AU REPORTAugust 14, 2000
Headlines AU readies for start of semesters Emergency systems to be tested Classes get parking priority Disability set new grad on course

Auburn students returning for fall classes next week will find approximately 1,000 more spaces than they had last spring, while faculty and staff around the northeast corner of campus have to park farther from their buildings due to construction.

Campus planner Tom Tillman said the student parking areas on the west side of campus include a net longterm gain of approximately 400 spaces. The university has reopened some sites that were temporarily closed during that construction phase, and work is scheduled for early next year on the next phase of parking development. That phase will include reconfiguring parking areas between Nichols Center and the AU Federal Credit Union, but no further work is planned in that area until December or later, he added.

The newly expanded Drake Field/Hangar parking area is open to faculty and staff as well as students and is served by buses from the campus transit system.

Meanwhile, AU has leased 50 parking spaces northwest of downtown to offset the loss of faculty and staff parking lots behind the University Chapel and Ingram and O.D. Smith halls during Smith Hall renovation. The leased spaces are one and a half blocks north of Biggin Hall in the city of Auburn's parking lot at the corner of Wright Street and West Glenn Avenue. Those spaces are open to faculty and staff vehicles with parking hangtags marked for "A" or "B" zones. The spaces are marked on the pavement as "AU leased," and parking meters have been removed.

Jim Ferguson, vice president for administrative services, said the Wright Street lot will provide some parking relief for faculty and staff whose parking areas were displaced by the Smith Hall construction. The Smith Hall project includes reconstruction of those parking areas and is scheduled to last until next spring or summer.

The Wright Street parking lot is approximately two and one-half blocks from the closed lots. The closing of the lots east of College Street in July put increased pressure on already stressed parking areas on the east side of campus.

AU enters the new academic year with 1,097 "A" zone spaces, 2,437 spaces in "B" zones and 7,444 "C" zone spaces. Approximately 20,000 vehicles are registered, but campus police note that usage at any given time is much closer to the available number of spaces.

AU readies for Aug. 22 launch of semesters

Three years of transition ends and a new tradition begins on Aug. 22 as Auburn starts fall term classes under a semester system for the first time in more than half a century.

"Many people have gone to great lengths to ensure that the transition goes smoothly," said AU Provost William Walker. "A great deal of effort has gone into semester transition because it touches the lives of all our students and faculty."

Walker said faculty, staff and students throughout the university put in countless hours over the past three years to prepare for the transition. He noted that teams led by semester transition coordinator Christine Curtis studied the transition of other universities from academic quarters to semesters and developed plans to bring Auburn's academic calendar in line with those of most other major universities.

The University Senate and the Student Government Association also played key roles in helping prepare the university for the calendar change, Walker added.

"There may be a few bumps in the road, but we have tried to anticipate everything," said Curtis.

Faculty handled the toughest part of the conversion by developing semester-based curricula, and the Facilities Division played a critical role by adapting classrooms and laboratories to accommodate the new curricula, she said. "A lot of good has come of this process as people all across the university have been improving the curriculum and getting it ready for the 21st century."

Auburn has been on the quarter system since 1942. The university joined many other educational institutions in changing from semesters to quarters when America entered World War II, but most of those changed back to semesters in the 1980s and '90s.

Since the Board of Trustees approved the conversion three years ago to bring AU in line with most of its competitors, AU faculty and staff have been planning, redesigning curricula and class schedules and advising students in preparation for the change.

New freshmen will be among the Auburn students who are most prepared for semesters. Camp War Eagle, AU's orientation program for new freshmen and transfer students, ended its summer counseling sessions Aug. 1, having registered nearly 4,000 new freshmen.

These freshmen -- a record-size class -- also take their place in the university's history as the first entering under the new semester system. Students under the semester system must take a minimum of 12 semester credit hours to maintain full-time student status. However, to assure timely progress through their program of study, students are advised to take a nominal 15 semester credit hours.

The fall 2000 semester term runs 74 class days over 15 weeks. AU students and faculty, who have been used to five-credit-hour classes that met one hour per day five days a week, will typically meet for three credit-hour classes on a Monday Wednesday-Friday or a Tuesday-Thursday schedule. M-W-F classes begin on the hour and run 50 minutes with 10 minutes between each session. T-Th classes begin on the hour or half hour. T-Th classes run 75 minutes with 15 minutes between each session.

