NEWS AND VIEWS

Jefferson descendants, Naomi Wolf among lecture series speakers

Old Dominion University's spring 2000 President's Lecture Series kicked off Jan. 20 with a talk by Robert Zubrin, one of the world's foremost proponents of the colonization of Mars, and continues in February with an appearance by Thomas Jefferson descendants Shay Banks-Young and Julia Jefferson-Westerinen.

They will be on campus at 8 p.m. Feb. 17 to discuss their experiences in a presentation titled "The Affairs of Race in America: A Conversation in Black and White."

When genetic testing suggested Jefferson bore children with his slave Sally Hemings, Banks-Young and Jefferson-Westerinen were not surprised. Banks-Young, who is black, and Jefferson-Westerinen, who is white, have long believed that their great-great-grandfathers, Eston and Madison, were, in fact, the sons of Jefferson and Hemings. To them and their families, Jefferson and Hemings' 38-year relationship raises questions about race relations and political "morality" in the United States.

As the Distinguished Presidential Lecturer in History, Michael A. Bellesiles will examine "Samuel Colt and the Origins of American Gun Culture" at 8 p.m. March 16.

A professor of history at Emory University, Bellesiles founded Emory's unique interdisciplinary undergraduate Violence Studies Program. He is the author of "Revolutionary Outlaws: Ethan Allen and the Struggle for Independence on the Early American Frontier," and "The Origins of America's Gun Culture," due out this year.

Feminist, author and social critic Naomi Wolf, who made headlines as a campaign adviser to Vice President Al Gore, will discuss "Ethical Leadership for the 21st Century" at 8 p.m. March 23.

Wolf serves as president of the board of The Woodhull Institute, an organization that cultivates ethical leadership for the 21st century. Her first book, "The Beauty Myth," helped her emerge as one of the grande dames of young feminism in 1991. Her next work, "You Walk That Bridge Alone," a look at mothering, will be published this spring.

Conservative David Horowitz, best known for his lifelong intellectual and political journey from a 1960s radical activist to a crusader against the corrosive effects of '60s leftism on modern American culture, will wrap up the series with "The Art of Political War" at 8 p.m. April 6.

President of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture, Horowitz was a leader of the New Left in the early 1960s. His 1997 autobiography, "Radical Son," was called "the first great American autobiography of his generation" by author George Gilder.

All of the lectures are free and open to the public and will be held in the Mills Godwin Jr. Life Sciences Building Auditorium.


Seven more faculty awarded rank of University Professor

President James V. Koch announced at the start of the fall 1999 semester the selection of seven faculty members who will carry the title University Professor for the next four years. The distinction recognizes outstanding teaching.

University Professors receive a four-year appointment and an annual stipend of $2,500 to support professional development.

Selected for the award were:

  • John A. Adam, mathematics and statistics
  • Robert L. Ake, chemistry and biochemistry
  • Michele M. Darby, dental hygiene
  • Lorraine M. Lees, history
  • Linda L. Lilley, nursing
  • Kneeland K. Nesius, biological sciences
  • John F. Toomey, music.

    The seven join eight colleagues who were named one year earlier as the first group to earn the title of University Professor: John P. Broderick, English; Thomas F. Cash, psychology; Christine Drake, political science and geography; Katharine C. Kersey, early childhood, speech-language pathology and special education; Timothy C. McKee, accounting; Karen A. Polonko, sociology and criminal justice; Thomas J. Socha, communication and theatre arts; and G. Richard Whittecar, ocean, earth and atmospheric sciences.


    Fall '99 enrollment sets new record

    Fall 1999 enrollment at Old Dominion climbed to a record 18,879, the highest in school history. It was up from 18,552 recorded in 1998.

    According to John R. Broderick, vice president for institutional advancement, more than 1,600 freshmen and 1,800 transfer students were on campus last semester. He said the numbers are especially encouraging considering the university toughened its admissions standards for the second consecutive year. The minimum high school grade point average was raised to 2.5.

