Veritas, Vol. 46, No. 08, May 2004

              Andreas Tzakis sits with Monica Di Matteo and her daughter, Alessia.
BABY GETS RECORD EIGHT NEW ORGANS IN TRANSPLANT
'urgeons at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center have transplanted a record eight organs (liver, stomach, pancreas, small intestine, large intestine, spleen, and two kidneys) into a six-month-old baby girl.
The baby, Alessia Di Matteo, was born with congenital smooth muscle disorder (mega-cystis microcolon syndrome), which prevented normal function of her stomach, intestines, and kidneys.
The disease is fatal if left untreated.
The 12-hour operation, led by Andreas Tzakis,
director of the Division of Liver/ Gastrointestinal Transplant, was performed January 31 at the Holtz Children’s Hospital at UM/Jackson. The UM transplant team is a pioneer in multi-visceral surgeries, leading the nation with nearly 100 cases to date.
UM-PRODUCED DOCUMENTARY FILM IS SCREENED AT THE UNITED NATIONS
fJL he shortage of potable water throughout the world is a growing crisis that School of Communication professor Saqjeev Chatterjee knows quite well. Chatterjee wants others to understand the critical importance of the issue, and now he may be closer to accomplishing that goal. His 20-minute, non-verbal film, One Water, was screened in the Dag HammarsKjold Library at the United Nations headquarters in New York on April 28, as part of the UN’s 12th session of the Commission of Sustainable Development.
The film is a pilot documentary for “The Water
Project,” a public education campaign about the essential role of water and the urgent need to ensure its conservation and restoration. The project is an interdisciplinary effort that involves the School of Communication, the Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music, and the College of Engineering.
Sapjeev Chatterjee
Five months before he will go head to head with President George W. Bush in a nationally televised debate at UM’s Convocation Center, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry brought his campaign to the University’s Coral Gables campus on April 18, conducting a rally at The Rock that gave thousands of visitors a firsthand look at the Massachusetts senator who wants to become the nation’s 44th chief executive.
The rally, organized by the student organization University of Miami College Democrats, was part of a three-day swing for Kerry through Florida, a state that played a pivotal role in the 2000 presidential election.
More than 3,000 people attended the rally, which turned the Coral Gables campus into a political convention for a day, with Secret Service agents scouring the area around the University Center, conducting security checks and bomb sweeps, and hordes of local media descending upon campus.
The rally gave participants the chance to gain insights on Kerry and his positions on certain issues, says Daniel Stevens, assistant professor of political science in the School of Business Administration.
“From his speech, we heard what his policies are, his priorities, his values, where he differs from Bush, and also what he doesn’t care so much about. From the emphasis he places on different elements of his speech, we learn a little about how he plans to persuade people to vote for him,” Stevens says.
“Beyond that, we see the way in which politicians present and conduct themselves and whether and how this is different from their image on television and in print media,” Stevens added.
During the rally, Kerry addressed many of the key issues that will be important planks in his platform, outlining his economic plan to give 98 percent of Americans a tax cut, and advocating, if he is elected president, to work for universal health care insurance.
Noting the soaring high-school dropout rates among Fiispanics and African Americans, Kerry urged students to “join in a new era of service to the nation,” as he described a program in which the U.S. government would help pay for
students’ tuition if they agree to teach for at least two years in poor urban and rural communities.
Luke Kosar, president of the UM College Democrats, which invited Kerry to speak here, says the rally was important because it taught UM students, no matter what party they may be involved with, the importance of being involved in the political process.
“Obviously the stereotype is that students in general are apathetic when it comes to politics,” Kosar says,
“but after this rally, whatever political indifference that we thought was on this campus, it wasn’t there on Sunday.”
Greg Bush, an associate professor of history in the College of Arts and Sciences, agrees. “Students can send a signal, whomever they support, that they care enough to get involved, vote and make a difference in the world,”
Kerry’d away: Democratic crowd of more than 3,000
presidential candidate John Kerry addresses a people on UM’s Coral Gables campus.
Bush says, adding that he urges students “to read a diverse array of newspapers, magazines, and Web sites in order to become as well informed as possible on the complex issues faced by our nation.”
Lowe Art Museum gets a major boost
The University of Miami’s Lowe Art Museum, renowned in the
state for its comprehensive collections, has received another major boost to its current holdings of more than 13,000 objects.
Glassy move: Myrna and Sheldon Palley have donated their 100-piece collection of studio glass.
The museum is to receive many important pieces from two of South Florida’s most prominent art collecting families. University alums Sheldon and Myrna Palley are donating their 100-piece collection of studio glass, valued at more than $2.3 million and considered to be one of the best private collections in the nation.
The Palleys, longtime supporters of the Lowe, also are donating $ 1 million to support the construction of a wing that will house the museum’s collection of glass art and another $1 million to fund an endowment for the glass collection.
Coral Gables collectors Alan and Claudia Potamkin have announced plans to donate several important pieces from their stellar African art collection.
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