Around the Campus

Prevention center to be host of national conference\nThe IU Rural Center for AIDS/Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention will play host to a national conference in Indianapolis April 20-22 at the University Place Conference Center and Hotel at IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis.\nThe event, co-sponsored by the Levi Strauss Foundation, is titled "HIV/STD Prevention in Rural Communities: Sharing Successful Strategies II." The center is headquartered in Bloomington, and is a joint project of IU, Purdue and Texas A&M University.\nThe confereence will open with a reception will Friday evening and working sessions will be held all day Saturday and until noon Sunday.\nAbout 125 health educators, AIDS prevention officials and government officials are expected for the conference, said Conference Director William Yarber, senior director of the Rural Center and professor of applied health science. \nTopics to be discussed include AIDS prevention among migrant farm workers, how rural churches can help in AIDS prevention, AIDS prevention in Appalacia and AIDS in rural homeless shelters. \nSpeakers will represent HIV/STD prevention programs in several states, including Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, New York, Alabama, Maryland, Masschussetts, Kentucky, North Carolina, Washington, Vermont, Idaho, California, West Virginia and Iowa.\nFor more information on the conference, contact Yarber at 855-7974 or yarber@indiana.edu or visit the Rural Center's Web site at www.indiana.edu/~aids.\nEntrepreneur day to be held April 28 at business school\nThe Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship in Kelley School of Business and the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation will hold Bloomington's first "Young Entrepreneur Day" April 28 in the Kelley School of Business Hall of Honor. \nThe e-Enterprise Institute and the Young Entrepreneurs Association, two IU student groups, are involved with the event, whose theme is "Business After the Bubble."\nThe event will begin at 1:30 p.m. with presentations by student entrepreneurs. After will be the keynote speech by Martin, titled "From the Dorm Room to the Board Room -- Experiences of a Young Entrepreneur." The day will conclude with a panel discussion, "Business After the Bubble."\nBusiness school faculty, students and industry experts will gather to discuss successful student entrepreneurs and what lessons can be learned after the recent fallout of several Internet firms. Speakers and panelists will talk about what is behind a perceived return to business fundamentals and discuss the future of venture capital and how the competitive balance between traditional and new economy firms will continue to evolve.\nBill Martin, co-manager of Silicon Ivy, a seed-stage, venture capital firm that targets student-driven startups, will be the keynote speaker. As a 19-year-old, Martin founded RagingBull.com, a Web-based financial community acquired by AltaVista and then by Terra Lycos. Last month he launched eFinanceInsider.com and is an adviser for several venture capital firms and startups.\nOther speakers will include Richard Blunck, chief technology and e-business officer of Kmart Corp./Bluelight.com; Joe Denekamp and Carl Briggs, business school faculty; Jane Martin, regional managing director of Village Ventures Midwest fund; and Dan Dalton, dean of the business school.\nPark service honors Eppley Institute director, programs\nThe Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation School has been honored by the National Park Service.\nThe park service presented this year's Crystal Owl Award, its highest honor for training and development excellence, to institute Director James Ridenour and the institute. This is the first time the honor has been given to an individual or group outside of the federal agency.\nUnder Ridenour's leadership, the institute has given training and development programs to thousands of National Park Service personnel during the past six years in such areas as administration and office management support; training needs assessments; supervision, management and leadership; technology-enhanced learning and universal competencies.\nThe Institute created computer-based courses for more than 2,000 park service personnel, developed the basis for an overall administrative core curriculum and helped the park service expand its distance learning initiative; it also has plans for a National Park Service Leadership Academy.\nThe Eppley Institute was created in 1993 to encourage quality recreation and educational experiences for people while providing for the protection of the natural and cultural resources of the United States. More information about the institute is available at its Web site at www.indiana.edu/~eppley/.