Editor: Roy Summerford. Contributing editors: Bob Lowry, Janet McCoy, Mitch Emmons and Richarde Talbot. Photography by Jeff Etheridge, AU Photo Services.

The AU Report is published by the Office of University Relations at Auburn University. Issues appear every two weeks during academic quarters.

Official distribution by campus mail includes full-time faculty and staff at campus offices. Copies also are mailed to trustees and officials at AU at Montgomery.

Deadline for receiving items is noon on Tuesday before publication. Direct inquiries, suggestions and items to 23 SAmford Hall, Auburn University, Ala. 36849-5109. Telephone 334/844-9999. Electronic mail: summero@mail.auburn.edu.

Large, Hammond named to key administration positions

Don Large, vice president for business and finance at AU , has been promoted by President William Muse to the new position of executive vice president.
Muse also promoted Lynne Hammond, assistant to the president, to secretary to the Board of Trustees.

Both are assuming duties formerly performed by Gerald Leischuck, who is retiring as executive assistant to the president and secretary to the Board of Trustees.

Leischuck retires on April 1 but has turned over the duties to Large and Hammond while he uses his remaining administrative leave.

Large remains the university's chief financial officer and assumes additional duties as the chief planning officer.

"Gerald has been a tremendous asset to the university and to the board, and his assistance and counsel will be missed," said Muse.

"Fortunately, we have in Don Large an individual who has shown remarkable competence in handling the university's finances," Muse added. "Don is an excellent administrator who is widely respected both within and beyond the university community, and he wi ll serve Auburn well as executive vice president."

"Lynne Hammond has also proved very capable in her past work with the administration and the Board of Trustees, so we are assured of a smooth transfer of those duties, as well," Muse said.

In his new capacity, effective Feb. 1, Large will assist the president with planning and with administration of non-academic activities of the university. He will have direct responsibility for business and finance, planning and analysis, affirmative act ion/equal employment opportunity programs and internal auditing, as well as oversight for a number of other non-academic areas.

Muse said Large's responsibilities for the university's support operations will be similar to those held on the academic side by Provost Paul Parks, chief academic officer at Auburn. AU's Montgomery campus is unaffected by the change.

Large, a certified public accountant, came to Auburn in late 1986 as controller. A 1975 AU accounting graduate, he had extensive experience in higher education finance with a national "Big 8" accounting firm before joining the Auburn staff. He holds a m aster's degree in higher education administration and is a candidate for a doctorate in the same field from AU's College of Education.

He was promoted to vice president for business and finance in 1991 and directed a reorganization and computerization of Auburn's financial records. Under his direction, the Business and Finance Division streamlined its tracking and reporting of universit y finances for use in administrative planning and policy making.
Hammond succeeded Emily Leischuck a year ago as assistant to the president and chief of protocol in the president's office.

A former director of Opelika Main Street Inc., Hammond was employment manager for AU Personnel Services from 1991-96. She holds a bachelor's degree in management and is a candidate for a master's degree in human resource management.

Staff Council elects officers

The Staff Council has elected new officers to lead the staff representative organization. The new officers take over March 15. They are, from left, Minnie Bryant of University Computing, outgoing chair and 1997-98 immediate past chair; new Chair Waymon Ab ner of Housing Maintenance; and new Chair-Elect Mark Freeman of Veterinary Medicine. Freeman will become chair of the Staff Council in 1998-99.

Nominations sought for faculty officers

A committee is seeking nominations this week for officers of the University Faculty and University Senate.

Deadline is Friday, Feb. 28, for nominations for chair-elect and secretary-elect. The University Senate committee will select two candidates for each position and, if the nominees agree, submit their names for a vote by the General Faculty on April 8.

The officers, along with the immediate past chair, handle administrative duties of the University Senate and represent the faculty in matters of university governance.
Any member of the faculty may nominate candidates, said current Chair John Grover.

Submit nominations by e-mail or letter to Committee Chair Kent Fields, Accountancy; or any of the following members: Barry Burkhart, Psychology; Gary Mullen, Entomology; Cindy Brunner, Veterinary Medicine Pathobiology; or Jo W. Heath, Mathematics.

Dennis Wilson named faculty representative on athletics

Dennis Wilson, head of the Department of Health and Human Performance, has been appointed faculty athletics representative by President William Muse.

Wilson will serve an indefinite appointment as chair of the University Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics and faculty athletics representative with the National Collegiate Athletic Association .

