AU REPORT January 11, 1999

Big Screen Graduation
For the first time, new Auburn graduates and their families at fall quarter graduation could follow the proceedings on big-screen monitors at AU's coliseum.The monitors became operational during fall quarter in time for the 1998-99 basketball season and the Dec. 14 graduation.


AU Senate, Alabama Press Association, express Plainsman support
(Updated 1-15-99)
An attempt by Student Government Association officers to censure The Auburn Plainsman student newspaper through the AU Student Communications Board has drawn protests from the faculty senate and a threat of legal action from the Alabama Press Association.

The AU Senate on Jan. 12 voted 60-4 to pass a resolution in support of the student newspaper and calling on the AU Board of Student Communications to rescind a resolution censuring the newspaper's editor.

The faculty senate resolution was in response to the previous week's action by a Student Government Association majority on the Board of Student Communications to censure the editor over the paper's criticism of the SGA.

Also on Jan. 12, the Alabama Press Association issued a resolution in support of The Plainsman and Editor Lee Davidson. The APA resolution called upon AU President William Muse to appoint a study committee to rewrite rules governing the Communications Board's power and responsibilities.

In a brief meeting of the Communications Board on Jan. 14, Chairman Grant Davis, associate vice president for Student Affairs, distributed to board members a letter from Dennis R. Bailey, general counsel for the Press Association. The Montgomery attorney claimed the board is in violation of constitutional and civil rights laws in the threat to remove the student editor if the paper does not abide by the board's rules as interpreted by the panel's student voting majority.

After distributing copies of the letter, Davis promptly adjourned the Jan. 14 meeting, saying the matter would be addressed at a later meeting, the date of which was not specified.

The APA and University Senate actions followed the Jan. 7 Communications Board meeting at which the board's SGA representatives outvoted faculty and administrators to approve the censure resolution.

Journalism Department Head Jerry Brown said the 5-4 vote represented the culmination of a longrunning conflict between the SGA and The Plainsman. Three faculty and administrative representatives were joined by one of the six students on the board, but the other five students, including SGA President Will Stegall, voted as a block, Brown noted.

The student leaders' resolution criticized The Plainsman editor over articles critical of AU Trustee Bobby Lowder and threatened to fire her if such coverage continues. The leaders contended that The Plainsman coverage does not represent the will of the students they represent.

Brown said the student-sponsored resolution demonstrated the depth of feeling among the SGA leaders but is evidence that they do not understand freedom of the press or the way newspapers operate.

Communication Department Chair Mary Helen Brown and Jim Ferguson, vice president for Administrative Services, also voted against the censure resolution. Athletic Director David Housel left before the vote. Davis, who did not vote, said the board's policy is for the chair to vote only in case of a tie.

Stegall told the faculty senators that the SGA representatives on the communications board voted to censure The Plainsman editor because they felt they had been unfairly included in the paper's editorials about trustee influence and not given an adequate chance to respond. Faculty senators responded that the SGA's use of the Communications Board to vent its anger amounted to attempted censorship, an action several faculty members said they vehemently oppose.

During Senate debate, The Plainsman was criticized by a Veterinary Medicine senator, Mary Boudreaux, who complained that her college had earlier been the subject of what she and her colleagues regarded as unfair criticism.

In the APA attorney's letter to the Communications Board, Bailey, an AU journalism graduate, noted that the student leaders' interpretation of a board policy on "balance" in news coverage would be unconstitutional if applied to editorials to which the SGA leaders objected. Bailey warned that he may seek the protection of the courts if the Communications Board stands behind that interpretation.

The Jan. 14 edition of The Plainsman challenged the censure vote and pledged to resist efforts by the SGA leaders to control its editorial decisions or practices.

(For The Plainsman website, see www.theplainsman.com ; for the SGA website, see www.auburn.edu/student_info/sga ; for the University Senate website, see www.auburn.edu/administration/governance/senate/au_senate.html ; for the Alabama Press Association website, see www.alabamapress.com .)

Board of Trustees to get outsourcing plan for food services

AU is exploring the possibility of getting out of the dining service business.

A resolution tentatively scheduled for the Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 22 would permit the administration to seek proposals from private companies to take over food service operations at Auburn and AU at Montgomery

Another resolution tentatively set for board discussion would enable a limited number of Alabama Cooperative Extension System personnel to take early retirement. The buyout offer would extend to 81 ACES staff members who qualify for U.S. Civil Service retirement.

A third major resolution would enable the board to approve certain
recommendations of the Commission to Review AU's Role in the 21st Century. The board accepted the plan in November but delayed approval pending further study. The newest resolution would approve some parts while deferring action on programs under review for possible termination.

The 9 a.m., Jan. 22, meeting will be in the AUM Library Tower.

The food service outsourcing resolution does not commit the university to a course of action. The administration would evaluate outsourcing proposals from vendors and report its recommendation to the board, which could then decide whether to continue the current system or contract with a private food service operation.

Under a proposal by Bob Ritenbaugh, director of auxiliary enterprises, AU food production staff within two years of retirement within the Retirement Systems of Alabama System would remain within the RSA system until they have 25 years in the system. Two-thirds of 33 Food Service production employees were working for AU when they were placed in the RSA system 23 years ago and will be eligible for full retirement benefits in 2001.

Only one of 17 management and administrative support staff has 23 years in the RSA system, but the employees would be eligible for transfer to other AU units.