A larger freshman class and changes in class schedules are only two of the noticeable differences brought on by the semester system. The Bursar's Office mailed the first bills for undergraduate tuition and fees under the semester system in mid-July. Recipients already have noticed that the charges for a semester are greater than those billed for a quarter term. However, instead of paying for three sessions during the regular academic year, students now pay for two sessions. Students have the option of paying tuition for each semester in two payments.

Orientation scheduled for new faculty

Orientation for new faculty is scheduled for Thursday and Friday. The program is designed for faculty who are starting work at Auburn this fall or who joined the AU faculty since Jan. 1.

The Office of the Provost will host its orientation program on Thursday from 8:30-11:30 a.m., in the Foy Student Union Exhibit Lounge. Displays and refreshments will be in Foy 213, where representatives of various university faculty services will be available to inform new faculty about major university offices and programs.

On Friday, from 1-5 p.m., the Office of the Vice President for Research will host orientation for new faculty who will be active in the university's research program. Presentations and refreshments will be in Foy 246. Displays and representatives of the various university research support services and facilities will be in Foy 204.

Emergency systems to be tested

Expect to see a lot of emergency vehicles converging on campus on Wednesday, Aug. 16.

AU that day will conduct an emergency training drill that will follow a hypothetical scenario where injuries are caused by a ruptured natural gas line at Jordan-Hare Stadium during a football game.

The exercise will begin about 10 a.m., with a "911 call" to the AU Department of Public Safety.

Pete Pepinsky, executive director of University Relations, says the university and cooperating agencies will attempt to make the drill as realistic as possible. It will be conducted two days after summer quarter graduation and six days before the start of the fall semester.

"We hope this exercise will demonstrate to prospective students, current students, their families, alumni and others that Auburn University takes safety very seriously," he said.

The exercise is funded by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Administration secured through the Alabama Emergency Management Agency and the Lee County Emergency Management Agency.

Robert Watson, president of Anderson, S.C.-based Safe Schools America, was hired by the Lee County EMA as a consultant to write the disaster scenario and lead the training and evaluation for the exercise.

The scenario developed by Watson assumes: During a home football game, a pressure surge causes a rupture in a buried plastic gas line that runs southeast from the south end of Jordan-Hare Stadium. Gas is trapped in the ground. Sparks from either a cigarette or a tailgater's grill ignites an explosion. Power transformers blow out in the electrical substation along Duncan Drive just beyond the left field fence of Plainsman Park. Tailgaters and others in the area are injured. The stadium is evacuated.

The AUDPS dispatcher alerts law enforcement officers in the stadium area. They assess the need for mutual assistance from area police and fire departments. The dispatcher notifies the Emergency Medical Service, Auburn Fire Division and other agencies.

EMS will call for assistance from Fort Benning's Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic so that an Army helicopter can help evacuate the most seriously injured to hospitals.

Areas marked "P" in map at right are covered below in parking plan for Aug. 31.


Classes get priority parking for first game day

With AU's first football game of the season scheduled for a Thursday night, when classes will be in session, the university has adopted a special parking plan for the occasion, says Jim Ferguson, vice president for administrative services.

The season-opener against the University of Wyoming will be Aug. 31 -- nine days after fall semeJster begins at AU.

"The primary reason for special parking provisions for the Wyoming game is that, with classes beginning earlier because of our transition to the semester system, we are faced with hosting a football game and trying to hold classes and labs all at the same time," said Jim Ferguson. "We hope the plan we've developed will accommodate all concerned --football fans, tailgaters and our students, faculty and staff."

For the Wyoming game, several parking lots will be closed and secured at midnight on Aug. 30, with parking in those lots available from that time until 4 p.m. on Aug. 31, only to students, faculty, administrators and staff with applicable AU hangtags and vehicles with special permits issued by the Athletics Department. Vehicles with special permits issued by the Athletics Department will not be able to use assigned spaces and cannot be guaranteed a space.

