1. "The 'Best' is Beyond the Workplace”
2. Sexual Violence Awareness Week 2006: Steps Toward Change
3. “Ms. Mentor” to speak at Marquette University
4. Les Aspin Center honors Congressman and civil rights leader
   
5. Part-time employees given access to benefits
6. Milwaukee Symphony to perform at Gesu
7. Read the latest news from the library
8. Gesu offers new ministry for those dealing with mental illness
9. This Week in Marquette History
10. Week of September 18, 2006 Interchange Highlights
11. University Events
    

1. "The 'Best' is Beyond the Workplace”

Marquette prides itself in not only producing professionals, but engaged citizens who contribute to their surrounding communities. On Wednesday, Sept. 20, in AMU’s Weasler Auditorium, Marquette University Trustee Darren Jackson, Bus Ad '86, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Best Buy, will share how he uses his position to help the community in a speech titled, “The ‘Best’ is Beyond the Workplace.” A reception will follow his speech.

This event, sponsored by the Manresa Project in honor of the University’s 125th anniversary, is part of the Alumni in Action programming that throughout the year will share the stories of alumni who put their faith and learning to work in the professional world.

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2. Sexual Violence Awareness Week 2006: Steps Toward Change

Activities for Sexual Violence Awareness Week continue tomorrow with a Soup with Substance presentation entitled “Same Gender Sexual Violence: An Information Session.” The event will begin at noon in the AMU’s Henke Lounge.

At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday there will be a presentation and discussion in Schroeder MPR entitled “True Life … I Have Been Sexually Assaulted,” followed by a candlelight vigil in Parent’s Park.

Wednesday’s Soup with Substance lunch will feature Carlos Anders Gomez talking about his work with victims of sexual assault and AIDS in the Bronx community. He will speak at noon in AMU 227. Wednesday evening a self defense workshop will be held at 7:30 p.m. in room 495 of the Schroeder Complex.

On Thursday Teri Jendusa Nicolai, the Wisconsin woman who was beaten by her ex-husband and placed in a garbage can, left for dead, will describe her survival. She will speak at 5 p.m. in the AMU’s Weasler Auditorium.

Informational tables and the Clothesline Project will be at the AMU all week. The clothesline includes t-shirts designed by survivors of sexual violence.

Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to wear purple and teal, the colors of activism to end sexual violence. Purple and teal ribbons will be handed out at various events.

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3. “Ms. Mentor” to speak at Marquette University

The author of the “Ms. Mentor” column in the Chronicle of Higher Education will be on campus next week to lead a workshop for women faculty members and present a public lecture.

Emily Toth, professor of English and Women’s Studies at Louisiana State University and author of Ms. Mentor’s Impeccable Advice for Women in Academia, will speak about “What Women Academics Need to Know – But Often Aren’t Told” at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 26, in the Raynor Conference Center on the lower level of Raynor Library.  A reception will follow her speech.

Later that day, Dr. Toth will meet with faculty members from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Haggerty Museum of Art. 

Dr. Toth is the author of Inside Peyton Place: The Life of Grace Metalious, Unveiling Kate Chopin, Kate Chopin’s Private Papers and Kate Chopin.

For more information, contact Dr. Diane Hoeveler, coordinator of the Women’s Studies program.

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4. Les Aspin Center honors Congressman and civil rights leader

Noted civil rights leader U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia was honored with the Les Aspin Democracy Award from Marquette’s Les Aspin Center for Government in a ceremony on campus today.

Lewis was recognized for his leadership during the Civil Rights Movement and for his tireless efforts on the issues of race relations, poverty and the problems that plague cities. He was a lead organizer and keynote speaker at the historic March on Washington in August 1963. In 1964, Lewis coordinated voter registration drives and community action programs during the Mississippi Freedom Summer. The following year, Lewis led more than 600 peaceful protestors across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on Mar. 7, 1965. They intended to march from Selma to Montgomery to demonstrate the need for voting rights in the state. The marchers were attacked by Alabama state troopers in a confrontation that became known as "Bloody Sunday." News broadcasts and photographs revealing the cruelty of the segregated South helped hasten the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

After serving on the Atlanta City Council, Lewis was elected to Congress in November 1986 and has served as U.S. Representative of Georgia's Fifth Congressional District since then.

During the ceremony, Marquette President Robert A. Wild, S.J., Rev. Timothy O'Brien, director of the Les Aspin Center for Government, and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, a Marquette alumna, praised Lewis as a courageous leader whose work during the Civil Rights Era exemplifies Marquette's mission of leadership and service to others.  Lewis called upon the audience of students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the Aspin Center to join in action as members of the human community, and to work for a better and more just world.

Past Aspin Center honorees have included Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Senators Robert and Elizabeth Dole, U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye and General Brent Scowcroft.

More information on the Les Aspin Center for Government is available online.

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5. Part-time employees given access to benefits

Based on recommendations of the Employee Welfare Committee, the administration has approved providing access to dental coverage for part-time regular employees, with the employees paying the full premium amount. In addition, part-time, regular non-faculty employees will be able to take advantage of the tuition remission benefit on a pro-rated basis.

“We continually look for ways to address the needs of our employees within the fiscal constraints of the university,” said Steve Duffy, associate vice president of human resources.

Duffy serves as chair of the Employee Welfare Committee, which includes representatives from faculty, administrators and support staff. The committee is charged with discussing, reviewing, information sharing and providing constructive commentary on quality of life issues, employee benefits, best practices related to overall employee welfare concerns and other related topics. 

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