Do you know how your ancestors celebrated the stars during the holiday or what is behind Santa Claus’ secret star?

Learn how the calendar and holiday celebrations relate to the stars from Ritter Planetarium’s “Old Lights of Holiday Nights” every Friday at 7:30 p.m. from Nov. 20 through Dec. 18 on Main Campus.

Then be sure to bring the kids to take a closer look at “Santa’s Secret Star” at Ritter Planetarium Saturdays at 1 p.m. from Nov. 21 through Dec. 19. Learn about the winter season’s most prominent constellations, why there are seasons, and why there is a day and a night.

Admission to the programs is $6 for adults; $5 for children 3 and older, senior citizens, and UT students, faculty and staff; and free for children 2 and younger.

For more information on the programs or Ritter Planetarium, click here or call 419.530.2650 or the 24-hour information hotline at 419.530.4037.

“Breaking Through in a Challenged Economy” is the theme of the Sixth Annual Executive Sales Summit that will be presented by the UT Edward H. Schmidt School of Professional Sales Friday, Nov. 20, from 8 to 11:30 a.m. in the Student Union Ingman Room.

“The goal of the Executive Sales Summit is to strengthen relationships with the business community by facilitating discussions on topics that are critical to their work,” said Dr. Richard Buehrer, UT professor of marketing and director of the Schmidt School of Professional Sales. “This event will give participants useful insights into the challenges facing sales organizations in today’s competitive marketplace.”

Keynote speaker Carl Hedlund, former president and CEO of ThermaTru, will discuss “How Sales Makes the Difference.”

An executive panel discussion will feature Steve Weathers, president and CEO, Regional Growth Partnership; Scott Buehrer, vice president of sales, Bionix; and Milt Baker, CEO and co-founder, Blue Water Satellite Inc.

“The Schmidt School of Professional Sales is recognized as one of the top university sales schools in the world,” Buehrer said. “We believe it is our obligation to be a valued adviser to regional businesses, and that this year’s summit is especially important considering the current challenged economy.”

More than 100 sales and marketing executives from throughout the region are expected to attend this half-day learning and networking event. They also will tour and learn about the business capabilities within the new Schmidt School of Professional Sales Suite in the recently dedicated Savage & Associates Complex for Business Learning and Engagement.

Dr. Jeffrey Gold, provost, executive vice president for health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine, told University of Toledo trustees at a Nov. 16 meeting that UT had been conducting extensive due diligence with St. Luke’s leadership since April when the possibility of a closer relationship was announced.

However, Daniel Wakeman, CEO of St. Luke’s Hospital, recently indicated that St. Luke’s Hospital is committed to maintaining its status as an independent community hospital and that a closer business relationship with The University of Toledo Medical Center, in pursuit of a larger academic health center, is unlikely at this time.

“We continue to have a strong relationship with St. Luke’s Medical Center,” Gold said. “We continue to place students in emergency medicine and family medicine residencies and clerkships, and faculty appointments are ongoing.”

In April, UT and St. Luke’s signed a memorandum of understanding committing to work together with the Maumee hospital’s leadership and board to investigate whether an enhanced affiliation between the organizations would be viable.

“St. Luke’s has always been proud of their status as an independent hospital and they have decided it is in their best interest to maintain that independence at the present time,” Gold said.

Gold’s discussion of St. Luke’s was part of an informational presentation to trustees updating them on the status of UT Medical Center’s clinical affiliations with hospitals and health-care systems across northwest Ohio and into Michigan.

While UT’s undergraduate and graduate medical education is expanding and excellent, Gold said, capacity restraints for students looking for residencies in individual specialties and sub-specialties limit UT’s ability to educate medical graduates and thereby enhance the current and future community clinical needs.

For that reason, new local and regional educational opportunities are being explored to improve, expand and better diversify the portfolio of high-quality health profession educational programs, he said.

UT Guarantee Seed Money mailer

The University’s Marketing and Communications offices earned several accolades at the recent CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) V Awards Program.