Lots included are:
* C-zone lots west of Jordan-Hare Stadium, including parking on Donahue Drive.
* C-zone at the intersection of Donahue Drive and Wire Road.
* A- and C-zones east of Nichols Center.
* C-zone north of the Student Activities Center.
* A- and B-zones south of Haley Center.
* B-zone south of the Lowder Building.
* A- and B-zones south of Petrie Hall.
* A- and B-zones east and south of the AU Department of Public Safety building.
* B-zone south and east of the Mathematics Annex.
* A-zone south of Wallace Center.
* A-zone north and B-zone east of the Coliseum.

AU students, faculty, administrators and staff displaced by these restrictions may, with appropriate parking hangtags, park on a space available basis in the C-zone parking lots west and south of the AU Federal Credit Union, around the Intramural Field or in unpaved, remote areas near the intersection of Lem Morrison and Donahue drives.

Scholarship RVs will be allowed to park in the C-zone parking lot north of the Student Activities Center on a space-available basis beginning at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Spaces not taken by these vehicles will be available to cars with appropriate AU hangtags until 4 p.m., Thursday, after which access will be restricted to only scholarship RVs with special permits.

RVs with special permits issued by the Athletics Department will be allowed to park along Biggio Drive and in the C-zone parking lot east of the Coliseum on a space available basis from 4 p.m., Wednesday, to 6 a.m. Thursday. From 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, vehicles with appropriate AU hangtags may park in these areas if space is available, but no RVs will be allowed.

The same campus streets closed on normal game-day Saturdays will be barricaded from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday with access limited to vehicles with appropriate AU hangtags or special permits issued by the Athletics Department. After 4 p.m., access will be by special permit only.

Streets that will be closed to traffic on game day include:
* Donahue Drive between Thach and Samford avenues.
* Duncan Drive between Roosevelt Drive and Thach Avenue.
* Biggio Drive between Samford Avenue and Donahue Drive.
Streets that will be routed one-way after the game include:
* Thach and Samford avenues, one-way east from Donahue Drive to Dean Road.
* Roosevelt Drive, one-way south between Thach and Samford Avenues.
* Hemlock Drive, one way south between Thach and Samford avenues.
* Wire Road,one way south between Thach and Samford avenues.

AP Assembly officers for 2000-01
Ellyn Hix, at left, of Information Technology is the new chair of the Administrative and Professional Assembly for 2000-01. Other officers, at right, left to right, are Chair-Elect John Asmuth of the Aquatics Center; Secretary Kathryn Harmon of the AU Bookstore; and Kevin Robinson of Internal Auditing, immediate past chair. Asmuth and Harmon were elected by the Assembly on Aug. 2. Asmuth will assist Hix this year and succeed her as AP Assembly chair in August 2001.

Saunders named new AA/EEO executive director

Janet Saunders of California State University at Chico has been appointed executive director of the AU Office of Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity, effective Sept. 1.

In announcing the appointment, AU Executive Vice President Don Large said he was very pleased with the interest nationally that the position attracted and with the outstanding background and credentials that Saunders brings to Auburn. He noted that the new executive director brings more than 30 years experience in human resources administration to the AA/EEO position, including more than 20 years of work in affirmative action administration.

Saunders holds a bachelor's degree in industrial psychology from Bernard Baruch College in New York and a master's degree in administration and leadership from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. At SUNY, Plattsburgh, she also served from 1987-97 as affirmative action officer and other posts, including director of personnel, executive assistant to the president and director of multicultural affairs.

At Cal State, Chico, for the past three years, Saunders was director of employment practices and affirmative action. In that post, she worked with administrators, the faculty senate and others to develop and implement university policies related to affirmative action, employment and educational discrimination.

Saunders worked from 1969-87 in private industry as a personnel manager, consultant and affirmative action officer.

In Plattsburgh community activities, she was chair of human rights commissions for both the city and county and was named Woman of the Year by the Business and Professional Women's Club of Champlain Valley and Volunteer of the Year by the City of Plattsburgh. For her work with the university and the community, Saunders won the New York State Governor's Award for African Americans of Distinction in 1993.

