Editor: Roy Summerford. Contributing editors: Bob Lowry, Janet McCoy, Mitch Emmons and Richarde Talbot.

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

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine rates AU among the top 20 public universities in the United States in 1997.

The March 1997 issue of the magazine ranked the top public universities in each of the 50 states. Auburn was number one in Alabama, based on the magazine's value rating that combines academic quality and costs.

Kiplinger's compiled scores based on a rating system that measured financial value and three that indicated academic quality. The four criteria included affordability (using the ratio of in-state tuition to the state's median household income); admission test scores; ratio of students to faculty and achievement.

Based on the magazine's criteria, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill scored the highest value rating with 184. Of the 50 state universities, Montana State University was last with 83 points.

Auburn was number 20 in the nation with 125 points, trailing only the University of Georgia, with 149, among Southeastern Conference-member public universities. Other SEC schools and their scores were: University of Arkansas, 106; University of Florida, 1 15; University of Kentucky, 113; Louisiana State University, 108; University of Tennessee, 102; and Mississippi State University, 86.

"This is yet more proof of the job that Auburn is doing to provide a quality education at an affordable price while coping with ever diminishing resources," said AU President William Muse.

"It's difficult to imagine, however, that Auburn can sustain its position ahead of its peer institutions with the level of state support it's receiving."

AU, along with other Alabama colleges and universities, took a 7.5 percent budget cut a year ago and is dealing with level funding in the current fiscal year. Gov. Fob James has proposed level funding for a second straight year.

In the Kiplinger's article, Martin Nemko, author of How to Get an Ivy League Education at a State University, says students often have more choice at public universities, which can offer more subjects and more teachers because of their size.

"Perhaps the best way to maximize education at a state school is to seek out its honors program," Kiplinger's said.
"These hidden 'patches of ivy' give state school students the one-on-one interaction with teachers usually associated with private schools."

Need help locating child care? Resource and Referral Service now available

Employees at AU and 16 other local institutions, businesses and industries are no longer in the dark when it comes to finding child care.

Assistance is available from the Child Care Resource and Referral Service at the Child Care Resource Center in Midway Plaza, Opelika.

The service is recommended as the first stop for AU faculty and staff needing to find a care provider for their children, says Lynne Hammond, who represents AU on the alliance's board.

The service was started with funding by the Employers' Child Care Alliance, of which AU is one of 17 partners, and only the employees of alliance partners may use the service.

The alliance is sponsoring the service through the CCRC in response to requests from working families and their employers for assistance in finding safe, reliable child care, said Hammond.

"It is hard and very time-consuming to investigate all the options for good child care," she said. "As parents, we don't always have the time or the knowledge about child care providers to do an adequate search."

"The alliance saw the need for a service in which experienced professionals would inspect and gather information about the centers, continuously update the information and maintain a comprehensive, central data base on local child care options," Hammond a dded.

Gail Piggott, Employers' Child Care Alliance manager, said she and Research and Referral Specialist Tammy Morgan assist employees of alliance participants in determining the best options to meet their needs.

New parents and new residents with young children are most in need of assistance, but other parents looking for a new or replacement child care provider can also benefit, Piggott said. "As children reach new developmental milestones or even when family c hanges occur, different child care arrangements may be desirable," she explained.

Resource and Referral Service staffers ask parents for information about their children's ages, the type care being sought, preferred location and any special considerations a parent may have.

A staff member will then conduct a computer search of data collected on child care providers in Lee County, identify matches and check with the providers to confirm prices, vacancies and information that may change often.

Besides maintaining frequently updated files, the service plots the location of providers on a map for ready reference, and staff members familiarize themselves with all participating providers so parents don't have to take time away from their jobs to do an exhaustive search, Piggott said.

Within two days, the consultant will contact the parent by phone or mail with information about providers who meet the criteria.

"Often, parents' needs require a problem-solving process to determine the options that most closely meet their needs," Piggott said.

"A benefit of this service is that, as with all problems, it is difficult to make the best decision if you don't have the information about all the options available."

Armed with the information, parents are in a better position to make decisions when they visit the providers, she said.

ECCA staff check back to make sure the problem is solved, and they continue to work with the parent until the best available arrangement is found, Piggott said.

"We try to get a quality fit so that the parent and the child feel comfortable with the provider," she added.

The service is available for AU employees and employees of other alliance members by phone at 749-8400.