He succeeds Jane Moore, who retired before the start of the current academic year but continued to serve as faculty representative through fall quarter.
Wilson served for the past five years as vice chair of the committee on intercollegiate athletics.

A member of the Auburn faculty since 1973, Wilson has been head of the
Department of Health and Human Services since 1981. He holds a bachelor's degree from Union University in Jackson, Tenn., where he was a basketball scholarship athlete. Wilson earned master's and doctoral degrees in physical education/exercise physiolog y from the University of Tennessee.

Wilson has researched and written extensively on exercise physiology and sport services.

Education program cut attributed to finances

Financial constraints and priorities led to a decision to phase out one of the College Education's oldest programs, says Dean Richard Kunkel.

Family and consumer sciences, widely known by its previous name of home economics education, will be phased out over the next four years, and no new students are being accepted to the program.

The program, which prepares students for careers as middle and high school home economics teachers, has been without a faculty member for more than a year.
There was little chance of filling either of two vacant positions even before the decision was made, said Bonnie White, head of the Department of Vocational and Adult Education.

The department's last professor in that field left for a much higher salary in another state, she said. In the 1980s, the program had two positions, but the other position was abolished several years ago, she added.

The department does not have enough resources to recruit the faculty it needs to maintain the quality of program for which Auburn is noted, White said.
Records show the vacant position was budgeted this year for $32,070.

"Demand for faculty in this field makes it very hard to find a person with the qualifications and experience necessary to maintain the program at an acceptable level of quality," White said.

The program would need one fulltime faculty member if it is to retain teacher certification of its graduates at the bachelor's level and two for certification at the graduate level.

"We simply do not have the resources to continue the program at an acceptable level of quality," she added.

"We have to put our available resources into the remaining programs to be sure that the quality remains high in those programs."

Most courses in family and consumer science are taught in the School of Human Sciences and other areas, with Vocational and Adult Education providing courses that help students meet certification requirements for teachers. Students who major in related a reas without teacher certification pursue careers in business and industry.

About 15 students are enrolled in the family and consumer studies program. Nan Burgess, who grad-uated from the program in the 1970s, when it was home economics education, recalls that approximately 150 were enrolled then.

Burgess, home economics state specialist with the state Department of Education, said, unlike when she graduated, demand for graduates in the field is high nationally as high schools compete with business and industry for a limited supply of graduates.

Although home economics education has been associated with land-grant programs since 1917 and with Auburn since at least the 1930s, the program is offered at five other public universities in Alabama.

White said the Auburn program will teach remaining students with adjunct faculty such as Burgess, who taught a course last fall.

Adjunct faculty are academically and professionally qualified, but the program could not operate or meet state certification standards indefinitely without fulltime faculty, she said.

Kunkel noted that the program was rated at the lowest priority when the university ranked its programs by priority two years ago after extensive study by the faculty and administration.

"We are sorry that it comes down to cutting programs, but priorities must be set and acted upon," Kunkel said.

"Auburn University and the College of Education cannot do everything and still expect to provide the level of quality that our students deserve and the state needs," he added. "We have produced many fine teachers in this field in our history and are very proud of them, but we have to set and act on our priorities."

Future of abandoned KA House in doubt

The future of the abandoned Kappa Alpha house across from the AU President's home on College Street will hinge on the results of an evaluation by an architectural consulting firm. Jim Ferguson, vice president for administrative services, says the study w ill determine if the building is structurally sound. The university secured title to the house in November from the defunct fraternity. The house was home to former President Jimmy Carter's mother Lillian when she served as the KA house mother in the 1950 s.

Education professors help Engineering identify, address stress points

The College of Engineering is expressing high expectations for a new program to address concerns that in the past have steered women and minorities away from engineering.

The program recognizes that engineering is changing nationwide, says Larry Benefield, the college's associate dean for academics.

"We are already seeing the ratio of white males -- who have traditionally made up the bulk of engineering graduates -- diminish as more women and minorities enter the work force," said Benefield, who did much of the legwork in developing the program at Au burn.

"We don't want to be left behind the curve as this demographic shift gains momentum," he said.

"In fact, we want to involve ourselves as leaders and become a model for minority recruitment and retention not just in the Southeast, but nationally," Benefield said.

Planning for the program began in 1993 when Dean William Walker requested an in-depth assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of Auburn engineering students, the curriculum and its future.