Lowther wins Sutton Award for leadership

Sam Lowther, executive director of the Office of Planning and Analysis, received the Joseph T. Sutton Leadership Award in July during the annual conference of the Alabama Association for Institutional Research in Gulf Shores.

Lowther

The award, which recognizes leadership, accomplishment and innovation in institutional research, is named in honor of an institutional research pioneer and former executive director of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. Sutton presented the award.

Lowther has worked in Planning and Analysis since 1977 and was named executive director in 1993. He is a founding member of ALAIR and has served as its president.

He is active in other professional organizations, including serving as board member-at-large of the Southern Association for Institutional Research. He serves the state of Alabama on the Steering Committee of the Higher Education Information Advisory Group, the Financial Advisory Council and ACHE's Planning Liaison Group.

Bartels named to lead AVMA executive board

AU Veterinary Medicine Professor Jan Bartels has been named chairman of the American Veterinary Medical Association's Executive Board for 2000-01.

Bartels, head of the Department of Radiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine, was elected during the AVMA's annual meeting in Salt Lake City. A board member since 1995, he was vice-chair in 1999-2000 and is a member of the AVMA Congressional Action Network and the AVMA Political Action Committee.

Bartels joined the Auburn veterinary faculty in 1967, attaining the rank of professor in 1976, and has headed the Department of Radiology since 1990. Since then he has also directed the college's Ware Imaging Center.

He has volunteered his time and services to the AVMA as a member of the Council on Veterinary Service for six years, including five as chair. Bartels also served six-year terms on the Council on Education and the Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities, and chaired the Committee on Academic Affairs.

In addition, Bartels has held memberships and offices in the American College of Veterinary Radiology; Southern Veterinary Medical Federation; East Alabama Veterinary Medical Association; and the Alabama Veterinary Medical Association.

Two other AU faculty members were also elected to council seats during the AVMA meeting. Gatz Riddell, professor of large animal surgery and medicine, was elected to the Council on Biologic and Therapeutic Agents, and Charles Knecht, former head of the Department of Small Animal Surgery and Medicine, was elected as one of five members of the Judicial Council. Dr. Aaron Groth, former head of the Department of Pathology and Parasitology, also serves on that council.

AU college hosting visiting veterinarians on sabbatical

A new veterinary sabbatical program is being offered at the College of Veterinary Medicine, where veterinarians can observe and work with faculty clinicians.

The program is designed to help practitioners continue to develop their medical knowledge and skills as they participate in various clinical rotations, says Assistant Dean Gary Beard.

"They attend primarily as observers and information gatherers," said Beard. "They don't have specific caseload responsibilities, but they are encouraged to take part in rounds, and many times they are asked to scrub-in on surgical cases when the opportunity arises."

The visiting veterinarians have access to university resources, including the library, auto-tutorial programs, computer laboratories, telephones, parking permits, Biomedical Communications Department and film badges.

Public Safety office issues reminder on weapons policy

AU's Department of Public Safety has issued a reminder to the campus community that the university's weapons policy is being strictly enforced.

The reminder, issued through the Office of Administrative Services, of which Public Safety is a unit, comes on the eve of the 2000-01 academic year.

Although violations are rare, campus interest in weapons violations was heightened during the 1999-2000 academic year by an incident in which one student was wounded when a gun accidentally discharged in his car and another incident in which a student was arrested for firing a gun on campus.

AU's weapons policy forbids all types of firearms, Bowie knives and similar fixed blade knives (excluding kitchen knives in cooking areas), swords, crossbows or bow and arrows, brass knuckles, air guns, sling shots and fireworks or other explosives.

Persons found with any of the forbidden devices are subject to confiscation of those devices and may face arrest and court action and/or university discipline.

Landscape supervisor Arnold Pattillo checks site for new sod during late July heat wave.


Long, hot summer takes toll on campus landscaping

The harshest summer in a decade is taking its toll on trees and shrubs at Auburn, but conditions could have been worse, says Charlie Crawford, head of landscape services in AU's Facilities Division.

After July's heat wave, when temperatures often soared past 100 degrees, the typically hot, muggy days of August have been almost a relief for Auburn's landscaping crews and for the plants they have been trying to save, said Crawford.

