news
University will present awards to seven distinguished alumni on Founders’ Day Old Dominion will present Distinguished Alumni Awards to seven former students Oct. 21 at the annual Founders’ Day luncheon in Webb Center. The program will also include the presentation of Town-N-Gown Community Service Awards to the Urban League of Hampton Roads Inc. and to two women who are well known for their service in the region. This year’s distinguished alumni are:
Alumni receiving Town-N-Gown Community Service Awards are Linda F. Rohrer ’72 and Dr. Theresa W. Whibley (M.S.Ed. ’74).
Former ODU Presidents James L. Bugg Jr. (1969-76) and Alfred B. Rollins Jr. (1976-85) were on hand for the program, and remarks were given by James Hixon, Board of Visitors rector; Lauren Conner, Alumni Association president; William Drewry, Faculty Senate chairman; and Adam Perry, student body president. John R. Broderick, vice president for institutional advancement, paid tribute to ODU’s former presidents, and President Roseann Runte spoke to those gathered on the mall of both the university’s past and future. “Alvin Toffler said that change is the process by which the future invades our lives. Old Dominion has been changing lives for 75 years. That is the slogan for the year. It has, in effect, been our slogan for the last 75. Old Dominion has helped many people realize their individual dreams.” Saying that the institution’s predecessors “planted the roses for us to gather today,” she added, “We must continue planting the seeds. The Old Dominion community would like to leave a fine heritage to future generations in Hampton Roads.” A number of future-generation students, in fact, joined in the celebration. Approximately two dozen youngsters from Larchmont Elementary School, whose building is also marking its 75th anniversary this year, presented the university with a birthday card and a chorus of “Happy Birthday.” Larchmont’s new principal, Patricia Melise, earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Old Dominion. The program concluded with Big Blue popping out of a giant birthday cake. On Sept. 16, five local mayors paid a visit to the campus and presented President Runte with proclamations in recognition of ODU’s 75th anniversary. Bringing greetings from their respective cities were Paul Fraim of Norfolk, James Holley of Portsmouth, Ross Kearney of Hampton, Meyera Oberndorf of Virginia Beach and Bobby Ralph of Suffolk. Back to top Sample food and music at Oct. 14 Cultural Connection A true cultural experience awaits those who attend the second annual International-American Cultural Connection, which begins at 4 p.m. Oct. 14 in Webb Center’s North Cafeteria. Participants can feast on multiethnic food, listen to music from around the world play games and meet students from around the globe. Last year, more than 500 students took part in the event, which is sponsored by the offices of Multicultural Student Services and International Student and Scholar Services. Back to top
Among those attending will be: AIG VALIC, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, AXA/Equitable Advisors, CommonHealth, Fidelity Investments, Great West/BenefitsCorp., HACE, Legal Resources, Lincoln Financial Group, MassMutual, MetLife Financial Services, Minnesota Life Insurance Co., ODU Credit Union, ODU Recreational Sports, Palmer & Cay Consulting Group (CIGNA Long Term Disability), Perks Card - Perks Unlimited Inc., the Social Security Administration, Student Health Services, TIAA-CREF, Travel Counsellors Inc., ValueOptions Inc., the Virginia Retirement System and Waddell & Reed. Door-prize drawings will be held throughout the day. Back to top
Jim Sweeney, associate professor of history, is the chapter’s adviser. Based at the University of South Florida, Phi Alpha Theta is a professional society whose mission is to promote the study of history through the encouragement of research, good teaching, publication and the exchange of learning and ideas among historians. Back to top Loughton selected as a third team All-American ODU senior center/forward Alex Loughton of Perth, Australia, has been selected to the third team preseason All-America squad by Street & Smith’s magazine. He is the first Monarch ever to earn a spot on a preseason All-America team. He joins Nate Funk (Creighton), Curtis Stinson (Iowa State), Maurice Ager (Michigan State) and Eric Williams (Wake Forest) on the third team. Loughton, 2005 Colonial Athletic Association and State of Virginia Player of the Year, averaged 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game last season. He was the CAA Tournament MVP and was named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press. Loughton also excelled in the classroom last year, earning national academic honors from the Athletic Directors Association as well as Academic All-District honors from ESPN/CoSIDA. Last month, Lindy’s magazine ranked ODU 21st in its preseason top 25 poll and named Loughton the 12th-best center in the nation. Back to top
The event, held at Granby High School Sept. 24, featured training and teaching by 55 professional black-belt instructors. More than 100 participants took part in the seminar and donated to the relief fund. Hamada presented the check to the executive director of the American Red Cross’ Hampton Roads chapter. Back to top
Last year, 42 percent of the university’s employees participated, giving a total of $116,651. J.C. Johnson, housekeeping superintendent and co-director of this year’s campuswide effort, which kicked off earlier this month, said that ODU employees have already donated $3,881 to aid Hurricane Katrina victims. Typically, a large portion of the CVC donations are directed to local United Way agencies. Back to top
