In Brief

FirstSearch expands databases

River Campus Libraries has expanded its contract with FirstSearch, the on-line access system, to encompass 60-plus databases instead of the former 23. Newly available sources in FirstSearch include Biography Index, Book Review Digest, Dissertation Abstracts, Index to Legal Periodicals, The New York Times, Periodical Abstracts, and many others. Of special interest to life sciences researchers are new additions such as Agricola, Biology Digest, Basic BIOSIS, Environmental Sciences & Pollution, and MEDLINE. Also through FirstSearch, Sibley Music Library is making available RILM Abstracts of Music Literature to all University users.

FirstSearch can be reached via the Libraries' Voyager (on-line catalog) Database tab, or at www.lib.rochester.edu/main/fsearch. For Telnet users, the address is zappa.lib.rochester.edu.

Women's Club

The University Women's Club will hold a lunch meeting on September 26 at Mario's Via Abruzzi on Monroe Avenue. Anne Merideth of the Department of Religion and Classics will speak on the summer experience at the University dig in Yodefat.

All members of the University community are invited to attend. For reservations, call 288-6538.

Georgetown alumni

Any Georgetown alumni working at the University are asked to contact Maria Marconi for a group photograph. The photo will be taken at the end of October. Contact Marconi as soon as possible via e-mail, Mmarconi@OBGYN.rochester.edu, or by phone, x5-5528.

Medical Center convocation

The University's School of Medicine and Dentistry will hold its opening convocation on Thursday, September 18, from 4-5 p.m. in Room 2-6424, Medical Center. A reception will be held in Helen Wood Hall immediately following.

President Thomas H. Jackson, Lowell A. Goldsmith, dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry, and Jay H. Stein, senior vice president and vice provost for health affairs, are scheduled to speak.

Cosmology and astrophysics

Lee Smolin, a scientist who compares the development of the universe to a kind of cosmic natural selection, will speak at the University at 4 p.m., on Wednesday, September 24, Room 109, Bausch & Lomb Hall.

Smolin's talk, titled Critical Phenomena in Cosmology and Astrophysics, will be preceded by a tea in Room 374 of Bausch & Lomb Hall. Both are free and open to the public.

In his new book, The Life of the Cosmos, Smolin, a professor of physics at Pennsylvania State University, seeks to explain the incredible combination of circumstances that have conspired to create a universe capable of sustaining life. His final conclusion: Our universe is the product of a cosmological evolution that's worked steadily over millions of years to spawn new universes capable of ever-greater production of life.

Public speaking

The Daybreakers Club of Toastmasters International meets from 7:30 to 9 a.m., every first and third Thursday of each month in the Medical Center's Seneca Room. The group will be sponsoring a guest day, Thursday, November 6, from 7:30 to 9 a.m., in the Seneca Room. All guests are welcome. For more information, call 784-8321.

14th Annual Flower Day

The 14th Annual Flower Day is scheduled for Friday, October 3. Teams will be positioned around all University campuses and will be selling single carnations for $1 each to benefit patient care, research, and education at Children's Hospital at Strong.

Volunteers for teams are needed. Call x3-5948 for more information.

Public integration

The film The Strange Demise of Jim Crow: How Houston Integrated Its Public Accommodations, 1960-1963 will be shown on Friday, September 26, at 2 p.m., in Room 210, Lattimore Hall.

Thomas Cole will introduce the film and answer questions about it following the screening. Cole is the graduate program director at the Institute for the Medical Humanities, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

Admission to the film is free and open to all. For more information, call x5-2052

Chartier to speak here

French historian Roger Chartier will speak on Discourse, Text, Books: The Construction of Authorship, A Retrospective Approach, Friday, September 19, at 4:30 p.m., in Room 321, Morey Hall.

One of the most eminent French historians of his generation, Chartier's expertise centers on the pre-Revolutionary era and the culture of print. Also a commentator on methodological problems, Chartier is the author of numerous books, including the recent On the Edge of the Cliff: History, Language, and Practices (1997). Chartier is the director of studies at the Center for Historical Research in Paris.

Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, call x5-2052.

Book fair

The Friends of the University Libraries will hold the 25th Rochester International Book Fair on Saturday, September 27, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the New York State Armory on Culver Road.

Dealers from across the Northeast and Canada will be on hand with rare, antiquarian, and good used books, maps, posters, postcards, and prints. A raffle and silent auction will be featured, and food concessions and a kids' corner also will be available.

For more information, call x5-3302.

Computer sales

University Computer Sales is pleased to announce a Back-to-School Sale for students, faculty, staff and departments through October 10. This year, the store is featuring Dell Optiplex and NEC Ready desktop computers; Dell Latitude, NEC Versa, Toshiba Satellite and Tecra, and IBM ThinkPad notebook computers for Windows 95 customers. A buyer of any Apple Macintosh Computer and/or any Apple printer can receive a $50, $100, $200, or $300 mail-in rebate directly from Apple Computer.

Price lists are available at either store location and on the University Computer Sales web site.

Asthma study

The Pulmonary Clinical Group is looking for people with mild asthma ages 19 through 60 for asthma research. Volunteers need to be non-smokers and will receive an honorarium of $35.

For more information, call x5-4163.

Human Resources extends hours

In an effort to provide better customer service for employees, the Office of Human Resources has extended its hours of operation. Effective immediately, the Benefits Division will be open on Friday from 7:15 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Employment Division will be open on Friday from 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Human Resources staff are available to answer questions and provide information about medical plans, tuition, retirement, employment, payroll, etc. The offices are located in the Medical Center: Benefits in Room G-8011, x5-2084; Employment in Room G-7009, x5-4989.

Watching weight

A Weight Watchers At-Work Program meets every Wednesday, from noon to 1 p.m. in Room 2-8529, Medical Center. The University community is invited to attend. For more information on the program, call 1-800-234-8080.

Voter registration

A voter registration drive will be held on September 24 and 25, October 1, 2, 8, and 9, from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m., in Wilson Commons.

The drive is sponsored by the Susan B. Anthony University Center and the Office of Minority Student Affairs and they are looking for volunteers for the drive. For more information, call x5-0651.