"Afternoon rains have been scattered and haven't left much water when they have hit us, but they help to make the heat a little more bearable and they also help to keep soil moisture up to an adequate level," Crawford explained.

Plants that were endangered by the heat wave and drought in July now seem likely to survive, he said. City water use restrictions have limited watering to odd-numbered days since Aug. 1, but the break in the weather has reduced the need for daily watering, he added.

"This summer, we have been trying to save what we can, and we will save most of it," said Crawford. "There are isolated spots where plants are dying, and we had to let some of the lawns go without water while we were trying to help the newer plants get established."

Other than fighting the heat while working on sun-scorched campus grounds, the biggest challenge faced by campus landscaping workers this summer has been to establish grass and ornamentals, mostly crape myrtle, on about 35 islands and perimeter areas for the new parking areas around the former ROTC hangar. Landscaping workers have planted and struggled to sustain 7,000 square yards of grass sod and 60 trees during the hottest part of the year.

Although planting is typically done in winter, Auburn's crews had to wait until the paving contractor finished in late spring to plant on the traffic islands. They then worked to get the plants established before the parking lots fill with cars next week, when fall semester starts.

Surrounded by expanses of asphalt, the islands have presented a special hurdle for workers, Crawford noted. During July's heat wave, the islands and newly planted periphery were watered at night, but the heat was so intense that workers had to move hoses from island to island to water the sites again in daylight.

"If you miss just a few hours in extreme heat, a young tree can be lost quickly," said Crawford. "By the time you see dead leaves, the roots are already dead."

He said the crews managed to get most of the new plantings and sod through the heat wave so that those areas can survive through the fall with limited maintenance.

Haylift site
This Lee County haylift site in Opelika is among distribution sites coordinated by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System in its efforts to get hay donated by farmers in the northern half of Alabama to farmers hit by drought in the southern part of the state.

ACES helps coordinate haylift for South Alabama farmers

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System has played a crucial role coordinating a statewide haylift enabling hundreds of cattle producers in South Alabama to stay in business despite this summer's intense drought.

In May, Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bishop organized a statewide haylift for cattle producers in drought-stressed areas of the state where hay reserves had been depleted. Extension agents throughout the state played a major role in coordinating the effort.

While agents in drought-stressed regions of South Alabama worked with their counterparts in other public- and private-sector agencies to identify local producers in need of hay, agents in North Alabama worked with local counterparts to identify producers in their area willing to donate hay. Partly as a result of their efforts, more than 10 million pounds of hay have been provided to producers in 28 counties.

The Extension System also provides drought information and other educational material to farmers and livestock producers through an emergency drought web site, which includes an Ag Crisis Hotline for farmers.

Updated daily, the site features information concerning whom to contact about drought-related problems, hay requirements in all of Alabama's 67 counties, information about where donated hay can be obtained, and ongoing federal, state and county drought-relief efforts.

The site also provides numerous drought-related news stories and publications on a wide array of topics. Information on the web site is divided into categories for quick reference, with new information highlighted.

Overcoming hurdles
Communication Disorders Professor Michael Moran, left, and new graduate Larry Oglesby test the frequency and pitch of Oglesby's voice on a Visi-Pitch machine, one of the tools Oglesby will use in his field to help others overcome communication obstacles.

Disability set new grad on course toward degree

For Larry Oglesby, his years in the military and winning a personal battle to learn how to live with a disability haven't compared to the success he found as a student at Auburn.

A profound loss of sight and being an older-than-average student were just two obstacles in Oglesby's course of life. The 43-year-old Columbus, Ga., resident was among more than 1,300 persons scheduled to graduate from AU on Monday.

"This is the highlight for me," Oglesby said a few days before he was to receive a bachelor's degree in communication disorders. "I plan to walk across the stage and receive my degree unless I'm nailed to the chair."

Oglesby retired from the Army following 19 years of service after he was diagnosed with a massive and severe vision loss -- called bilateral optic atrophy -- in both eyes as well as neurological tremors in both hands.

Oglesby transferred to Auburn in January 1999 after beginning work on a degree at Columbus State University. He said he transferred because of all the reputation of AU's communication disorders program and its Program for Students with Disabilities.