Ritenbaugh noted that sales in campus dining areas have been flat over most of the past decade and resulted in losses in some years, but he added that sales were strong in the first quarter of the fiscal year and are ahead of a year ago. Dining operations earned $132,000 on $4.5 million in sales in fiscal 1997 and lost $91,000 on $4.8 million in sales in fiscal 1998.

Outsourcing may provide more income for the university while meeting changing tastes of students, said Ritenbaugh, who also noted that the university lacks funds for a needed substantial renovation of Terrell Dining Hall.

The majority of Southeastern Conference-member universities and other flagship universities in the Southeast have turned their campus food services over to private food management companies.

ACES contends with shortfall
The second major resolution would address part of a projected $1 million budget shortfall in the Retirement Systems of Alabama assessment to AU for 201 ACES employees who are members of the Employees Retirement System as well as the Federal Civil Service. ACES personnel hired since 1983 have fallen within the state's Teachers Retirement System with other AU faculty and staff and have not participated in the federal retirement program.

In a proposal to President William Muse, ACES Director Stephen Jones said the Extension System could substantially reduce the shortfall by offering incentives for eligible federal civil service employees to retire. Jones recommended that the university offer the same package as it offered to eligible AU retirees in 1995.

Review Commission revisited
The third major resolution would enable the administration to begin considering parts of the Review Commission's recommendations in developing AU's budget for the next fiscal year, which starts Oct 1.
Proposed program terminations, which are under review by a university committee, would be considered separately by the board after the committee makes its report in April.

The new resolution would also reduce the amount of future tuition increases by the amount of additional state revenue when legislative allocations to Auburn exceed the 1 percent annual growth in those appropriations projected by the administration. A series of annual 6 percent tuition increases were cited in the Review Commission report as part of an attempt to offset continued shortfalls in state appropriations to Auburn.

Author to headline Martin Luther King birthday celebration

Asa G. Hilliard III, author and Fuller E. Callaway professor of urban education at Georgia State University, will be the keynote speaker at "Celebrating the Dream: Preparing Our Students for the 21st Century," Auburn's celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.

The event, sponsored by the Center for the Arts and Humanities and the Office of Minority Advancement for Undergraduate Student Services, will be at 6 p.m. Thursday in Foy Ballroom.

In addition to Hilliard's presentation, there will be performances by the AU Gospel Choir and the Selma High School Choir.

"We hope that this program will convey to everyone that education is the key that opens the most doors for our young people," said Daryl Hale, AU's assistant director for minority advancement.

"Auburn has continually strengthened its commitment to the value of diversity -- a value that Dr. King certainly recognized as being essential for the future of this country."

Hilliard, who holds a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Denver, is a teacher, psychologist, historian and author and is widely recognized as a historian of African culture and a commentator on the African-American community.

He is author of The Maroon Within Us: Selected Essays on African American Community and SBA: The Reawakening of the African Mind.

A founding member of the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations, he has conducted ancient African history study tours of Egypt for 15 years.

Hilliard also developed an education television series on ancient Egyptian history and produced videotapes and educational materials on African history through his own production company, Waset Educational Productions.

AU taking steps to prevent Y2K bugs in computer systems

Auburn's computing and telecommunications troubleshooters have a busy year ahead in attempts to avoid computer glitches next Jan. 1, when the Year 2000 (Y2K) bug is poised to strike.

Jim Stone, executive director of AU Telecommunications and ETV, says his office is on schedule to identify and fix problems so campus computers and software programs don't remain stuck in the 1900s when the calendar turns over to 2000.

However, Stone says no one will know for sure how successful Y2K control efforts are, either at Auburn or elsewhere, until 12:01 a.m. Jan. 1, 2000.
In a worst case scenario, computers at Auburn would be part of a worldwide crash that would destroy or damage information systems in each time zone as the clock struck midnight. Stone says he doesn't expect such a cataclysmic response, in part because of the steps being taken to prevent it.

Stone, who is also responsible for University Computing, said the university is taking two approaches to head off potential problems with the Y2K bug. The first is replacement of 1980s-era software, which would be most likely to read 2000 as 1900, with updated software such as the OASIS student information system that was installed last fall.

The OASIS system was the first piece of the puzzle, Stone said. It will be followed early this year by a new module for human resources information. Also approaching final development is an updated financial aid information system. All the modules are designed to protect their information in the event of a crash of computers with which they interact in the government and business sectors, he said.

"The financial aid package is a critical element," Stone said, noting that it has the most interaction with government and business computer systems. "We are working hard to ensure that it is protected from potential Y2K damage."

The second approach to avoiding Y2K problems involves troubleshooting of computers and software packages across campus to identify programs that read only the last two digits of the calendar.

"We surveyed the campus several months ago and received thousands of responses," said Stone. AU computer specialists are checking that information to identify potentially troublesome applications and are then correcting the problems, he added.

Stone heads a Year 2000 task force which is coordinating the university's compliance with state guidelines on Y2K protections. The task force has broken the campus response into seven stages: Awareness, inventory, assessment and project scope determination, analysis and solutions design, code modification and renovation, testing and contingency phase.

The past two years have involved the first four phases, and campus computer experts are in the code modification/renovation and testing phases at the start of 1999. Later this year the task force will expand its contingency plans, but Stone said it will be impossible to develop a response for every possible scenario.

