Forecasters currently expect the storm to have little effect on the Gainesville area and plans currently call for UF work activities to remain on a normal schedule. Should the storm’s predicted track change or should forecast conditions for the Gainesville area worsen, new information will be posted on UF’s home page.

UF’s tropical weather update page: http://www.ufl.edu/weather/hurricane/.

It works by texting the letters “UF” to the number “90999,” and then confirming a $5 donation to the Florida Opportunity Scholars program. The donation is added to the person’s mobile phone bill or deducted from their prepaid balance.

The Florida Opportunity Scholars program provides funds to UF students who are Florida residents and come from families whose annual family income falls below $40,000. The funds are used to help pay for living expenses, books and supplies while in school. Currently 1,375 UF students benefit from the program.

In October 2008, UF President Bernie Machen announced that UF head football coach Urban Meyer and head men’s basketball coach Billy Donovan would lead a drive to raise $50 million for the program. Since the announcement, $8 million has been raised in gifts and pledges.

These vaccines are in nasal mist form. Pregnant women and people with chronic medical conditions should not receive the nasal spray vaccine. If you have received a nasal spray vaccine for seasonal flu, you should wait one month before getting a nasal spray vaccine for H1N1. Please see the list of medical conditions below for more details.

To receive a vaccine, students must register online at http://shcc.ufl.edu/h1n1/ and select a time slot to receive the vaccine. Fifty spots will be available for every half hour the clinic is open. The vaccines will be administered between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the Student Health Care Center’s Infirmary building.

Registration requires a valid Gatorlink account. Students also must print and fill out a medical questionnaire and bring the form to the clinic. Students should also read the Vaccine Information Statement posted on the registration site. Only students who have registered in advance and who present their Gator1 cards at the clinic will be vaccinated.

The ultimate goal is to vaccinate all members of the UF community who wish to be vaccinated.

You should not receive a nasal spray vaccine if you meet any of these criteria:
• Pregnant
• 50 or older
• Have asthma, diabetes, muscle or nerve disorders, heart disease, lung disease, liver or kidney disease, anemia or other blood disorders
• Have contact with a person with a severely compromised immune system
• Use long-term aspirin therapy
• Have Guillain-Barré syndrome
• Have an allergy to eggs, gentamycin, gelatin or arginine or flu vaccine.

For more information contact Kat Lindsey at 352-392-1161, ext. 4300, or e-mail katlin@ufl.edu.

Perri joined the college’s faculty in 1990 and has served as the interim dean since June 2007. A professor in the department of clinical and health psychology, Perri has held several administrative positions in the college including associate dean for research and head of the health psychology division.

“Under the leadership of (nursing dean and associate provost) Kathleen Long, as chair of the search committee, we conducted a vigorous national search for this critical position at the Health Science Center and University of Florida,” said Joseph Glover, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “After reviewing an extremely strong field of finalists, the search committee was uniformly supportive of Dr. Perri as the best fit for the next dean of the College of Public Health and Health Professions. I enthusiastically concur.”

Perri’s research findings have had a significant impact on theory, research and clinical care related to behavioral treatment of obesity. He has contributed to more than 120 scientific publications and has served as principal investigator or co-investigator for more than $30 million in research grants and contracts from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs and private industry. His current studies involve the development of effective programs for the management of obesity in underserved rural communities. In 2008 Perri received the American Psychological Association’s Samuel M. Turner Award for Distinguished Contributions to Applied Research in Clinical Psychology.

“UF and its health science center will benefit greatly from Dr. Perri as the dean of the College of Public Health and Health Professions,” said Dr. David S. Guzick, senior vice president for health affairs and president of the UF&Shands Health System. “During his tenure as interim dean, Dr. Perri successfully spearheaded the accreditation of the new school of public health within the college. He also stabilized a shaky financial foundation and launched several initiatives to foster collaboration across public health and the health professions disciplines, including the establishment of a funding program for interdisciplinary pilot studies and the founding of the Florida Trauma Rehabilitation Center for Returning Military Personnel.”

Perri is a diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology and a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Society of Behavioral Medicine and the Obesity Society. He was recently appointed associate editor of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, the leading peer-reviewed journal in the field of clinical psychology.

