Indiana Jones whips up interest in archaeology

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A Purdue University professor hopes the latest Indiana Jones film encourages more people to dig archaeology.

“The movies are really fun and exciting to watch, and they make archaeology look interesting,” says Kevin Vaughn, an assistant professor of anthropology. “But they make archaeology interesting in the wrong ways. Finding lost cities or single history-changing artifacts is rare, and that really isn’t the goal of contemporary archaeology in the first place. Our goal is to better understand the broad sweep of the human past, and we do this with pretty meticulous and scientific methods.

“I think many archaeologists would admit that there is a little bit of Indiana Jones in all of us. There is the thrill of discovery, however small, and the knowledge that what we do helps us better understand human history, but what most people don’t realize is that archaeologists spend 99 percent of their time making incremental discoveries and that for every day an archaeologist spends in the field, he or she spends a week or more in the lab processing data.”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” opened Memorial Day weekend and is in first place at the box office.

Vaughn, who studies the Nasca civilization of Peru –which existed from A.D. 1 to A.D. 750 — says people are surprised that the most common career in archaeology is very different from that personified by Indiana Jones. More than 50 percent of the jobs are in cultural resource management. These specialists often work for the government or private firms to ensure that development projects are in compliance with federal, state and local cultural heritage preservation laws. A smaller number of archaeologists work in museums or as university professors.

“Obviously our lives are not as exciting as Hollywood makes them,” Vaughn says. “One of the most important discoveries made this year was fossilized human feces found in Oregon, with the oldest preserved DNA in North America. This is never going to make a good Steven Spielberg film, but it’s a really important clue about the peopling of the Americas.

“I hope Indiana Jones fans continue learning about what archaeology really is. Taking classes in archaeology, going to museums and attending public lectures are great ways to learn.”

Purdue’s archaeology program is housed in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. On Aug. 1, sociology and anthropology will become two departments.

Liberal Arts to offer Latin American and Latino studies minor

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University’s College of Liberal Arts will begin offering a new program and an undergraduate minor in Latin American and Latino studies.

“Globalization and changing demographics have motivated faculty, students and the public in general to learn about the Latino communities in the United States, as well as the region of the world from which they come,” says Adriela Fernandez, the associate dean for academic programs who coordinated the program’s proposal in conjunction with the faculty participating in the Purdue Council on Latin American and Latino Studies.

“Purdue’s program will be housed in liberal arts, but it will serve the entire university and community. The program is interdisciplinary and it will draw on the expertise of Purdue’s diverse faculty. In addition to courses, the program will offer Purdue students opportunities for study abroad, community service and outreach, as well as collaborative activities with Ivy Tech, other colleges and universities, public schools, and community and state organizations.”

The 15-credit hour minor will require the “Introduction to Latin American and Latino Studies” course. Then students can select other courses that include “Spanish and Latin American Cinema,” “Hispanic Women Writers,” “The Archaeology of the Ancient Andes” and “History of Mexico.” Students also are required to demonstrate advanced oral and written proficiency in Spanish or Portuguese through testing or courses in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

Undergraduates interested in enrolling in these classes during the 2008-09 academic year should contact their academic advisers. New study abroad and scholarly exchange opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean will be offered through the program.

In 2007-08, Purdue’s Council on Latin American and Latino Studies, which is composed of faculty from across the university, and the College of Liberal Arts organized a series of public events on topics such as immigration, education trends and Latino life in Indiana.

The new program and undergraduate minor in Latin American and Latino studies, which was approved by the College of Liberal Arts Faculty Senate in April, will be housed in the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies. The other interdisciplinary programs in the College of Liberal Arts are African American studies, American studies, Asian studies, Asian American studies, classical studies, comparative literature, film/video studies, Italian studies, Jewish studies, linguistics, medieval and renaissance studies, peace studies, philosophy and literature, religious studies, and women’s studies.

The College of Liberal Arts is home to the departments of communication, English, foreign languages and literatures, health and kinesiology, history, philosophy, psychological sciences, sociology and anthropology, speech, language and hearing sciences, and visual and performing arts. On Aug. 1, sociology and anthropology will become two departments.

Purdue youth camps scores with name change, partnership

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University’s award-winning National Youth Sports Program has a new name and partnership thanks to old friends, Drew Brees and Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union.

Drew Brees, quarterback for the New Orleans Saints and former Purdue University football player, visits with campers at Purdue’s 2007 National Youth Sports Program. (Purdue News Service file photo/David Umberger)

The camp will now be known as PALS, Purdue Athletes Life Success Program, and will benefit from its relationship with The Brees Dream Foundation and Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union, which is known as PEFCU. Brees and PEFCU are partnering to raise funds for PALS with a celebrity golf event on June 14 at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex. Other former Purdue athletes attending the golf event include Kyle Orton, Bob DeMoss, Leroy Keyes, Mark Hermann and Nick Hardwick.

The Brees Dream Foundation and PEFCU have committed $50,000 from this event in each of the next five years to Purdue’s youth sports camp for underprivileged children, ages 10-16. Any additional funds raised from the golf outing will be distributed by the Brees Dream Foundation and PEFCU.

