September 1996

Vol. 3, No. 1

COORDINATOR'S CORNER

We begin this academic year featuring Ami Ahern-Rindell from the Zoology Department. As new Women's Studies faculty last spring, she team-taught WS 405 with Kathryn MacKay. We extend a warm welcome to Ami!

I'd like to welcome the rest of us back to an academic year that promises to be busy and exciting. One task before us is curriculum revision for fall 1998 conversion to the semester calendar. I'll be asking everyone in the program to take an active role in planning and facilitating the process. Cogitation begun at the end of spring quarter will continue at our opening meeting on 11 September. We can reward our efforts that evening at 7 PM when Namu Lwanga of Uganda will perform at Ben Lomond High School to raise funds for the Patti O'Neal Scholarship in Dance.

Welcome to the new folks joining us as staff and faculty colleagues across campus; please participate in Women's Studies activities according to your interests. Anyone wishing to receive the newsletter can contact Norma Hassel via e-mail or at 626-7632.

The annual video series centers around women's history and will be presented this year in fall quarter, co-sponsored by Services for Women Students, at 12:30 PM on Wednesdays for 6 weeks, beginning 16 October. The place will be finalized soon; call for further information.

Our annual women's picnic will be held from 3 - 6 PM on 6 October in W.S.U. Veterans' Grove. Look for further publicity after classes begin.

"Waking the West" - the Children's Dance Theatre Utah Centennial Tribute can be enjoyed at 7:30 PM, 20 September in Austad Auditorium. Call 626-7448 for information.

Also upcoming is a conference - "Birthing Global Peace" - centering around international peace and health issues affecting women and children. Scheduled for 21 September at Jackson Hole, WY, it is coordinated by Sharon Bator, MS, PNP, RN, and is presented in cooperation with McKay-Dee Hospital Mother-Infant-Management. For information/registration, call McKay-Dee Hospital (625-2238.)

FACULTY PROFILE

Amelia (Ami) Ahern-Rindell came to Weber State in 1992 as an Assistant Professor of Zoology. Following receipt of a B.S. degree (with distinction) in Biology and Genetics from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, she received her MS and PhD in Genetics and Cell Biology from Washington State University (Pullman). She worked as a Chemical Research Assistant for Nalco Chemical Co. in Illinois and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Research Scientist at University of California- San Diego before joining us.

Ami teaches Genetics, Human Genetics and Society, Human Biology, and Molecular Genetics in the Zoology Department. In her first Women's Studies classroom experience this past spring quarter, she team-taught Women's Studies Research Critiques and Methodologies (WS 405) with Kathryn MacKay. She enjoyed that collaboration and plans to do it again.

Ami's involvement with active student learning is exemplified by her use of Writing-Across-the Curriculum techniques and her mentoring of students in research projects. Several projects have culminated in formal written theses in Zoology and/or presentations at national undergraduate research conferences. She participates actively on committees from departmental to university levels.

Since coming to Weber State, Ami has overseen the construction of a laboratory dedicated to teaching molecular biology techniques, particularly DNA finger-printing. She has received grant support from local to national levels to remodel space and purchase equipment and supplies. She works in close collaboration with Sue Fairbanks, also on the Zoology faculty and a former Women's Studies Executive Council member, elucidating the population dynamics of the pronghorn antelope recently introduced to Antelope Island.

Ami contributes her science knowledge and skills to the larger community as a presenter and organizer for the "Expanding Your Horizons" Conference, sponsored by the Utah Math/Science Network and designed to encourage young women in science. She has also been involved in the Utah Science Olympiad, the Utah State Science and Engineering Fair and the Boston Museum of Science "Science-by-Mail" Volunteers program.

Her "hobbies" include athletic pursuits such as swimming, weight-lifting, hiking and running. She has participated in one full and several half-marathons! A goal for the near future is to organize a Weber State race modeled after the "Race for the Cure" which features women runners competing and other community members supporting them. The intent is to raise women's awareness of their personal role in determining their own health and well-being, focusing particularly on breast cancer issues.

Ami shares her household with John, her husband of 17 years, and their feline companions Maddie and Mica. Both Ami and John enjoy gardening (and friends enjoy the fruits thereof); Ami likes to read and listen to music as well to relax after a long day in the classroom and/or lab.

CALENDAR

1 Sept - "Utah Sings" authors will read poetry at Thought Continuum (TC), 7-9 PM.

11 Sept - W. S. Opening Meeting, Smith Cabin, 2-6 PM.

- Namu Lwanga performance, Ben Lomond High School, 7 PM.

18 Sept - Readings from "The Word from Weber Co." , TC, 7-9 PM.

20 Sept - "Waking the West", CDT performance, 7:30 PM, Austad Auditorium, for info., call 626-7448.

21 Sept - "Birthing Global Peace" conference, Jackson Hole, WY.

23 Sept - Autumn Quarter begins. Welcome back!

For Web-surfers: Visit our home page at http//www.weber.edu/womenstudies/ wmnstdy.htm