Perri earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Missouri – Columbia. Before arriving at UF he served on the faculty at the University of Rochester, Indiana University and Fairleigh Dickinson University.

“I am honored and excited about the opportunity this appointment presents,” Perri said. “The college has accomplished a tremendous amount over the past five years. We are now at the starting point to go on to more significant achievements through our collaborative efforts in education, research and service.”

The gift, made through the Harris Foundation, will establish an endowment fund to support early stage, innovative research projects in the field of computer science and engineering. Areas of research may include mobile communications, high-performance computing and medical informatics.

“We’re very fortunate to be part of Harris Corporation’s leadership initiative in education and research,” said UF President Bernie Machen. “Their commitment to UF and their recognition of the importance of a healthy and diverse state economy demonstrates an optimistic strategic view of the future, and we share that view with Harris.”

In recognition of the Harris gift, UF will create the Harris Gateway to Learning and Innovation in the College of Engineering, housed in the current Computer and Information Sciences building. A portion of the gift will fund the renovation of the third floor of the building to make way for this new facility.

“The Harris Gateway is aptly named in that it will provide a ‘door’ to many benefits,” said Howard L. Lance, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Harris. “It will support the ¬¬¬recruitment and development of outstanding faculty, enhance industry partnerships, create a dynamic educational model and play a key role in recruiting outstanding students to UF.”

Harris Corporation has had a longtime partnership with the University of Florida and currently employs 850 of its graduates.

“The Harris gift is an example of how leadership, partnership and innovation can mutually benefit two dynamic organizations, and in turn, benefit industry and the nation’s economy,” said Cammy Abernathy, dean of the College of Engineering. “It is also a fitting tribute to the launch of the college’s celebration of its 100th anniversary.”

The renovated space in the Computer and Information Sciences building will foster an “intellectual collision,” according to Abernathy. More than 1,100 students, 40 faculty and many visitors from industry frequent the building on a routine basis. The Harris Gateway creates a comfortable, conducive environment for the interaction of these individuals.

Work on the renovation is scheduled to begin in spring 2010.

Eight minutes and two seconds elapsed from the time a University Police Department dispatcher sent the text message until the last batch of messages left Blackboard Connect, the text message service provider. A total of 61,475 text messages was sent.

University officials said prior to the test that anything less than 10 minutes would be acceptable.

“We are very pleased with the success of today’s test,” said Ed Miller, president of Blackboard Connect. “The results affirm the reliable performance record Blackboard Connect has established in sending over 1 billion messages to date, and we look forward to applying that experience serving the University of Florida’s mass notification needs in the future.”

Friday’s test was conducted after university and Blackboard officials determined the results of Wednesday’s test were not consistent with the expectations of the text messaging system.

The next UF Alert test will be conducted during the spring semester and will include text messages as well as mass e-mails, UF home page postings, media notifications and Facebook and Twitter posts.

Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to update their emergency contact information in MyUFL. Updates can be made at MyUFL, then by clicking on My Account and Update Emergency Contact. Everyone is encouraged to add the five-digit number “23177” to his or her cell phone contact list and name it “UFAlert.” This will assist in identifying future, authorized UF text messages on your mobile phone.

If you don’t receive a text message but have previously entered your information in MyUFL, text “SUBSCRIBE UFAlert” to 23177, and registered UF subscribers will receive a text message indicating their cell number is in the system.

The emergency text messaging system is used only in cases where a threat is confirmed and has the potential to affect the entire campus. In the event of an emergency or disaster affecting campus, the UF Homepage is the official source of UF emergency-related information.

A research team at The Ohio State University conducted a national survey of agricultural education department chairs to rank the top-10 departments. UF’s Department of Agricultural Education and Communication was listed as No. 1 by 25 percent of the respondents, and nearly half listed the UF department as one of the top two.

Respondents cited the faculty, graduate program and research program as the department’s outstanding features.

Kirby Barrick, dean of UF’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, said he was pleased by the ranking. “We are very proud of the accomplishments of the faculty and students. Our doctoral program in agricultural education is less than 10 years old, so this recognition of the graduate and research programs is especially noteworthy,” he said.

