The University of Minnesota is expanding a nursing program that could help with an expected shortage of doctors. The U of M School of Nursing will train 500 more advanced practice nurses in the next ten years through three year Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degrees. The program trains nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists and other specialists. Graduates can diagnose and treat complex problems, and prescribe medication. “We’re going to need health care providers like nurse practitioners and nurse anesthetists and midwives and so on, so yes, we are providing an important contribution to the health care work force,”

Together a Minnesota-based foundation and the University of Minnesota’s School of Nursing are stepping up to address an acute shortage of primary care providers, rising health care costs and the rapidly growing needs of an aging population by committing to educate an additional 500 advanced practice nurses over the next 10 years. The visionary $10 million gift announced today by the Bentson Foundation is designated for scholarships for new students in the School of Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program. The gift will infuse the region with more doctorally-prepared nurses in family practice, pediatrics, geriatrics, midwifery, nurse anesthesia and other

Now open, the Walker Mediatheque is a new cinema-style space that puts visitors in control of viewing the Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection. The Mediatheque offers you the chance to browse the collection via innovative touch-screen technology, and play titles you select in the 50-seat screening room. Merging on-demand contemporary culture with the classic, immersive cinema experience, you can play the new Walker Moving Image Commissions; browse individual works by artists such as Kenneth Anger, Maya Deren, Joan Jonas, Jonas Mekas and Yvonne Rainer; engage with the history of cinema, and view curated selections from the Walker’s own thematic playlists, which

Attention-grabbing specters like bubonic plague, Ebola, or the slim possibility of anthrax attacks make for compelling headlines, and the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) keeps tabs on all of these—along with other nightmarish, if distant, threats. Recently, CIDRAP has made headlines for its work on a more familiar, yet potentially devastating, peril: influenza. In the past few months, the center has weighed in on the possible dangers of the H5N1 man-made flu virus and investigated the H3N2 swine flu virus. CIDRAP also released a major new report on the efficacy of seasonal flu vaccines

Six artists have each been commissioned to create a new work that will premiere online. These works respond to the inspirations, inquiry, and influence of three key artists in the Walker’s Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection: Derek Jarman, Bruce Conner, and Marcel Broodthaers. First up, watch videos by acclaimed artists Moyra Davey and James Richards as they respond to the legacy of Derek Jarman. These works are only available for viewing online until June 30. Further explore these works with essays written by the Walker’s Bentson film scholar Isla Leaver-Yap. Following these premieres, watch for work from Leslie Thornton, Seth Price, Shahryar Nashat,

A passion for aquatic biology, the motivation to pursue research opportunities, and outstanding academic merit are characteristics that the four recipients of the inaugural Bentson Scholarship have in common. These students were chosen to receive awards from UCSB’s Bentson Scholarship Program, recently established by the Bentson Foundation for undergraduates with an interest in aquatic biology. “We are thrilled by the Bentson Foundation’s generous gift to establish the Bentson Scholars Program at UC Santa Barbara,” said Chancellor Henry T. Yang. “This merit-based program for undergraduates will be a tremendous boost to our Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, for those

Samantha Smith treated a patient with congestive heart failure in a large hospital room Thursday afternoon. The University of Minnesota nursing senior administered medication on her patient using a syringe pump as a teaching assistant observed. She was careful to give steady doses at a safe rate to avoid side effects like hearing loss. But that wasn’t actually a concern — Smith’s patient was a mannequin, and the hospital room was part of the Bentson Healthy Communities Innovation Center, a new educational simulation lab for nursing students that the University School of Nursing showed off at a grand opening event

The Ruben/Bentson Film and Video Study Collection, housed at the Walker Art Center, consists of nearly 900 titles, from the beginning of film to the present. Established to further the appreciation and scholarly study of the art of film, the collection serves as a basis for an exploration of the history of cinema and the aesthetic and theoretical properties of the medium. Not limited to one genre or era, the strengths are in early silent films with a concentration on those from the Soviet era, the European avant-garde from the 1930s and 1940s, and American experimental films from the 1950s

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (03/07/2012) —The University of Minnesota has received a gift of $6.65 million from the Bentson Foundation for a high-tech teaching laboratory in the School of Nursing and to further strengthen the existing Bentson Scholarship Program. The gift is a continuation of the philanthropic relationship between the university and the Bentson family, which began in the 1970s. In 2003, Larry and Nancy Bentson established the Bentson Scholarship Program with a gift of $10 million. In January of 2011 the Bentson Foundation gave the University of Minnesota $1 million for TCF Bank Stadium. “We are pleased to continue

State of the Arts MPR News Where creativity makes news Marianne Combs August 18, 2011, 9:57 AM The Bentson Foundation has granted the Walker Art Center $1 million to “enhance the presentation and preservation” of the Ruben/Bentson Film and Video Study Collection. According to a release from the Walker, the funds will be used to digitize selected films and upgrade the Walker Cinema. Improvements include the addition of high-definition digital projectors, a redesign of the cinema’s acoustics, and new seats. The Ruben/Bentson Film and Video Study Collection was established in 1973 by a gift from Edmond R. Ruben, a leading