High-tech leader to get honorary degree at March 21 graduation

AU President William Muse will bestow an honorary doctor of science degree on Tracy O'Rourke, chairman and chief executive officer of a high-tech Silicon Valley company, at winter commencement ceremonies March 21.

AU expects to award 909 degrees at winter commencement ceremonies at the main campus.

At the 2:30 p.m. ceremony in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum, AU will confer 730 bachelor's degrees, 144 master's and specialist's degrees, 34 doctorate degrees and one honorary degree.

O'Rourke, a 1956 Auburn graduate in mechanical engineering, heads Varian Associates Inc., an international technology electronics company based in Palo Alto, Calif., with annual sales of about $1.6 billion. He is active in business and civic organizations and he has traveled the world lecturing at universities, trade association and government-sponsored meetings on the subjects of quality, computer integrated manufacturing and global competitiveness.

O'Rourke has shared his expertise with Auburn students and faculty, opening AU's Thomas Walter Center Distinguished Lecture Series in October 1995 with a lecture on the resurgence of American manufacturing. He is a member of the of state of Alabama Engine ering Hall of Fame.

Before taking the helm of Varian in 1990, O'Rourke was one of three executive vice presidents and chief operating officers at Rockwell International Corp. He went to
Rockwell when it acquired Allen-Bradley Co. in 1985, where he had been employed since 1978. As Allen-Bradley's president and chief operating officer in 1981,
O'Rourke was credited with transforming the $450 million privately held firm into a $1.4 billion international electronics industry.

AUPD's, Motor Pool's names changed as roles redefined

AU's police department and motor pool have new names.
The AU Police Department has been renamed the Department of Public Safety, and the Motor Pool is now Transportation Services.

Jim Ferguson, vice president for administrative services, said the former AUPD's new name "connotes a broad array of responsibilities and is more consistent with the nomenclature found in contemporary law enforcement organizations."

The name change is the second in two decades for the police unit. Until the late 1970s, the department was the AU Security Office.

Ferguson said the head of the unit, Bill Nevin, will be director of public safety and will retain the working title of chief of police with the police rank of colonel.

At the former motor pool, Greg Lund's title was changed from manager of the Motor Pool to manager of Transportation Services. Motor Pool Assistant Director Beth Lett is now the assistant manager of Transportation Services.

Ferguson said Transportation Services will retain responsibility for the central motor pool and will be responsible for the campus area transit system, which starts this summer.

Transportation Services and Parking Services, headed by James L. Williams, will report administratively to Melvin Owens, formerly captain of auxiliary services with the AUPD and now assistant director of public safety. Owens will retain the working titl e of deputy chief of police and the police rank of major. Lund previously reported to Ferguson.

AU Photographer wins national prize

Jeff Etheridge, manager of AU Photographic Services, has won second place in the People and Portraits Division of the University Photographers' Association of America annual slide competition.

Etheridge won for his image of an Auburn basketball player

The UPAA, organized in 1961, has 290 members in the United States and Canada.
Etheridge was the only winner in Alabama. Other institutions included on the winners list are North Carolina State University, Vanderbilt University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Louisville and the University of Mississippi.

The winning images will be posted on the UPAA's World Wide Web page at: http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infoupaa/index.html
Etheridge, 34, who has been photographing AU since 1988, was promoted to manager of the Photographic Services in August 1995.

A native of Sylacauga, Etheridge was a photographer and manager for commercial photo operations in Birmingham and Sylacauga before joining AU.

Bookstore association names Nelson employee of year

The Alabama College Bookstore Association has named Leigh Ann Nelson, a buyer at the Auburn University Bookstore, as its Employee of the Year.

Nelson received the award at the association's annual meeting at the AU Hotel and Conference Center. About 40 bookstores and 80 companies are members of the Alabama College Bookstore Association

"The award is based on the service to the bookstore and to the association," said Kathy Harmon, assistant director of the AU Bookstore and immediate past president of the association. "Leigh Ann has worked with almost all of the vendors on different occa sions and she has assisted with the association's annual and regional meetings."

Nelson has worked with the bookstore for more than 11 years in various positions from clerk to buyer. Through those years she has developed good working relationships with many of the vendors, both those who work directly with her as well as those who don 't, Harmon said.