The university weathered without major problems its first encounters with the Year 2000 starting in 1996, when the Class of 2000 entered as freshmen.

"Now the biggest mission in 1999 is to test, test, test," he said. "There will be some problems, but it appears doable."

(Year 2000 updates are available on the WWW at www.auburn.edu/year2000 .)

AU observers predict upturn under new governor

Higher education in Alabama will likely fare better under the administration of Gov.-elect Don Siegelman, two AU experts say.

Buddy Mitchell, executive director of Governmental Affairs for AU, says he expects the Siegelman administration, which starts Jan. 18, to be much more friendly to higher education and Auburn University.

"I don't see us going through the last four years again where there was a bashing of higher education," said Mitchell. "Gov.-elect Siegelman appreciates the role of higher education in the state as it relates to economic development, our research and our training of the citizens of Alabama."

Wayne Flynt, a Distinguished University Professor at AU who has studied Alabama politics and history for more than 25 years, says Siegelman's broad span of support in the state's general election showed that most Alabamians believe Siegelman will be good for the state.

Flynt said he thinks Siegelman will try to help all of education, including Auburn.

But Flynt warns that unless the state generates more revenue, higher education may not see many differences.

"Alabama needs a new source of revenue, whether it's a lottery as Siegelman has proposed or an increase in property or sales tax, we have to increase the size of the state pie," he said. "Unless we do that, no one will have a bigger piece of the pie."

Mitchell says the university has "had virtually no increase in the operations and maintenance budget in four years, and we will be asking legislators to approve additional money for that area."

And, in a continuing effort to bring faculty and staff salaries to a regional average, the university will again seek support for pay raises.

To make sure Alabama legislators understand AU's mission and focus, Mitchell, Sherri Fulford, associate director of Governmental Affairs, and
AU President William V. Muse conducted eight regional meetings to which they invited key AU alumni and members of the Alabama Legislature to discuss issues important to higher education in general as well as to Auburn.

Meanwhile, Siegelman will be in position to influence the governance of AU for the next 12 years with the appointment of as many as six new members of the Board of Trustees.

The terms of two members -- Bobby Lowder of Montgomery and James Tatum -- expired in January 1995. Their replacements -- appointed by outgoing Gov. Fob James -- were never confirmed, however, by the Alabama Senate and they remained on the board under a state Supreme Court ruling.
The terms of four other members -- Emory Cunningham of Birmingham, John Denson of Opelika, Bessie Mae Holloway of Prichard and W.J. Samford Jr., of Montgomery -- expire this month.

AU band to march in inaugural parade

The AU Marching Band will perform and President William V. Muse will represent Auburn when Lt. Gov. Don Siegelman is sworn in as Alabama's 57th governor on Jan. 18.

The AU band will march in the parade prior to the inaugural ceremony. The parade begins at 10 a.m. and winds up Montgomery's Dexter Avenue to the state Capitol. Muse will be serve as AU's official representative at the noon inaugural ceremony, according to Buddy Mitchell, AU's executive director of governmental affairs.

Inaugural activities in Montgomery stretch from a 7:30 a.m. prayer breakfast at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church to an inaugural ball beginning at 7 p.m., at Garrett Coliseum.

Registrar calls own name at fall graduation

John Fletcher is no stranger to Auburn's commencement stage in Beard Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.

For more than six years, the AU registrar has taken his place at the lectern and called the names of graduates. Since he's been called on to pronounce in excess of 15,000 names during that time, he's been unsure of the correct way to say a few.

But when AU held its fall commencement ceremony on Dec. 14, there was least one name on the list Fletcher knew how to pronounce flawlessly -- his own.

Fletcher carried out his role as normal, but with a twist. He called his own name at the end of the list of Ed.D. recipients.

"My plan was basically to fill my traditional role and keep myself to the last of the doctorates," Fletcher said. "So, I actually could call my own name. I think that's pretty cool, because I don't think anybody's ever done it before.

"Another reason I wanted to call my own name was to try and attain what the registrar before me, Tom Stallworth, did. I think he called every name for every Auburn graduation for a period of 20 years or so. That's a heck of a goal to shoot for."

After he called his name, the registrar was hooded by his doctoral co chairs Gerald and Glennelle Halpin of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology.

Fletcher's dissertation included a study of engineering students and how they move into an engineering major and to graduation.

Wesley Wood named to eminent scholar post

Wesley Wood, a professor in the Department of Agronomy and Soils, has been named the Butler-Cunningham Eminent Scholar in Agricultural and Environmental Issues in AU's College of Agriculture.

Wood, a AU faculty since 1990, has won several awards for his research, teaching and consulting in soil fertility and environmental soil science.

A recently named fellow in the American Society of Agronomy, he is an authority on environmental aspects of agricultural practices, including water and soil contamination.

He was appointed to an Alumni Professorship in 1992.

In the College of Agriculture, Wood developed a new course on environmental soil science that draws students from several departments and colleges.

He has obtained more than $3.5 million in competitive grant funds during the past eight years to support his research efforts at local, state and national levels and has worked in New Zealand, Haiti, Kenya, Thailand, Peru and Honduras.

He also helped develop curricula at the All Russian Agricultural College in Zargorsk, Russia.

Wood holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Mississippi State University and a Ph.D. in soil science from Colorado State University.
He has also worked as an assistant manager of an 11,000-acre corporate farm in Mississippi.

