NCI Sends Thoughts and Prayers to Chile

As reported in today's New York Times, "The ground underneath Chile continued shaking on Sunday as jittery residents took stock of the devastating magnitude 8.8 earthquake that flattened homes, toppled bridges and took more than 700 lives over the weekend."

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Sister City Delegation Visits Indianapolis

Indianapolis hosted a delegation of government, cultural and business leaders from its sister city of Hangzhou, China, yesterday, reports Inside INdiana Business. The group met with Mayor Greg Ballard and executives of Indianapolis Economic Development Inc. and toured several local attractions, including the Indianapolis Museum of Art and Conseco Fieldhouse.

Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, is a Sister City to Indianapolis. It is known for its pharmaceuticals and a manufacturing sector with a focus in automotive components.

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Chinese New Year Celebration Saturday

A Chinese New Year celebration is set for Saturday (27 February) at Carmel (Ind.) High School, reports The Indianapolis Star. The Chinese New Year Lantern Festival Celebration at the school, 520 East Main Street, Carmel, begins at 3 p.m. Tickets are $8 for members of sponsoring groups, $12 for others. Children 3 and younger are free. A dinner ticket is $5.

Indianapolis Chinese Community Center Inc. hosts the event, according to The Star. Co-sponsors are Lilly Chinese Culture Network, Confucius Institute at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, Indianapolis Chinese Performing Arts Inc., Indiana Association of Chinese Americans Inc., Indianapolis Chinese Medical Association, The Asian American Journal, Chinese School of CCCI and Families with Children from China.

For more information, email Xiaohua He.

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2010 Indiana State Fair Highlights Japan

According to an Associated Press report today, Japan will get featured treatment at this year's Indiana State Fair, set for 6-22 August at the fairgrounds in Indianapolis. It will be the first time the fair will concentrate its Grand Hall exhibition space to a single country and its connection with Indiana.

The exhibit will feature displays on the Japanese family and culture and economic exchanges between the Asian nation and Indiana. The Japan-America Society of Indiana and the Indiana Economic Development Corp. will help the state fair mount the exhibit.

Indiana governor Mitch Daniels' father, Mitch Daniels Sr., was the first executive director of the Japan-America Society of Indiana, established in 1988. JASI, a member of the Nationalities Council of Indiana, is a not-for-profit cultural and educational organization whose mission is to serve as a bridge of friendship between the people of Indiana and Japan. It sponsors a wide range of cultural events, networking receptions, business briefings, and public affairs presentations that explore current issues in the Japan-U.S. relationship. JASI is a member of the National Association of Japan-America Societies, headquartered in Washington D.C., which includes over forty societies nationwide.

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'The Cherry Orchard' at Butler Next Weekend

Butler Theatre will present 'The Cherry Orchard', a play by the Russian Anton Chekhov, 24-28 February in Theater 168 of Lilly Hall Studio on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis. It is part of “The World Comes to Butler,” the theater's 2009-2010 season.

All performances take place in Lilly Hall Studio Theatre 168. They'll be at 8 p.m. 24-27 February, and 2 p.m. 27 and 28 February. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students. Call 317:940-9247 for tickets.

The play, in a translation by Paul Schmidt, will be directed by Elaina Artemiev. Written in 1903, the play was given its first production early in 1904. Chekhov viewed the work as a comedy and was deeply frustrated that Konstantin Stanislavski, directing at the Moscow Art Theatre, made it into a tragedy. Most people would have difficulty thinking of the play as a comedy because the loss of the family estate seems so poignant. Yet, as we observe the life onstage we conclude that the characters’ actions are either ridiculous or utterly inept. One might feel sorry for the family – but then surely they could have done a better job of preserving the heritage that they claim is so important to them.

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Kernan Returns to Vietnam

Former Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan is making an emotional return to Vietnam, where he spent 11 months as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.

WSBT-TV reports that Kernan and his wife Maggie on Monday visited the sites of two Hanoi prisons where he was held after his Navy reconnaissance plane was shot down in 1972.

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Moi University–IUPUI Peace Symposium

A Peace Symposium co-sponsored by Moi University and Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis will be held 12-14 May in Eldoret, Kenya. The theme is Youth Empowerment for Peace, Reconciliation and Development. See the call for papers. Deadline for submission of abstracts is 26 March.


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Benefit for Friends of the World Food Program

Two units of the Indianapolis Children’s Choir perform at 2 p.m. 7 March in the Pike Performing Arts Center, 6701 Zionsville Road, Indianapolis. Proceeds will be donated to Friends of the World Food Program. Advance tickets are $10 and can be purchased at participating Marsh Supermarkets. For more information, contact Indiana Friends of the World Food Program.

The two choirs performing are Cantantes Angeli, directed by ICC Founder and Artistic Director Henry Leck, and the Indianapolis Youth Chorale directed by Cheryl West.