"Even then we were concerned about the question of retention, since we knew that about 50 percent of our students left engineering before attaining the undergraduate degree," Benefield said.

"We felt that a large number of these students were leaving for reasons other than a lack of an ability to succeed in the engineering curriculum, but most of our information was anecdotal."

With an emphasis on the collection of hard data, administrators undertook a comprehensive evaluation developed by Glennelle and Gerald Halpin from the College of Education.

"We began to accumulate an extensive data base on our students, and through the testing of incoming freshmen identified a number of characteristics that they possessed in common when they entered Auburn," Benefield said.

"As part of this process we also identified students who were at a high potential for dropping out of engineering, " he added.

"We are currently showing a retention rate for minorities that is significantly lower than for the student body in general, at 33 percent compared to 55 percent overall," Benefield said.

"This alone led us to the feeling that we needed to develop strategies that could help more minorities be successful in attaining their engineering degree."

One of the most proven methods has been the use of a minority engineering program, which has proven successful at other universities.

"I believe one of the most significant innovations of our MEP (Minority Engineering Program) was that we did not rely on informed guesses, hunches or anecdotal data in its implementation," Benefield said.

"We built ours on hard data, and as we test and develop the concepts that underpin these efforts over the next five years, we have a good chance of coming out with a national model that others will look to."

One of the first initiatives to come out of Auburn's MEP efforts will be the establishment of a summer bridge program this summer.

Construction putting student services together in Foy Union

Construction of Student Success Center offices in Foy Union has shifted the location of recreation and computer facilities there.

But Grant Davis, assistant vice president for Student Life, says that when the dust settles, students will be able to find more of the services they need under one roof.

Davis said construction is scheduled for completion by March 1. The Freshman Year Experience and Students in Transition Program will be positioned in the basement area formerly known as the Rec Room.

The popular games formerly in the Rec Room will be located in the former Foy Union Computer Lab, which is accessible from the Patio. Hobby Shop equipment will be distributed throughout the campus, making room for a larger, more modern computer lab for stu dents.

"This will allow us to have the Student Success Center in only two buildings -- Foy Union and Mary Martin Hall, where Academic Support Services and Career Development Services are located," Davis said.

The Student Success Center is focusing initially on improving the student retention rate, said Deborah Shaw-Conner, acting center director.

The center is comprised of four areas: Freshman Year Experience and Students in Transition Program, which includes Camp War Eagle, U100, and services for returning adult students, students with dependents and quarterly orientations for new students; Acade mic Support Services, which includes Study Partners, Supplemental Instruction and Academic Warning and Suspension; Student Counseling Services; and Career Development Services, which includes career counseling, placement and job search services and testin g services.
Conner said these programs already existed, but were not linked.

"Each area already has good programs. We're assessing, improving and expanding them" she said.

"It's important that these areas work closely together to promote retention. The center has to address academic, social and personal needs of students. If we retain our students and they do well, they'll graduate."

Campus Views: Don't underestimate AU's impact on K-12

(Editor's note: The following was presented by President William Muse in testimony Before the House Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 12, 1997)

Auburn University has a long history and tradition of service to this state. Through the Cooperative Extension System and Auburn's outreach efforts, we provide information and assistance in using that information in every geographic area and in virtu ally every subject matter area in Alabama. Our partnerships with K-12 schools are a major component of that service.

Auburn's College of Education is the foundation for our K-12 partnership, but virtually every college at Auburn contributes. Let me give you some examples:

Under a contract with the state Department of Education, Auburn's College of Architecture, Design, and Construction has formulated a comprehensive plan for public school facility planning, design, construction, and maintenance. Our oversight is intended to insure that the best professional practices are used as over $1 billion is invested in Alabama's 127 public school districts over the next 10 years. This project is built upon an earlier study by our School of Architecture that identified the $1 billio n in repairs and renovations that are badly needed in our public schools.

Auburn's School of Pharmacy, through its Education and Health Professions Project, is assisting schools in solving health-related concerns such as head lice infestations, obtaining appropriate treatment of asthma, and drug abuse prevention.

Auburn's School of Nursing provides scoliosis screening for Lee and Tallapoosa Counties, health education classes for high risk pre-schoolers and parents at Auburn Early Education Center, through a program called EVEN START, health education for high risk teenage mothers through the LEESCAN program, and after school programs for residents of The Youth Development Center in Opelika.

