University Times

Alicia Suskin Ostriker was one of five authors nominated as a finalist for a 1998 National Book Award for Poetry by the National Book Foundation. Her volume of poems, "The Little Space: Poems Selected and New, 1968-1998," will be published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in November as part of the Pitt Poetry Series. […]

Diane E. Ford died on Oct. 10, 1998, after a long battle against ovarian cancer. She came to the University in 1985 as administrative secretary to the director of the University of Pittsburgh Bicentennial Commission. In 1987, after the successful completion of the Bicentennial celebration, she joined the Office of the Secretary. Ford was elected […]

A memorial service for English professor Carol Kay will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, in 2M56/2P56 Forbes Quad. A reception will follow. Kay, a faculty member here since 1989, died Sept. 12, 1998, of severe aplastic anemia. She was 51. Her husband, Jonathon Arac, is a faculty member in English.

Hurd W. Safford, professor emeritus of chemistry, died on Sept. 7, 1998, after an extended illness. He was 83. Safford graduated with a B.S. in ceramics engineering from Alfred University in 1936. He later entered Pitt's graduate chemistry program in order to do research with noted glass chemistry expert (and department chair), Alexander Silverman. Following […]

Finding international affairs organizations and specialists world-wide will soon be much easier with the help of a new effort at Pitt's University Center for International Studies (UCIS). A two-year, $200,000 grant from the Ford Foundation will enable UCIS to create a World Wide Web database interface that includes 3,500 detailed entries on institutions active in […]

A garden for the enjoyment of patients with heart disease and those who are awaiting a heart transplant opened last month at UPMC Presbyterian. The Spinola Family Patient Garden is endowed by Frank and Mary Jo Spinola of Wexford, whose daughter Andrea was kept alive by an artificial heart for 131 days before she received […]

Quest Diagnostics Inc. and UPMC Health System have joined forces to provide improved access to laboratory services for physicians and patients throughout the Greater Pittsburgh area. Quest Diagnostics is one of the nation's leading providers of diagnostic testing, information and services to physicians, hospitals, patients, managed care organizations, employers and government agencies. UPMC hospitals, physicians, […]

Parking, Transportation and Services director G. Robert Harkins is optimistic about the parking situation in Oakland. Harkins cited a parking study carried out at the University's request by Trans Associates Engineering Consultants, Inc., of Pittsburgh, who measured supply and demand parking statistics back to 1992. The report, dated Sept. 28, includes projections for 1998 and […]

Professors seeking redress for alleged grievances and unjust denials of promotion and/or tenure face an uphill fight at Pitt, the co-chairperson of the University Senate's tenure and academic freedom committee (TAFC) told Faculty Assembly Oct. 6. But Tom Kane, whose committee is a key player and defender of faculty interests in the grievance procedure and […]

During the last decade, 26 Pitt faculty members have appealed what they saw as unjust decisions to deny them promotions and/or tenure. According to Provost's office records (which do not identify the individuals involved), only two appellants won their cases: * In a 1991 case, then-Provost Donald Henderson overruled a dean's decision and recommended that […]