Flynt examines missionaries in China for his latest book

Wayne Flynt, Distinguished University Professor of History, is challenging the perception of missionaries as meddlesome and ineffective in a new book he co authored.

Flynt credits the work of missionaries before their expulsion from China in about 1950 with today's estimated 65 to 100 million Chinese Christians. He and co-author
Gerald Berkley examine the lives and work of 47 Alabama missionaries to China in Taking Christianity to China.

"It's tragic that a lot of these missionaries left China in 1950 believing they had failed. There were so few converts, and they had worked so hard, that there was just no perception that their lives had accomplished much of anything," Flynt said.

Although Chinese Christians numbered a comparatively small 900,000 when missionaries were expelled from the country, that number rose during the 1960s and 1970s when Christianity exploded in China, Flynt said.

"The story I see is the story of a seed well planted by a remarkable generation of people," he said.

Taking Christianity to China is the culmination of about 10 years of research and writing about the lives of some of China's early missionaries. The project began in 1986 with two boxes of material collected by Berkley, a former Auburn University at Montg omery professor. Flynt put the boxes aside to complete other books he was working on. He later became enthralled by what he read.

State history journal relocates to Auburn

The editor's post for the magazine of the oldest historical association in Alabama has returned to AU in time for its 50th anniversary celebration this spring.

The Alabama Review: A Quarterly Journal of Alabama History, a magazine for members of the Alabama Historical Association, is now being edited by Robert "Jeff" Jakeman, assistant professor of history at AU. The quarterly is published by the University of A labama Press.

Since the magazine was founded in 1948, The Alabama Review has been edited by history faculty at both Auburn and the University of Alabama. This past fall, UA historian Sarah Wiggins, who edited the journal since 1976, turned over the editor's job to Jake man, who is its fourth editor.

"The Alabama Review is the only referred, scholarly journal on state history," says Jakeman, whose research specialty is U.S. modern history. "It is really a collaborative effort between the AHA, the University of Alabama Press and the AU Department of H istory."

Ed Bridges, director of the state Department of Archives and History in Montgomery, said he commends Auburn University on the degree to which the history department is interested in and supports the study of Alabama history.

"The editorship is just another indication of their research and understanding of the importance of history to this state.

"Jeff is one of the most capable and conscientious people I know," Bridges said.
"The thing that's so impressive to me of his work is that he is capable of dealing with big issues as well as smaller issues such as format and quality control. He can do both with a high level of quality."

Bridges says the journal is important because it is the main document used to report on history in the state.

"The journal is the basic tool we have for disseminating research and new information about Alabama history," he said. "It is the source people go to keep up with the latest research on Alabama history."

Both the College of Liberal Arts and the Provost's Office have financially supported the journal, and the Department of History devoted a graduate assistant to work on the journal.

Jakeman's first edition of the journal was last summer. Working with him were Anthony Carey, an assistant professor of history at AU who is book review editor, two doctoral students who are research associates. AU history professor Bill Trimble and Robert Rea, history professor emeritus, provided some technical advice.

Jakeman says the AHA is a "hybrid organization with a mix of members. There are professional historians as well as citizens of the state who have an interest in history who are members."

As for criteria for article submission, Jakeman says they welcome articles from university scholars as well as avid historians. "Everyone, however, is held to the same standards for submissions. We look for originality, careful scholarship, good writing and pieces on a variety of topics.

"We also review books on regional or Southern history," he added.
Jakeman, with assistance from Dale Foster of Special Collections in the Draughon Library, has developed a World Wide Web site for the journal at: http://www.auburn.edu/~bamarev/

Council launches drive to reunite African-American alumni at AU

The African-American Alumni Council of AU has launched a telephone drive to encourage alumni to attend AU's first-ever African-American Alumni Reunion.

The campus reunion is scheduled for April 18-20.

Kelvin Redd, a 1990 Auburn history graduate and member of the African-American Alumni Council, said the first step is to bring as many alumni back to campus as possible. Then, he hopes they will become more involved on campus.

"Since we've never had a reunion for African-American alumni, we felt it was time," said Redd, who is director of safety and assistant vice president for Synovus Service Corp., in Columbus, Ga. "We want alumni to know that we are here and we want them to be active members of the Alumni Association. We want these alumni to serve as allies and mentors for African-American students at Auburn.

"The reunion is going to spawn so much more activity from our council. But the first thing we have to do is to get the African-American alumni together."