Gandy named Sciences & Mathematics associate dean

Rex Gandy, a faculty member at Auburn since 1984, has been named associate dean for research in AU's College of Sciences and Mathematics.

"His experience in seeking support for research, collaborating with other investigators, mentoring young faculty, promoting research, assisting others in proposal development, working with undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral associates will serve the college and university well," said Sciences and Mathematics Dean Stewart Schneller.

As associate dean for research, Gandy will be responsible for administration of the approximately 100 external grants totaling $5 million per year which are held by the college's faculty.

In addition, he represents the college to the central administration on research issues and promotes the research environment in the college.
Gandy holds a Ph.D. in plasma physics from the University of Texas. From 1981-1984, he held a postdoctoral research appointment at the Plasma Fusion Center at MIT.

He became an assistant professor of physics at AU in 1984, was promoted to associate professor in 1989, and in 1994 attained the rank of professor.

Sciences & Mathematics classroom goes higher tech

AU's College of Sciences and Mathematics has turned a Parker Hall classroom into a state-of-the-art computer laboratory. Called the 21st Century Learning Environment, the 46-seat room is equipped with sophisticated computers as well as a projection system and document camera.

"We wanted to create a space flexible enough to address different teaching styles and requirements," said Dan MacDougall, director of instructional technology in Sciences and Mathematics.

Each seating station in the Parker Hall classroom includes a computer with 256 megs of RAM and a 17-inch monitor built down inside the workstation. Each computer is also connected by a shared whiteboard which will allow one student to write out a solution to a problem on his computer and show it on all computers in the classroom.

Two classes used the facility after it was finished last fall, and several faculty are taking advantage of the classroom this quarter.

A.J. Meir, an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics, is teaching a sophomore-level differential equations class in the room.

"I'm quite excited about teaching in it," he said. "It's a great setup and I think it will help students, especially those in math, to better visualize abstract objects."

Meir said students in his current class will be "exposed to more difficult problems and have the opportunity to explore problems in ways that previous classes have not been able to."

The facility, while more advanced than most other classrooms on campus, is not AU's first venture into this type technology.

James Barnes, instructional media advisor with the Division of Telecommunications and Educational Television's Instructional Media Group, has been working with faculty for more than five years to develop high-tech teaching methods and facilities.

Hundreds of faculty -- he estimates between half and two-thirds -- have taken courses, sought assistance or are working on some sort of instructional media project.

Barnes says Auburn's interest in instructional media is cross discipline and involves every college and school on campus.

Fisheries faculty find good fit at Mobile school

Classes in a new aquaculture program at Alma-Bryant High School in Mobile County has been so attractive to the high school's students that an extra aquaculture unit has been added to meet the students' demand.

The student interest is in response to a program developed in a partnership between Auburn University's fisheries department, the marine resources division of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Alabama Sea Grant. The curriculum was developed by AU fisheries faculty, who also advise the program.

"There's no way this program would have been successful without Auburn," said Lisa Walsh, who teaches the aquaculture classes at the new school in Irvington. "They trained me, advise me and they've provided me with all kinds of publications that I use. In fact, Scott Rikard (a fisheries program associate) and I actually built our building.

"It's interesting. This is pretty serious (University of) Alabama country down here, but when you ask any of the kids about the supporters of our program, the first one out of their mouths is Auburn."

John Jensen, head of AU's fisheries department, said Auburn saw the program at Alma Bryant as a natural fit. A new high school with a new aquaculture program in an area that has depended largely upon the seafood industry as its economic engine.

"We were approached by some people in the south Mobile County area about having some high school students participate in activities at a new lab we're building at Dauphin Island to do research to help the recovery of the oyster industry," said Jensen. "Certainly, we welcomed that, but we said, better yet, why don't we take a program into the high school. That's when the South Mobile County Educational Foundation got together and started really working hard on getting this project going at Alma Bryant."

Allen Horn, owner of Bay Oaks Golf Club in Bayou La Batre, was one of the local leaders of the SMCEF who helped bring the project together. He and other local supporters spearheaded the formation of the not-for-profit group and the drive to raise funds from local industry and others to support the Alma Bryant aquaculture program as well as other unique high school programs -- such as shipfitting and marine technology -- in the area.

"When this began, I was president of the Chamber of Commerce," Horn said. "We had met with John Jensen about the program and it has grown from that initial contact to a program that has really surpassed our expectations."

'Do Something' grant goes to effort to aid West Alabama

An AU Outreach "Do Something" grant of $20,000 has been awarded to help reverse the exodus of talented youth from West Alabama.

Len Vining, training specialist in the Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures, and Greg Whitis, extension aquaculturist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension system, are the principal investigators who submitted the proposal.

The grant will be used to support a summer camp at Auburn to introduce 25 rising high school juniors and seniors recruited from nine West Alabama counties to natural resource-based jobs and career opportunities, with emphasis in aquaculture, fisheries, and soil and water conservation.

"I had personally witnessed the "brain drain" in our area after high school graduation due to lack of skilled aquaculture training and decided it was time to plug the leak," said Whitis.

