About 1,500 University of Toledo students are expected to participate in this year’s Big Event, the University’s largest, student-run service project.

The Big Event is Saturday, March 22. Students gather at the UT Recreation Center on Main Campus beginning at 9:30 a.m. to receive their job site assignments. The service event is scheduled to run from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

UT students participate in the Big Event to give back to the Toledo community. They complete service projects such as yard work, painting houses, window washing and other tasks for the elderly. The groups work in neighborhoods close to UT, including Secor Gardens and Bancroft Hills, as well as other sites such as the Cherry Street Mission.

“I have been involved with the Big Event since I was a freshman and it grows bigger every year. I think UT is a strong, service-based school and the community is always beyond thankful for the service we do,” said Justin Walko, a junior in the College of Business and Innovation and director of the event.

Walko can be contacted at 614.257.8798.

Media Coverage
The Blade (March 22)

The University of Toledo will help you get rid of those old electronics piled up in the basement or spare bedroom.

A community electronics recycling drive will be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 22 in parking area 28, located off East Rocket Drive by the Transportation Center near the Dorr Street entrance to Main Campus.

Most anything with a power cord will be accepted at the event to be disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner.

For those looking to recycle older televisions, there will be a disposal charge. Any older television less than 24 inches will cost $10, and sets 24 inches and larger will cost $20 to recycle.

The University is working with Affinity Information Management to recycle the items from the drive.

The e-waste event is part of UT’s Sustainability, Energy Efficiency and Design Program, known as SEED, and part of the University’s RecycleMania efforts. RecycleMania is a national eight-week competition that this year began Feb. 2 in which universities across the United States and Canada compete for the most recycled materials collected by weight.

Media Coverage
The Blade (March 21, 2014)

The University of Toledo College of Engineering will announce a $1 million gift from Roy Armes, CEO of Cooper Tire and a 1975 UT mechanical engineering graduate, and his wife, Marcia, during a ceremony thanking the couple Thursday, March 20, at 4 p.m. in the Thomas & Elizabeth Brady Engineering Innovation Center, located in the Nitschke Technology Commercialization Complex.

The gift will benefit the Engineering Leadership Institute, which was launched with philanthropic support from the Armes family in 2009 by Dr. Nagi Naganathan, dean of the College of Engineering, to provide leadership opportunities for 12 to 15 sophomores and juniors in the college.

Students in the newly named Roy and Marcia Armes Engineering Leadership Institute are nominated by department faculty and are selected by a rigorous process that includes personal interviews with the dean. The students will participate in seminars, team-building exercises, and public speaking opportunities, including attending one or more national conferences.

Joining Naganathan at the ceremony to dedicate the Roy and Marcia Armes Engineering Leadership Institute will be UT President Lloyd Jacobs, as well as Roy and Marcia Armes, and UT College of Engineering faculty and staff.

Media Coverage
The Blade (March 20, 2014)
WTOL 11, 13 ABC and WNWO (March 21, 2014)

On Friday, March 21, 175 fourth-year medical students at The University of Toledo will join their peers across the country as they learn where they will serve their residencies.

The Residency Match Reception for the UT College of Medicine and Life Sciences will take place in Stranahan Theater’s Great Hall with match envelopes opened simultaneously at noon.

Students spend months interviewing at residency programs across the country to find institutions that will best help them perfect their specialties. The students then rank their top choices, and academic and community-based medical centers nationwide rank their top student choices. A computer algorithm administered by the National Resident Matching Program then puts the students and residency programs together.

Residencies last three to seven years, depending on the specialty, and have a great impact on the training of medical students. Residents are licensed physicians who care for patients under the supervision of attending physicians and represent the medical work force of the future.

Media Coverage
The Blade (March 22, 2014)
WTOL 11, 13 ABC and WNWO (March 24, 2014)

Doctors Without Borders USA and two couples who have dedicated their lives to helping those in medical need are members of the 12th class that will be inducted into The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences’ Medical Mission Hall of Fame on Saturday, March 22.

The ceremony will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Collier Building Room 1000B on UT’s Health Science Campus.

Dr. Deane Marchbein, president of Doctors Without Borders USA, will accept the honor on behalf of the organization.