Tickets are $80 per person and include a pre-event reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres at 5 p.m., followed by Disney’s production of the popular musical at 6:30. For tickets or more information call 683-3097. Back to top
The workshops will be presented by Bob Porter, who has more than 30 years’ experience as a tenured professor, private consultant and research administrator. His proposals have won more than $5 million in awards from government agencies and private foundations. He has presented papers and workshops on grant writing at national conferences and has published articles on this subject in the Journal of Research Administration. More information about the workshops is available online at www.odu.edu/ao/research/services/workshops.html. Back to top
President Roseann Runte awarded Hassan an honorary doctorate of humane letters during an academic ceremony attended by students, faculty and members of the Club of Rome, an international think tank that held its annual meeting on campus Oct. 1-3. Hassan is president and Runte a member of the club, which is best known for its groundbreaking 1972 report on the limits of natural resources, “Limits to Growth.” “I have sometimes been called a dreamer or an idealist, and there may be some truth in that,” said Hassan, the younger brother of Jordan’s late King Hussein and his brother’s closest political adviser. “But practicality would not be worth much without an ideal toward which we could direct it. We need to combine all our knowledge with a little wisdom to make progress.” Quoting Einstein’s famous statement that imagination is more important than knowledge, Hassan added, “I would like you to imagine with me, and with many hopeful people ... a better world that recognizes that art and science are not only intellectual endeavors in their own right, but ultimately means in which we can further our human dignity and understanding.” Hassan noted that many who have no sway over politics can nonetheless make a difference in world relationships and understanding by creating solutions to Third World problems such as infrastructure, energy, clean water and environment. The importance of governing with wisdom and knowledge is also critical to overcoming the problems fueled by fundamentalism, Hassan told the gathering, noting that nearly 70 percent of the Middle East’s population is under 25 and would subscribe to the “sad reality” portrayed in a poem by Aime Cesaire: “My name: offended. My middle name: humiliated. My status: rebel. My age: the Stone Age. My race: the fallen race.” Hassan said, “As Cesaire’s poem suggests, the majority of Third World youth are not governed by governments. They are governed by the inability to bridge the distance, the longest distance in the world, from (the head) to (the heart).” A full-length video-streamed archive of the ceremony can be viewed at www.lions.odu.edu/org/ats/multimedia/streamed_events/events/rome_degree. Back to top
(NRCCUA), the leading organization connecting young people and their families with colleges and universities. The organization’s seventh annual Enrollment Power Index, a research-based analysis that was released Sept. 20, rates how well the functionality and design of college and university Web sites provide information to potential students to take them from prospect to applicant. “Prospective college students are very Internet-savvy, and they have come to expect the admissions sections of university Web sites to provide critical information to help them make decisions,” said Don Munce, president of NRCCUA. “If the sites don’t provide what they need, with the ease of navigation they expect, they’ll go elsewhere. A quality Web site can now be the difference between a lost prospect and a new student.” ODU’s site ranked seventh in its category. The University of New Orleans was first, followed by Loyola University of Chicago and Texas Woman’s University. The NRCCUA study examined 28 criteria from the following categories:
According to Alice McAdory, ODU executive director of admissions, as technology has advanced, so too have the expectations of prospective students. “They want to do everything online.” Over the past few years, in fact, the admissions office has been modifying its Web site based on feedback from prospective students and their parents. “We went to high schools and open houses, and asked students what they were looking for on a college Web site,”McAdory said. “I think that helped a lot. We’ve also made changes based on questions and comments we get in the office, through our chat rooms, from e-mail responses to our student Blog Squad and via our LivePerson service.” LivePerson is a service that allows Web site visitors secure, real-time access to the admissions staff between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays. The admissions office will soon introduce a new feature on its Web site, an online community where students can talk to each other before they apply, after they apply and after they’re admitted, McAdory said. The students can even post pictures and other information about themselves. “Through this service, you can get to know somebody before you even come to campus,” McAdory said. “It’s just another way to ease concerns for incoming students. I think it’s good for them to already have a connection before they arrive.” Also in the plans, for the immediate future, is a redesign of the Web site to make it more attractive. And next fall, McAdory said she hopes to add a videotaped tour to the site, whereby prospective students can virtually follow a student guide leading a tour of the campus grounds and buildings. The online tour will be accompanied by background music that is performed by a band composed of recent Old Dominion graduates. Back to top
