BYU

FORMER UTAH GOV. TO SPEAK -- Michael O. Leavitt, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, will headline the 15th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium Oct. 5-8, at Brigham Young University's J. Reuben Clark Law School.

The keynote addresses will be given by Secretary Leavitt and Xinping Zhuo, director of the Institute of World Religions at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Students may attend free of charge, but all attendees must register in advance. For more information or to register, visit www.ICLRS.org or contact Deborah Wright at 422-6842 or wrightde@lawgate.byu.edu.

This year's symposium theme is "International Protection of Religious Freedom: National Implementation" with sub-themes including "Evolving International Approaches to Religious Freedom," and "Emerging Challenges to Religious Freedom: Regional Perspectives."

Delegates at the conference will include more than 70 religious leaders and government officials from more than 40 countries.

DEVOTIONAL SPEAKER -- Elder Robert R. Steuer of the Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will deliver a Brigham Young University devotional address at the Marriott Center Tuesday at 11:05 a.m.

Steuer was sustained as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy of the LDS Church in 2001. He has served as president of the Brazil North Area and has also served as a counselor in that area. Steuer is currently serving in the Missionary and Correlation Departments.

A diagnostic physician, Steuer was founder and chairman of Hemametrics Corporation. He earned bachelor's and medical degrees from the University of Minnesota.

The devotional will be broadcast live on BYU Broadcasting channels. Visit byubroadcasting.org for rebroadcast information.

BYU HOSTS MCGILL UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR -- Antonia Maioni, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, will be the guest of honor at the 2008 Asael E. and Maydell C. Palmer Lecture in Canadian Studies Thursday at noon in 238 Herald R. Clark Building at Brigham Young University.

Her presentation is titled, "Health Care Crisis: What Canada and the U.S. Can Learn From One Another in Providing Effective Health Care."

As associate professor of political science and William Dawson Scholar at Montreal's McGill University, Maioni teaches courses in Canadian politics, health care policy and comparative government. Maioni is author of "Parting at the Crossroads: The Emergence of Health Insurance in the United States and Canada."

She has also authored or contributed to more than 30 articles and book chapters and is a frequent media commentator on Canadian and Quebec politics and public policy, in both English and French, for local, national and international media.

The Palmer Distinguished Lecture in Canadian Studies is funded by the Palmer Family in honor of Asael E. and Maydell C. Palmer. Asael was an acclaimed agricultural scientist in Canada starting in the 1930s. Both Asael and Maydell were actively involved in the LDS Church and their community in Alberta, Canada. The lecture will be archived online at kennedy.byu.edu/archive.

For additional information, contact Earl Fry at 422-2453 or earl_fry@byu.edu.

NEW DIRECTOR -- Paul Y. Hoskisson has been appointed director of Brigham Young University's Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies and the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies. He replaces S. Kent Brown, who is retiring from the university.

Hoskisson is a professor of ancient scripture at BYU, an expert on the Book of Mormon and a noted scholar of the Bible, particularly the world of the Bible.

"We are grateful to S. Kent Brown for his able leadership of this department of the Maxwell Institute over the last few years," said M. Gerald Bradford, executive director of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. "Kent provided vision during the early formative period of the Willes Center while pursuing the ongoing work of FARMS."

"I am convinced we have an able successor to him in Professor Hoskisson," said Bradford. "Paul's scholarly accomplishments make him ideally suited for this new assignment. He will work with others to further quality scholarship on the Book of Mormon under the auspices of the Willes Center, and will ensure that FARMS continues to foster the very best work on other Restoration scriptures and on the Bible."

Prior to his appointment, Hoskisson was the Richard L. Evans Professor of Religious Understanding at BYU. He has served as associate dean of Religious Education and coordinator of BYU's Near Eastern Studies program.

Hoskisson received his doctorate from Brandeis University. He also earned bachelor's and master's degrees from BYU.

BYU STUDENTS WIN AWARDS -- School of Technology students representing BYU in the 2008 International Woodworking Fair last month in Georgia were well received, coming away with awards in two categories.

Jonathan Cox won first place in the "Design Creativity" category for the queen-sized bed frames he designed and built. Brady Cutler won second place in the "Contract Furniture" category for his four-foot diameter design, "The Clock."

Students in Kip Christensen's "Furniture Design" class create dozens of designs and choose one piece to build. Although BYU supplies access to a professional lab and furniture-making tools, students invest their own money and time into making their designs become reality.

"It's hard to know the amount of work that goes into pieces like these if you've never done one before," said Christensen. "It's a major effort, anywhere from 150 to 200 hours."

Other students nationally recognized for their furniture pieces were Justin Anderson, Jonathan Cox, Matthew Larson, and Jesse Taylor, each accepted into national juried exhibitions. Students Mark Davis, Sean Favero, and Jacob Knudsen were recognized for their chair designs, which were recently selected to be published in the book "500 Chairs" published this year by Lark Books.

UVU

PARALYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST TO SPEAK AT UVU -- In celebration of Disability Awareness Month, Mark Zupan, a Paralympian who recently won a gold medal in Beijing, will be at UVU to speak on "Smashing Stereotypes One Hit at a Time" on Oct. 9 at 1 p.m. at the Ragan Theatre in the Sorensen Center. His speech is free and open to the public and will discuss shattering the stereotypes of those with disabilities and how everyone is capable of accomplishing amazing feats.

Zupan was in a car accident in college when he flew out of the back of a pick-up truck, which resulted in him being paralyzed. That didn't stop him from leading an active life when he started playing wheelchair rugby in college. He was on the bronze-winning U.S. team in Athens 2004 and just recently won the gold in Beijing. Zupan has been named Most Valuable Player four times and has been named U.S. Quad Rugby Association's Athlete of the Year.