The former Boilermaker All-America quarterback, current quarterback for the New Orleans Saints and PEFCU spokesperson, has visited the camp annually since 2003 as part of PEFCU’s emphasis to support local youth. Funds from last year’s golf outing, presented by PEFCU, were donated to the Purdue program. This year’s camp is scheduled for June 12 through July 11, and Brees will visit the campers on June 13.

“Greater Lafayette is a generous community and I enjoy coming back each summer,” Drew Brees said. “I’m also grateful to have the opportunity to work with community-minded organizations like PEFCU and Purdue to benefit local children through my foundation.”

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Vintage Indiana celebrates state wine industry

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Vintage Indiana Wine and Food Festival returns to Indianapolis on Saturday (June 7) at Military Park.

The 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. festival, sponsored by the Indiana Wine Grape Council located at Purdue University, will give visitors the opportunity to taste more than 200 wines from 21 Indiana wineries.

“Vintage Indiana is a wonderful celebration of Indiana’s wine industry,” said Jeanette Merritt, marketing director for the Indiana Wine Grape Council and festival director. “Whether you’re a wine connoisseur or simply appreciate a good glass of wine from time to time, Vintage Indiana offers a broad range of flavors and styles.”

The event also will feature foods from local restaurants, cooking and wine demonstrations and live music.

Cooking and wine demonstrations will be held in the Wine and Food Experience Pavilion and will be hosted by Indianapolis TV personality Jill Ditmire. Live music will be performed throughout the day by the Woomblies, Brigid’s Cross and Jennie DeVoe.

Radio Disney will provide entertainment for children in the form of the Radio Disney KidZone – a Disney-themed interactive attraction that includes carnival games, miniature golf and ice cream for an additional cost.

Festival tickets are available at participating wineries, Marsh Supermarkets and online at www.vintageindiana.com. Advance ticket prices are $20 for adults (21 years and older), $10 for designated drivers and $5 for youth (ages 6-20). Children 5 and under will be admitted for free.

Tickets also can be purchased at the event for $23 for adults, $10 for designated drivers and $5 for youth. All guests are required to show proof of age at the gate.

A list of all participating wineries and vendors is available online at www.vintageindiana.com or by calling (800) 832-WINE.

All Vintage Indiana Wine and Food Festival proceeds benefit the Indiana Wine Grape Council, which promotes the development of the state’s wine and grape industry.

Research initiative will benefit Hoosiers statewide

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — A federal award to fund the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute validates Indiana’s position as a biomedical research leader, and citizens across Indiana and beyond will benefit, say Hoosier life sciences leaders.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a five-year grant of $25 million to the IU School of Medicine to fund Indiana CTSI activities at Indiana and Purdue Universities. The NIH created the clinical and translational awards program as a high priority effort to improve the process by which the laboratory discoveries of basic science are transformed into new medical treatments and products – a process called translational research.

Officials at the NIH said the Indiana CTSI is one of the most broadly collaborative of the more than two dozen such programs it has funded to date, with community partners including Clarian Health, Eli Lilly and Co., BioCrossroads, Cook Group, Roche, Wellpoint, the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the Indiana Department of Health and the Marion County Health Department.

“The institute harnesses all of Indiana’s major life sciences research centers into a commonly focused enterprise that will give Indiana’s research scientists many new advantages in finding ways to do their work more effectively and efficiently,” said IU President Michael A. McRobbie. “Over the long term, this will have an enormously positive impact on the state and will make laboratories at both IU and Purdue far more competitive for the major research awards of the future.”

“This partnership creates the only national clinical and translational sciences institute that’s a statewide research laboratory, and the National Institutes of Health acknowledged that,” said France A. Córdova, president of Purdue. “This unique structure means Purdue and Indiana university researchers can address the human health needs of the entire state, especially those in our more rural communities.”

One key to the success of the Indiana CTSI will be its ability to go beyond translating scientific discoveries to treatments and standard health care practices, said Anantha Shekhar, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at IU School of Medicine and IU assistant vice president for life sciences, who has been named director of the Indiana CTSI.

“We will build systems that facilitate all levels of research and provide community feedback to researchers. This will enable the researchers to improve and refine the conduct of their science and improve care of their patients. We call it the “translational circle,’ ” Dr. Shekhar said.

Connie Weaver, Ph.D., head of the Department of Foods and Nutrition at Purdue, has been named deputy director of the CTSI at Purdue. Bennett Bertenthal, Ph.D., dean of the IU College of Arts and Sciences, has been named deputy director for the IU Bloomington campus.

D. Craig Brater, M.D., vice president for life sciences of IU and dean of the IU School of Medicine, noted that the institute represents the future of biomedical research.

“The health issues facing us are enormous, the science is complex, and resources must be used carefully. Just as the emphasis on translational science is of vital importance, so are broad-based partnerships and collaborations keys to our success in Indiana. Both are epitomized by the CTSI,” Dr. Brater said.

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