The summer camp, part of a larger project, will attract high-quality students to AU programs and supply promising students to the Intern and Learn program -- one of the thrusts of the overall project. The overall project, established on the economic infrastructure of the catfish industry, will provide job/career information to large numbers of West Alabama high school students; link talented youth with potential employers in the catfish industry through an intern program; and recruit a few promising students to undergraduate programs at AU's Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture. The graduates will then be encouraged to work in West Alabama.

"This project will make the economic benefits of the expanding aquaculture industry more visible to talented young people who might otherwise leave the West Alabama area," said Vining.

Other AU sponsors: John Jensen, department head, Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures; James Marion, professor of Poultry Science and former dean of the College of Agriculture; Ag Alumni Association; Ag Ambassadors; AU School of Forestry; AU College of Veterinary Medicine; and Stephen Jones, director of ACES.
West Alabama Collaborators: Alabama Fish Farming Center; Judge William Ryan, Hale County HERO Program; Eva Bryant, Hale County Family Resources Center; and Mary Hand, Southern Pride Catfish.

Other support: Charles Kelly, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; and Jimmy Carlisle, Alabama Farmer's Federation.

The Office of the Vice President for University Outreach has awarded more than $100,000 to fund five proposals received in the "Do Something" faculty-competitive grant program to increase educational, economic, health care and leadership opportunity in Alabama's Black Belt.

The program was announced and a workshop held last spring for more than 80 AU faculty members who expressed interest in submitting a proposal. A panel of West Alabama community and civic leaders came to Auburn to inform faculty about the area's needs. A requirement of the proposals is collaboration in West Alabama.

Child care program named as model for state

A local program to provide care for 10- to 14-year-old children of employees of AU and other participating Lee County employers may serve as a model for similar new programs of child care across Alabama.

At a conference on campus last week, Leaders of the "Bridges" program of the Employers' Child Care Alliance of Lee County demonstrated to representatives from up to 30 agencies statewide how to start a program in their communities to provide after-school and summer care for children in the pre-teen and early teen years.

AU was a founding partner in the ECCA, and Lynne Hammond, assistant to the AU president and secretary to the Board of Trustees, is president of the ECCA. Hammond also served as chair of the organizing committee for Lee County's "Bridges" program, which was started in the summer of 1997.

Hammond, AU's representative to the ECCA, said the "Bridges" program was designed to bridge the gap between childhood and the late teens and between child care and self care for an often ignored age group. Prior to the "Bridges" program, working parents often had no option for supervised care of their children who were too old for traditional child care, Hammond noted.

Grants from the Points of Light Foundation, the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation and the Alabama Lawyers for Children helped finance the conference and provide start-up funds for a few communities.

Gail Piggott, ECCA manager and conference coordinator, said the local initiative demonstrated to other communities that a way could be found to provide care for pre-teen children and those in their early teens. "We accomplished many of our goals in a short period of time, with little cash outlay," she said. "This is only possible because of the collaboration of many diverse partners."

Piggott noted that the employers who make up the alliance developed and administer the program, and various community partners such as schools, churches and Boys and Girls Clubs enable the ECCA to provide the service to the children and their parents. Assistance also came from an AmeriCorps grant, which helped pay for staffing the program.

The ECCA is housed at the Child Care Resource Center, a non-profit agency in Opelika serving child care providers and parents in East Alabama. Employees of AU or other participating employers may obtain information on enrolling their children in the "Bridges" program by contacting Piggott at 749-8400

Greshams' gift enables School of Architecture to establish first professorships

Nashville architect Batey Gresham and his wife Ann have established the first professorship in Auburn's School of Architecture. Three faculty members who have shown distinction in their careers have been chosen as recipients.

The Greshams gave a permanent endowment to establish the Ann and Batey Gresham Professorship in the School of Architecture, a division of AU's College of Architecture, Design and Construction.

"The sign of maturity of an academic unit is an endowed professorship and we are grateful to the Greshams for their generous support of architecture," said D.K. Ruth, interim dean of the College of Architecture, Design and Construction.

"This is the first professorship in the architecture program's 90-year history, so this gift is very significant, not only to our school and college but to Auburn University as well. It is a real indication that our alumni have faith in their college," said Ruth.

The endowment provides awards for three positions including a $3,000 yearly salary supplement for varying years for each recipient. Selection was made by the dean of the College of Architecture, Design and Construction after consulting with senior faculty in the School of Architecture.

Gaines Blackwell, formerly Alumni Professor of Architecture, has been named the Ann and Batey Gresham Professor for Sustained Excellence. Blackwell, a professor at AU since 1974, is also chair of the interior design program in architecture. He was named in 1994 as an Alumni Professor, a designation he will hold until next year.

Blackwell earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama and a master of fine arts degree in design from the University of Georgia. His creative works include a house for Don Logan, chief executive officer of Time, Inc., and his wife,
Sandy, and is starting one for Miller and Frances Gorrie of Brasfield & Gorrie, Inc., of Birmingham. In addition, he is a design advisor for AU's College of Sciences and Mathematics and School of Forestry. He ends a three-year term on AU's Promotion and Tenure Committee.

Blackwell's award, the Gresham Professor for Sustained Excellence, was established for a full, tenured professor and carries with it a $3,000 salary supplement for three years.

Samuel Mockbee, a professor of architecture and co-founder of AU's Rural Studio, is the recipient of the Ann and Batey Gresham Professorship for Significant Achievement.