James Brown, executive director for the Office of Minority Advancement at AU, agrees that the reunion has great potential for future reunions, networking opportunities as well as mentoring and recruiting minority students. AU President
William V. Muse created the Office of Minority Advancement a few months after his arrival in 1992, as part of his commitment to the recruitment and retention of black students.

Brown successfully implemented minority recruitment programs at the University of Mississippi prior to coming to Auburn. There are nearly 1,400 black students enrolled at AU, compared to less than 500 a decade ago.

"We want African-American alumni to come back to campus and see the changes that have occurred since they graduated," said Brown. "These alumni are a valuable resource for our students and we want them to return to their alma mater and get involved with our students."

AU Associate Professor Doris Ford dies

Doris Dinkins Ford, an associate professor in AU's Department of Political Science, was remembered in the College of Liberal Arts as a respected colleague, friend and mentor following her death on Feb. 27.

Ford, 50, died following a lengthy illness. She was one of five faculty members who taught in the department's health administration program and had been on medical leave s epartment of Political Science.

"I've been looking through an array of letters from students who came through the health administration program who wrote about the positive experiences they had because of Doris," Bernstein said. "She coordinated our intern program and was responsible f or placing students in hospitals all over the country."

Gordon Bond, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said Ford "was a excellent faculty member. She was a awfully good colleague and she was a volunteer.

"She prided herself in wanting to be helpful, and she was."
Ford, who joined AU in 1984, was a graduate of Howard University, where she earned a bachelor's and master's degree, and George Washington University, where she earned another master's degree and a doctoral degree.

Keenan Grenell, an assistant professor of political science, said he had a close relationship with Ford. "Doris was not only a friend but a mentor to me," he said.

"One thing that I remember when we served on a the West Alabama Project Planning Committee, formed by Dr. Muse, is that Doris was a person who made sure in our discussions about planning, we would not forget that the individuals who needed to be a part of the planning process were the individuals we were trying to help. She wasn't caught up in 'Ivory Tower' remedies. She was grass roots in her philosophies and in her deliveries."

Donna Sollie, director of the Women's Studies Program at AU where Ford taught a class, said she "was very much a strong supporter of the Women's Studies Program.
She felt it was very important for women to learn about health issues and she taught a class on that subject within the program. She will be missed."
She is survived by her husband and three children.

Former Associate Editor Dru McGowen dies

Dru McGowen, a longtime AU associate editor who died March 1, was remembered by former co-workers as a gifted feature writer who was also a teacher to younger writers, a friend to people across campus and a devoted mother.

McGowen, 75, was a writer and associate editor for the AU News Bureau in Unive ounty Eagle/Auburn Bulletin and Inside the Auburn Tigers.

In addition, she published a small volume of poetry and wrote scripts for ETV's "The Pied Piper of Sewing" and a public TV series on the metric system.
Former co-worker Jim Kil-lian, associate editor in the College of Engineering, recalled her as a friend and a writer with a flair for producing well-written, interesting features about university people.

McGowen made friends easily and was gifted writer who inspired younger writers and interns, Killian added.

L.B. "Tex" Williams, who worked with McGowen in University Relations for more than two decades, described her as widely respected personally and professionally.
"She was one that got on a story and stayed with it diligently," said Williams. "She worried with it and checked it out. She was just a very, very good journalist."

A native of Riverside, Calif., McGowen later moved to New York, where she wrote features for The New York Herald-Tribune. After moving to Alabama with her family, she worked for The Dothan Eagle, The Montgomery Advertiser, The Birmingham News and The Hou ston Herald.

"She was just a first-rate journalist," said Neil Davis, former editor and publisher of The Auburn Bulletin. "The fraternity of journalists here will miss her."

Survivors include two daughters and six grandchildren.

Geologists to examine area crater

The Department of Geology will host the 46th annual meeting of the Southeastern Section, Geological Society of America March 27-28 at the AU Conference Center.

Attended by nationally and internationally known geologists, the event offers a series of 10 symposia and 18 theme sessions and workshops. Among the planned activities preceding the annual meeting are field trips, including one on Wednesday, March 26, to an 80-million-year-old asteroid crater in Wetumpka.

Led by AU geology faculty David King Jr. and Lorraine Wolf, the expedition will examine the eroded remains of an impact crater that measures four miles across and 100 feet into the earth's surface.

