The University of Kansas

27-year KU employee and scientist retires
Joseph C. Delquadri, a research assistant, research associate, and scientist in KU’s Bureau of Child Research and Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies, is completing a distinguished career in research focused on reading and applied behavior analysis.
As a KU graduate student in 1974-78 in the Department of Human Development and Family Life, and as a researcher since 1978 at KU’s Juniper Gardens Children’s Project in Kansas City, Delquadri has made sizeable contributions to the literature in his field and has helped hundreds of disadvantaged students learn to read by helping their teachers become more competent.
Delquadri built on his background as a school psychologist by uncharacteristically involving classroom teachers in the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of research on the practice of teaching.
Recognition of Delquadri’s accomplishments came in 1996 when the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project received the annual Research Award of the Council for Exceptional Children, the national professional organization of special educators, for its 30-year contribution to improving the care, treatment, and education of exceptional children.
His most recent recognition was the Fred S. Keller Award for his “distinguished contributions of psychology to the field of education,” presented to him at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in San Francisco.

Memorial service planned
The Department of Human Development and Family Life will hold a memorial service for John C. Wright, former KU professor who died in an automobile accident July 9 near Brainerd, Minn. The service will be at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread. Anyone who wishes to attend is welcome. RSVP requested by Sept. 10 to Wanda Lowe, Department of Human Development and Family Life. (785) 864-0503. E-mail wlowe@ku.edu.

Former vice chancellor elected to board
A former vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of chemistry at KU has been elected to the board of directors for Serologicals Corp. Ralph E. Christoffersen is the chairman of the board of Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc. (RPI) and serves on the boards of Genomica Corp. and the Biotechnology Industry Organization. He taught at KU from 1966 to 1981.
“Serologicals Corp. is extremely pleased to have Dr. Ralph Christoffersen join our board of directors,” said Desmond H. O’Connell Jr., chairman of the corporation’s board of directors. “His many achievements in biotechnology research, both in the academic and commercial pharmaceutical sectors, will prove advantageous to Serologicals.
Serologicals Corp., headquartered in Atlanta, is a worldwide provider of biological products to life science companies.

Law Library to expand American Indian law holdings
The KU Law Library recently received a grant from the Kansas Library Network Board to purchase materials on American Indian law.
The $8,671 grant will enable the library to update and expand its collection, which includes books, treaties, handbooks, periodicals, microfiche, indexes and tribal codes and statutes.
Joyce McCray Pearson, Law Library director, said that in addition to serving scholars at KU, the new materials would enhance the library’s contributions to the statewide interlibrary loan network.
“This grant allows us to increase our already extensive holdings in this area and to serve users throughout the state, region and country,” Pearson said. “Through this grant we are able to better support researchers interested in Indian nations and tribes and the Law School’s Tribal Law and Government Center.”
Joseph Custer, associate director of the Law Library and author of the grant proposal, said the center was the first of its kind in the United States.
“Effectively representing Indian nations and tribes requires an understanding of the laws, history and policies that affect them,” Custer said. “The grant money will assure that undergraduate and law students aspiring to a career of representing nations will have access to the necessary books and microfiche that embody the extremely complicated body of federal, state and tribal law that form the unique nature of the indigenous tribal legal system.”
The grant program is funded by the State of Kansas and is administered by the Kansas Library Network Board, a division of the state library in Topeka.

Deaf education program moves to Lawrence
Administration of the KU deaf education program, the only such program offered in Kansas, has moved from the School of Allied Health at the KU Medical Center campus in Kansas City, Kan., to the School of Education on the Lawrence campus.
Angela Lumpkin, dean of education, said, “KU will continue to serve the education needs of the deaf and hard of hearing in Kansas through our special education department, which ranks number one in the country.”
Tom Skrtic, KU chair of special education, said the change will help KU expand the research component to make it consistent with other graduate programs in special education. KU also plans to revise the teacher education component of deaf education to meet new state certification standards to be issued this fall.
In addition to teacher certification, KU’s nearly 50-year-old program is the only one in Kansas to offer master’s and doctoral degrees in deaf education, as well as an undergraduate minor for education students preparing to teach in regular classrooms. Although allied health faculty had administered the program, KU’s School of Education has granted the degrees in deaf education.
Classes will continue to be offered at KU’s Edwards campus, 12600 Quivira, Overland Park, said Sally Roberts, acting director for deaf education. The course in the anatomy and physiology of the ear will continue to be offered at the School of Allied Health.

Program provides new cultural perspective
The Lawrence Friendship Family Program is seeking families and individuals in the Lawrence community who would like to befriend a KU international student. Started in the 1970s, the program is a nonpolitical, nonreligious organization coordinated through the Office of International Student and Scholar Services and a steering committee of community volunteers. While striving to help international students feel at home during the transition to their new environment, the program likewise offers a unique opportunity for American families to gain personal insight into another culture.
Although a commitment to participate for a full academic year is typically requested, the obligation is minimal. Participants are asked to contact their student weekly during the first month of the school year and to invite the student to attend at least two activities per semester. To help with this endeavor, the program sponsors periodic organized events. Families are not responsible for matters related to the student’s health, financial concerns, immigration or legal issues, nor are they obligated to house the student during breaks or holidays. Simply being a friend is all that is asked.
For more information about the program, please contact the Office of International Student and Scholar Services, 2 Strong Hall, 864-3617.

Local authors to sign books at KU Bookstore
The Mount Oread Book Shop in the KU Bookstores announces two book signings by local authors.
Michael H. Crawford, professor of anthropology, will sign books from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Sept. 6. His recent titles include “The Origins of Native Americans: Evidence From Anthropological Genetics” and “Different Seasons,” a study of biological aging in Mennonite populations.
Thomas Fox Averill, professor of English and writer-in-residence at Washburn University, will sign his book from 4 to 5 p.m. Sept. 13. His new novel “Secrets of the Tsil Café,” is a coming-of-age story set amidst a multicultural family restaurant and catering businesses and filled with food lore and recipes.

KU named one of nation’s ‘best buys’
The Fiske Guide, the oldest and most highly rated college guide, has ranked the University of Kansas as one of the nation’s “best buys” in higher education and “a great place to be.”
“The rest of the country is finally learning what folks in Kansas knew all along: [KU] is one of the nation’s best buys in higher education,” the guide touts in its 2002 edition. “KU is a special place because it exudes a certain character that speaks of tradition yet pushes into the future at the same time.”
KU is one of 21 public universities featured as best buys. A best buy is defined as a school that “offers remarkable education opportunities at a relatively modest cost.”
The university also once again earned a four-star ranking in academics. The guide rates the academic program, social life and quality of life for each university. Fiske describes KU’s academic program as solid, the extracurricular programs as outstanding and the social life, stellar.
KU is the only Kansas university included among the profiles of 300 U.S. and Canadian universities selected by the guide’s staff as “the best and most interesting.” Fiske includes nine of the Big 12 Conference schools among the 300 total.
Edward B. Fiske, a former New York Times education writer, uses surveys, questionnaires and interviews to gather information for the annual guide.
The guide’s cost index for colleges lists only two Big 12 schools among public universities as inexpensive -- KU and the University of Oklahoma. Inexpensive refers to tuition and fees of less than $3,000 a year for public schools or less than $17,000 a year for private schools. KU’s tuition and fees for 15 hours for two semesters for Kansas residents is $2,883.50.
Further, the guide notes that KU “gives out about 5,000 academic merit awards and 435 more benefit from a wide variety of athletic scholarships.”
The 2002 guide highlights architecture and urban design, education, environmental studies, journalism, nursing, pharmacy, social welfare and business as KU’s strongest programs.