Mockbee has directed students at AU's Rural Studio in rural Hale County since the studio was established in 1993. Each quarter architecture students learn the 'how-to' of architecture while helping less fortunate Alabamians. Students have built homes for the elderly, made repairs to hundreds of homes for safer living conditions, built playgrounds and even designed and built a chapel from recycled tires.

Mockbee, who joined the School of Architecture in 1991, will receive a $3,000 salary supplement for two years. A few of the many awards Mockbee has won as an architect include the Record and the National Honor Award, given in 1994 by the American Institute for Architects in Washington, D.C. for the Cook residence in Oxford, Miss.

Earlier this year, Mockbee was named by ARTnews magazine as one of the nation's top six designers. The AU alumnus has served as a visiting professor at Harvard University, and spent a one-year stint as the Bruce Goff Professor of Creative Architecture at the University of Oklahoma.

David Hinson, an associate professor at AU, is the recipient of the Ann and Batey Gresham Professor for Professional Promise. This professorship recognizes the early work in an AU faculty member's career, and Hinson will receive a $3000 salary supplement for one year.

Hinson, a 1982 AU architecture graduate, earned a master's degree in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1991, he was named a Kellogg National Fellow, a three-year leadership development program. In 1993, he won the Young Architect Award from the Fellows of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects for exceptional achievement.

The Greshams are both AU graduates. He is a founding partner in Gresham, Smith and Partners architectural firm in Nashville, Tenn.

Gift helps develop curriculum in risk management, insurance

Financial support from one of the South's largest insurance brokerage firms will help the Auburn University College of Business develop its curriculum and research in the area of risk management and insurance.

The commitment from J. Smith Lanier & Co., of West Point, Ga., provides for the establishment of the J. Smith Lanier & Co. Annual Fund for Excellence in Risk Management and Insurance.

Lee Colquitt, an assistant professor in the Department of Finance who coordinates the risk management and insurance area, will manage the program.

J. Smith Lanier & Co., founded in 1868, is one of the five largest independent
insurance brokers in the Southeast.

Executives with J. Smith Lanier & Co. will be working with Dr. Colquitt and other faculty in the Department of Finance to increase interest in the field of risk management and insurance through the development of student internships and co-op opportunities and through the participation of executives as guest lecturers in our classes and student organizations," said John Jahera, Colonial Bank Professor and head of the Department of Finance.

The commitment by J. Smith Lanier & Co. will enable Colquitt to further develop not only the instructional area but also to support research efforts in the field, Jahera added.

Pindzola endows fund for excellence in Aerospace Engineering

An endowed fund in memory of Michael Pindzola, internationally known aeronautical engineer, has been established at the AU College of Engineering by his son, Michael S. Pindzola. Earnings from the endowment will benefit the Department of Aerospace Engineering.

A minimum contribution of $25,000 is required to endow a fund for excellence at AU.

Pindzola was known for his role in the design and operation of the transonic and supersonic wind tunnels constructed at the Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center near Tullahoma, Tenn., in the mid 1950s.

Before joining the Arnold Center, Pindzola served in the Army Air Corps and worked in the experimental design group at Pratt and Whitney Aircraft, Inc. Pindzola wrote more than 30 professional publications and taught graduate courses in aerospace engineering at the University of Tennessee Space Institute.

Before his retirement in 1982, Pindzola served on the Sverdrup Corporation board of directors and was vice president of operations for Arnold Center. He earned his mechanical engineering degree from the University of Minnesota in 1942 and an M.S. in aeronautical engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1958.

Authors to present readings at Pebble Hill

The AU Center for the Arts and Humanities will host readings from two Southern authors in the coming weeks.

On Jan. 24, Howard Bahr will read from his novel, The Black Flower: A Civil War Novel. On Feb. 2, Pat Cunningham Devoto will give a reading from her debut novelMy Last Days as Roy Rogers.

Both readings will begin at 4 p.m. at Pebble Hill, the historic home which houses AU's Center for Arts and Humanities.

The Black Flower: A Civil War Novel, Bahr's first book, places readers with Confederate soldiers, primarily a young Tennessee rifleman named Bushrod Carter, as they are about to fight a hopeless battle. The black flower of death blossoms around them and a makeshift hospital to which Carter and other injured are taken.

The novel won The Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters for Distinguished Prose.

Bahr teaches English at Matlow State Community College in Tullahoma, Tenn. He has served as curator of Rowan Oak, the William Faulkner homestead and museum in Oxford, Miss., for the past 20 years.

In My Last Days as Roy Rogers, Devoto tells a tale about a young woman coming of age in Alabama during the last days of the 1950s polio epidemic. The book also takes a look at Southern provincialism and racism as viewed through the eyes of young children.

Devoto, a former high school history teacher, was born and raised in Alabama, and
now lives in Atlanta.

Copies of both authors' novels will be available for purchase and signing at the time of their readings. For more information or directions to Pebble Hill, call 844-4947.

AU ties recycling effort to BellSouth's campaign

With BellSouth scheduled to issue Auburn city telephone directories from Jan. 21-Feb. 4, Ann Cromwell, AU recycling coordinator, is asking faculty and staff to hold their old AU phone books until then.

AU's 1998-99 campus phone books were distributed before Christmas. Many faculty and staff have placed their old campus phone books in recycling bins, but Cromwell said the pending recycling campaign promises to be more effective and efficient than piecemeal recycling efforts.