UT earned five silver and one bronze awards for online, print and overall projects.

Listed by category, silver awards went to:

• Teresa Du Bois Exline Award for Best Practices in Communications and Marketing, 3,000 to 9,999 FTE — the myUT Web site;

• Excellence in Design, Individual Poster — the 2009 Art on the Mall piece;

• Excellence in Design, Miscellaneous — the Seed Money mailer;

• Excellence in Writing, Series — “Unexpected Treasures of UT,” which ran in the Toledo Alumni Magazine; and

• Best Event on a Shoestring — the employee appreciation project.

The University also earned an award for Excellence in Design, Individual Poster, for the NCAA Golf Championships piece.

“It’s quite an honor to receive an award like this from CASE in a best practice category,” said Sherry Andrews, director of the Center for Creative Instruction. “The myUT site has a lot of technology components that made it complicated to develop; these included pulling feeds from news, journals, YouTube, daily pictures and others. The results are a very interactive, robust site that requires little maintenance.”

“UT has an incredible amount of talent,” said Esther Fabian, director of marketing and creative services. “From the writers and the graphic and Web designers, who have an eye and an ear for the best way to convey a message, to the account reps, who know the message and personality of each department, our team is top-notch, and UT’s showing at this year’s CASE Awards highlights that excellence.”

“…,” said Sherry Andrews, director of the Center for Creative Instruction. “…”

The CASE V Awards Program annually lauds the best work in communications, alumni relations and development. The organization includes institutions from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

“We in the UT community have been privileged to see the outstanding results of our creative team on a daily basis,” said Lawrence J. Burns, vice president for external affairs and interim vice president for equity and diversity. “Being honored by the CASE Program gives us a nice pat on the back from others within a wider scope of the academic community.”

The radio broadcast of the UT men’s basketball game vs. No. 2 Michigan State Friday, Nov. 20, will be carried in the Toledo market on WCKY-FM (103.7).

Game time is 6:30 p.m. Pre-game will begin at 5:30 p.m. Bill Clarke (play by play) and Jay Lehman (color) will call the action.

The Michigan State game also will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.

The Michigan State game is being carried on WCKY because the Rocket Sports Radio Network that normally carries UT men’s basketball will be carrying the Toledo football game vs. Eastern Michigan at that time. Kickoff for the EMU game is set for 7 p.m. Pre-game will begin at 5 p.m. Mark Beier (play by play), Tom Duncan (color) and Jim Heller (sideline) will call the action.

The Rocket Sports Radio Network presented by The University of Toledo includes WSPD (AM 1370) in Toledo, WKNR (850 AM) in Cleveland and WDTW (1310 AM) in Detroit.

Free streaming audio of the Rocket Sports Radio Network can be accessed at the official UT Athletics Web site www.utrockets.com.

Dr. Jeffrey P. Gold, Health Science Campus provost, executive vice president for health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine, will deliver a talk titled “The State of The University of Toledo’s Academic Health Science Center 2005-2009” Friday, Nov. 20, at noon in Health Education Building Room 110 on Health Science Campus.

Gold said he plans to recognize the remarkable ongoing progress made in the areas of education, research and patient care, even in the face of significant external challenges. He also intends to lay out aspirational goals for the academic health center.

“Specifically, I will discuss the mega-trends in health care and how they relate to health-care reform, economic recovery and the current state of our academic health center,” Gold said.

He joined UT in May 2005 from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine-Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, where he was professor and chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery.

At UT, Gold is responsible for, among other things, the curriculum, faculty affairs, residency training programs, student life, and faculty and student recruitment for the Health Science Campus. He works with the UT Medical Center medical director and executive director, and other senior administrators to ensure that College of Medicine and hospital initiatives are aligned.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Gold earned his bachelor’s and medical degrees from Cornell University in 1974 and 1978, respectively, and completed residency and fellowship training at the New York Hospital, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and Boston Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Michael Rees, professor of urology and a kidney transplant surgeon, left, talked with Lorenzo Benet, an assistant editor with People Magazine, during a recent photo shoot in the Memorial Field House.