Situated between Elkhorn Avenue and the Health and Physical Education Building, Lot 27 will be changed from an overflow parking lot to a commuter parking lot. The change means that students who live on campus will not be able to park in the lot prior to 3:45 p.m. Vehicles parked in Lot 27 must display a commuter, faculty/staff or daily rate parking pass. Alternative parking for all vehicles will be available in Garage C of the Ted Constant Convocation Center. Back to top
Published by ODU’s Regional Studies Institute, the report also looks at the local housing situation and compares the area’s progress in the high-technology arena to other cities and regions of Virginia. In addition, the 104-page report discusses Hampton Roads’ creative classes, assessing a researcher’s findings regarding these groups’ connection to economic growth, and offers insight into the effects of reduced boat taxes on the area’s cities. James V. Koch, Board of Visitors Professor of Economics and President Emeritus, oversaw the production of the report, which received financial support from the university and a number of local organizations and individuals. Koch notes that the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of the university. “Our State of the Region reports always have maintained the goal of stimulating thought and discussions that ultimately will make Hampton Roads an even better place to live,” he said. “We are proud of our region's many successes, but realize it is possible to improve our performance. In order to do so, we must have accurate information about ‘where we are’ and a sound understanding of the policy options available to us.” The 2005 report is divided into seven parts. Among its findings are:
Copies of the State of the Region report are available by contacting Koch at jkoch@odu.edu. This year’s report, as well as the reports from 2000 through 2004, may be found on the Internet at www.odu.edu/forecasting. Back to top
It recommended the adoption of proposed changes to the university policy on System of Grading, including expanding on the circumstances for awarding a grade of Incomplete (I) by adding that “substantial progress” toward completion of the course requirements must be made before a grade of I can be given. In other action, the senate voted to recommend proposed revisions to university policy on Graduate Probation, Suspension and Continuance. The new policy clarifies the process for reinstatement of graduate students into their respective programs following suspension. It also clarifies the continuance policy and process for students in post-baccalaureate certificate and licensure programs, as well as lifelong learners. This issue resulted from a study and recommendations of the Graduate Appeals Committee and the Office of Graduate Studies. The senate also voted to recommend proposed revisions to the Virginia Tidewater Consortium Exchange Program. Among the changes are that cross-registration in major courses will now require the permission of the department chair, and cross-registration will now be limited to degree-seeking students with cumulative GPAs of 2.0 or higher, instead of being limited previously to declared majors. The senate voted to terminate the issue “Faculty Incentives for Developing Asynchronous Courses.” It was announced that Lynn Tolle (dental hygiene) and Karen Karlowicz (nursing) have filled vacancies on the senate. The senate’s next meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. Oct. 18 in the Portsmouth/Chesapeake Room of Webb Center. Back to top
Reservations are encouraged; contact Cynthia Wright Swaine at cswaine@odu.edu. The Center for Learning Technologies offers the following classes in the coming weeks: Blackboard, Computer Literacy, Emerging Technologies, Faculty Web Site Series, Preparing for Class, Teaching on Television, Teaching Online and Video Lecture Series. For times go to www.clt.odu.edu. Back to top
Retired businessman Leonard Kaplan and his wife, Tobee, of Greensboro, N.C., donated $1 million for the construction of a greenhouse/conservatory. Dr. Arthur S. Kaplan, a retired Norfolk physician, and his wife, Phyllis, donated the prolific orchid collection and a monetary contribution for an endowment for the care and maintenance of the greenhouse. “There are always special spots on campuses where students go at special moments – when their parents come to visit or when they pledge their eternal love,” Runte said. “This greenhouse will be one of those places at Old Dominion. We thank the Kaplans for sharing a most wonderful gift with the university and the community as a whole.” The greenhouse and conservatory will be named for Arthur and Phyllis Kaplan, and officials expect it to open next summer on the west side of the Alfriend Chemistry Building. It will feature a conservatory for public display of plants and flowers, a growing area and research laboratories. The greenhouse and plant collection are a natural extension of the university’s botany legacy and recent endeavors, according to Lytton Musselman, Mary Payne Hogan professor of botany and chair of the Department of Biological Sciences. He noted that one of the first courses offered at Old Dominion in 1930 was botany, and the university in more recent years has opened the Blackwater Ecologic Preserve, created two endowed chairs in botany and established a partnership with the Norfolk Botanical Garden. Back to top