"The asteroid that struck what is now Wetumpka was traveling at a speed of about 12 miles per second," King said. "It collided with a force equivalent to between 100 to 1,000 megatons of TNT.

"That's more force than the largest atomic weapons test ever conducted," he said.
"It was by far the worst disaster to strike Alabama within the last 80 million years."
Calculated from the size of the impact crater, King estimates the asteroid to have been about 1,100 feet across. "It would have been hard to fit it in Jordan-Hare Stadium," he quipped.

King said the odds of an asteroid of this size striking the earth today are about 1 in 10,000. However, with today's population densities, such a catastrophe would result in thousands of deaths and millions of dollars in destruction.

The Auburn Circle lauded by writers as launching pad

The Auburn Circle, AU's art and literary magazine, isn't simply a publication where students can display their work. It's a place from which they can launch their careers, say veteran writers.

"Getting published in a college magazine gives you the courage to keep writing," says Judy Sheppard, an AU journalism professor. "It takes so much courage to write something and let other people see that. Having your work published is having one voice t elling you that you can do this."

Sheppard said her experience with The Circle encouraged her to keep writing. She has since gone on to write for numerous publications including Alabama Heritage, American Journalism Review and National Forum. Sheppard has also written for The Atlanta J ournal Constitution, The Mobile Register and The Phenix Citizen newspapers, and has received several Georgia Associated Press Association awards.

Marian Carcache, an English instructor at Auburn, began publishing in The Auburn Circle during her undergraduate years in the 1970s.

In the spring of 1983, Robert Greenleaf, AU music professor, saw a story written by Carcache in The Circle. "Under the Arbor," Greenleaf's opera, was based on that story.

The two began working on the opera later that summer, said Greenleaf. With the composition completed in 1992, this Southern coming-of-age story has since been a finalist in the Southern Regional Emmys in Atlanta and a finalist at the International Film a nd Television Festival of New York, he said.

Dan Ennis of Alexander City, a graduate student in English at AU, agrees that publishing in The Circle is a great first step because talking to the editor helps a writer see what the entire process involves.

Speech & Hearing Clinic to celebrate 50th anniversary in June

AU's Speech and Hearing Clinic will celebrate its 50th anniversary June 5-7. The celebration will include a three-day program honoring the clinic, the communication disorders program and its alumni.

The 50th Anniversary Reunion will be at the AU Hotel and Conference center and will feature programs for eight hours of continuing education credit, a reunion banquet and lots of reminiscing between old friends, says Bill Haynes, professor and head of the Department of Communication Disorders.

Courses will be taught on audiology and speech-language pathology and continuing education credit will be given.

Registration deadline is April 28. To register, contact Sandra Clark-Lewis, Department of Communication Disorders, 1199 Haley Center. Phone: 844-9600.

Campus Views: Make distance education more accessible to students

By Daniel M. Gropper

Courses on the Internet? Distance Education? What is a college education coming to? And what should we do about it? While a sizeable number of students still want to come to Auburn University's campus to pursue their education, technological advances have opened up opportunities to expand upon the traditional model. These advances in technology coupled with changing demographic trends have made "distance education" one of the hottest topics in higher education. Distance education does not require th at students physically attend all classes in the same classroom; rather, some means is found to take the classroom to the student. These means may include interactive video, videotape, Internet streaming and satellite downlinks, to name only a few of the technologies in use today.

Auburn is already a leader in distance education. Although many people on this campus are unaware of it, AU is nationally respected in distance education at the graduate level. The Graduate Outreach Program of the colleges of Engineering and Business ha s been involved in distance education degree programs for more than 10 years. With video cameras in the classrooms and communications over the Internet and via telephone and fax machine, these graduate degree programs reach students all over Alabama, the Southeast and literally around the world. Together, the graduate outreach programs in Business and Engineering have more than 350 active students -- and more than 80 Business and Engineering faculty have taught graduate outreach classes.

Auburn has more than 200 students currently enrolled in the MBA Outreach program. These students are simply outstanding: They include medical doctors, registered nurses, persons with technical master's and even doctoral degrees, and working professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds.

This spring, we admitted a student to our MBA program who has an undergraduate engineering degree from the University of Texas, a master's degree in engineering from Stanford University, a cumulative GPA of over 3.9 and standardized text scores in the 99t h percentile. She is also among the first female fighter pilots in the U.S. Air Force. Her current assignment precludes a traditional on-campus program; our reputation for quality education, flexible delivery and service to our students makes our Outrea ch MBA her program of choice.