Auburn's School of Human Sciences, through a partnership with the city of Birmingham and major employers there, is operating the Birmingham Early Learning Center, a state-of-the-art child care facility for children aged six months to five years; is helpin g Alabama's schools to implement a National Nutrition Program called TEAM NUTRITION; and is developing an educational program for junior high and high school students and their parents who are employed in Alabama's textile and apparel industries, the stat e's largest manufacturing employer.

Auburn's College of Sciences and Mathematics provides badly needed laboratory instruction in science through its "Science in Motion" vans that travel to schools that have inadequate science laboratories; holds regional science fairs and olympiads; sponsor s summer institutes and courses in chemistry and physics for middle school and high school teachers; and has plans to establish a Science Outreach Center.

Auburn's College of Engineering is offering minority high school students with outstanding academic records an opportunity to become familiar with engineering through its Minority Introduction to Engineering program, conducted during the summer months. S ince 1978, a total of 750 students have participated in this program. In addition, the College of Engineering is designing a one-week in-school program to orient seventh and eighth graders to careers in engineering and is sponsoring a weekend orientation for high school students to encourage them to attend college and earn a degree. Over the past five years, an average of 10-20 schools and over 1,000 students and teachers each year have participated in a project called "Miracles of Materials." The stud ents call it "Mr. Zee's Neighborhood" after Dr. Ralph Zee, the enthusiastic coordinator of the project. Dr. Zee demonstrated the wonders of technology through advanced materials that can be used to make levitated trains, music from a sheet of aluminum fo il, and batteries without chemicals.

Auburn's College of Agriculture provides support for the "Alabama Ag in the Classroom" program in areas like ornamental horticulture and assists 4-H Clubs throughout the state.

Auburn's College of Veterinary Medicine has provided a summer laboratory experience for high school students and science teachers over the past five years. Our faculty counsel the students about health science careers and 96% of the participants have enr olled in college. Veterinary students make 30-50 presentations each year in K-12 classrooms for the Southeastern Raptor Rehabilitation Center, educating 3,000-4,000 grade school students about the natural history of birds of prey. And the college annual ly invites every high school in the state to an Open House that attracts some 4,500 people each year.

Auburn's College of Liberal Arts is extensively involved through individual faculty who assist K-12 schools by presenting lectures on their topic of expertise, conducting workshops for teachers, and serving as a judge for various activities. Additionally , there are many specific projects I could cite such as:
The Speech and Hearing Clinic provides speech, language, and hearing evaluations, consultations, and therapy to children when these services are not available in their schools;

The Journalism Department, through Professor Mike Mercer, coordinated the Capital VOICES project, a teen quarterly magazine that was published by the Opelika Auburn News and won a State Public Service Award from the Alabama Press Association.

The Music Department assisted 3,131 individuals last year through the various festivals, camps, auditions, and other activities it sponsored.

The Department of Psychology offers classes to over 250 junior high school students in four area schools dealing with the prevention of eating disorders.

The Center for Arts and Humanities offers programs all over the state for both adults and students on topics like "Reading Our Lives" and "Alabama Voices."

In addition to these programs through Auburn's colleges and schools, our Office of University Outreach is involved in so many projects I could not begin to cite them all. They range from numerous programs for families and children through the Cooperative Extension System; 28 teleconferences and numerous cassette tapes made available to educators on a variety of subjects; approximately 25 resident summer campus each year for activities from cheerleading to world affairs that attract over 5,000 students; t o Faculty Development Consortia that train K-12 teachers in the use of technology.

But the centerpiece for Auburn's partnership with K-12 is its College of Education. This college's involvement with our schools is systematic -- i.e., interwoven into everything it does. Perhaps the College of Education's greatest impact is through its production of quality teachers and administrators. A majority of the national board certified teachers in Alabama are Auburn graduates and two of the current state superintendents -- Ed Richardson here in Alabama and John Goff in Ohio -- have degrees from Auburn. Some of the projects in which our College of Education is involved are as follows:

The College's Truman Pierce Institute helped plan and facilitate 23 town meetings on the subject of education reform, reaching over 23,000 citizens concerned about improving public education.

The College provides monthly administrative leadership to the East Alabama Education Consortium, serving 12 school districts, and created the Alabama Learning Coalition, a nationally-acclaimed professional development school partnership involving five uni versities -- Auburn, Alabama State, Jacksonville State, Troy State-Dothan, and South Alabama --each paired with a school district in their area to improve student learning. These five universities have also formed the West Alabama Learning Coalition to t arget schools in West Alabama, a project funded by the Jesse Ball Dupont Foundation. The professional development school partnership works much like a teaching hospital does for a medical school and has attracted much national attention.