Marchbein

“Every day, Doctors Without Borders bears witness to the extraordinary efforts that ordinary people are making to access medical care in crisis zones around the world,” Marchbein said. “I hope to shed light on the challenges our patients face in often-overlooked places, such as Afghanistan, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.”

In 2012, she was elected president of the board of directors for the international organization that provides health care and medical training in war-torn and impoverished countries.

“I went to medical school with the idea that I wanted to do international medicine, but it took years before I was at a point in my life and career where I could do it,” Marchbein said. “I’ve now had the privilege of going on 12 missions with Doctors Without Borders, and I can say it is a great way to share our humanity and help people who would not otherwise have access to medical care.”

In 1971, Médecins Sans Frontières, known in English as Doctors Without Borders, was founded in Paris. The organization was established with the “belief that all people have the right to medical care regardless of gender, race, religion, creed or political affiliation, and that the needs of these people outweigh respect for national boundaries,” according to doctorswithoutborders.org.

Since then, Doctors Without Borders has cared for millions, including more than 8 million in its medical facilities in 2012, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999.

“The award of this prestigious international prize inspired individuals, organizations and academic institutions, including The University of Toledo, which created the Medical Mission Hall of Fame,” Dr. Ron McGinnis, interim dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences, said. “The Medical Mission Hall of Fame endeavors to honor the tremendous work and achievements of Doctors Without Borders.”

Also being inducted into the Medical Mission Hall of Fame this year are Dr. Richard Bransford and Millie Bransford, and Dr. Pedro “Pete” J. Obregon II and Judith Obregon.

Dedicated to improving the human condition, Dr. Richard Bransford worked as a missionary in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Comoro Islands. From 1978 to 1998, Richard and Millie served at Kijabe Hospital in Kenya. While there, the couple helped found Bethany Crippled Children’s Centre in Kijabe and co-founded the Bethany Relief and Rehabilitation International, which is known as BethanyKids. Today, BethanyKids works to transform the lives of African children with life-threatening conditions and disabilities through pediatric surgery, rehabilitation, public education, spiritual ministry, and the training of health-care professionals.

Dr. Pete Obregon had a private practice in Point Pleasant, W.Va., and later in Columbus, Ohio. While Pete and Judith started two homeless clinics in Columbus, they were dedicated to care for the underserved medical and surgical needs of the poor in the Third World. In 1993, Pete was appointed medical director for the Medical Ministry International for Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. He left private practice to work full time for the organization. Since making that life-transforming decision, Pete and Judith have taken 134 medical and surgical teams to 39 countries. Judith has served as project director for many of the missions, and she has taught respiratory therapy techniques to nurses.

And Dr. Kristopher Brickman, chief of staff of UT Medical Center and professor and chair of the UT Department of Emergency Medicine, will receive the Lawrence V. Conway Lifetime Distinguished Service Award.

He joined the former Medical College of Ohio in 1992 and is the founder and director of the Office of Global Health in the UT College of Medicine and Life Sciences. In 2010, Brickman went on a medical mission trip to Haiti that changed his life. Since then, he has returned to Haiti 10 times and participated in 20 medical missions.

Conway, UT professor emeritus of finance, founded the Medical Mission Hall of Fame in 2004 to honor individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to advancing the medical well-being of people around the world. In 2006, the Medical Mission Hall of Fame became affiliated with the UT College of Medicine and Life Sciences. The hall of fame can be seen in the lobby of the Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center.

RSVPs are requested for the free, public event by Monday, March 17: Call 419.530.2586 or 1.800.235.6766. For more information, email medmissionhof@utoledo.edu.

(Click names to download photographs of Medical Mission Hall of Fame inductees)

Media Coverage
The Blade (March 21, 2014)
The Blade (March 27, 2014)
The Blade (March 27, 2014)

Marc Kantrowitz , associate justice on the Massachusetts Appeals Court, author, and 1978 alumnus of The University of Toledo College of Law, will explore some of the most notorious criminal cases in American history on Thursday, March 20, at noon, in the McQuade Law Auditorium at the College of Law.

Kantrowitz

The free, public lecture, titled “Old Whiskey and Young Women: Tales of Once Famous Cases Now Nearly Forgotten,” is a talk in the College’s Distinguished Alumni Speaker Series.

In the lecture, Justice Kantrowitz, who handled two dozen first-degree murder cases before joining the bench, brings to life infamous cases from the past. What these cases have in common is that they fascinated, if not repulsed, the entire nation when they occurred. And today, all are nearly totally forgotten.

