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launches election Staff Senate launches electionSenators first for UK. The call for nominations for the first senators of the new University of Kentucky Staff Senate is out. Nominations will be taken April 1 through noon on April 12. "Being a staff senator will require a commitment from a staff member, but senators will have the ability to make a difference for all staff," said Jeanie Caldwell, chairperson of the UK Staff Senate Development Task Force. "The satisfaction of seeing all staff benefit from your work should be worth the effort." Russ Williams, the UK Board of Trustees staff representative, appointed the development task force, which recently elected Caldwell, Human Resource Development, as its chairperson. All regular, full-time employees as of March 1, 2001, are eligible to run for a senate position. Senators will be required to serve on various sub-committees and represent the senate as needed, in addition to continuing their normal jobs. From the nominations, 90 senators will be selected from the University's 10,000-plus staff contingent during campuswide elections April 29-May 17. The elections will be certified May 20-24 and announced May 24. A second round of elections next year will bring the senate to full force with 175 senate members. The senate precincts were developed by using an annual report of departments and dividing the staff departments along location and similar function guides. The goal was to achieve a proportional representation, and the result was 56 precincts. The precincts will be reviewed and adjusted as needed in coming years, noted Ann Livingstone, election officer and Election Committee chairperson for the task force. A listing of the precincts and areas they encompass can be found at www.uky.edu/Staff/ Senate/SSDTF/precincts. The freshly elected senate will participate in orientation June 17, with a July 1 make-up orientation for those who miss the earlier session. The first meeting of the UK Staff Senate is scheduled for 1 p.m. July 11 in the auditorium of the William T. Young Library. The Staff Senate will serve as a liaison with the University administration, making suggestions and recommendations about staff-related matters. A PresidentialAdvisory Committee will help advise the president on staff issues, and the Staff Advisory Committee will work with the staff trustee. The UK Board of Trustees adopted a new governing regulation at its Jan. 22 meeting establishing the Staff Senate. The University has had a faculty senate since the mid-1960s. Caldwell noted that the new Staff Senate brings the staff onto a more level field with faculty and the University Senate. "The senate will give all staff a voice, input and a united front on staff issues," Caldwell said. "It will give the staff a chance to have more influence over issues that impact our workplace."
UK steps up for Bluegrass United WayCampaign begins April 9. It's a whole new ballgame for the University of Kentucky United Way campaign this year. The 2002 charitable fund-raising campaign with the baseball theme of "Step Up to the Plate" begins Tuesday, April 9, and continues through mid-May.
This year's goal is $430,000. Last year's campaign generated contributions totaling more than $412,000, making UK the third largest contributor to the campaign United Way of the Bluegrass, behind only Lexmark and Toyota Motor Manufacturing. UK President Lee T. Todd Jr. said the generosity of UK employees is an excellent example of the "higher purpose" goals he wants to see UK achieve. »I am focusing a lot of energy on building one university that is working together for common goals. One of those goals is helping the communities in which we live and serve. I believe one way we can do that is by supporting our United Way campaign." This year's co-chairpersons of the campaign are Joseph Frye, director of Safety, Security and Parking for the Chandler Medical Center, and Marc Mathews, senior associate controller of the University. They and the UK United Way cabinet members are instituting some new procedures and ideas this year in an effort to energize and maximize the campaign. "This year the focus of the United Way campaign is to spur greater involvement throughout the University of Kentucky. Our aim is to unify faculty, staff and students under this most vital cause," Frye said. Organizers will focus on involving more students and student organizations, providing more training to volunteer solicitors, allowing cabinet members to create individualized events or programs in their areas, and using the services of the UK Treasurer's Office for accounting purposes. The cabinet also has approved using United Way's new scannable pledge cards which will eliminate the need for carbon copies and will save on expenses. As in years past, employees have the option of making a one-time donation or a contribution by payroll deduction for the period of July 1, 2002, through June 30, 2003. Prize drawings will be held weekly throughout the campaign. Drawing cards will be distributed with the pledge cards. A list of prizes and winners as well as other information will be available on the University's United Way Web site at www.uky.edu/UW. In keeping with the baseball theme, the first pitch of the UK United Way campaign will be made with a luncheon for the nearly 500 volunteers on April 9 in the UK Student Center Ballroom. The guest speakers are Todd and Lexington Legends President Alan Stein. "UK has a strong history of helping people through giving to United Way, and we hope that continues this year," co-chairperson Mathews said. "We not only help all of Central Kentucky, but we help our fellow co-workers, because one out of four University employees benefits from a United Way sponsored agency." United Way of the Bluegrass funds 214 programs in eight Central Kentucky counties. It is the largest non-governmental agency funding health and human services in Central Kentucky. UK begins clinical research trial for new Parkinson¹s disease treatmentUniversity of Kentucky College of Medicine researchers have begun a clinical trial of a new investigational treatment for Parkinson's disease that may directly influence the degenerative disease process. Current treatments focus on improving the symptoms of Parkinson's disease patients. The research team is composed of Greg Gerhardt, UK Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology and Department of Neurology, director of the Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Research Center of Excellence and director of the Center for Sensor Technology; Don Gash, Alumni Chair in Anatomy and Neurobiology, professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, and director of the M. Margrite Davis-Ralph E. Mills Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Center; Byron Young, Johnston-Wright Endowed Chair of Surgery, professor, Department of Surgery, and chief, Division of Neurosurgery, associate dean for Clinical Affairs, and chief of staff, UK Hospital ; and principal investigator John Slevin, professor, Department of Neurology and Department of Pharmacology, and director of the Movement Disorders Clinic at UK. In this Phase I clinical research trial, researchers are studying the safety of the proposed treatment. Extended studies will follow if this early research proves successful. The foundation for this new investigational treatment came from basic research conducted by Gerhardt and Gash at the Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Research Center of Excellence at UK. Funded by a $5 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the research concerns glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) as a possible therapy for Parkinson's disease. The Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Research Center of Excellence at UK is one of 11 such centers in the United States funded by NIH. Developed by Amgen Inc., GDNF is a natural growth factor for dopamine neurons and is found in low levels in the adult human brain. It is believed the destruction of these neurons in the mid-brain causes the symptoms of Parkinson's disease; current FDA-approved treatments improve the symptoms but do not alter the underlying disease process. Laboratory studies have demonstrated that GDNF both protects and promotes regeneration of injured midbrain dopamine neurons, and thus may directly influence the degenerative disease process. This new investigational treatment uses a version of the Medtronic SynchroMed Infusion System, a surgically implantable, programmable pump developed by Medtronic Inc. and pre-clinically tested at UK. The system will deliver GDNF directly into the patient's brain. This new therapeutic approach makes possible treatments with drugs that cannot be used at present because they do not cross the blood brain barrier. Hip, Hip, Hooray!
Tim Collins The University
of Kentucky Cheerleaders were honored March 12 by President George W.
Bush during a Champions Day ceremony at the White House. The cheerleaders
joined six other NCAA championship squads. In Washington, the cheerleaders
met with Congressmen Hal Rogers and Ernie Fletcher and Sen. Jim Bunning
and toured the White House. Art Museum appoints new directorThe University of Kentucky Board of Trustees approved the appointment of Kathleen A. Walsh-Piper as director of the University of Kentucky Art Museum at its March meeting.
Walsh-Piper, former director of education and public programs for the Dallas Museum of Art, replaces Harriet Fowler, who retired last year after 10 years as director of the Art Museum. Donald Sands, a retired UK professor, has been serving as interim director since July 2001. The new museum director has bachelor's and master's degrees in art history from Washington University in St. Louis. She has written extensively about art and children, art and writing, and the role of art museums in education. Her most recent work, published in September 2001, is titled "Image to Word: Art and Creative Writing." Before joining the staff of the Dallas Museum of Art in 1995, Walsh-Piper served as a cultural specialist for the United States Information Agency. From 1988 to 1995, she headed the department of teacher and school programs for the National Gallery of Art. She was director of education for the Terra Museum of American Art in Chicago from 1985 to 1988. Prior to that, she served as an assistant director of museum education at the Art Institute of Chicago and as coordinator of the resource center at the St. Louis Art Museum. Among her professional activities, Walsh-Piper serves on the education committee of the College Art Association. She was a museum guest scholar for the Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities in 1998. The University of Kentucky Art Museum is open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and noon to 8 p.m. on Friday. It is closed Monday and University holidays. For general museum information, call 257-5716 or visit www.uky.edu/ArtMuseum. UK researches effectiveness of diabetes pillWomen with gestational diabetes may have an alternative to an insulin shot. The University of Kentucky College of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology is enrolling patients for a study of acarbose, an oral anti-hyperglycemic agent, for women with gestational diabetes. "Gestational diabetes is diabetes that occurs only during pregnancy, and acarbose seems to be ideal for pregnant women," said Arthur T. Evans, professor and director of maternal-fetal medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "It is a pill that remains in the maternal GI tract. There is essentially no fetal exposure since the drug does not enter the woman's bloodstream." About 3 to 5 percent of pregnant women across the nation have gestational diabetes. However, Kentucky numbers are slightly higher, Evans said. Of those women with gestational diabetes, about 80 percent are able to control the diabetes through diet. Those without adequate control through diet are put on insulin injections. This is the first clinical trial in the United States. It is a multi-site study by UK and the University of East Virginia Medical School. Women with gestational diabetes who have failed dietary management may be candidates for the study. For more information, call 257-2323. BriefsSupport, donations sought for Staff Appreciation Day The University of Kentucky Women's Forum Board will sponsor the 10th annual Staff Appreciation Day for UK employees on May 8. UK departments and area businesses are being invited to participate in the event, to share information and services with employees. Booths are available for activities and displays, and departments and companies may donate items, refreshments, entertainment or other support to the event. For information, contact Cristie Hayes at Lexington Community College, 101 Academic Technical Building, or clhaye0@uky.edu.
Luncheon honors women The only award recognizing the outstanding contributions of women on the University of Kentucky campus will be presented at the annual Sarah Bennett Holmes Award Luncheon 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 10 in the Student Center Grand Ballroom. The salad buffet luncheon is open to all University employees for a cost of $10.50 each, or employees are invited to bring lunches. Reservations are required. A reservation form is available by calling Judy Duncan at 257-8288 or at www.uky.edu/OtherOrgs/UKWoman. Reservation deadline is April 2.
Theatre offers 'Night Music' University of Kentucky Theatre and UK Opera Theatre will present Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" April 4, 6 and 7 in the Guignol Theatre of the College of Fine Arts Building. The performances of "A Little Night Music" begin at 8 p.m. each evening except for the April 7 performance which is a 2 p.m. matinee. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for UK faculty and staff, and $10 for students. Class passes can be obtained for $8 per person. Contact the Singletary Center for the Arts Ticket Office at 257-4929 for ticket information.
Belafonte to speak at UK
Singer-actor Harry Belafonte will be the keynote speaker for the "Beyond Black and White: Color, Culture and the Arts" symposium set for April 14-17. Belafonte will speak at 5 p.m. on April 16 in UK's Guignol Theatre. Tickets are $6 for general admission and $3 for students. The eventalso will include the acclaimed play performed by UK theatre students at 8 p.m. April 17-20 and at 2 p.m. April 21 in the Briggs Theatre, College of Fine Arts. Tickets are $12 for general admission and $8 for students. All tickets are available from the Singletary Center for the Arts ticket office at 257-4929. Loretta Lynn receives UK honorary doctorateWith many of her dedicated fans including University of Kentucky students, faculty and staff looking on, country music star Loretta Lynn was awarded an honorary doctor of arts degree March 9.