PhysicsWeb noted Laroussi’s creation of a “hand-held device that can produce room-temperature plasmas to kill bacteria, heal wounds and treat plaque.” The article, published Sept. 20, included a photo and schematic drawing of the device. News@Nature.com published a longer article on Sept. 23 calling the invention “a miniature light saber” and quoting from an article Laroussi wrote this summer for Applied Physics Letters describing how the device works. Laroussi, associate professor in ODU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a researcher at the Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics, was assisted in the development of the plasma jet by Xin Pei Lu, a postdoctoral researcher at the Reidy Center. The center is operated by ODU and the Eastern Virginia Medical School. Also, as the News@Nature article points out, Wayne Hynes, associate professor in the ODU Department of Biological Sciences, is working on health service applications of the plasma jet. Plasmas, sometime called the fourth state of matter along with solids, liquids and gases, are generated anywhere atoms are stripped of electrons, creating soups of neutral particles, charged ions and electrons. Plasmas can be found in solar flares and around lightning bolts, and, in fact, make up 99 percent of the known universe because of their common presence in interstellar space. In the denser Earth’s atmosphere, most plasmas are super hot and hard to control. During the last decade numerous researchers have produced low-temperature plasmas, but Laroussi, since the mid-1990s, has been at the forefront of the research. His focus has been on ease of use and low-cost generation of plasmas. Business Week magazine named him an “expert” in cold plasmas, and gave the same designation to Karl H. Schoenbach, ODU’s eminent scholar of electrical and computer engineering, who is director of the Reidy Center and holds the Batten Endowed Chair of Bioelectric Engineering. Cold plasmas are generated when an electrical source is tailored to kick lighter electrons into high speeds without doing the same for heavier ions. This can be done with electricity that is turned on and off-or pulsed-thousands of times a second. The relative inactivity of the ions eliminates the high heat that plasmas can develop in the Earth's atmosphere and gives researchers the more manageable cold plasmas. The plasma pencil represents Laroussi’s latest achievements in the production of cheap and reliable cold plasma. His easy-to-handle device is about 5 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, and produces a plasma jet or plume that is adjustable from one-half to 2 inches long. Unlike other hand-held plasma jets, this device poses no risk of arcing or heating up during prolonged use. The plume produces only a slight tingle, and no harm, when it is directed at human skin. Nevertheless, highly reactive oxygen atoms in the plume can attack bacteria. Laroussi envisions the device being used to disinfect small articles or surfaces, to treat wounds, and even to attack plaque-making bacteria in the mouth. He believes that one day such a device could destroy tumors without damaging surrounding tissue. The Reidy Center is developing and experimenting with technologies that would allow the precise elimination of cancer cells. Laroussi pointed out that Schoenbach and his group are using pulsed electric fields to kill cancer cells. “My group has been investigating the effects of cold plasmas on cells. Cold plasma is a distinctly different technology. It uses radiation, chemical species and charged particles generated by plasma to affect cells. To do these studies I have collaborated with biologists such as Professors Hynes and Dobbs.” (Fred Dobbs is an associate professor of ocean, earth and atmospheric sciences at ODU.) Laroussi said he liked the description of his new plasma devise used on the Nature.com Web site. “The writer called it a light saber. And that is just what it looks like, a saber to kill bad cells.” Mohammad A. Karim, ODU vice president for research, was on the faculty of the University of Tennessee when he met Laroussi, who was a doctoral student at the time. “At ODU he has significantly advanced the state of the art,” Karim said. “His plasma pencil is very small and can work at least eight hours at a time. While surgical blades often damage surrounding tissues, the plasma pencil can be suitably adapted to kill cancer cells, only a few layers at a time.” The dean of ODU’s Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology, Oktay Baysal, added: “This invention is yet another testimonial that Dr. Laroussi and his colleagues in the college think boundlessly when it comes to applying such disruptive technologies so innovatively.” “It's a very exciting product,” agreed Zohir Handy, who directs the ODU Office of Technology Licensing. He has sent brochures about the plasma pencil to companies that may be interested in its commercial production. Laroussi has developed larger cold-plasma generators in the last five years, and applications on scales larger than the pencil could revolutionize sterilization processes for hospitals, industry and the military, he said. He also received a patent last February for a new type of ultraviolet lamp-UV and fluorescent lamps also utilize plasma-that is ultra-efficient and can be used to disinfect articles and purify water. Patents are pending on his cold plasma innovations. This summer Laroussi was interviewed by the Discovery Channel about potential use of cold plasmas for defensive shields in space. A plasma field enveloping an aircraft, a missile or a satellite could, theoretically, neutralize bursts of microwaves or particle beams fired by an enemy from Earth or an aircraft. The same kind of field may someday “cloak” aircraft by redirecting enemy radar. Laroussi has received about $500,000 from the Air Force in recent years for research in defense-related cold-plasma applications. Before joining the ODU Applied Research Center in 1998, Laroussi studied at the University of Technical Sciences of Tunisia, the School of Radio-Electricity in Bordeaux, France, and earned a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee. He received the 1996 Advanced Technology Award from the Inventors Clubs of America. He also received the prestigious Second Millennium Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society. Back to top