Department Chairman Ed Osborne attributed the strong showing to a faculty filled with prolific researchers who undertake high-profile leadership posts in their academic fields. “Our faculty is outstanding, they’re highly visible on a national level, well respected and some of the most prolific researchers around,” he said.

The department has worked to strengthen its graduate program in the last decade, and students’ visibility on the national scene is another key to the department’s success, he said.

Texas A&M University and The Ohio State University ranked second and third, respectively, in the study. The study’s results were presented in May at the annual conference of the American Association for Agricultural Education in Louisville, Ky.

UF’s Department of Agricultural Education and Communication is part of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and offers undergraduate through doctoral degree programs, including an online master’s degree program for agriscience teachers and extension educators.

Recently students from Howard W. Bishop Middle School and Lincoln Middle School arrived at the University of Florida’s physics building for “Math and Science Day.”

In the morning, students watched physics demonstrations by Jeff Bindell, director of techPATH and lecturer for the University of Central Florida physics department.

TechPATH is a group that interacts with local school districts to help introduce middle and high school students to science and math career paths. It is an educational program of Florida High Tech Corridor, an initiative of the University of Florida, the University of South Florida and UCF.

After beginning the day with donuts and juice, students observed and participated in a series of demonstrations including whirling around pipes to make whistling sounds and spinning a hand-held bike tire to show what happens to the motion when the tire changes direction.

Bindell showed the students that math and science are in their lives every day, even in video games.

When Bindell asked the students if they wanted to flip burgers as a career, they answered in a chorus of “No!” He proceeded to show the type of house where the students could live if they worked in a science or technology field. Wide eyes and smiles quickly filled the room.

“I’d like to be a person who studies space,” said Johnathan, a sixth-grade student at Howard W. Bishop Middle. “And I’d like to make money.”

Bindell said techPATH wants students to know they have a choice: They can work for a living or have fun for a living. Everyone he knows in physics, engineering and technology is having fun.

Even though the U.S. is a big country, it is producing fewer scientists than smaller countries, like Taiwan, Bindell said.

“We are falling behind,” he said. “We have a mission. We need to keep teachers aware of new high-tech opportunities for students, and we want to keep kids interested in science and math.”

Bindell said it is best to spark students’ interests early, which is why the events include middle and high school students. “We get the most bang for our buck when we get kids who are not already interested in science and math,” he said. “If students keep postponing taking science and math classes, they are really limiting their future, and they will never catch up.”

After a catered lunch, students explored permanent exhibits displayed in the physics building’s lobby. Demonstrations were presented by faculty member Robert DeSerio, director of instructional laboratories, and physics seniors Andrew Carnes and Andrew Vaughn.

For the afternoon portion of Math and Science Day, students were bused to the Health Science Center where they interacted with the Human Patient Simulator (SIM).

Dr. Samsun Lampotang, professor of anesthesiology at the UF College of Medicine, and Thomas Bedard, clinical simulations coordinator at the College of Nursing, demonstrated the life-like qualities of the SIMs. SIMs talk, breathe, have a heartbeat and more. It was explained that SIMs help future doctors, nurses and other medical professionals learn about medical practices without requiring a human patient.

“It was the most interesting to see the body and how they used anesthesia to put people to sleep,” said Tavia, a sixth-grade student at Howard W. Bishop Middle School, “(Before today) I was going to be a veterinarian , but now I don’t know if I’m going to be an animal or human doctor.”

With the goal to minimize accidents and violence that have spoiled past celebrations, there will be more zone locations this year and more police. Students from the University of Florida and the University of Georgia can find assistance for basic medical needs, transportation, directions, telephone service, coffee, food, water and more in six locations.

Four Sideline Student Safety Zone locations will be open from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday and from noon to 3 a.m. Saturday. These Safety Zones will be behind Starbucks inside The Jacksonville Landing, outside the Landing on the corner of Laura Street and Independent Drive, on the corner of Bay and Hogan streets and at the intersection of Coastline Drive and Newman Street.

Other zones will be open from 8 a.m. to midnight on Friday and from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday at the Florida-Georgia Welcome Center and from 4 to 11 p.m. on Friday at Rivalry Nights in the Sports Complex area.

