Photo by Chris Meyer IU Southeast biologist Dick Maxwell walks about the limestone glades in Charlestown State Park. The plant in the foreground is an agave. Maxwell, an emeritus professor, is the great great grandson of David Maxwell (1786-1854), often referred to as the "father of Indiana University."

Today's Feature

Glory days

IU celebrated its first homecoming in 1908; there was a circus on Jordan Field and three new buildings were dedicated. Not until the next year did a football contest serve as the centerpiece--special trains transported fans to Bloomington from around the state, the seating capacity on the field of play was plumped up to 5,700. Stand for the fight song, check out the schedule for homecoming 2006 (Oct. 26-29) and take a trip down memory lane, compliments of the IU Alumni Association.

Additional top stories

 

 

Stewardship

The IU Southeast Herbarium holds the preserved bodies of thousands of plants, a cornucopia for evolutionary biologists; the School of Law-Bloomington has a new center to provide a clinical component for the practice of environmental law; and IU Kokomo’s Robert Dibie, speaking about global sustainable development, was a keynote speaker at the University of the West Indies this week.

Best practices

An IUPUI environmental science curriculum gets high marks from the College Board, and an IU vice president implements a new fiscal certification process to increase institutional accountability.

Proteins and medicine

The National Cancer Institute has awarded $7 million to the IU and Purdue Analytical Proteomics Team; researchers will develop next-generation tools to determine the proteins, or biomarkers, relevant to cancer research and treatment. In another story, IU Northwest scientists have discovered a family of proteins that could boost defenses against bacterial infections among patients with compromised immune systems.

A new urbanism

The ways in which Bilbao, Spain, revitalized itself through the arts has inspired an upcoming conference at IU Northwest related to the role the arts and humanities can play in transforming northern Indiana. An international slate of keynoters is scheduled Nov. 2-4.