Briefly in the News: April

Donations for Wildfire Relief

At an event hosted by the Columbia Chamber of Commerce’s Agribusiness and Bioscience Committee, Boone County farmers raised more than $2,000 to be donated to relief for wildfires in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Donations were collected at the Chamber’s annual farmer’s recognition banquet, and the check was recognized in a ceremony at MFA Incorporated.

STEM Education

The Association of American Universities awarded MU’s faculty-driven STEM initiative $20,000 to spearhead curriculum reform efforts and develop faculty expertise in those areas. Projects the money will fund include professional development for faculty, public talks on STEM, and developmental workshops.

CPD Report

The Columbia Police Department published their 2016 year-end report from the internal affairs unit, detailing all calls that the police department responded to in 2016 and statistics on how those calls were handled. The department made 4,836 arrests in 2016, an increase of 485 over 2015. The department also received 66 complaints, of which six were sustained. The full report is available on the CPD website.

JobFinders Expands

Columbia-based JobFinders Employment Services recently opened an office in Sedalia. In addition to the Columbia and Sedalia offices, the staffing agency also has locations in Jefferson City and Mexico, Missouri.

Man Up Campaign

The Big Brothers Big Sisters “Man Up” male volunteer recruitment and training campaign will continue for a second year, thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Veterans United Foundation. The program helps train men to be mentors to young men in the program. Since the campaign launch in mid-2016, Big Brothers Big Sisters has recruited, trained, matched, and provided guidance to 71 male mentors through this initiative.

System Audit

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway released a critical audit of the UM system, particularly focusing on $1.2 million paid out to top system officials in an executive incentive program. In one of his first acts after formally becoming UM System president, Mun Choi terminated the incentive program.

MU Grants

Two paleobiologists at MU received the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Award. John Huntley and James Schiffbauer, both assistant professors of geological science in the MU College of Arts and Science, will receive more than $500,000 over the next five years to develop early career development activities and integrate their studies into education programs.

Boone Collaboration

The Stewart Cancer Center at Boone Hospital has become the first member of the Siteman Cancer Network, which is affiliated with Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, and hopes to help its Mid-Missouri patients through cancer research, treatment, and prevention. The Columbia cancer care facility will work together with Barnes-Jewish and the Washington University School of Medicine to provide access to cancer treatments, including clinical trials, genomic and genetic testing, and other specialized technologies.