The East Alabama Inservice Center is one of the largest in the state, helping over 4,000 teachers annually to improve their knowledge and practice. In 1996, the Center served 118 schools in 15 school districts.

The college was recently selected as one of a limited number of sites in the country, funded by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, to help design and field test assessment procedures to determine who the best teachers are.

Education Dean Rich Kunkel has headed a national leadership team for the past two years, focusing on improvement of education through the National Governors Association.

The College has been an active participant in the Technology Scholarship Program for Alabama Teachers, showing them how to use computers and digital technologies for more effective K-12 instruction.

These examples are mere samples of what is occurring. And there are even more exciting new creative partnerships under development. For instance:

Recognizing that effective schools must have skilled administrators and that these jobs have managerial and political, as well as educational, dimensions, the College of Education has enlisted the help of the College of Business and the Department of Poli tical Science in the College of Liberal Arts to help design a program for preparation of administrators.

Faculty in the College will share their knowledge of the best teaching practices with teachers in the region through hands-on workshops, direct consultation, and written materials.

In conjunction with West Forest School in Opelika and the Auburn Early Learning Center, the College has contributed experienced teachers to aid with after-school and extended day programs. Support of a similar nature will be offered to counties that have low-performing students who need extended day programs.

Auburn faculty with expertise in measurement, evaluation, and assessment will offer consultative services to schools to help them meet State achievement standards and to document their progress in improving learning for all children.

I could cite many other examples of Auburn's involvement with K-12 schools but the ones that I have described for you should adequately confirm our commitment to being an active partner in improving our public schools. With the commitments of our univers ities, coupled with the state's leadership and improved financial support at the local level, we could begin to provide our young people with the kind of education they need to be successful in the 21st Century. It is important, however, to recognize tha t the kind of support provided by our universities cannot continue at the level desired without greater financial support from the State.

Transitions conference focuses on disabilities

About 600 special education teachers, counselors and advocates will converge on AU Feb. 26-28 for a statewide conference on children and young adults with disabilities.

The conference at the AU Hotel and Conference Center focuses on preparing young people with disabilities for fulfilling, productive lives, says Philip Browning, head of the AU College of Education's Department of Rehabilitation and Special Education, whic h is sponsoring the conference.

Many participants are parents of children with disabilities and are active in efforts to improve opportunities for the disabled, Browning said.
The seventh annual "Transitions Conference " will celebrate a new $2.7 million federal grant to Alabama for transition programs, said Browning. "The purpose of the five-year initiative is to positively impact Alabama's high school students with disabilit ies so they may enter the work force and community life as responsible and productive citizens," he added.

The conference will feature a video teleconference with members of the state Board of Education. Alabama Superintendent of Education Ed Richardson will be moderator. The teleconference, with technical assistance from AU's telecommunications and ETV perso nnel, will feature discussion of Alabama's proposed optional high school graduation requirements for students with disabilities.

The program presents a range of nationally prominent researchers, practitioners and authors in special education. Keynote speaker will be Bill East, assistant director of special education services for the state Department of Education.

Speakers include Karen Flippo of the United Cerebral Palsy Association; Mitchell Levitz, author of Count Us In: Growing Up With Down Syndrome; and Bob Boffo, parent of a child with a disability. Others are Gary Meers of the University of Nebrask a, David Johnson of the University of Minnesota, Katherine Inge of Virginia Commonwealth University and Jane Jarrow of Ohio State University.
For registration information, contact the AU Department of Rehabilitation and Special Education at 334/844-5943.

Forestry faculty win awards

Bill Hubbard, Southeastern District forest extension specialist for the Cooperative Extension Service's national offices, recently visited Auburn to present three AU School of Forestry faculty with awards on behalf of the National Woodland Owners Associat ion. Receiving the awards were John Bliss and Kathryn Flynn, who were honored for a print publication on low-cost forest regeneration, and Ken McNabb, who was honored in the video category.

Study Partners program cited as model for faculty involvement

A series of improvements to the Study Partners program shows that faculty can make a difference in the quality of programs for students, says Bonnie Voit, Study Partners coordinator.

Voit, who is also associate director for testing services, credits Paula Backscheider, an Eminent Scholar in English, with organizing such Study Partners improvements as training sessions for student tutors and finding new resources for the program's stud y room in Haley Center.