    "Our admissions standards make Old Dominion more selective than 80 percent of the colleges and universities across the country," Broderick said. "We also believe that our academic programs and Career Advantage Program, as well as our commitment to offering classes at times and places convenient for students, are becoming more and more attractive to students."

    As proof, Broderick points out that Old Dominion finished second among state colleges and universities in attracting the area's top high school seniors, according to a June 3 Virginian-Pilot supplement.

    "The increasing number of scholastic achievers selecting Old Dominion further strengthens our commitment to be the school of choice for Hampton Roads' best and brightest," he said. "Yet, we are equally pleased we have students here from all 50 states and more than 110 countries. Plus, through our distance learning program, TELETECHNET, the university will reach students at more than 50 sites across Virginia and several other states, including Navy personnel aboard deployed ships."


    Faculty and students generate news nationally, abroad

    From research on red light runners and how children fare when their Navy mothers deploy, to the Career Advantage and Military Career Transition programs, Old Dominion University made headlines in such national media outlets as USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal and ABC News during the fall semester.

    The Career Advantage Program, which guarantees an internship to every undergraduate student, was highlighted in an article in U.S. News & World Report's popular "Best Colleges" issue, published in August. Provost Jo Ann Gora was quoted, and communications student DuRon Bell was quoted and photographed, for the story, "Real Life 101."

    Other fall successes included:

  • More than 2 million frequent fliers learned about the university's Military Career Transition Program, thanks to a commentary in the September issue of US Airways' in-flight magazine, Attaché. Stephen M. Wolf devoted his monthly "Chairman's Corner" essay to the teacher shortage crisis and described how Old Dominion's program addresses that need.
  • Readers of The Wall Street Journal learned about research by associate professor of psychology Michelle Kelley which examined the reaction of children whose Navy mothers go off to sea. The study showed that children with deployed Navy moms are more likely to experience deep feelings of anxiety and are more prone to behavioral problems before and during deployments than children whose mothers draw shore duty.
  • Assistant professor of psychology Bryan Porter's research, which chronicled reasons American drivers run red lights, was featured in USA Today in October. Nearly all of the drivers surveyed agreed that running red lights is dangerous. More than half of those who admitted running lights said it was because they were in a hurry.
  • Old Dominion graduate student Gary Capobianco made national and international headlines with his research on the effects of airplane crashes on victims, suggesting that air crash survivors could have better mental health after the fact than air travelers who had never been in a crash. Articles on the study appeared in The London Times, The Economist of London, Toronto Globe and Mail, New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle and Reuters English News Service.
  • Fish ears that tell fish tales was the subject of recent reports on "NBC Nightly News" and ABCNews.com. These outlets reported on research by Cynthia Jones, associate director of Old Dominion's Fisheries Analysis Lab, and Simon Thorrold, associate professor of biological sciences, which determines the age and geographic swimming history of fish by their ear bones, called otoliths.


    Student senators help out during Clinton visit

    Want to hang with the president? Join the Secret Service and, after years of training, you might get a chance.

    But it was much easier than that - at least briefly one morning last semester - for a group of seven Old Dominion student senators who were recruited to help out with President Clinton's trip to Norfolk and Newport News.

    Five of the students chauffeured members of the White House press corps from the landing site of Air Force One at Norfolk Naval Air Station to Norfolk's Coleman Place Elementary School, where the president gave a speech on improving the nation's schools.

    Each of the students got to shake hands with Clinton, who thanked them for their help and posed for official White House grip-and-grin photos. They then returned the reporters to the airfield.

    Student body president Tommy Smigiel, of Norfolk, was among the small group of student senators selected for the assignments. After a security clearance check, they were briefed the day before on the president's motorcade route, but were sworn to secrecy.

    "It was the most thrilling thing," said, Smigiel, who drove the CNN contingent to and from the elementary school. "You don't realize until afterwards. Then it just hits you."

    So, upon meeting, what did one president say to the other?

    "He thanked us for helping out," Smigiel recalled. "I said, 'Mr. President, it's an honor.'"

    -James J. Lidington

    OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE