Alumni Association Home > Past Issues > 2007 > November-December 2007	Print View

Jane Davidson, professor of mechanical engineering, is one of the presenters at the Florida Minne-College in January. She is pictured here in her lab, where she conducts research on solar energy, which will be the topic of her presentation. (Photograph by Jonathan Chapman, Institute of Technology)

The Southwest Florida Chapter of the UMAA, in collaboration with five colleges on the Twin Cities campus, will host a day of learning on January 26, when renowned faculty from the Twin Cities campus come together in Naples for the 2008 Florida Minne-College.

The program begins with a keynote address by internationally acclaimed neuroscientist Karen Ashe of the University of Minnesota Medical School who has made breakthrough discoveries on Alzheimer’s disease. Ashe is director of the N. Bud Grossman Center for Memory Research and Care, Edmund Wallace and Anne Marie Tulloch Chairs in Neurology and Neuroscience, and professor of neurology and neuroscience.

Following the keynote address, participants can choose among concurrent lectures featuring climatologist Mark Seeley from the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences; Jane Davidson from the Institute of Technology; Deborah Swackhamer from the School of Public Health; and Kathleen Thomas from the College of Education and Human Development. A reception featuring remarks by President Bob Bruininks will conclude the day’s events.

The Florida Minne-College takes place from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Naples Hilton Hotel, 5111 Tamiami Trail North, in Naples. For more information, call Chad Kono at 1-800-UM-ALUMS or 612-625-9183 or go to www.alumni.umn.edu/minne-college.

Mind over Manners

When students began filing into the McNamara Center on an October evening, they might have been forgiven for looking warily at the salad plates and elaborately folded napkins on the tables before them. After all, they were there to improve their mealtime habits, even if they figured they’d mastered them after nearly two decades of feeding themselves.

The Etiquette Dinner, sponsored by the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, the Campus Career Services Offices, and the Career Development Network, has been held annually since 2000, attracting close to 400

Sara Beyer, external relations office administrator with the College of Education and Human Development, showed off her gopher call at the annual Maroon & Gold Fridays kickoff in September at the McNamara Alumni Center. The gopher call—a noisemaker popular at pepfests and sports events—was one of several prizes given to the 120 University faculty and staff who attended the event, which provided tools and tips for motivating members of the campus community to participate in Maroon & Gold Fridays by wearing the University colors every Friday. The UMAA established Maroon & Gold Fridays in 1994 as a way to encourage a sense of pride and spirit on campus. (Photograph by Mike Lee)

students hoping to brush up on their manners. This year, Darcy Matz, an etiquette expert and vice president of Profile Resource Organization, guided students through a four-course meal and answered dozens of their most burning dining questions.

Matz says that today’s fast-food culture has made it easy to overlook the finer points of formal dining. “[Students] have lived their lives in a McDonald’s generation,” she says. “They’ve eaten in cars, without utensils, and with plastic throwaways.” As they begin attending networking dinners and all-day job interviews, mastering the nuances of etiquette can signal that a student will fit in well with the business culture, and may mean the difference between a job offer and a rejection letter, Matz says. During the two-hour dinner, students learned the proper way to pass the bread basket (counterclockwise), how to eat a cherry tomato (cut it in half first), and whether or not to tell a fellow diner about the spinach caught between his or her teeth (yes). They also learned how to make small talk (find a topic that’s mutually interesting and show sincerity) and the best way to say thanks after an event (drop a note in the mail within 24 hours).

With a blend of tips and humor (“No stabbing! No shoveling!” she coached as students picked up their forks), Matz helped students navigate the tricky terrain of dining etiquette. By the end of the evening, students had more than just full stomachs—they had a full course of rules to help guide their future dining experiences. Greg Videen, a sophomore from the Carlson School of Management, says the tips, combined with a reprieve from the student meal plan, made the $14 ticket price well worth the cost. “It was definitely a good night out,” he says.
—Erin Peterson

2008 Legislative Briefing

Mark your calendar now for the UMAA’s annual legislative briefing, the evening of January 23. It’s an opportunity to learn about the University’s legislative priorities and how to help make a difference through the Legislative Network, a

Inspecting Carol on the Showboat

coalition of alumni, students, faculty, staff, and community members who are committed to educating elected officials about the importance of the University of Minnesota to the state. The network, which the UMAA created nearly 20 years ago, is an essential grassroots component of the U’s legislative efforts. The briefing includes remarks from President Bob Bruininks and other key University officials and legislators. Watch for details of the January 23 briefing at www.SupportTheU.umn.edu.

Plan for a great evening at the special UMAA Night at the Minnesota Centennial Showboat December 7, as the University Theatre presents the hilarious holiday production Inspecting Carol by Daniel Sullivan and the Seattle Repertory Company. Inspecting Carol is a new twist on the Dickens Christmas favorite: Follow a fictional theater company as it struggles to produce its annual cash cow performance of A Christmas Carol.

Tickets include the play plus an exclusive UMAA members-only pre-show reception and discussion with U of M faculty about the play and the Showboat. A dessert buffet begins at 6:45 p.m., with the preshow discussion at 7 p.m. and the performance at 8 p.m. For tickets, call 651-227-1100 and provide your UMAA member number.

New Member Benefit

UMAA members are entitled to a 20 percent discount on registration on the Strategic Leadership Insights Speaker Series, an engaging new forum for upper-management professionals sponsored by the College of Continuing Education. Each session features a nationally recognized business expert who will address key workforce trends, such as creating a successful succession management plan, followed by a moderated discussion on how to address these important issues. For more information, call 612-624-4000 or visit www.cce.umn.edu/insights.