TULANE TALK

October 19, 2001

Good Morning:

I spent most of this week in northern California meeting with alumni, parents and friends of the university. It was a productive trip that should lead to real benefits for Tulane. As you all know, travel is much more difficult and time consuming now because of additional security requirements. Yet, the trip went relatively smoothly with a minimum of delays.

Unfortunately, we have been reading quite a bit these days about the topic of bioterrorism. I want you to know that we are closely monitoring these developments and adjusting, as appropriate, our procedures to make sure we continue to have a safe, healthy and secure campus. Occasionally, you will receive some broadcast e-mails on the topic for informational purposes. Take the time to read them and don’t hesitate to ask questions if you have any concerns.

We had some unexpected, but thoroughly welcome, visitors this week. Some 200 students from nearby Lusher Elementary evacuated to Tulane Wednesday after a fire damaged part of their school. The students were taken to the University Center where Red Cross workers met them. Thankfully, there were no injuries but damage was so extensive that part of Lusher will be closed until Nov. 5. We are currently looking for space at Tulane to house the students so they can continue their studies while their school is being repaired.

There are several upcoming events and activities I wanted to let you know were happening. This evening at 5 p.m. we will welcome Stephen Jay Gould, one of the country’s most popular lecturers on scientific matters to Dixon Hall. Gould’s lecture is the first installment of the Crossroads Colloquium, a new lecture and workshop series that provides a forum to discuss issues of relevance to both the humanities and the sciences. Gould, the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology and Professor of Geology at Harvard University, is the perfect speaker to open the series. Through his writings and numerous television appearances Gould has fascinated audiences with his ideas, articulated by the use of batting averages and other common analogies, regarding humanity’s place on the evolutionary ladder. Today’s presentation promises to be entertaining and thought provoking.

Manish Jain, one of our medical students, has organized two major fundraising efforts, in cooperation with the NOPD, to benefit the families of police officers who died in the Sept. 11 attacks. Manish and other medical school students will collect money on street corners throughout the New Orleans area on Oct. 20 from noon to 3 p.m. If you can’t contribute then, show your Tulane ID between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. tonight at Marisol’s, Adolfo’s, Cafe Negril, Mona’s Cafe or Old Dog New Trick Cafe in the Fauborg Marigny and a percentage of your food bill will support the same cause. Also this weekend is the Third Annual Fashion Targets Breast Cancer Charity Shopping Weekend. From Oct. 18 to Oct. 21, a percentage of all sales at Saks Fifth Avenue will benefit the Tulane Cancer Center. Treat yourself to a weekend of shopping for a great cause.

On October 24 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. all of us who contributed to this year’s United Way/Community Shares campaign will gather in Dixon Hall to celebrate “Together We Stand,” a special event featuring drawings for numerous gifts, patriotic music and a special luncheon catered by Portobello Caf˝. This year we will have one event for contributors with continual round-trip bus service from the Health Sciences Center so that downtown faculty and staff are able to participate. Next year the event will be held downtown.

Finally, I want to urge you to attend the Town Hall meetings that I will host on October 24 at 2 p.m. in the Kendall Cram Room and on October 25 at 2 p.m. in the Medical School Auditorium. At these meetings we’ll discuss the exciting progress we are making on the 10-year Strategic Plan as well as our objectives for this year. It’s vital that I have you present to discuss these important issues. See you then. Have a great weekend.