“You don’t have the leverage you do in a military setting where, if someone doesn’t do the work you can take their pay,” said Lt. Col. Barry R. Hendricks, professor of military science and director of ODU’s Army ROTC program. “Trying to motivate your peers – your classmates – is not easy. You need to counsel and develop a leadership style.” Commanding respect and leading by example may come easier for this year’s Army and Navy ROTC cadet battalion commanders, however. Wallie Lacks and Elizabeth Sokolowich are not your typical ROTC leaders. Both seniors, they already have several years of military service to their credit, a background not often found in student commanders. At age 31, the father of a 16-month-old daughter, veteran of deployments in Bosnia, Albania, Zaire (now the Congo), Kosovo and Iraq, as well as having served in the personal presidential helicopter service with Marine One for Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, Lacks certainly is a positive role model for his 130 Army ROTC charges. A criminal justice major, he maintains a 3.91 GPA, is fit at a level that only comes from rigid self-discipline and expects nothing less from those he leads. “It’s very much like being a good parent or older brother. I tell them if I can do it at 31 and they’re just 20 or 21, that makes them change their attitude and step up,” Lacks said. The son of a Marine who “placed the military above family,” he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1993, just after graduating from Poquoson High School. Recalling his own frame of mind at the time of his enlistment, Lacks said, “I was rambunctious, an idiot, I needed a turn-around and after 13-weeks at Paris Island I saw the light!” Drawing from that experience he said of his current assignment, “I don’t micromanage them. I put them in charge, in positions of responsibility because I know when I was coming up, being micromanaged drove me crazy.” Says Hendricks, “He’s not your average college student. He brings experience in here. With that experience comes a respect that is its own leverage.” Lacks, however, prefers to downplay his military background in favor of his current day-to-day leadership. “Talk the talk and walk the walk is what it’s all about. Show them what you are doing every day to be the best.” Sokolowich, also 31 and a biological sciences major, takes a similar approach to the 260 Navy cadets in her charge. “We have a lot of opportunities for them to take leadership roles,” she explained. “I don’t always know the 100 percent right thing to do, but I can see giving people the added responsibility helps them to step up.” Capt. John A. Brown, professor of naval science and head of ODU’s Navy ROTC program, is certainly happy to have cadets such as Sokolowich under his command. He employs the strategy of pairing “straight stick” midshipmen, those fresh out of high school, with more mature cadets like Sokolowich who are part of the Seaman to Admiral program. “That is absolutely a great tool for us,” Brown said. “Midshipmen are more likely to turn to them more easily for advice and guidance. Also, it’s an important mentoring role for our officer candidates to take on.” A former Navy nuclear enlisted person, Sokolowich is also married to a Navy “nuke” currently deployed aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt and has a 16-year-old step-daughter to raise while attending classes and leading cadets. Both Lacks, with eight years of military service, and Sokolowich with 10 years in the Navy, say they can still relate to their fellow students’ concerns by recalling their own military career tracks. In Lacks’ case it was the offering of deployment that kept him focused on his decision to pursue a military career. “Somebody says deployment and I’m there – let’s go. Of course I’ve always being in the wrong place too many times – Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo, Iraq.” Sokolowich said that while she was “an attitude problem” in her early years, she rarely had a moment’s doubt about remaining in the military. “I knew it was my life from the first day. Still, that fourth year was the rough one, where you thought, ‘Maybe I am done.’ It’s not always easy.” She said she found her heart’s desire as a nuclear training instructor before enrolling at Old Dominion. “I loved that. I would do that every day for the rest of my life.” Back to top
It will be housed at the university’s Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) in Suffolk until new facilities can be built. Gov. Mark R. Warner was on hand to announce the creation of the state-of-the-art center, the first in the nation devoted to the command and operations management side of homeland security training. “This new facility will combine world-class expertise and state-of-the-art modeling and simulation for training, analysis and operational support for disaster management and homeland security situations,” he said. “As our prayers go out to the citizens of the Gulf region who have been devastated by Hurricane Katrina, that terrible storm reminds us again of the importance of this critical emergency management training and simulation.” Modeling and simulation activities currently contribute nearly $500 million to the Hampton Roads economy, according to a recent economic impact study. Over the next five years, forecasters expect that figure could potentially grow to nearly $1 billion. In the spring, the General Assembly, led by Warner, authorized $1.45 million in funding to spur growth of the region’s modeling and simulation activities. “We are appreciative of the governor’s leadership and efforts to recognize the significant modeling and simulation expertise in Hampton Roads and are enthusiastically supporting this through unprecedented collaboration to establish the Emergency Management Training, Analysis and Simulation Center,” said Robert R. Harper Jr., a Northrop Grumman mission