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Dow AgroSciences Expands in Australia

A new research alliance between Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences LLC and the Victorian Government in Australia will create 30 agricultural biotech jobs in Melbourne, reports Inside INdiana Business.

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IPFW Team in Finals of International Business Competition

Five Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne students have qualified as semi-finalists for an international business competition to be held next month at the University of San Francisco, reports Inside INdiana Business. The team, BioJoint Technologies, will be competing for $10,000 and venture capital funding for its orthopedic product.

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Food for Thought

"Can we have a discussion about how we choose what we eat?" This question will be analyzed at an upcoming continuing education conference presented by a consortium of Indiana University and Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis alumni associations. Inspired by IUPUI's inaugural "Common Theme book", Deep Economy by Bill McKibben, and the 2010 Spirit & Place theme, a panel of faculty and local experts will explore how and why we consume food: its sources, quality, culture, and markets and the consequences of our consumption on our local and worldwide community.

Featured speaker is David Shalleck, author of Mediterranean Summer, winner of the 2008 Cordon d'Or Culinary Academy Award.

The conference is 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 6 March in the University Place Conference Center and Hotel, 850 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis. Complete information is online, including how to register (fee for non-alumni is $45).

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Indy Teens to Get "A Taste of Hunger"

More than 135 youth groups in the Indianapolis area will participate in World Vision's 30 Hour Famine from 26 through 27 February. They'll get a "taste of hunger" while performing hands-on community service and raising funds to fight world hunger.

For 30 hours, they'll go without food (consuming only liquids) to experience a bit of what the poorest families face every day. Teens will be participating in groups through churches, schools, youth groups and civic organizations.

The project, now in its 19th year, is sponsored by World Vision. For group and service project information, contact Lauren Wilkie, 708:434-5006. Additional information about the 30 Hour Famine can be found online.

World Vision is a Christian relief and development organization dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. World Vision serves the world's poor regardless of a person's religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.

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The Good Person of Szechwan

"The Good Person of Szechwan", a play by Berholt Brecht, will be performed beginning at 8 p.m. Friday (19 February) in Ransburg Auditorium's Esch Hall on the campus of the University of Indianapolis, 1400 East Hanna Avenue, Indianapolis. Tickets (available at the door) are $10.

Here's a summary of the plot: When three gods come to earth in search of a thoroughly good person, they encounter Shen Teh, a goodhearted but penniless prostitute, who offers them shelter. Rewarded with enough money to open a tobacco shop, the “Angel of the Slums” Shen Teh soon becomes so overwhelmed by the demands of people seeking assistance that she invents a male alter ego, “Tobacco King” Shui Ta, to deal ruthlessly with the business of living in an evil world. One of Bertolt Brecht’s most celebrated works, this intercultural play blends his fascination with Chinese theatricality, German politics, and American detective novels into a fast-moving, comic consideration of Right and Wrong in the real world.

For more information, contact Valerie K. Miller Wahlstrom, 317:788-2183.

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Indiana University's EU Moot Court Team Advances

A team of law students from the Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis campus has advanced to the regionals of an international moot court competition, reports the IUPUI News Bureau

Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis students Douglas Clough, Kyle Kimble, Lumi Nodit and Nathan Seger will participate in the oral round of the European Union Law Moot Court Competition 25-27 February at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

The EU Moot Court Competition is an annual international event in which teams compete in a written and oral competition arguing the merits of a hypothetical case involving a series of legal questions prevalent in the European Union. The written competition involves the preparation of two written briefs, applicant and defendant in a hypothetical suit before the European Court of Justice.

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Second Annual Hunger Banquet

The Second Annual Hunger Banquet begins at 6:30 p.m. 20 February in Room 450 of the Campus Center at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis. It's sponsored by IUPUI Campus and Global Health Student Interest Group and co-sponsored by the IUPUI Common Theme Project and by Partnership: Africa.

This is an "awareness and advocacy event", which will feature diverse cultural entertainment, sales of fair-trade Kenyan crafts from Imani Workshops, and ethnic food from restaurants around Indianapolis. Tickets are $12. All proceeds benefit IU-Kenya Orphans & Vulnerable Children Program" (pictured).

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Introduction to U.S. Immigration Law

“Introduction to U.S. Immigration Law and Key Considerations in Hiring and Retaining Foreign National Employees” is the subject for an immigration seminar to be held from 2-4 p.m. Friday (12 February). The seminar will cover the latest in US immigration law, updates, and other employment issues related to hiring and retaining foreign workers. It is co-sponsored by Ice Miller LLP and the Japan-America Society of Indiana. It will be presented in English with Japanese summary and comments in Conference Room 29A/B at Ice Miller, 29th Floor, One American Square, Indianapolis.

There is no charge, but registration is required, either online or by download and mail.

Speaker will be Jenifer M. Brown, Partner, Ice Miller. Her main topics are U.S. Immigration Basics for international companies, Visas for intra-company transferees and families (especially E and L categories), Hiring local talent: Update regarding fiscal year 2011 H-1B Quota and Long-term planning for foreign national employees, followed by Q&A.

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Junot Diaz Speaks at Butler University

A presentation by author Junot Diaz (pictured) is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday (11 February) as part of the spring 2010 Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series. It will be held in the Reilly Room of Atherton Union on the Butler campus in Indianapolis.

Diaz, who was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, is the author of Drown (1996) and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007), which won the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. His fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, African Voices, Best American Short Stories (1996, 1997, 1999, 2000), in Pushcart Prize XXII and in The O'Henry Prize Stories 2009. For more information, call 317:940-9861.

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Notre Dame to host Brazilian Carnaval

Vibrant Brazilian dance rhythms will transport revelers from South Bend to the streets of Rio de Janeiro during the University of Notre Dame’s 12th annual celebration of Brazilian Carnaval. It will be held from 8 p.m. to midnight Friday (12 February) in Notre Dame’s South Dining Hall. The family-friendly event is free and open to the public.

The Brazilian celebration of Mardi Gras, Carnaval will feature professional Brazilian dancers performing and teaching dance steps to the authentic axe and samba music of Chicago Samba. Directed by Moacyr Marchini, Chicago Samba features Brazilian musicians who have performed together for almost 20 years.

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NSF director to lead new Purdue global institute

Arden L. Bement Jr. (pictured), who has served as director of the National Science Foundation since President George W. Bush appointed him in 2004, has been tapped to lead Purdue University's new Global Policy Research Institute. A former Purdue nuclear engineering professor and department head, he also served as director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, from 2001 to 2004.

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Eighteenth-Century Furniture Design

Just a few more days remain to see an exhibition of 18th Century Furniture Design at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, 4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis, which closes on 21 February. It includes more than 30 eighteenth-century prints of furniture design from France, Germany and England as well as related pieces of furniture, all drawn from the IMA's permanent collection.

These prints provided models for individual craftsman or gentleman clients. They reflected current fashions ranging from the graceful, organic curves of the Rococo to the sober, geometric forms of Neoclassicism. Together with the furnishings, they illustrate the major stylistic developments of one of the most significant periods of European decorative arts. Some of the most famous authors of published manuals of furniture design are represented, including Chippendale, Hepplewhite and Sheraton. Conant Gallery.

(Image credit: George Hepplewhite, Double Chest of Drawers, 1787, engraving, Director’s Discretionary Fund, 73.2.125)

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Lilly's Transfer of Technology to South African Company

Eli Lilly & Company has announced the US$1 million milestone payment to Aspen, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, as part of the joint collaboration on expanding access to medicines to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), according to Aspen Pharma.

The milestone is part of a Transfer of Technology agreement between Aspen and Lilly, initiated in 2003 under the umbrella of the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership, a global project to tackle the growing MDR-TB epidemic. Aspen is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The collaboration involved the transfer of Lilly’s drug manufacturing and packaging technology to enable Aspen to manufacture two essential anti-TB drugs. Lilly provided manufacturing know-how, access to technical experts, and other assistance to assure the quality and sustainability of the manufacturing processes.

The partnership with Aspen represents one of four similar partnerships Lilly holds with pharmaceutical manufacturers based in high burden countries where MDR-TB is most prevalent. These additional partnerships are between Lilly and SIA International (Russia), Shasun Chemicals and Drugs (India), and Hisun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (China).

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Kenya Project Receives $5 Million to Expand Care

A partnership between Indiana and Kenya is receiving a 3-year, $5 million grant from USAID to expand health care in western Kenya, reports Inside INdiana Business. Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH), a collaboration between the IU School of Medicine and Kenya's Moi University School of Medicine and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, will use the grant and other private funds to expand its network of clinics in the sub-Saharan nation.

AMPATH, the joint partnership between Indiana University School of Medicine, the Moi (Eldoret, Kenya) University School of Medicine and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, has received a 3-year, $5 million USAID supplement grant to expand health care services in western Kenya.

AMPATH – the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare – received a 5-year, $60 million grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2007 to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS in Kenya. AMPATH is the outgrowth of an IU School of Medicine and Moi University partnership formed 20 years ago.

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IUPUI Co-Sponsoring Biocomputing Symposium in India

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and the National Institute of Technology Calicut (pictured) in India are partnering to increase international research opportunities among life and computer science scholars, reports Inside INdiana Business. Both institutions have co-founded the first International Symposium on Biocomputing to take place 15-17 February in Calicut City. Lecturers and presenters representing 14 countries will focus on bioinformatics and biotechnology.

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