A partial list of students' employers includes: Amoco, AT&T, Baptist Health System, BellSouth, Blue Cross-Blue Shield, Boeing, Brookwood Medical, Chevron, DuPont, General Electric, Gulf States Paper, Martin-Marietta, McDonnell-Douglas, Mercedes Benz, Motorola, Schlumberger, Southern Company and Westinghouse.
Through this program, working professionals are able to pursue advanced studies with minimal disruption to their careers and families. Our experience illustrates the possibilities available when we reach beyond the physical confines of campus through dis tance education efforts.

If Auburn is to be serious about undertaking distance education efforts in a widespread way, several challenges must be met.
Rules and deadlines for dropping and adding classes and completing degrees need to become more flexible. So must the rules for payment of bills; allowing payment by credit cared would be enormously helpful to these students. The fee structure for distan ce education courses must be changed to be more flexible and in line with what others are charging.

The early warning signs are clear. The current fees of nearly $1,200 for a single five hour class are discouraging enrollment and new applications in the Engineering and Business programs. Application of that fee structure to a pilot master's degree off ering in hotel-restaurant management reduced the number of students to one fourth the prior level in this promising new program. Some degree of flexibility in setting fees for each program is absolutely vital to their success. Allowing each program some flexibility in determining their own delivery fees will allow each to generate the resources necessary to meet the needs of their unique student populations, while allowing consideration of what other universities are doing in similar programs.

Distance education efforts will not replace the on-campus experience for most students. Rather, those efforts will expand the base of students we can reach with our existing faculty. And distance education is not suitable for every faculty member or eve ry course. While I was personally quite skeptical about having my lectures videotaped and sent off to distant students, my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. It is a good deal more work, but there are a variety of benefits, not the least of wh ich are improved teaching quality, access to excellent students who otherwise cannot attend Auburn classes, and expanded funding sources.

At a time when state resources for higher education are not likely to increase, we must find new ways to meet the educational needs of our state, region and country. Distance education provides one such opportunity for our faculty and our institution. A nd our competitor institutions are beginning to notice these same opportunities. While we currently are enjoying some success, with some institutional changes we can do even better. Without those changes, our future will not be as bright as our past.

***
Daniel M. Gropper is associate profession of economics and director of the MBA program in the College of Business.

Unsung Hero: Reba Gulledge, media relations assistant, Athletic Department

This week's Unsung Hero is Reba J. Gulledge, media relations assistant in the Athletic Department. She has been at Auburn for 23 years. She was asked:

I get the greatest satisfaction in my job when... I see young, wide-eyed athletes arrive in Auburn as children and leave four or five years later as men and women. I enjoy seeing them not only excel in their sports, but also in their academic fields of s tudy.

In my job area, quality is measured by... the establishment of solid working relationships with the media, athletes, coaches and administrators with whom we are in daily contact. Also important is the dissemination of information in a timely and accurate fashion to the media who cover Auburn athletics.

If I could change one thing about Auburn, it would be... to devise a more fitting system to both acknowledge and reward those Auburn employees who have demonstrated not only a long-standing commitment to quality job performance, but also a long-standing q uality commitment to Auburn.

I've always wondered why... the campus parking problems can't seem to be resolved. Wouldn't some additional on-campus parking decks help relieve some of the problems?

When people come to this campus, I want them to... tell others about the friendly and helpful people on campus. And I want them to talk about our beautiful campus, such as landscaping and how the buildings and grounds are so well kept.

In my spare time, I like to... spend time at the lake with my husband, our three children and their families, spoiling our grandchildren and pampering my mother and aunt.

Achievements

Timothy Dodge of the Microforms and Documents Department of Draughon Library published "U.S. Department of Commerce CD-ROM Serial Databases" in the fall 1996 issue of Serials Review, a referreed journal for library and archives professionals and faculty. The article evaluates major titles and provides information on data covered, data limitations and probably primary users.

Rob Martin and Patricia Duffy of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology made presentations of their work at the Southern Decision Sciences Institute Program in Atlanta Feb. 26-28. Martin presented two papers titled "Adding Variable to Peanut Yield Reg ression Model to Increase its Usefulness to Peanut Farms" and "A Multivariate Profit Analysis of Agricultural Technology Adoption in South Africa." Duffy presented a paper titled "Nursery Scheduling with Linear Programming."