The BellSouth campaign will accept all old phone books including those from AU, Auburn-Opelika, Columbus and Montgomery.

Designated drop-off locations on campus for the campaign include:

Aerospace Engineering - outside, west side; Chemistry - outside, southeast side; Dudley - outside, north side; Dunstan - outside, southside; Facilities, Building 2 - inside Training Room; Foy Union - outside, southwest side 9access by parking lot); Funchess - outside, northwest side.

Haley Center, AU Bookstore basement storage area, - access
through the dock on Duncan Drive; Haley Concourse - outside, south end; CDV Extension - inside mailroom; Hill Dorms - inside mailroom; Old CDV - outside mailroom; Quad - inside mailroom.

Ingram - outside, southeast side; Lowder Business - outside, south side; Parker - outside, northeast side; Rouse Life Sciences - outside, southwest side, at dock; Spidle - outside, northwest side; Veterinary Medicine - outside, Greene Hall dock; Sewell Hall - outside residence hall manager's office.

Overdue book fines end for faculty, staff

Auburn faculty and staff will no longer be charged late fines for overdue books and other AU library materials.

Instead, AU library materials at least 28 days overdue will be deemed lost, and faculty and staff patrons will be charged the item's replacement cost plus a nonrefundable $15 processing fee for each item.

The changes are expected to improve efficiency and service to library users, says Harmon Straiton, assistant dean for information services at AU Libraries. "We are a service organization and we are more interested in recovering the book as opposed to collecting fines," Straiton said.

The decision for the change was made by the University Library Committee.

Fines will still be charged for special loans.

When new software is installed to connect the libraries' system to the Payroll Office, financial obligations will be transferred to payroll for processing. "This will be automatic and will streamline our services," he said.

Campus Views
Today's students ignore arts at their own peril

By Norbert M. Lechner, Professor, Building Science

My favorite bumper sticker says "The one who dies with the most toys wins." Apparently, many of us are playing this game with enthusiasm. But this game is not very satisfying and the need for more and more stuff is placing a severe stress on this planet. In our eagerness to export our way of life, we are encouraging the rest of the world to play the same game.
Consider the impact, if all 5.9 billion people lived like us, and, of course, there will soon be over 10 billion who all want a high standard of living (read: they want a lot of stuff).

Is there another way? Besides controlling the world's population growth, we could follow a different bumper sticker. Maybe it should say "Live a rich life through the arts." Enjoying visual art, music, or theater can give great satisfaction without consuming a lot of stuff whose production burdens the environment.

One of life's great pleasures is to listen to beautiful music. When I listen to Debussy, I am transported into another world of mystery and delight. What a great loss it would have been for me, if I had never been exposed to this or any other of my favorite composers. I am grateful for the people and institutions that introduced me to these wonderful experiences.

I get even more satisfaction when I realize how little I demand of the environment when I listen to music. True, it took some energy and resources to make the audio equipment and CD's. It also takes a small amount of electricity when I listen to the radio or play my CD's. But listening to my favorite music over and over again through the years will be a small burden on the environment. Music appreciation is a value worthy of promoting.

We at the university have some effect on what people value. At the very least, we can expose our students to the arts, and we can teach by example. I, for example, go to the AU Theater for every presentation, and I give a bonus point to any student that attends a play. A single point on a 10-point grading scale is neither very much nor insignificant. I offer these bonus points in all of my courses, most of which are very technical in nature.

I tell my students that I feel embarrassed to offer bonus points for having fun, but I do it so that they are exposed to the performing arts. When I ask for a show of hands on how many people have ever attended a live theatrical performance, I sometimes see no hands in a class of 25 students. It is a tragedy to have a student leave Auburn University without an introduction to all the arts.

We should introduce students not only to be passive consumers of the arts but also active participants. Winston Churchill's favorite recreational activity was to go to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco to paint. We all know people who join a choir or play an instrument to enrich their lives.
Certainly it is a win-win situation when people can enrich their lives without a heavy cost to the environment. When you consider the planetary implications, maybe the arts are not a luxury but a very practical solution to a serious problem.

Achievements

Franklin Setzer, associate professor and director of AU's Center for Architecture and Urban Studies in Birmingham, has become the newest member of the Birmingham Housing Authority Board of Directors. As an architect, Setzer says his interest in public housing stems from his long involvement with community development, housing and design. Setzer says he previously worked on a "scattered site" housing program for public housing residents in St. Petersburg, Fla. Setzer has been an AU faculty member since 1990.

Charles Bruce, director of AU Treasury Services, and Jean Bumbardner, cash manager in Treasury Services, have been certified as Permanent Certified Cash Managers by the Treasury Management Association. Certification is based upon completion of 72 continuing education credits in the field within six years through attendance at designated conferences, seminars, workshops and courses.

Daniel D. Butler, chair of the Department of Marketing and Tranportation and vice pesident of the Society for Marketing Advances, an international marketing society, was recently presented an outstanding research paper award at the annual conference in New Orleans. The paper, "Required and Elective Marketing Courses: How Far Have We Come in Twenty Years?" The paper was co-authored with Katherine-Straughn Mizerski of Griffin University in Brisbane, Australia.

Doug Hankes, staff psychologist in Student Counseling Services, presented papers this fall at the annual meetings of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology and the Southeastern Conference of Counseling Center Personnel. He was also recently named to the executive committee of the Amercian Psychological Association's Division 47 (Exercise and Sport Psychology).