Backscheider began working with the Study Partners program last year, when faculty members were paired with Student Success Center staff during the reorganization of Student Affairs. She attributes the improvements to student tutors and other faculty who made a commitment to helping students beyond the classroom.

From its study room adjacent to the Haley Center basement lounge, the Study Partners program offers free tutoring in core courses in English, history and mathematics, as well as some specialized courses in engineering and the sciences.
Improvements during the past year include three-hour training sessions for all new tutors, reference books and supplies donated by or purchased with help from several departments and the development of a sourcebook of tutorial services on campus. Another factor, Backscheider noted, was the addition of colorful paintings to brighten the previously drab study room.

"The changes may not be obvious to everyone, but conditions are better for students who go there for help," Backscheider said.

Tutors also are taught to recognize students who are under exceptional stress and refer them to the counseling, she added.

Backscheider said tutors drew upon their experience in helping plan the quarterly training sessions, which are a mixture of information, panels and role-playing. Department heads and faculty, meanwhile donated dictionaries, textbooks, other reference mat erials and scrap paper for use in tutoring sessions.

"The support from the departments is a wonderful example of the campuswide cooperation to make the Study Partners program successful," she added.

Voit said other faculty are supporting the program because of Backscheider's involvement. "She has given the Study Partners program more credibility with the faculty, and her efforts have given the program more visibility with the students," Voit said. "Students gain a lot when faculty take an interest in programs like this."

Professor, students take ideas to international exhibition

An AU professor and three students recently took some ingenuity to an international electronics firm that could one day end up in consumer's hands.

Tin Man Lau, associate professor of industrial design, and three of his students, attended the Brother International Exhibition in Las Vegas, where they were invited to share their ideas and projects.

Thomas D'Agostino of Auburn, Scott Ellis of St. Joseph, Mo., and Andrew Saving of Florence were among a class of 12 students that Brother International asked to come up with ideas for new products. All are fourth-year industrial design students.

"Brother was especially interested in digital imaging products, medical diagnostics and kitchen appliances," Lau said. "At the start of fall quarter, each student in the class came up with five possible ideas. Brother then narrowed the projects down to o ne idea per student."

Brother chose three projects -- a test for body fat, a digital photo album and a diabetes management system -- which were then presented at the trade show, said Lau.

These ideas aren't just projects for classroom use only. Brother has turned some into real products. One such product was the hand printer prototype unveiled this year; the product was based on an AU proposal in 1994, Lau said.

Sam Takeuchi, a 1969 AU graduate and a design consultant for Brother, helped to bring this annual project to Auburn in 1994, Lau said.

D'Agostino's medical diagnostic project, a fat tester, provides an alternative to the skin pinching test.

"The tester uses an infrared beam," Lau said. "It uses the beam to check the density of fat and also tells you how much you need to lose. It comes with a printer so you can have a written record."

Ellis worked on a digital imaging product, the digital photo album.

"Digital cameras are becoming quite popular and they are expected to take over the film camera," said Ellis. "My project is something that you can store photos in, view your pictures and manipulate them."

Saving created the diabetes management system.

"This system allows you to check your blood sugar through the skin without pricking yourself," Saving said.

Coming up with ideas wasn't the only part of the project. Students also had to ensure that the technology existed to make the product a reality, that the idea could physically work and that the idea was marketable, said Lau.

"This project definitely gave us all a real-world experience," said Saving.

Science Olympiad area competition returning to AU

AU on March 1 will host 52 teams of young scientists from Alabama middle and high schools who'll participate in the 12th annual Regional Science Olympiad.

The event, sponsored by the AU College of Sciences and Mathematics, is one of six regional competitions staged throughout the state as a prelude to the State Science Olympiad in April and the National Science Olympiad in May.

State competition for Division B (Grades 6-9) will be April 19 at Alabama
School of Mathematics and Science in Mobile. Competition for Division C (Grades 9-12) State Olympiad will be April 26 at the University of Mobile.

The National Science Olympiad for Divisions B & C will be May 16-17 at North Carolina State University.

"The Science Olympiad is designed to increase student interest in science and improve the quality of science education," says Steve Stuckwisch, tournament director and an assistant professor in Auburn's Department of Mathematics. Teams will participate in 24 events, and Olympic-style medals will be awarded to first-, second-, third- and fourth-place teams. Team and coach trophies also will be awarded based on total points garnered, to schools placing first, second and third place.
Competitors will vie for top honors in events structured around aerodynamics, biology, physics, chemistry and the natural sciences.
Science Olympiad was created in 1983 as an alternative to traditional science fairs and single-discipline tournaments for grades K-12. Events are team oriented with an emphasis on active, hands-on participation.