People Magazine, one of the most widely read periodicals in the country, will include a story and photos this week about the groundbreaking approach to increasing the quantity and quality of kidney transplants across the country developed by Dr. Michael Rees, UT professor of urology and kidney transplant surgeon.

The feature will include photos and interviews of donors and recipients involved in the world’s first and longest chain of kidney transplants made possible by maximizing the good that can come from an altruistic, or Good Samaritan, kidney donor. The chain was coordinated through Rees’ nonprofit organization Alliance for Paired Donation.

A People editor and photographer spent a weekend in October at UT meeting, interviewing and photographing Rees and the kidney chain participants.

People has a weekly circulation of 3.75 million.

The kidney chain has been featured on CNN, the CBS Evening News, ABC World News Tonight and in USA Today.

Add some color to your holidays: Order a poinsettia from the Satellites Auxiliary.

The poinsettias range in price from $5 to $25 and are available in a variety of colors, including red, white, pink, blue with gold, and marble. The plants vary in size from 4.5 inches to 8.5 inches and by the number of blooms. In addition, 12-inch hanging baskets are available for purchase.

All orders must be received by Friday, Nov. 20. Click here for an order form.

The poinsettias will be available for pickup on Health Science Campus Tuesday, Dec. 1, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Skyview Food Court Atrium. The pickup date for Main Campus is Thursday, Dec. 3, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Rocket Hall Lobby. For pickup, all poinsettias will be foiled and sleeved with care tags.

Payment options for the poinsettias include checks (payable to Satellites of UT Medical Center), cash, departmental requisition for Main Campus and payroll deduction for Health Science Campus. Payment is due at the time of pickup.

The Satellites Auxiliary is a group designed to promote education, research and service programs, provide support of patient programs in accordance with the needs and approval of administration, conduct fundraising events, and provide volunteer services.

For more information on the annual poinsettia sale, contact Lynn Brand, president of the Satellites, at lynn.brand@utoledo.edu.

The UT Works Program continues to assist displaced employees affected by reductions in work force.

An orientation to the UT Works Program is slated Thursday, Nov. 19, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. in Health Education Building Room 105 on Health Science Campus. Participants will learn about UT Works, the Lucas County Workforce Development Agency, unemployment benefits and more issues affecting unemployment.

A resumé workshop will follow from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Mulford Library Café. Dr. Sheri Caldwell, UT instructor, will offer the latest information to craft an effective resumé. Participants are encouraged to bring their resumés for individual review.

To RSVP for the orientation program or the resumé workshop, e-mail utworks@utoledo.edu or call 419.530.1476. RSVPs are preferred to ensure adequate materials for the programs, but participants are invited to attend even if they don’t call ahead.

Human Resources and the Office of Quality and Continuous Learning launched UT Works in August to offer an array of employment resources, skills training and targeted advice regarding employment opportunities, both internal and off campus.

“While we wish a program like this wasn’t necessary, we’ve seen some successes and are pleased that employees find these resources to be useful,” said Bill Logie, vice president for human resources and campus safety. “We’ve brought in new resources through Lucas County Workforce Development, and are excited to try a new resumé workshop format to give affected employees some one-on-one attention.”

Those within UT Works may apply for internal positions before they are opened to the general UT community or to the public. The University will adhere to contractual obligations.

A UT Works Web site is available here. Several resources, including employment search engines, frequently asked questions, job training opportunities and links to statewide unemployment tools, are listed.

Participants also can e-mail utworks@utoledo.edu or call 419.530.4747 with questions or for more information about UT Works.

UT flu clinics have been scheduled for the following dates and times:

• Monday, Nov. 23, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Student Recreation Center Oak Room.

At the above clinics, H1N1 flu mist and injectable vaccines and seasonal flu vaccines will be administered to high-risk groups, including pregnant women, persons who live with or care for children 6 months and younger, all persons between ages 18 through 24 years, and health-care and emergency medical services personnel.