"Auburn has been superb," he said. "The people at the Program for Students with Disabilities were instrumental in helping me meet my course requirements," he said.

"They would come up with all types of adaptive solutions to meet the requirements I had each quarter," he added. "They offered textbooks on tapes and enlarged texts and exams for me."

Oglesby was recently inducted into the honor society, Phi Kappa Phi and his grade point average remains above a 3.85 on a 4.0 scale. "I never really liked to look at my GPA -- I've just tried to do well," he said. "I knew that I had accumulated a fair amount of A's, but I never thought about my grade point average."

William Haynes, chair of the Department of Communication Disorders, praised Oglesby's academic achievements. "He did everything the other students did and he did it better than most students."

Oglesby, who plans to pursue a master's degree at Auburn, said he chose communication disorders as a career field because he will be able to help those with disabilities.

Faster Internet service extends off campus

With the start of fall semester, AU students, faculty, staff and retirees will have access to a speedy new off-campus Internet connection created through a partnership between AU and BellSouth.

The new technology -- known as Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line -- is scheduled to be in place by Aug. 22.

"We are excited to be in this groundbreaking partnership with Auburn University," said Steven Shaw, assistant vice president-BellSouth Business Systems. "High-speed data services are increasingly popular among Internet users and therefore increasingly important for BellSouth to deliver affordably to its customers. Our partnership with Auburn will facilitate its delivery sooner rather than later to university employees and students."

James Stone, executive director of AU Telecommunications/ETV and the Division of University Computing, said AU pursued the new service with BellSouth because of benefits to AU's instructional programs and the need for students to have faster off-campus connectivity.

"ADSL broadband technology will put more power, speed and efficiency in the hands of students, faculty and staff to harness the power of the Internet," Shaw said.

ADSL supplies three separate frequency channels over the same phone line. Phone conversations will be carried on one channel, data from AU to the end-user will be transferred downstream on a second channel and the third channel will carry data upstream from the end-user.

The combination of voice and data frequencies on the same line allows users to make and receive telephone calls or send and receive faxes at the same time the line is being used to access data from the Internet.

The service initially will be available in most parts of an area bounded by Shug Jordan Parkway and University Drive. For additional information, call 844-9313.

Anniston honors AU architects

Two AU School of Architecture faculty who wrote a series of opinion pieces for The Anniston Star have won a Historical Appreciation Award from the city of Anniston.

The series -- written by AU faculty members John Pittari and Michael Robinson -- had a theme of "Preserving Your Architectural Heritage."
Pittari and Robinson were contacted by The Star's editorial page editor, John Fleming, who originally asked the pair to write a column on the 10 best and 10 worst examples of architecture in Anniston.

After visiting the city and researching its history, the professors decided to focus on Anniston's architectural past and pose the question of how residents wanted their city to grow architecturally.

"What we found surprised and excited us," Pittari said. "There was a fair amount of evidence that the city had many positive things about it, but also the potential that they could lose some historic structures if they didn't take strong measures."

He added, "The questions were: How should the city grow and what do the citizens of Anniston want for their city?"

Fleming said the Auburn professors listed "a dozen examples of significant architectural achievement which would do well to be preserved."

"They also recognized that the founding vision is in danger of being dimmed in the rush of progress," he said. "They list 10 'profanities,' examples of poor planning, offensive appearance or regrettable loss.

"The columns really sparked an interest with our readers. Their thoughtful, even elegant prose told of a city as art form and not blueprint," Fleming said.

It's time to update phone directory listings for 2000-01

Information in the front section of the current AU telephone directory has been delivered to the offices of vice presidents and deans to be reviewed and updated for the 2000-01 issue. Administrators in those offices will be asked to check with the areas under their direction to make sure all information is correct and returned by the Sept. 1 deadline.

If you see any changes that need to be made regarding names, offices or phone numbers in the front section, notify the contact person in the appropriate office listed below as soon as possible.

These changes involve information in the front section only. This does not include faculty/staff and student sections. Correcting or updating information in the faculty/staff section can only be done by filling out a Personal Data Form (PDF), which you can get from your department, and sending it to the Office of Human Resources.