Lynn's brother, Herman Webb, accepted the degree for the star who had fallen ill. The awards ceremony was conducted in the Singletary Center for the Arts following an academic procession that included members of the UK Board of Trustees and many deans, faculty and staff members. The audience included many persons who were in Lexington attending the 28th annual conference of the Society for American Music hosted by the UK School of Music in the College of Fine Arts. James W. Holsinger Jr., senior vice president of the University and chancellor of the UK Chandler Medical Center, presented the honorary doctorate. Holsinger recited much of Lynn's storied musical career that included 75 charted hits, 53 top-10 country singles and 16 No. 1 country albums. Noting her rural Kentucky upbringing, Holsinger called Loretta Lynn "a traveling ambassador for both the entertainment world and the state of Kentucky." Lynn was born April 14, 1935, in Butcher Hollow in Johnson County, which was featured in the film version of "Coal Miner's Daughter." She lives in Hurricane Hills, Tenn., about 65 miles from Nashville, and she recently released a new album titled "Still Country." Social Work grounds University in helping state, local communitiesAt the very heart of the mission of the University of Kentucky is helping to improve the lives of Kentuckians. Supporting that mission is at the heart of the UK College of Social Work.
"Our college is one way the University grounds itself in the community in which it lives and begins to solve our deepest and most complicated social problems," said Kay Hoffman, dean of the college. "Social workers and this college do a lot, sometimes unseen, in communities to make lives better for people." In March, Professional Social Work Month, and April the University and the college honored students, faculty and professionals for their dedication to the field of social work. The college hosted a celebration, including awards presented to the 2001-2002 Student of the Year, Faculty of the Year and Staff of the Year. During the past four years, the UK College of Social Work has expanded in many ways. Its endowment grew from just more than $100,000 to more than $1 million, and external support jumped from about $140,000 to more than $3 million. It developed its first six professorships to attract, retain and reward top faculty. It has increased collaboration with the community through the Foster Parent Training Resource Center and the Training Resource Center. A cooperative effort of the Kentucky Cabinet for Families and Children and 10 undergraduate social work programs around the state, the new Public Child Welfare Certification Program prepares professional bachelor's level social work students for employment in Kentucky's Child Welfare Services. Last fall, the Training Resource Center was awarded $2.5 million from the federal Cabinet for Health and Human Services to create a new center ñ the Quality Improvement Center ñ to help improve child protective services in the rural southern United States. The college also offers a joint doctoral degree program with the University of Louisville, and operates the Successful Transitions program, funded by the Kentucky Cabinet for Families and Children, which helps single parents attend college. To heighten a focus on research and its application, the college just hired Martin Tracy as its new associate dean for research. The college's faculty are leading or participating in studies of local government work forces, citizen review panels, family/ workplace parenting, sibling rivalry and court appointed special advocate programs. "We want the opportunity to work in the really difficult problems of society," Hoffman said. "Part of that is finding out what is really out there and discovering what the needs are." Chris Groeber, director of the Training Resource Center, said the college's efforts are in part to show society the value and benefits of collaboration. "As social workers, we are good at collaboration. There are so few resources in the real world that we have to figure out where to find what we need to help our clients," he said. "We tend to undervalue collaboration in our society, and we shouldn't." To highlight what collaboration can do, Groeber is heading this year's Children and Families 2002 conference, sponsored by a plethora of UK colleges, departments and centers. Groeber's plan for the conference truly will make it a statewide conference. He has partnered with Kentucky Educational Television in an effort to telecast parts of the conference to five locations across Kentucky. Each location will host a series of local presenters and events, with keynote presentation and panels feeding into those at set times. Groeber also is coordinating produced videos on four key research or service programs that would be of interest to the broad audience. "We've taken this on to help people find ways to make their programs successful," Hoffman said. "We want to demonstrate the outreach and research of the University, and show the many things you can do through partnerships. When you show the community you can be a partner, opportunities come to you." Social work lends itself well to partnering, Groeber noted because it touches so many parts of life. Social work services can be found at home, in the community, in the workplace, in schools, in hospitals and more. "Keeping in mind the types of things social workers deal with often is critical to success," he said. "We can give a kind of insight that other professionals can't give." "Ultimately, we as social workers come from the perspective that every person, regardless of the problem or situation, ought to have the opportunity for a better life. While that may sound simple, it is not," Hoffman said. That perspective seems to be naturally built into social work students, Hoffman said, noting that the college has nearly as many transfer as originally enrolled students and that master's program students come from a wide variety of undergraduate fields. "Our students are interested in making a better world," Hoffman said, "but that is very difficult work. We have a challenging vision for out students. They have to have great minds and great hearts." Relay for Life benefits research, helps improve lives of UK familyIn April of last year, Joe Davis visited the doctor because he was having difficulty swallowing. He didn't expect much from the visit, but what he got was the shock of his life. He had esophageal cancer.