Research office surveys web sites of its units

Units that report to AU's Office of the Vice President for Research are being surveyed for their input on an update to the office's site on the Internet's World Wide Web.

"We are updating the research sites to be more informative, more substantive, better looking and easier to access and maintain," said Michael Moriarty, associate provost and vice president for research.

Moriarty charged a five-member committee on Jan. 30 to launch the effort with an initial focus on the administrative units reporting to the OVPR. These units have a variety of forms and procedures that faculty researchers can immediately benefit from once they can be accessed online, Moriarty said.

The survey seeks information about existing web sites units may have, who maintains these sites and what word processing and computer operating systems are used.

Moriarty said units that already have web sites will not have to make unnecessary or unwarranted changes.

"I want this effort to be all inclusive of Auburn's research program," he said. "Information about the research program needs to be communicated thoroughly, and a comprehensive web site is simply one way to achieve this."

National arbitration group's office moves to Auburn

New York attorney George Nicolau, one of the nation's top arbitrators in sports and industry and president of the National Academy of Arbitrators, will be honored at a reception at Auburn on Feb. 28.

The event will also recognize the relocation to the AU College of Business of the national offices of the National Academy of Arbitrators, a non-profit professional and honorary organization of arbitrators. The offices were moved from Cornell University with the election of William Holley Jr., a AU management professor, as executive secretary-treasurer of the academy.

Nicolau will be the guest of honor at a reception at 9 a.m.in the Alabama Power Company Room on the fifth floor of the Lowder Business Building. He will also participate in a group discussion in the same location at 10 a.m.

A former deputy director of the Peace Corps, Nicolau has extensive experience as an arbitrator with contract disputes involving the television networks, major league sports, the airline industry, public employees and labor unions. Since 1986, he has been the impartial umpire in Major League Baseball, serving as chair of the Major League Baseball Tripartite Arbitration Panel. In 1993, he became impartial arbitrator for the National Hockey League and the NHL Players Association.

Holley will serve a three-year term as the academy executive secretary-treasurer, which is normally extended for another three years. The academy's office in Room 403 of the Lowder Business Building is staffed fulltime by Brenda Ryan, one of Holley's form er graduate students.

Holley will be responsible for The Chronicle, a tabloid newsletter for academy members that is published three times annually and the publishing yearly of a volume containing the proceedings of the group's annual meetings.

The National Academy of Arbitrators was founded at Chicago on Sept. 14, 1947 and has nearly 700 members. It will have its 1997 national meeting in Chicago on May 22-24.

The current chair of the academy's board of directors is J.F.W. Weatherhill of Ottawa, Canada. Two well-known academy members include former Secretary of State George Schultz and Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox.

For additional information about the National Academy of Arbitrators, see its World Wide Web site at: http://www.naarb.org/ .

Hendrix swims extra mile(s) for heart association funds

Charles Hendrix swam 327 miles a year ago to benefit his own heart. This month, he's set a goal of 350 miles to benefit others' hearts.

Hendrix, 47, an associate professor of pathobiology in AU's College of Veterinary Medicine, will swim in the February Fitness Challenge sponsored by the Crawdad Masters of Baton Rouge, La.

In 1996, Hendrix, swam six hours a day during February's 29 days to average 11.25 miles per day.

This year he has one less day, but he's averaging 12 miles daily during the week and more on weekends, thanks to the help of AU Aquatic Center personnel.
And he's made some money for the American Heart Association, with AU veterinary students and faculty having pledged more than $1,150 if he meets his goal.

"It's quite a workout and it takes all my spare time, but it's worth the effort to help the Heart Association," Hendrix says.
Hendrix noted that legendary AU swimmer and Auburn Aquatics Center staff member Rowdy Gaines is also swimming this month to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

For his efforts a year ago, Hendrix received the Gold Medal for his age group. He finished second in the nation in the overall competition.

With a boost from vacation time, Hendrix is swimming six hours daily.

The Fitness Challenge is a nationwide meet where swimmers compete to increase fitness levels during February. Participants are grouped by age, and the top three male and female swimmers in each age group nationally receive gold, silver and bronze medals.