In addition to being an avid wheelchair rugby player, Zupan was also featured in the award-winning film "Murderball", which won the 2005 Sundance Film Festival's documentary audience award. Zupan has also written a book, "Gimp," where he shares his story and struggles in life. Zupan graduated from Georgia Tech in civil engineering.

UVU TO HOST POLITICAL DEBATE -- Utah Valley University will host the Third Congressional District Debate, Wednesday at 7 p.m. in UVU's Grande Ballroom in the Sorensen Center. The individuals intended to participate include Bennion Spencer, Democrat; Jason Chaffetz, Republican; and Jim Noorlander, Constitution party.

A reception for the public will be held before the debate from 6:15-7 p.m. just outside the Grande Ballroom. Here, attendees are encouraged to speak with each candidate personally, before the question-and-discussion session begins.

"We have set aside 45 minutes before the debates to begin for students, faculty and community members to personally visit with the candidates," said Elaine Englehardt, professor of ethics. "It is an opportunity to see the candidates in a casual setting and exchange ideas and points of view."

The debate, organized by Englehardt, is part of the Utah Democracy Project -- a project designed to enlighten students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community about the importance of the political system in the United States.

"A well educated population is vital in a functioning democracy," Englehardt said. "It is important for students, faculty and community members to learn as much as they can about the three candidates. [They] have diverse points of view. We should educate ourselves about their positions in vital areas of our lives and vote for the candidate who can best represent our community."

The questions posed to each candidate will be provided by the Ethics Center, as well as several UVU student leaders and campus groups. Once the questions are formed, they will be submitted to the Daily Herald for delivery at the debate.

The debate will be moderated by Randy Wright, executive editor of the Daily Herald, and broadcast live on UVU channels 17 and 77. UVU is also planning to rebroadcast the debate before the Nov. 4 elections.

The event is cosponsored by the Associated Students of UVU, The Daily Herald and the Office of the President. It is free to the public. Parking will be available in the Sorensen Center lot, located just north of the Sorensen Center.

PIANIST JON SCHMIDT TO PERFORM AT UVU -- Utah Valley University presents the second annual fall concert, "An Evening with Jon Schmidt," Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. in UVU's Ragan Theatre, located in the Sorensen Center. The concert is provided by Envision, UVU's Winter Guard Club, to raise money for traveling expenses to the Winter Guard International World Championships in Dayton, Ohio, in April 2009.

Last year, Schmidt's concert was played to a sold-out crowd, and more than $2,200 was raised to help students involved in the Envision Winter Guard program; a huge success, according to those involved in the campus club.

Tickets are $12 for general admission and $10 for UVU faculty, staff and students. Tickets can be purchased at the UVU Campus Connection or by calling (801) 863-8797. More information about the UVU Envision Winter Guard can be found at www.envisionguard.com.

UVU TO HOLD BIANNUAL INTERNSHIP & CAREER FAIR -- UVU Career Services & Student Employment will be hosting its biannual Internship & Career Fair Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Sorensen Center Grande Ballroom.

Around 70 to 80 employers will be looking for students to fill career and internship positions available now and in the near future. Employers attending this fall include Huntsman Cancer Institute, Intermountain Healthcare, Internal Revenue Service, Northwestern Mutual Financial, FedEx Ground, Enterprise Rent A Car, Provo Canyon School, Space Dynamics Laboratory and many more.

"Students need to dress professionally, especially those genuinely seeking an internship or a career position," said Amber Collins, a CSSE career counselor and project manager of the career fair. "They also need to understand that companies hire for various types of positions ... you might see a healthcare company and assume they are only hiring for health-related positions when in fact they could be hiring for accountants, human resources, education or other areas."

Collins recommends that students research the companies attending the career fair to know beforehand what each company is looking for. CSSE assists students in finding work and internship opportunities throughout their college education as well as providing career counseling and coaching. They also help students prepare resumes. CSSE is located at the south end of the Hall of Flags in BA 113.

For more information and a complete list of employers attending the fair, call 863-6364 or visit www.uvu.edu/csse.

RMUoHP

APPOINTMENT -- Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions is pleased announce that Virginia Nieland has been named the new chairwoman for the Board of Trustees. She had previously served as vice-chairwoman for the university for four years prior to this appointment. Nieland is a retired physical therapist and educator whose background includes 15 years of clinical practice and administration in acute general hospital settings and chronic pain units.

For 12 years she served on the faculty and chaired two physical therapy education programs in academic health science centers: the University of Nebraska - College of Medicine, and the Medical University of South Carolina. She was then recruited by the American Physical Therapy Association. While employed at APTA she was the director of the Department of Accreditation.

Nieland is a graduate of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Therapy and the University of Nebraska-Omaha with a Master of Science degree in Counseling and Guidance with Specialization in College Student Personnel. In May, 2001 she was honored by the University of Central Arkansas when she was awarded the honorary doctor of science degree -- the first honorary doctorate degree ever awarded by the university.

NEW DEAN -- Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions is pleased to announce Debra Beazley as the new Academic Dean. Beazley comes to RMUoHP from Troy University in Augusta, Ga., where she served as chairwoman of Business for the MBA, Executive MBA, and Masters of Management programs. While at Troy, she developed curricula for healthcare administration and organizational change graduate degrees. Beazley has more than 20 years of rehabilitation management, consulting, and treatment experience in acute care, acute/sub-acute rehabilitation, long-term care, outpatient and private practice care.

Beazley has presented at numerous national conferences, including the Academy of Management, Society for the Advancement of Management, International Academy of Management and Business, The CARF Best Practice Conference and First International Conference on Applied Management and Decision Sciences. Along with her other numerous accomplishments, she has been featured in such publications as Journal of Management, Spirituality, and Religion, and the Encyclopedia of Distance Learning.