University of Florida student affairs personnel as well as staff and volunteers from the City of Jacksonville will staff the safety zones. Students requesting assistance for themselves or their friends will not be subject to legal action based on alcohol issues.

The Sideline Student Safety Zone is sponsored by the City of Jacksonville in partnership with the University of Florida.

David Bowles, director of Recreational Sports at UF, said, the zone is a place where students “can escape the craziness and get some help.”

For more information, visit http://www.flga.org, or contact Bowles at 352-273-2403, or dbowles@ufl.edu.

Bach will respond to audience questions and appear in a live video webcast Oct. 29 with the help of computer animation seen in such films as “The Incredibles,” “Toy Story” and “Shrek.” A UF faculty expert off-stage will answer questions as voice signals create amplitudes that are tracked by the motion of the 3D-character’s mouth, which responds to variations in the amplitude.

The Bach interview will be part of “LiveVibeTV,” a 60-minute production being presented by two of the college’s programs, the Digital Worlds Institute and the School of Music. The Bach re-animation is an original program created by Digital Worlds Artist in Residence Arturo Sinclair and student programmer Anton Yudin. Similar technology has been used as the foundation of the computer gaming industry, as well as Hollywood blockbuster computer animation movies such as those produced by Pixar Animation Studios and DreamWorks Animation SKG. The show is also produced specifically for Internet broadcast with television-like segments.

“This is far beyond a concert with a webcam,” said College of Fine Arts spokesman Andy Howard.

“LiveVibeTV” was initiated by the UF School of Music to address changes in music listening habits of students and the global public.

“We were searching for a modern approach to attract, build and maintain a new audience of the arts,” said John Duff, director of UF School of Music. “Considering the future of music’s form and audience, the School of Music needed to adapt its creative vision to engage an audience for the future.”

Anyone with Internet access can watch the premiere episode of “LiveVibeTV,” webcast at 7:30 p.m. EDT Oct. 29 at http://www.livevibetv.com/. Hosting the series will be UF senior English major and Florida Opportunity Scholar Cameryn Justice, and the first episode will feature UF faculty members — cellist Steven Thomas and Brazilian guitarist Welson Tremura, co-director of UF’s Brazilian music ensemble Jacaré Brazil. No Southern Accent, a UF student a cappella group with a growing regional reputation, will also be featured on the Oct. 29 show.

“’LiveVibe TV’ connects contemporary audiences with classical music in a fresh way,” said James Oliverio, professor and director of Digital Worlds Institute and executive technical and creative producer of “LiveVibeTV.” Oliverio and UF Digital Worlds Institute have recently used similar arts and computer technology to create a virtual campus for UF College of Law and virtual environments designed for clinicians to interact with returning veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

“LiveVibeTV makes it possible for audience members to enjoy music performances live or from the comfort of their home,” he said.

At a time when many local media markets are experiencing a shortage in classical music radio, “LiveVibeTV” is expected to be a convenient alternative, available to enjoy live or on demand via the Net, MP3 player, or even on certain mobile phones and PDAs.

Thursday’s production will be filmed at Digital World Institute’s REVE facility, 101 Norman Hall on the UF campus. Seating in the studio audience is limited, and can be requested by calling 352-846-1218.

In addition to the live event, “LiveVibeTV” will be accessible online after Oct. 29 and viewers will be able to utilize “share” features, spreading the content virally through personal social networking channels such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. Additional LiveVibeTV productions are scheduled for live webcast at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 28, Feb. 25, and March 25, 2010, at http://www.livevibetv.com/.

Wayne Zurburg, UF maintenance supervisor, and his team will be accepting the award at 3 p.m. on Oct. 23 at the University Village South Fields. Oct. 23 marks the start of Swamp Bowl weekend, an extramural flag football tournament that attracts intramural sports teams from all over the Southeast. Also on Oct. 23, a new Swamp Bowl 2009 field painting design will be unveiled.

As a winner, the department of Recreational Sports will receive a certificate of recognition and a Field of Excellence banner.

“Excellence in athletic field maintenance goes unrecognized and often, unappreciated,” said Pioneer Athletics. “The Field of Excellence Award program honors outstanding athletic fields and the hardworking field crews who diligently maintain them.”