Three Facilities staff members and an employee of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station's Department of Research Operations have passed the state examination that qualifies them to receive journeyman electrician's licenses. The three Facilities Div ision electrical workers -- Steve Kirk, Jonathan Cullars and Shawn Harrelson -- and Derek DeLamar of Research Operations completed an 18 month training program taught by Facilities Division Electrical Engineer Carl Gagliano before taking the qualifying exam.

Christopher Newland of Psychology was recently invited by the Science Advisory Board of the Environmental Protection Agency to participate in a formal review of a comprehensive, seven-volume document written by EPA scientists to describe mercury contamina tion, exposure to people and wildlife, and health effects. This document will form the primary support for federal policy regarding mercury, a metal important to several industries, including some in Alabama, but whose health effects and effects in ecosy stems raise a growing concern. The review on Feb. 26-27 was conducted by about 30 scientists from the U.S. and Canada. The scientists scrutinized the EPA's conclusions about flow and transport of mercury from smokestack through ecosystems, exposure to hu mans or wildlife, and health effects of low-level exposure.

Samia I. Spencer, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, was recently recognized by the Auburn University Panhellenic Council as an Outstanding Professor. The designation recognizes professors who "encourage academic excellence" and who demonst rate "determination to foster knowledge in the minds of Auburn students."

Mary Quinn Burkhart recently served as a presenter at an Elderhostel Institute Network Development Workshop in San Diego. The workshop was one of an ongoing national series to promote the creation of new Institutes for Learning in Retirement.

Patricia Duffy of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology was installed as president of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association at the Annual Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists Conference recently in Birmingham. Her presidential a ddress, "Is the New Deal Dead?" dealt with current changes in the federal government farm program safety net and changes in programs to fight poverty that were instituted during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Yolanda Brady of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures was named president of the Alabama Fisheries Association at the group's 14th annual meeting, Feb. 26-28, in Gulf Shores.

Henry Kinnucan of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology will be in Beijing, China, for the next three months teaching a Ph.D. level course in agricultural marketing at China Agricultural University. His stay is sponsored by the People's Republic of China and Winrock International.

Robin Sabino of the English Department is participating this week in an international panel on "Creole Linguistics and Social Responsibility" at the American Association of Applied Linguistics meeting in Orlando. She also recently was a panel member in a presentation on "Community as an Analytic Construct" at the Southern American Studies Association Biennial Conference and is co-author of an article, "Reassessing Eric Pontopiddan's 19th Century Creole Material," accepted for publication in SECOL Review.< P>

Spirit of Excellence winners

AU employees named Spirit of Excellence winners for February, their departments and categories, were: Linda King, Pathobiology, administrative/professional; Travis Breedlove, Facilities, service/maintenance; Michael Dickey, Photographic Services, technic al/paraprofessional; and Linda Pattillo, Thomas Walter Center for Technology Management, secretarial/clerical.

Schedule set for computer processing of finals

Faculty using computer-scanning for exams during winter quarter finals can get the exams scanned at Test Scoring Services in Tichenor 120. Scanning services are available Saturday, March 15, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and Monday-Thursday, March 17 20, from 7:4 5 a.m.-4:45 p.m. For information, contact Bruce Holt at 844-9904.

Reception to honor Outreach award winners

A recognition reception for recipients of the 1997 AU Outreach Awards for Excellence will be from 3 p.m.-5 p.m., Friday, March 14, at the Auburn Alumni Center. The awards are sponsored by the Auburn Alumni Association and the Office of the Vice President for University Outreach. Recipients are Richard Brinker, Forestry; Bill Felkey, Pharmacy Care Systems; James Floyd, Veterinary Medicine; Keenan Grenell, Political Science; Robert Hebert, Economics; Jay Lamar, Arts and Humanities Center; and Willison Lee , Extension Economist. Details on the awards and recipients will be in the March 31 AU Report.

Marriage & Family Therapy Center offers help

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

Tax guidelines issued for employees using flex-spending

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.

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.

Forms required for employees to take classes

Employees planning to enroll in AU courses for credit must submit an approved UPO 200 (Request to Enroll in University Course Work) each quarter of attendance. The completed and approved UPO 200 should be sent to University Personnel Services. Forms may b e acquired from your home department or Personnel Services.