PresRelease

Now on view in the Jorgensen Gallery (downstairs, in the Jorgensen Center) is student art created by UConn undergraduate art majors during their study abroad experience in Florence, Italy, last fall.  The exhibit will continue through March 5.  There’s more info in UConn Today.
The Florence study abroad program was a first for the Department of Art and Art History. Professor Ray DiCapua led the group of 15 students, who were based in the Institute at Palazzo Rucellai.  UConn Board of Trustees Professor Bette Talvacchia taught a course in Italian Renaissance art history, while Professor DiCapua taught a course in drawing.  There were other courses, too. The program was able to match each student’s individual needs, giving each of them the chance to pursue their studies in a very personal yet tradition-rich atmosphere. The diverse work on display in the Jorgensen Gallery reflects each student’s experience.  And what an experience, to be able to study art for a semester in Florence!

UConn med student Robin Deutsch and Dr. Bruce Gould
Last Wednesday 1,200 doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other volunteers staffed a free clinic at the Connecticut Convention Center, and UConn Health Center health-care practitioners were well-represented, right up to Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. Cato Laurencin:
UConn med student Lisa DiFedele and Dr. Cato Laurencin
There was a story featuring the day-long clinic in the Harford Courant and also on UConn Today.  And you can watch an MSNBC interview with UConn’s Dr. Bruce Gould about the day’s clinic on youTube.  The Communities Are Responding Everyday (C.A.R.E.) Clinic was sponsored by the National Association of Free Clinics, a nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C.  Among its goals, the NAFC strives to be an effective advocate for free clinics and the people they serve, and to network with and assist state and regional free clinic associations with legislative and regulatory issues that affect their ability to provide services.

Here are some more photos from the day of the Clinic:
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Dr. Phil Hritcko and UConn med student Christine Shapter
NAFC has hosted similar events around the country. The idea is to give people without health insurance medical attention and connect them to a regular source of health care.  I’m glad to see our Health Center staff (and students!) involved in this important outreach work, in our Hartford community and all over Connecticut.  The debate over national health-care policy continues, but in the meantime real people remain in need of basic medical attention who, for whatever reason, are not receiving services they need.  I’m reminded once again of the three-part mission of a public research university: teaching, research, and service.  Each one of us can make a very real difference in someone’s life – all we have to do is be willing to make the effort.

Our UConn Red Cross Club announced its blood-drive dates on the Storrs campus for the spring semester.  The first are next week, February 8-12, in the Wilbur Cross Reading Room.  They’ll also be in the Bishop Center on February 9.  Here’s a link to the Storrs campus-area schedule.  You should check the schedule, as hours vary for different dates.  The Monday session in Wilbur Cross is open from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm.  There’s a story about it in Wednesday’s Daily Campus.
And the Red Cross has a website with lots of info at www.givelife.org There are opportunities at our branch campuses, too.  For example, in Waterbury there’s a Student Government Facebook site that lists dates and times.
Most people are eligible to give blood.  And those that aren’t, because of temporary or permanent medical conditions, can do other things to help this ongoing effort.  It’s safe, quick, and easy – see the webpage for more details.

This week the American Red Cross posted this update on blood donation and the crisis in Haiti:

Haiti Earthquake Update
The American Red Cross is providing blood and blood products this week at the request of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and will coordinate future requests for blood among its blood collector partners. Red Cross Blood Services continues to meet the needs of this tragedy from our existing blood supply. At this time, we do not anticipate the need for a general donor appeal, but there is an urgent need for eligible donors with Type O negative blood to schedule a blood donation appointment as soon as possible. Type O negative blood is universal and can be given to anyone, regardless of their blood type and is often used in emergency situations.

Blood donation at UConn has a long history.  Here’s a photo from 1942 showing a Red Cross ‘blood-mobile’ set up in the Storrs Congregational Church’s Community House:

Copyright Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
Now, donors can read up on law cases while lounging in Wilbur Cross:

I encourage UConn faculty, staff and students to all consider making blood donation a part of your personal outreach activity.  It’s one way you can make a very real difference in someone’s life.

Back row: L-R: Scott Meshnick, Joshua Kanter, Harrison Holtz, UConn Hillel Executive Director Gary Wolff
Front row: L-R: Amanda Dryer (Hofstra), Jamie Melnick (UConn), Jennifer Brill (Hofstra), Alison Cohen (UConn), Aly Kruzansky (UConn), Lili Sajecki (Hofstra)

Six UConn Hillel students spent part of their winter break in Los Angeles, working with other Hillel students across the country on a community service project organized by City Year, a group dedicated to bettering the lives of children and adolescents throughout the nation, and the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Monica.  The project involved repairing and enhancing a recreational after-school student facility.  Hillel members from Hofstra University, University of Delaware, Kent College, College of Staten Island, Broward College and Palm Beach State College, joined our UConn students in LA.  The students painted walls, designed murals, built a skateboarding ramp and amphitheatre, improved the landscaping – all the while mentoring and entertaining children.

UConn student Scott Meshnick said he was inspired to participate by words of Abraham Joshua Heschel, a famous rabbi who was involved in the social rights movements of the 60s: “There are two types of people: There is the person who sits and prays all day, and then there is a person who goes out and helps people. We shouldn’t assume that the person who sits around and prays all day is the most religious.”

Rabbi Heschel (center) with Dr Martin Luther King, Jr (1968)
There were stories about the project in both the Daily Campus and the Hartford Courant.

UConn chef Robert Landolphi showed us on WTNH-TV Ch. 8 how to prepare gluten-free Parmesan-pesto chicken with pecans.  His demonstration, and the recipe, can be found on Channel 8’s “Connecticut Style – In the Kitchen” website.  It’s a six-minute presentation.  After watching, I think even I could do it.