“Many of the cases Justice Kantrowitz will discuss, such as the Sam Shepard murder trial, were once part of popular culture,” said Daniel J. Steinbock, dean of the College of Law. “Hearing about them should be of interest both to those who remember them and those looking to enter the legal profession today.”

Justice Kantrowitz is one of the most highly published judges in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, having written books on Massachusetts criminal law, motor vehicle tort law, juvenile law, evidence, and mental health, as well as numerous law-related articles. He currently teaches criminal trial advocacy at Northeastern University School of Law. He also writes a monthly newspaper column titled “Law ‘n History.”

From 1972 to 1985, Justice Kantrowitz served in the United States Army Reserves, leaving as a captain in the Quartermaster Corps. From 1979 to 1985, he prosecuted cases as an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. From 1985 to 1995, he maintained his own practice in Boston, concentrating in civil and criminal litigation. In 1995 he was appointed as an associate justice of the Juvenile Court, where he sat for six years. Governor Paul Cellucci named Justice Kantrowitz to the Appeals Court in 2001.

Justice Kantrowitz is a graduate of Ohio University and The University of Toledo College of Law.

Click here to download a photo of Kantrowitz.

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There are some who believe there is a conflict between science and religion, but Dr. Alvin Plantinga says otherwise.

Plantinga

Plantinga, the John A. O’Brien Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, is coming to The University of Toledo to discuss his view that there is no conflict between science and religion, but rather a conflict between naturalism and science.

Naturalism is the idea that nature is all there is, so there can be no supernatural God, and often includes elements of materialism, which is the idea that matter is all there is. Plantinga argues that if materialism is true, then beliefs and ideas created by brain structures would have a 50/50 chance of being true or false.

“If that’s all true, then the probability that our cognitive faculties are reliable would be very low,” Plantinga said. “You would have to be skeptical about every belief you have, including naturalism and evolution.”

His lecture, “Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion and Naturalism,” will take place at 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 19 in the Libbey Hall Dining Room. It will be followed by a reception.

“Dr. Alvin Plantinga is the elder statesman of American philosophy of religion, perhaps of all Western philosophy of religion,” said Dr. Jeanine Diller, UT assistant professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Religious Understanding. “Any student interested in philosophy or religion should come just to be in his presence.”

To see what other events the Center for Religious Understanding is hosting this spring, visit utoledo.edu/llss/philosophy/cfru or on Facebook.

Click here to download a photo of Plantinga.

Media Coverage
The Blade (March 31, 2014)

** PHOTO OPPORTUNITY **

What: “Tying Teddy Bears for Tots”

When: Tuesday, March 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Mulford Library Board Room on the second floor, UT Health Science Campus

Who: Marianne Ballas, dealer and owner-operator of Ballas Buick GMC, and chair of Women & Philanthropy at The University of Toledo, will present a $1,400 check to the Satellites Auxiliary to help fund the purchase of teddy bears and stuffed animals to be given to patients in the Pediatrics Outpatient Clinic and the Emergency Department.

Members of the Satellites Auxiliary will be tying ribbons on the toys following the check presentation.

For more information, contact Lynn Brand, president of the Satellites, at 419.385.6700 or 419.944.9615.

Media Coverage
13 ABC (March 20, 2014)

** UPDATE **

The University of Toledo has canceled all classes for Wednesday, March 12.

Despite canceled classes, the University will remain open. With Lucas County now at a Level 2 Snow Emergency, employees should report to work.

The University of Toledo Medical Center and its outpatient clinics, as always, remain open.

To receive the fastest updates on severe weather and other campus emergencies, sign up for UT Alert to receive text messages on your phone by visiting https://stuweb00.utoledo.edu/redalert. Log in with your UTAD credentials.

The University of Toledo has canceled all classes for Wednesday, March 12.

Despite canceled classes, the University will remain open. With Lucas County now at a Level 2 Snow Emergency, employees should report to work.

The University of Toledo Medical Center and its outpatient clinics, as always, will remain open.

To receive the fastest updates on severe weather and other campus emergencies, sign up for UT Alert to receive text messages on your phone by visiting https://stuweb00.utoledo.edu/redalert. Log in with your UTAD credentials.