This is the fourth year Hendrix has participated in the competition, which began nationwide in 1993. In 1995, he swam 256 miles and was ranked third overall in the competition.

To pledge a gift to the American Heart Association, call Hendrix at 844 2688 or call the American Heart Association office in Auburn at 826-0670.

Hansen book about NASA wins award

A book by AU historian James Hansen about one of NASA's key space centers has won the Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award from the American Astronautical Society.

The award, presented for Spaceflight Revolution: NASA Langley Research Center From Sputnik to Apollo, annually recognizes a book that aids public understanding about the impact of astronautics on society and its future potential.

The competition is named for the founding chairman of the history committee of the AAS, Eugene M. Emme, who was also the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's first official historian from 1959 to 1978.

Hansen, Alumni Professor of History and chair of the Department of History at AU, specializes in the history of technology and the impact of technology on society. He spent several summers at the Virginia research facility as its historian while completin g research for the book.

Achievements: Carol Warfield, Rudy Vuchinich

The Textile Institute has bestowed upon Carol Warfield, professor and head of Auburn's Department of Consumer Affairs, Fellow status and charter membership into the international organization. She was one of 25 people presented with the honor at the institute's annual convocation in England. Warfield is the first Textile Institute Fellow among current AU faculty. The Textile Institute is the world's largest organization of textile professionals with more than 9,000 members.

Rudy E. Vuchinich, Professor of Psychology, has been invited to speak at the National Bureau of Economic Research Conference entitled "The Economic Analysis of Substance Use and Abuse: An Integration of Econometric and Behavioral Economic Research." The conference is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Substance Abuse Policy Research Program and by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Guidelines issued on flex-spending accounts

The Office of Payroll and Employee Benefits reminds employees who participated in the Flexible Spending Account Plan in 1996 that they have until March 30 to file for and receive reimbursement for 1996 expenses. Employees who participated in the dependen t care plan in 1996 are required to provide the Internal Revenue Service with information concerning their day care providers when filing their income tax returns. Funds tax-sheltered for dependent care for 1996 are reported in Box 10 of the 1996 W-2 form . As the instructions for Box 10 indicate, Schedule 2 of Form 1040A or Form 2441, if filing Form 1040, must be completed to avoid taxes on that amount by the IRS. Forms are available from the IRS. An assortment of tax forms is available at a display rac k on the first floor of Draughon Library.

Sciences & Mathematics presents dean's award lectures

Remaining programs from the College of Sciences and Mathematics Dean's Faculty Research Awards Lectures will be Feb. 26 and March 5 at 3:30 p.m. in room 151 of the Chemistry Building. Henry Daniell, associate professor in the Department of Botany and Mic robiology will present a lecture Feb. 26 on genetic engineering. Krystyna Kuperberg, professor in the Department of Mathematics will lecture March 5 on mathematical images. COSAM's Dean's Faculty Research Awards are given annually during fall term in the areas of biological sciences, physical sciences and mathematics and discrete and statistical sciences. Recipients are asked to present a lecture about their research during winter term. The award consists of a $1,000 honorarium and plaque.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield representative to visit

AU's Blue Cross/Blue Shield representative will return to campus on March 11 and April 8 from 10 a.m.-noon in the Payroll and Employee Benefits Office, Ingram 212. No appointment is necessary.

Unsung Hero: Maxine Bryant, administrative assistant

This week's Unsung Hero is Maxine Bryant, administrative assistant II in the Department of Plant Pathology in the College of Agriculture. She has been at Auburn for 22 years. She was asked:

I get the greatest satisfaction from my job when... I can assist the faculty, staff and students with any problems they may have. I enjoy working with people as a team. It is satisfying to know that you work with a staff of people who are cooperative and willing to help.

In my job area, quality is measured by... the accuracy of all the financial, accounts payable and payroll records. The volume is so large, it is difficult sometimes to make sure all records are correct.

If I could change one thing about Auburn (or my job), it would be... for all the departments to work more closely together and for employees to be rewarded for jobs well done.

I've always wondered why... Auburn University does not fully use resources available on campus. I've also wondered why there is not a system that could be worked out to give employees merit increases for outstanding job performance even though resources for across-the-board pay raises my not be available.

When people come to this campus, I want them to... feel welcome and find faculty and staff that are always willing to assist in any way they can. I want them to see Auburn as a place where they would like to live.

In my spare time, I like to... cook, work in the yard and spend time with my family. I also receive a joy out of helping others.