"It came with no symptoms," he said. "In a couple of weeks, I went from having no problems to having cancer. I didn't know what to do." Davis, the associate dean for instruction in the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, began a demanding regiment of chemotherapy and radiation therapy the next month, which continues to this day. Knowing his treatment and illness would become more obvious, he decided to be very open with his family, friends, staff and co-workers. "It was good for me to let people know. I found tremendous support from my college and people across campus," he said. "That's very helpful in dealing with this and recovery." Part of his recovery is talking about his battle with cancer and participating in events that benefit cancer survivors and research. This month, he plans to participate in the Wildcat West Relay for Life, an event sponsored by UK Student Government and benefiting the American Cancer Society. The relay is part of a national campaign on college campuses to raise awareness of and money for cancer research. UK's relay will be the first in a series across Kentucky college campuses. UK First Lady Patsy Todd is the UK event's honorary chairperson and plans to be actively involved. Cancer survivors, their families and friends, and those remembering loved ones lost to cancer will begin the relay on April 12 with a survivor's lap. "Having cancer has made me realize the importance of any type of support activity, anything that helps patients cope and deal with this disease," Davis said. "It is very important also for students to have an opportunity to participate. Many are touched by cancer through family, friends or faculty. An event like this gives them a chance to contribute to the long-term solution and help build increasing awareness. Cancer has no barriers. It effects all levels of society, regardless of age, race and gender." Davis noted the pride he felt when students of his college recently hosted a formal dance to raise money for cancer research at the UK Markey Cancer Center. They did it for many reasons, not the least were for him and three other Agriculture faculty who are battling cancer. "They do it because they think it is the right thing to do," he said. "I am constantly amazed at how much students do that people don't recognize or expect. Their enthusiasm is infectious." Supporting the center is something Davis also puts his support behind. The relay will help do that ñ the American Cancer Society is a major grantor of the center. On a weekly basis, Davis receives his treatment at the center and is showing "remarkable progress." He is glad to have the center so nearby. "We are very fortunate to have the Markey Cancer Center here at the University and in Lexington. It is at the leading edge of cancer research," he said. "That work is available to give patients like me hope and a chance to be involved in someday finding a cure." New Press director searches for house that will be homeStephen Wrinn, who will become director of The University Press of Kentucky on April 1, paused recently to reflect during a day of house hunting as he and his family prepare to move from Washington, D.C., to Kentucky.