systems executive and member of the EMTASC board. “Each of the 17 founding companies involved with EMTASC is sharing their expertise and experience that combine for the perfect blend of meaningful support to our communities.” While there are more than a dozen existing emergency management-related training centers in the nation, they focus more on training the individual responders, and EMTASC is the first and only center to target command and management at the operational level, according to research conducted by VMASC. EMTASC will employ world-class expertise and high-tech modeling and simulation tools to provide training, exercises, analysis and operational support to its clients. According to officials, the center is open to help clients with needs assessments and design training exercises. The center will be ready to conduct its first training by January, with initial emphasis placed on Virginia localities and expanding to a national client base. Clients will be able to design simulated exercises focusing on their own specific needs. This type of training challenges participants to respond to dynamic scenarios and actions in real-time, as well as explore the second- and third-order effects of their decisions. This is not available during typical training. Modeling and simulation tools give a real-time perspective enabling those at the command and management level to have lessons-learned that can lead to real-world application. Because these tools offer extensive detail and are responsive and flexible, modeling and simulation offer critical support to rehearsal capabilities. The center will be staffed by employees of member corporations who have experience in emergency response operations. The center is composed of a 17-member corporate board including: Alion, Anteon Corp., BMH, The Boeing Co., Booz Allen Hamilton, Capstone, Cubic, DDL Omni Engineering, Evidence Based Research Inc., General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Lockheed Martin, Loyola Enter-prises Inc., MYMIC LLC, Northrop Grum-man, Raytheon, Science Applications Inter-national Corp. and WernerAnderson Inc. The partnership also involves advisers from: the governor’s office, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance, Hampton Roads Partnership, Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, Hampton Roads Research Partnership, Virginia Economic Development Partnership, VMASC, Virginia Office of the Secretary of Commerce and Trade and the Virginia Office of Commonwealth Preparedness. Back to top
The dances are choreographed by guest artists, ODU faculty, and selected students. Marilyn Marloff, associate professor and director of the dance program, contributes “Kinetoscope,” a fun and lively romp for three women reminiscent of an old-fashioned silent movie. It was performed outdoors Sept. 28 as part of the university's Arts on the Way program. Amanda Kinzer, assistant professor of dance, presents a dreamily romantic trio, “Passage,” exploring the relationship between dance and love, tracing our love lives from dances of seduction, through ceremonial wedding dances, to dances of joyful fun with our children. Additionally, Kinzer will perform a solo work of her own choreography to Alicia Terzian’s “Shantiniketan,” a contemplative work to solo flute and spoken poetry. This piece was first performed with live accompaniment at a multimedia performance by Creo, ODU’s new-music ensemble. A modern dance choreographed by Kinzer for five women will be premiered for the concert. This dance will take the audience on a journey from the beginning of life to the end. Adjunct faculty members Jessica Page and Tami White will offer new dances performed by ODU students. White contributes a contemporary ballet piece to “Moon Dance” by Van Morrison. The dance is a flirtatious trio for three women. Page’s jazz piece, titled “Dark Beat” and performed to music by Oscar G, explores the addictive relationship between dance and drumming. The large group of dancers is compelled to move as long as the drums play. Adjunct faculty member Joni Petre-Scholtz will choreograph a new large-group ballet piece to music by Nina Simone. Tickets are $10 and are available at the Arts and Letters Box Office in the Diehn Fine and Performing Arts Center, by phone at 683-5305 or at the door. For more information about the concert call 683-3002 or 683-4354. Back to top
One of America’s greatest playwrights, O’Neill (1888 - 1953) creates a staggering modernization of Aeschylus’s trilogy, “The Oresteia.” In moving the action from ancient Greece to Civil War America he gives immediacy to its sense of national tragedy, family relationships and power struggles. The play has been called an American masterpiece. It runs Oct. 14-23 at The Stables Theatre. Show times are 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. All tickets are $10. Call 683-5305 for tickets and more information. Back to top
Wilson, a graduate of the Dana School of Music, Youngstown State University, has toured and recorded with Buddy Rich, Lionel Hampton, Tito Puente, Mel Lewis, Toshiko Akiyoshi and the Bob Belden Ensemble. He has recorded six solo albums and appeared on 21 others. Wilson’s CDs are featured in the “Grammaphone Guide to Good Jazz” and the “Penguin Guide to Jazz.” He continues to record for Sunnyside Records and tours regularly. The Diehn Concert Series is supported by a grant from the Diehn Fund of The Norfolk Foundation. Tickets for the performance are $15 for general admission; $10 for Old Dominion faculty and staff, senior citizens and non-ODU students; and $7 ODU students with valid ID. Tickets may be purchased at the Arts and Letters Box Office in the atrium of the Diehn Center or by calling 683-5305. Back to top