Administrative Services, Susie Hall, 844-4190; Alumni and Development, Linda Caudle, 844-1130; College of Agriculture, Peggy Mason, 844-2237; College of Architecture, Design and Construction, Maureen Deery, 844 4526; College of Business, Cynthia Spinks, 844-4831; College of Education, Sandy Davis, 844-4446.

College of Engineering, Angie Lemke, 844-2308; College of Human Sciences, Phyllis Harris, 844-3792; College of Liberal Arts, Serlester Williams, 844-2183; College of Sciences and Mathematics, Regina McGinty, 844-4269; College of Veterinary Medicine, Sherry Powell, 844 3694.

Enrollment Management, Linda Mowery, 844-6420; Executive Vice President, Dannis Christian, 844-6181; Graduate School, Linda Hatchett, 844-2125; Intercollegiate Athletics, Brenda Headley, 844-4750;
President's Office, Fran Williams, 844-4650; Provost Office, Nancy Nowicki, 844-5776; Research, Jean O'Donnell, 844-5976.

School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Lenore Martin, 844-1007; School of Nursing, Susie Miller, 844-6750; School of Pharmacy, Donna Saye, 844 8348; Student Life, Dana Latham, 844-5730; University Outreach, Thina Biblis, 844-5704.

Sessions offered on records retention

Three question-and-answer sessions have been scheduled to clarify a state policy on how institutions of higher education in Alabama should retain records.

The sessions , led by Dwayne Cox, head of Special Collections and Archives, will be at 10 a.m. Aug. 28, Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 in Draughon Library auditorium.
In 1993, the Alabama State Records Commission approved a records retention schedule for institutions of public higher education.

This schedule describes records commonly created by state-supported colleges and universities and also provides recommended periods for the retention of these records.

The commission has asked all public universities in Alabama to provide information to update the retention schedule.

Cox encourages deans, directors and department heads to attend one of the sessions or to send a representative. No advanced registration is necessary. Contact Cox by phone at 844-1707 or by e-mail at coxdway@lib.auburn.edu.

Campus Roundup

Solomon elected to academy's board
Michael R. Solomon, a professor in the Department of Consumer Affairs, has been elected to a six-year term on the Academy of Marketing Science Board of Governors. He began his term June 1. In addition, Solomon has been named to the editorial board of the Journal of Consumer Behaviour, a new international journal published in London.

Child Study Center has spaces open
AU's Child Study Center, a halfday preschool for children ages 2 1/2 to 6, has spaces available in the Transition to Kindergarten class. Applications are also being accepted for the center's waiting pool. The center is located east of the Haley Center Concourse. Call 844-4696 for enrollment information.

HRD training courses posted on web
The Office of Human Resource Development has posted the AU Training and Development Bulletin for Academic Year 2000-01 and the Training and Development schedule of courses for fall semester on the Human Resources Development web site.

Retirees qualify for IT services
If you are planning to retire from Auburn University in the near future, you may want to consider requesting an IT computing account before you go. Information Technology provides retired staff and faculty with a free IT computing account. The IT account provides retiree users with an Auburn e-mail address and gives these authorized users access to the AU network (AU Net) and IT computing facilities, including the use of on-campus labs. In IT labs on-campus, retirees are able to send and receive e-mail and to explore the Internet. With their own Internet Service Provider, retirees can access this information from home as well. An IT computing account is available to retirees of Auburn University free of charge. Requests for retiree account activation must be made through the IT Accounts Administrator at (334) 844-4512 or via e-mail at account@auburn.edu. Additional information on IT computing accounts for retirees is available on the web .

Campus Views: A 'modest proposal' to extend quality control

By Herbert Rotfeld, Professor
Department of Marketing & Transportation

To: Department Faculty & all other highly educated members of the peonage
From: Professor Otto Krat, Head, Department of Pusilanimous Perversity, Kishwaukeee School of Ubiquity
Re: Standards for Teaching, Research and Service

Following the lead of the KSU Board of Trustees and consistent with our efforts to eliminate all freedom, privacy and dignity of faculty actions, the following policies will be enforced. If you work very hard doing what is directed by this memo, our department can be a dystopia of which I can be proud.