On Lexington: "Truly, it's the ideal place for my wife and our young son and me. We both loved growing up in small cities, and we wanted the same for our child." On the directorship: "It's simultaneously daunting and thrilling to be only the third director of the Press." On the Press: "Its history, the people I've met, the staff of the Press, the University faculty, the members of the Clark Foundation, I've never met a group of people with a greater affection for and more commitment to a university press." On permanence: "I'm here for the long haul." Wrinn will acquire books in history and political science, manage a staff of 22 and a warehouse operation, and serve as the liaison for the Thomas D. Clark Foundation, which supports the publication of books about Kentucky and the Appalachian region. Most recently, Wrinn was academic publisher at Brassey's Inc. in Dulles, Va. He was vice president of editorial and executive editor for history and political theory at Rowman & Littlefield Publishers in Lanham, Md. He also was the editorial director for Lexington Books. Wrinn has worked with a wide range of prominent scholars and public intellectuals, including Jean Bethke Elshtain, Amitai Etzioni, James T. Patterson, William Kristol and Jonathan Yardley. Books that Wrinn has acquired have won awards, including The Washington Post Notable Book of the Year in History, the Herbert Hoover Library Prize for the Best Book in American History and The Philadelphia Inquirer Book of the Year in Cultural Studies. Born and raised in Wallingford, Conn., Wrinn earned a bachelor's degree in history at Kenyon College and an advanced degree in history at the University of Vermont. Before pursuing a career in publishing, he instructed classes in American history at the University of Vermont, Champlain College and The American University, located in Washington, D.C. Wrinn wrote the book "Civil Rights in the Whitest State: Vermont's Perceptions of Civil Rights, 1945-1968," and he has written about the book-publishing industry for The Washington Post. He and his wife, Julie, have a 15-month-old son, Eli. Strong patrons of the arts, the Wrinns look forward to immersing themselves in the cultural activities of the region. "We are both incredibly impressed with the arts scene in Lexington. In many ways, it's comparable to what is available in Washington, D.C.," he said. Another visit to Lexington may be necessary; the Wrinns found houses they liked, but none they could agree on. "My wife fell in love with the Chevy Chase and Elizabeth Street neighborhoods," he said. Pulitzer winner to deliver 2002 Creason lectureAngelo B. Henderson, a 1985 University of Kentucky School of Journalism graduate who won a Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1999, will deliver the 2002 Joe Creason Lecture at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, in Memorial Hall on the UK campus.
Henderson won the Pulitzer for his dramatic narrative that detailed lives affected by an attempted drugstore robbery that ended in the robber's death. The Creason Lecture, sponsored by the UK Journalism Alumni Association, is named for the late Joe Creason, a popular, folksy columnist with the The Courier- Journal for about three decades, and is supported by funds from the Bingham family, former owners of the Louisville newspaper. Henderson is a special projects reporter with The Detroit News. Previously, he was a senior special writer for page one of The Wall Street Journal. He joined The Wall Street Journal's Detroit bureau in February 1995, reporting on the U.S. operations of all non-American automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. In June 1997, Henderson was promoted to deputy Detroit bureau chief where he managed reporters and wrote stories focusing on the global automotive industry. At age 39, Henderson joined The Detroit News, a Gannett Co., Inc., newspaper, in December 2001. May photography lecture series continuesSandy Skoglund will be the fourth speaker of the 2001-2002 Robert C. May Photography Endowment Lecture Series, at 4 p.m. Friday, April 12, in the Worsham Theatre in the University of Kentucky Student Center. ¨hrough May 3, the UK Art Museum will display Skoglund's Cibachrome print "The Green House," on loan from the Albert P. Strietmann Collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum. Skoglund once described her work as existing "on the cusp of the attraction to the American landscape as well as the horror of it." For her room-sized installations and Cibachrome photographs, she fabricates domestic environments that combine everyday objects with the unexpected. In "Radioactive Cats," a swarm of green cats invade a kitchen in which everything ñ the furniture, the refrigerator, the clothing of an elderly man and woman ñ are flat dull gray. Raisins cover every surface - the floor, the furniture, the mannequins, even the human "props" - in "Atomic Love." In a flesh-colored bathroom, its floor covered in eggs, stand two nude women, both oblivious to the snakes and rabbits sharing this most private of spaces in "Walking on Eggshells." Skoglund's wry tableaux turn ordinary settings into extraordinary scenarios that undermine our expectations and suggest the anxieties and dangers of contemporary life. The lecture series is sponsored by the Robert C. May Photography Endowment, a UK Art Museum fund established in 1994 for the support of acquisitions and programs relating to photography. For more information, call 257-5716 or visit www.uky.edu/ArtMuseum. Book honors ŒJoy Cart¹ creator for cancer battleAuthor, patient to sign books April 7 at Joseph-Beth. The founder of Jarrett's Joy Cart was presented with the first copy of a book detailing his inspirational life story recently at the University of Kentucky Children's Hospital.