His talk, “The History of War and Other Histories,” will be presented in memory of Craig M. Cameron, a former faculty member of the ODU history department, who died Dec. 30, 2004. The lecture, scheduled for 1 p.m. in room 104 of the Batten Arts and Letters Building, is free and open to the public. Free parking is available in the ODU parking garage on 43rd Street, just west of Hampton Boulevard. The two principal areas of Paret’s research are the political and intellectual challenges of war, and the interaction of art with ideology and society. Among his books are “Yorck and the Era of Prussian Reform” (1966); “Clausewitz and the State” (1976); “The Berlin Secession” (1980), a study of the conflict over modern art in Germany; “Art as History” (1988); “Imagined Battles: Reflections of War in European Art” (1997); “An Artist Against the Third Reich” (2003); and two volumes of essays, “Understanding War” (1992) and “German Encounters with Modernism, 1840-1945” (2001). He is currently writing a study of art as political iconography in imperial and Weimar Germany. Paret is a veteran of World War II, in which he served as a staff sergeant in the 1st Infantry Regiment in the New Guinea and Philippines campaigns. After the war, he completed his studies at the University of California at Berkeley, earning a bachelor’s degree, and went on to receive his doctorate at King’s College, University of London. He has held academic appointments at Princeton University, the University of California at Davis, Stanford University – where he was the first Raymond A. Spruance Professor of International History – and as the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at the Institute for Advanced Study. Paret is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Leo Baeck Institute, a member of the American Philosophical Society, which awarded him the Thomas Jefferson Medal, an honorary fellow of the London School of Economics and an honorary member of the German Clausewitz Society. For more information about the lecture call 683-4141. Back to top
“Exhibitionists 4” includes artwork in a variety of media by undergraduate and graduate students who received 2005-06 ODU art department scholarships. The exhibition includes prints by Heather Bryant, Beth Cooke and Erin Cross; paintings by Amber Brown; installation and design work by Derek Munn and Amy Repak; and works in metalsmithing by Amanda Green. “Emigre in Norfolk,” currently on exhibit at through Nov. 6, features 10 large-format digital prints representing the history and history of text design of the cultural journal Emigre, by Rudy VanderLans. The University Gallery, 350 W. 21st St., Norfolk, is open noon to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; noon to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. For more information call 683-2355 or go to www.odu.edu/al/art/gallery. Back to top
To elaborate what he had found into a full weather report, he turned to Old Dominion’s Larry Atkinson, an expert in coastal oceanography. Clancy, a former newspaper reporter who wrote about recovery operations at the Monitor wreck site when he was on the staff of The Virginian-Pilot, assembled dozens of weather references he found in ships’ logs, crewmen’s letters and 19th-century accounts of the sinking. “Larry was just the perfect person to put all the pieces together,” Clancy said. “He took the trouble to come over to my house and sit at my dining room table and pore over the documents with me.” Atkinson, eminent professor and Samuel L. and Fay M. Slover Professor of Oceanography, said all the clues pointed to a “classic low (pressure system) moving up over the Carolinas.” Their collaboration makes for suspenseful reading, as Clancy is able to describe a weather pattern that could have lured the Monitor to its doom in the Atlantic Ocean just south of Cape Hatteras. Sixteen of the 61 men on the Monitor were lost when the vessel sank Dec. 31, 1862, while being towed by the side-wheel steamer USS Rhode Island. The vessels were en route from Hampton Roads to Beaufort, N.C. The sinking came just nine months after the famous, indecisive battle between the Monitor and the Confederate ironclad Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack). The Monitor’s orders to Beaufort required an ocean voyage for which it was not suited; it had been designed as a river patrol ship. But the weather on Dec. 29, 1862, when it left Hampton Roads was balmy and the ironclad’s officers anticipated a quick and uneventful trip to the North Carolina port, according to Clancy’s research. At dawn on the morning of the 30th, according to ships’ logs, a slight wind began to blow from the southwest, but conditions still seemed near perfect. Atkinson, nevertheless, took note of a letter written by a Monitor survivor describing the morning sky: “Cloud banks were seen rising in the south and west and they gradually increased till the sun was obscured by their cold grey mantle.” Clancy’s prose fleshes out Atkinson’s interpretation: “The low-pressure systems that move up from the south are often called Cape Hatteras lows, a name strikingly appropriate in this context. ... Imagine a spinning circle, turning counterclockwise as it moves north. On a ship sailing down the Atlantic off North Carolina you would begin to experience winds out of the south as they wheel around the bottom of the circle. “As the counterclockwise vortex caused by the low spins, it drags dry, cold air down from the north, likely the Great Lakes region. This chilly, dense air, whipsawing around the low, ducks under the warm, moist air of the high like a wedge and generates a bank of clouds and a band of rain. All along the interface between cold and warm air, this ‘cold grey mantle,’ which could be several thousand feet high, presides.” Regular weather data – wind direction and speed, air temperature, water temperature, barometric pressure – logged by crew members of the Monitor and Rhode Island, as