North Dakota oil wells may be hazardous

New rock-fracturing technology has brought oil boom times to North Dakota. However, a UI researcher says the roads leading to the state’s oil riches may be paved with a potential health hazard. More

LITTLE GIRL, BIG JOURNEY

UI surgeon and family take patient care to new level

Bedica Ermilus may never know of all of the people who came together and worked hard to bring her to UI Children’s Hospital for a surgery that would save her life but it’s a sure bet they’ll never forget her. More

AUTHOR, AUTHOR

Pearson, Zimmer among Iowa City Book Festival author lineup

Mystery writer Ridley Pearson, science writer Carl Zimmer, and novelist Laura Moriarty are among a rich lineup of writers who will take part in the Iowa City Book Festival this summer, UI Libraries announced recently. More

Related: Book festival just one of several fun summertime traditions in Iowa City
Related: UI Press releases poetry prize winners

ART GIFT

Grant Wood’s Blue House, Munich finds new home

A family of Iowa natives that has been sharing and caring for an original Grant Wood painting for seven decades has donated the painting to the UI Museum of Art. It is now on display at the UIMA@IMU, a visual classroom in the Iowa Memorial Union. More

Related: Artist colony extends Grant Wood’s vision

TRUTHINESS

Book on fact-checking asks ‘Why all the fuss’?

John D’Agata’s book about fact-checking in literary nonfiction has become one of the most discussed books of the year. More

NUGGETS OF WISDOM

Former Hawkeye player remembers his roots in new role

Although now a member of the Denver Nuggets coaching staff, former Hawkeye player and coach Ryan Bowen still keep close tabs on his alma mater—the place where he refined his coaching skills. More

TO THE MAT

UI provides world-class atmosphere for Olympic Wrestling Trials

Carver-Hawkeye Arena was electrified in April by the nation’s best wrestlers (including several with UI ties) and 54,000 cheering spectators during the 2012 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials. More

Related: Gable gets bronze, and likes it

ZIG, ZAG, POW

S.T.A.T. hosts first-of-its-kind dodgeball tourney on the turf

How many UI students can say they got to play ball in Kinnick Stadium? Recently some 300 more were added to the list. More

“These guys were nuclear cowboys.”

Laurence Fuortes, UI professor of occupational and environmental health, who is helping ailing Cold War atomic weapons plant workers receive benefits (Gazette, Feb. 22).

More UI national news

“It could have been a story that maybe 10,000 people would have followed to its ending, and that would have been a lot of fun. But if this goes out, then 10,000 people are going to see it in one city in one day.”

History alumnus James Erwin, whose online story imagining a battle between Roman soldiers of the first century and U.S. Marines of the 21st century has been optioned for a movie for which Erwin has been hired to write a script (Wired, March 20).