1) Too many faculty have punctuality as a grade requirement, demanding that students arrive on time and penalizing them for coming late. I believe that punctuality requirements violate university policy -- and if it doesn't, it should -- so students can come as much as 15 minutes late without penalty.

2) Since students pay tuition for a full period class, faculty can't dismiss before the end of that period (especially when class days are lost so students can attend important football and basketball games). Remember, this fall we will lose a class day when all parking spaces are filled midweek for the Thursday night football game, killing another couple of class days. I once filled an open half-hour showing them how to make balloon animals and we had a lot of fun.

3) Some faculty base an important part of the grade on pop quizzes of the reading assignments, meaning the quizzes are given before students are told what they need to know. This causes difficulty for their self-esteem. Henceforth, there will be no assignments or quizzes based on material that you have not explained in class.

4) While the size of our classes continues to creep upward, we must continue to include writing assignments in our courses. This can be accomplished by group projects, so if you have five people per group it will lower your grading time. However, our department is not an English or speech department, so you may not lower grades for errors of spelling, grammar or basic writing skills. You may penalize students for using big words you don't understand since a college graduate who acts too smart often offends people and no one likes to use a dictionary.

5) In annual activity reviews, I will also assess how your student evaluation numbers fit with the rest of the department. As before, all faculty will be rank ordered by numbers and assessed for teaching quality in terms of their number of standard deviations away from the department means. Last year, our department average was 4.1 on the usual 5.0 scale and, unfortunately, half of the teachers in the department were below average.

6) Some faculty are starting to write for journals I have not approved or on topics that I dislike. This must not continue. As before, we must have the desired number of articles per year accepted in the administratively approved academic outlets. For a list of optimal journals, check my vita which is on file with the secretary.

7) To quantify your research score, what I have determined as the rank order of journal quality will be divided by number of authors, multiplied by the word count, subtracting self-citations and words deleted, times the circulation, with the total divided by the cost of a subscription. The resulting number will be entered in the Georgia state lottery.

8) Co-authored work is encouraged, especially with faculty who otherwise have "trouble" getting published. Informally, if you feel a colleague needs another line on a report for tenure or promotion, place his or her name on an article. If I am notified in advance, I won't divide the colleague's contribution in the above formula, so it doesn't cost you anything and it places him or her in your debt. Similarly, placing my name on an article will increase the probability of you having a reduced teaching load.

9) Any discussion of undesirable writing must address those of you who have been writing opinions. These activities are inflammatory. And having opinions causes a negative image with the board members and we want them to like us.

10) Some of you have avoided service activities while some have solicited work other than that which I assigned you to do. This is not a country club and it is my job to assign you to service work. If you are uncertain as to whether a service job is appropriate for you, contact me first for permission.

11) The president wants us to have a drug free work place, so I will be conducting random urine tests during the coming term. To prevent cheating, I will watch you make your deposit.

Have a nice day.

Unsung Hero: Marsha Peters, Outreach Programs

This week's Unsung Hero is Marsha Peters, administrative assistant in the Office of Outreach Programs. She has been at Auburn for 13 years, the last nine in her current position. She was asked:

What do you do in your current job? "Provide essential, behind-the-scenes administrative support and financial advisement for community courses and conferences."

What is the most rewarding part of your job? "When someone takes the time to say thank you for a job well done (and when payroll balances!)."

What is the most challenging part of your job? "To meet multiple deadlines and tasks while maintaining a positive attitude dealing with clients and customers."

If you were not doing this job, what would you most like to do? "Be a stay-at- home mom and provide birth assistance to expectant parents."
What makes Auburn special? "Auburn has always been special to me because I grew up here."

What was your first impression of Auburn University? "I don't really have a first impression because, growing up in Auburn, the university has always been a part of my life."

What words best describe Auburn as a work environment, learning environment or just a place to be? "Friendly with great Southern hospitality."

What do you like to do when not at work? "Spend time with my children, family and friends and read."

What person or persons do you most admire and why? "My parents. They taught me what is most important in life -- a love for God, family and friends."

What is your favorite line from the Auburn Creed and why? "'I believe in the human touch.' The human touch means love and safety and can be the difference between life and death whether that person is a newborn or someone older. It is not something we can live without and flourish."