Beverly Marshall, assistant professor in the Department of Finance, was selected for the Outstanding Paper at the recent Academy of Financial Services Annual Meeting in Chicago. The paper dealt with issues related to initial public offerings by corporations. Marshall, who joined the AU faculty last fall, is a CPA who previously worked in corporate finance for Vulcan Materials.

James Barth, the Lowder Eminent Scholar in Finance, presented two lectures during a visit to South America in September and October. Barth was the keynote speaker at the National Meeting of the Graduate Business Program in Ijuassu Falls, Brazil, and he gave a public lecture on the international banking crisis at the University of Pontificia in Rio de Janeiro.

Gary R. Mullen, professor of entomology, has been elected to the Governing Board of the Entomological Society of America, representing the Medical-Veterinary Entomology section. He recently gave an invited presentation at the fourth International Congress of Dipterology at Oxford University in England.

Wesley Wood and David Bransby, faculty members in the Department of Agronomy and Soils, have been elected a fellows of the American Society of Agronomy. The awards was presented at the society's recent annual meeting in Baltimore. Wood is also president of the Southern Branch of the ASA.

Denis DeVries, professor in the Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures, has been named co-editor of the journal Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. In this position, he will review 60 to 90 manuscripts annually and make the final decision on publishing. The journal has been published since the 1870s and has a subscription base of 3,500.

Campus Roundup

Higher Ed Partnership seeking AU members
The Higher Education Partnership, an independent association for higher education, is conducting a membership drive among AU faculty, staff and supporters. Membership is $12 per year and supports information and lobbying efforts on behalf of the state's universities. For a membership application, contact Jerry Brown or Michael Mercer in the Department of Journalism at 844-4607.

Stressed out? Group offers help
A free, structured stress management group is being organized by the Student Success Center and will serve faculty, staff and students. The group meets Tuesdays from 3-4:30 p.m. in Foy 189. Call Vern Russell at 844-5123 for details.

Group helps develop communication skills
The Auburn-Opelika Chapter of Toastmasters International meets Mondays at 5:30 p.m. in Comer 109. Anyone seeking to develop speaking, listening and/or other communication skills is invited. For information, contact Mary Owens at 826-2165.

BC/BS representative visits scheduled
AU's Blue Cross/Blue Shield representative will be on campus Jan. 13, Feb. 9 and March 9 from 10 a.m.-noon in the Payroll and Benefits Office at Ingram 212 to answer questions from AU faculty and staff about health insurance coverage and other Blue Cross/Blue Shield benefits. No appointment is necessary.

Volunteers sought for study
The Child Development Lab in the Department of Psychology seeks volunteers for a study involving children, ages 6-11, and their parents. Participating parents will complete questionnaires, and the children will take part in one lab procedure. Participants will be compensated up to $70 for their time and effort. Contact Mona El-Sheikh or graduate assistants at 844-6905.

Marriage & Family Therapy Center offers help
If you or your family are having marital, child, family or related problems, AU's Marriage and Family Therapy Center can help. Call 844-4478.

Unsung Hero
Cheryl Woodard, Business Outreach

This week's Unsung Hero is Cheryl Woodard, program specialist for Business Outreach in the College of Business. She has been with AU for 14 years. She was asked:

I get the greatest satisfaction in my job when: "I am able to help our students, staff, or faculty with a problem they may be having, and also when a project turns out to be a great success."

In my job area, quality is measured by: "Timeliness and accuracy. In our office, we have a goal, that we try to follow, which is a day's turnaround for all paperwork coming in. Some days, this is a very hard goal to reach."

If I could change one thing about Auburn (or my job) it would be: "That there would be communication and team work among our staff and faculty, that would lead us work for what's best for the university instead of individual agendas. I've often wondered what this university could accomplish if we worked as a team instead of against each other."

I've always wondered why: "Some of our faculty members constantly put up road blocks or obstacles in the paths of our students instead of trying to help them. I've always had the view that we are here because of the students, therefore we should be a helpful as possible."

When people come to this campus, I want them to: "See a top-notch college which prides itself on the use of the latest state-of-the-art equipment and information, as well as the welfare of each of our students. Also to show that Auburn is a great place to live and well as having a lovely campus."

In my spare time, I like to: "I love to read, crafts, camping and spending time with my family. The problem is there is never enough time for our hobbies."

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, January 12
* University Senate, 3:10 p.m., Broun Hall Auditorium.
Wednesday, January 13
* Blue Cross-Blue Shield representative available for consultation. No appointment required. 10 a.m.-noon, Payroll & Employee Benefits, Ingram 212.
Thursday, January 14
* Martin Luther King Birthday Celebration: Keynote speaker, Asa Hilliard, "Celebrating the Dream: Preparing Our Students for the 21st Century." Also performances by AU Gospel Choir and Selma High School Choir. 6 p.m., Foy 258.
Monday, January 18
*Martin Luther King Day, campus closed.
Wednesday, January 20
* Fred Pryor Seminar, "Train the Trainer," fee charged; supervisor approval required.
Friday, January 22
* Board of Trustees meets, 9 a.m., Library Tower, AUM.
Wednesday, January 27
* AU Staff Council, 3 p.m., Pharmacy 101A. Guest speaker: Darwin Liverance, assistant vice president for human resources.