The Field of Excellence Award Program was established in 1998 and has honored more than 315 athletic fields from around the country, since its creation.

Zurburg and his staff were selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants from colleges, universities, high schools, and parks and recreation departments throughout the U.S. The rigorous judging process yielded 38 winners from a large pool of applicants, with two athletic fields randomly selected as scholarship winners.

Developed as a cooperative effort of the UF Provost’s Office, the Faculty Senate, Human Resource Services, and the Office of the Sr. Vice President for Administration and Business Ventures, the new program will provide employees the opportunity to work with peers within the university while cultivating the individual skills needed to be more effective managers and leaders.

This new program replaces the previously offered Next Level Leadership program. With two tracks—one for academic leaders and the other for professional staff—the Advanced Leadership for Academics and Professionals program is based on leadership competencies specifically identified as important for success at UF. Program participants will participate within their tracks for certain development activities; at other times, the tracks will come together. To learn more about UF’s competency model, which was developed based on best practices of AAU peers and from interviews and focus groups with successful professional and academic leaders at UF, visit http://www.hr.ufl.edu/training/leadership/competencies.asp.

Participants will be selected via a competitive application process and will be announced in mid-November. The program will begin in January 2010 and will meet six times during the course of 2010—typically 1.5 days each time. This year, fees to participate in this program have been reduced from last year’s Next Level Leadership program from $1,000 per participant to $750. All materials (including a 360-degree evaluation pre- and post-program), facilitation fees and meals are included, and no travel is necessary for those who work in Gainesville.

For more information, please contact UF Training and Organizational Development at training@ufl.edu or visit http://www.hr.ufl.edu/training/leadership/alap.asp.

This program represents an invaluable opportunity for professional development, including exposure to UF’s highest levels of administration. Given the array of challenges the university currently faces, leadership development is increasingly essential to equip UF’s current and future leaders to support the institution.

Water conservation messages are posted throughout the area, including reminders about turning off water while brushing teeth or shaving as well as reminders to report leaking faucets and shower heads and “running” toilets through iService, an online maintenance request procedure, The most challenging water conservation effort for residents is the Shower Coach Challenge: Can You Take a Five Minute Shower?

Shower Coaches are five minute shower timers on suction cups that have been placed in the 86 showers in the Yulee Area. A five minute shower uses 12.5 gallons of water. Each additional minute uses 2.5 gallons of water. Residents are being asked to take shorter, cooler showers to support both water conservation and energy conservation efforts campus-wide.

“The Shower Coach timers are a fun way to remind residents about water and energy conservation while they are actively using resources,” said Sharon Blansett, assistant director of Housing and chair of the Housing Green Team/Recycling/Sustainability Committee. “This water conservation effort is one of many resource conservation efforts supported by the committee in residence facilities.”

Residents are responding positively to the Shower Coach, but say it is difficult to take a five minute shower. Some say it helps them with time when they are running late for class.

The Yulee Area houses approximately 520 residents and is home to the Global Living Learning Community in Yulee Hall. The Global Living Learning Community is a residential learning community that explores global issues including sustainability. If the water conservation education is successful in the Yulee Area, the program will be expanded to other residence areas.

The event is presented by the Bob Graham Center for Public Service and is the first in the 2009-2010 Graham Center Public Matters Lecture Series. The discussion will be moderated by Mike Foley, assistant dean of the College of Journalism and Communications.
The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but seating is limited.

Touted as Generation X’s answer to P.J. O’Rourke, Jonah Goldberg’s intelligent and biting conservative commentary has made him one of America’s prominent young conservatives. On the other side of the political spectrum, Peter Beinart, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, is a frequent contributor to The Washington Post and Time. Since 2008, Goldberg and Beinart have streamed their debates on Blogginheads.tv, giving perspectives from both conservative and liberal viewpoints.

“We are pleased to be kicking off the Public Matters series with such high-profile speakers,” said Mike Bowen, assistant director of the Graham Center. “Since we started our public programming over two years ago, our bipartisan discussion events have been some of our liveliest and most engaging. We expect Jonah and Peter to continue that tradition.”

The Graham Center for Public Service provides students with opportunities to train for future leadership positions, meet policymakers and take courses in critical thinking, language learning and studies of world cultures.