During the past 11 months, Fox 56 News anchor Marvin Bartlett has interviewed UK Children's Hospital patient Jarrett Mynear, his family, friends and doctors about how they've coped with cancer and how the boy turned his negatives into a positive. Jarrett, 12, of Nicholasville, was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma at the age of 2. His right leg was amputated before he was 3. He has been rediagnosed with Ewing's five times and once with myelodisplasia, a pre-leukemia blood disorder. In 1998, during a 38-day recovery from a bone marrow transplant at UK, Jarrett noticed that some other patients at the Children's Hospital didn't get many visitors. He remembered receiving trinkets from volunteers four years earlier when he was a patient at a Seattle hospital. He asked his parents if he could get a toy drive together. Over several weeks, Jarrett devised a business plan and wrote businesses and individuals for donations. Jarrett's Joy Cart made its first run in March 1999. It has been a fixture at the hospital ever since. Jarrett's acts of charity led to three appearances on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" and one with Oprah Winfrey. He also has won numerous prestigious awards and has become an in-demand speaker, providing inspiration for other cancer patients. It's those experiences that are detailed in "The Joy Cart: The True Story of a Boy and His Toys." Bartlett presented Jarrett with the first copy of the book on the day of the third anniversary of his Joy Cart. "The Joy Cart" is available immediately through publishamerica.com and soon will be in local bookstores and on amazon.com. Bartlett and Mynear will sign copies of the book at 2 p.m. April 7 at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington. The publisher has arranged to donate $1 for each book sold to Jarrett's Joy Cart. If 10,000 books are sold, the donation will increase to $2 per book. UK benefits enrollment begins April 15, runs to May 3The University of Kentucky has made strides in improving its benefits package for the 2002-2003 plan year. Employees will need to understand each of the changes to get the most out of their benefit options. Information regarding employee benefits will be delivered to employees' and retirees' homes in an open enrollment packet, which includes the 2002-2003 Benefits Booklet and enrollment forms. This book is a resource and should be read thoroughly. Employees may obtain additional information through the following resources. ï Benefits Bulletin: The current edition of UK News contains a Benefits Bulletin insert that provides a health plan comparison, dental and health plan rates and highlights of the changes for 2002. ï Open Houses: Benefits open houses will be held at various campus locations with representatives from the Employee Benefits Office, Wellness, Elder Care, UK HMO, Humana, UK Dental, Fortis Benefits Dental Care and the new flexible benefit program administrator, Chard, Snyder & Associates. Information on the open house dates, times and sites is available on page four the Benefits Bulletin in this UK News or at www.uky.edu/HR/benefits. ï Presentations: Employee Benefits offers a service in which a group of 20 to 50 employees can request a Human Resource representative to come and speak about open enrollment options and procedures. To schedule a presentation, contact Gail Carbol at 257-9519, ext. 168. ï Customer Service: As always, employees may contact Employee Benefits customer service at 257-9519 and select option 1 or e-mail benefits@email.uky.edu. ï Web sites and phone numbers: The official UK Benefits Web site will provide links, information and enrollment forms to download at www.uky.edu/HR/benefits. UK shares ways to make Kentuckians healthierWomen with gestational diabetes may have an alternative to an insulin shot. The University of Kentucky College of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology is enrolling patients for a study of acarbose, an oral anti-hyperglycemic agent, for women with gestational diabetes. "Gestational diabetes is diabetes that occurs only during pregnancy, and acarbose seems to be ideal for pregnant women," said Arthur T. Evans, professor and director of maternal-fetal medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "It is a pill that remains in the maternal GI tract. There is essentially no fetal exposure since the drug does not enter the woman's bloodstream." About 3 to 5 percent of pregnant women across the nation have gestational diabetes. However, Kentucky numbers are slightly higher, Evans said. Of those women with gestational diabetes, about 80 percent are able to control the diabetes through diet. Those without adequate control through diet are put on insulin injections. This is the first clinical trial in the United States. It is a multi-site study by UK and the University of East Virginia Medical School. Women with gestational diabetes who have failed dietary management may be candidates for the study. For more information, call 257-2323. |