well as personal writings of the crews, support Atkinson’s storm scenario. The weather buffeted the small ironclad during the afternoon and early evening of the 30th, but by suppertime the seas still were not a matter of great concern. The Monitor’s skipper decided against seeking safe haven in the lee of Cape Hatteras, and continued under tow around the cape. “I’d worked off Cape Hatteras doing research and I had experience with bad weather there,” Atkinson said. “They had no way of knowing it back then, but the worst was still to come.” During the night of the 30th, the winds picked up and the sea rose. After midnight, with leaks increasing in number and intensity, the Monitor sank. Portions of the wreck – including the famous iron turret – and hundreds of artifacts have been recovered and entrusted to The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News. The USS Monitor Center will open at the museum in 2007. Clancy’s book (McGraw Hill, $24.95) arrives in bookstores this month. The author has written for USA Today, The Washington Star and Smithsonian magazine, in addition to The Virginian-Pilot. Back to top
The exhibits combine photographs and other materials from the University Archives housed in Perry Library’s Special Collections. The Web exhibit includes audio files from interviews conducted with former faculty and administrators, including Joseph Healy, director of the College of William and Mary’s extension program in Norfolk, sharing his memories of the very first days in the old Larchmont Elementary School building. Other buildings featured in the exhibits are: Rollins Hall, Foreman Field, Spong Hall, Technology Building, Webb Center and Kaufman Mall. Employees who would like to share their memories of a particular building or classroom at ODU may send comments to Frances McCraw at fmccraw@odu.edu. For more information about the exhibits contact Karen Vaughan at kvaughan@odu.edu. Back to top
G. William Whitehurst, a former member of Congress and ODU Kaufman Lecturer in Public Affairs since 1987, will speak on “1905-2005: A Century of Change and Challenges for the Future.” Don Smith, professor of sociology and criminal justice, will speak on “Shrinking Degrees of Freedom: Population Dynamics in Europe and the Middle East.” The matinee will conclude with a slide presentation by Frederick Lubich, professor of German and chair of foreign languages and literatures, who will present “Moorish Andalusia: A Medieval Model for a Future Europe.” Light refreshments will be served. The event is cosponsored by the Center for Regional and Global Studies, the Department of History and the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. For more information contact Lubich at 683-3981 or flubich@odu.edu. Back to top
The program, which celebrated its 50th anniversary Oct. 7-8, presented awards to distinguished graduates currently working in the counseling field from each of the five decades of its existence. Jurgens, an associate professor who has taught at ODU since 1998, was named a distinguished graduate from the 1990s. She received both a doctorate in counselor education and supervision and a master’s in community counseling from UC in 1996 and 1991. Professor Neukrug, who earned his doctor of education degree at UC in 1980, was named distinguished doctoral graduate from the 1980s. He has taught at Old Dominion since 1989 and is a former department chair. Back to top
– “On a new track” “One of our major thrusts is to build ODU’s status as a research university. We’ve boosted funding for research 55 percent in the last four years.” (Roseann Runte, president, in a Q&A interview) – “ODU has come a long way – and it’s going places” “I think it’s got some pretty cool issues.” (Luke Buddles, freshman from Virginia Beach, on ODU’s NewPAGE course) – “Tough crowd” “This present bloom is unusually large compared to what we’ve seen in recent years. ... It’s this rapid division of the cell that creates the bloom.” (Harold G. Marshall, professor emeritus of biological sciences) – “What’s muddying the water? An algae that’s finding ideal conditions perfect for a bloom” “The survey is a tool for policymakers, city officials and groups that are interested in transportation. The ultimate goal is to create better public policy. To make good decisions about our options, you ought to have good data.” (Joshua G. Behr, assistant professor of political science and geography) – “Light rail gets support over adding more roads: Survey weighs views on traffic problems” “When nearly every city reduced its tax, no one gained and that tax burden was shifted to other taxpayers, such as those who pay sales and real estate taxes.” (James V. Koch, president emeritus and Board of Visitors Professor of economics, in a commentary) – “Reducing boat taxes backfired on our localities” “I think this has to be broader than just terrorism. We see with the enormous devastation in the Gulf that you can never predict Mother Nature. But if you can really model a Class 4 or Class 5 hurricane and model all of the potential weak points in your system, perhaps we might be better able to prepare for one.” (Gov. Mark R. Warner, on the inauguration of the Emergency Management Training, Analysis and Simulation Center at VMASC) – “Emergency training center offers disaster simulation” “The road issue is a bomb.” (Gilbert R. Yochum, professor of economics) – “Port has become economic engine but road congestion could hamper its growth” “Norfolk has managed to create a critical mass of activities, from MacArthur Mall to the opera and symphony and theater. The old religious institutions are here. There’s a sense of security now. All this is attractive to older people.” (Leonard I. Ruchelman, eminent scholar of urban studies and public administration) –“The Old Dominion’s empty-nesters find city living to their liking”
|