In Brief

Poet and experimental writer Kate Braverman, a product of the unique spasm of Romanticism that was California in the 1960s, will read fiction and poetry here at 7:30 p.m., on Thursday, October 2. The first visitor of the 35th season of the Plutzik Memorial Poetry Series, Braverman is this year's writer-in-residence in the English department. She will speak in the Welles-Brown Room in Rush Rhees Library.

Braverman, a self-described experimental and unrepentant feminist, retains the politics and aesthetics of the 1960s. Although she believes that the lines between novels and poems are obsolete, she has won numerous accolades for both her novels and poems, including Best American Short Story in 1991 and 1995 and the O. Henry Award in 1992. Braverman has published four books of poetry and was founder and director of the California State University Los Angeles Summer Writing Institute. She was also a founding member of the Venice Poetry Workshop in 1971 and the Women's Building in 1975.

Braverman's appearance is free and open to all. For more information, call x5-4092.

Rush Rhees tours

Newcomers to the University community--students, faculty, and staff--are invited to 50-minute Rush Rhees Library tours at 3 p.m., Monday, September 29, through Friday, October 3, or at 6 p.m., Monday, September 29, through Wednesday, October 1. These are walk-in tours; professors seeking a course-related library session for their students should make arrangements with subject specialist librarians.

Noncredit courses

The 1998 Spring Part-timer's Guide to Registration and Services is now available. Anyone interested in taking one of the many noncredit course offerings such as Wine Appreciation, Microsoft Office Series, or Written Communication Sequence I and II, should call x5-2341 to have a guide mailed, or pick one up in Room127, Lattimore Hall.

'Hystories' author to speak

Feminist writer Elaine Showalter, author of the controversial Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Media, will speak here on Tuesday, October 14.

Her talk, "From Neurasthenia to Now: The Politics of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome," will take place at 8 p.m. in Lander Auditorium of Hutchison Hall.

One of the founding figures in American feminist literary criticism, Showalter has an unusually diverse resume. She is Avalon Foundation Professor of the Humanities and professor of English at Princeton University, president-elect of the Modern Language Association, and a one-time TV critic for People magazine. She has penned numerous books, including the most recent and highly controversial Hystories, which studies contemporary cultural syndromes such as satanic ritual abuse, recovered memory syndrome, Gulf War syndrome, and alien abduction.

Showalter's lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, call x5-4092.

Romanian folk music

Traditional Romanian folk musicians Grigore and Maria Lese will perform at the University at 6 p.m., October 5. Both accomplished musicians of authentic Romanian folk music, the Leses will appear in Room 101, Dewey Hall.

The Leses hope to reinforce the rich tradition of Romanian culture by performing archaic Romanian folk music, virtually unknown to Western listeners who are more familiar with a more modern, popularized version of Romanian music.

Grigore Lese hails from Tara Lapusului, in Northern Transylvania. He and Maria Lese were trained at the Gheorghe Dima Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca. Described by critics as the finest performer of authentic folk music in Romania today, Grigore Lese, who often performs solo, possesses a genuine folk voice and plays myriad instruments, including the bassoon, the shepherd's pipe, the flute, and the Romanian three-tiered toaca. He has produced many compact discs, including his latest, Cantecul Pastoral, and he played the musical protagonist in director Elise Stan's 1996 folklore film Obirsi.

The concert is free and open to all, and refreshments will follow. For general questions, call x5-5911.

PCOS research

The University's Endocrine Metabolism Unit is looking for premenopausal women between the ages of 18 through 40 with diagnosed polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) for a clinical research trial. The investigation will examine the use of drug therapy in improving the symptoms of PCOS.

For more information, call x3-3972.

Parent/child relationships

The University's Toddler Center is studying learning in children and parent/child relationships. Researchers are looking for volunteer families with children from three to eight years old who meet a list of other criteria. All families will be required to complete one visit to the University and will be paid $20 for the visit.

For more information, call x5-2014.

Donors sought

Sperm donors between the ages of 18 and 40 are needed for the University's artificial insemination program. Volunteers must be willing to be a donor for at least a year and undergo routine blood and urine testing.

For more information, call x5-2491.

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.

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.

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.