Runte urges spending additional funds wisely
Using time as the theme for her State of the University address the morning of Aug. 23, President Roseann Runte noted that Old Dominion appropriately recognized the passage of time during its 75th anniversary celebration last year and she expressed pride in the many achievements of current faculty and staff, saying, “I know they will stand the test of time and be heralded in the future.”

She focused much of her talk on the present, however, and referencing the latest budget deliberations in Richmond, she asked the faculty for their cooperation in making the best use of the “wonderful gift” granted by the governor and the General Assembly.

“We are now living a very privileged moment when we have additional funds to enable us to fulfill our important mission,” she said. “This is our time, our special moment in time, one in which we could all make a tremendous impact. I need to request your cooperation and collaboration.”

She advised that the university community direct its energy, time and funds to achieving the goals in the Strategic Plan in order to make significant progress in the long run.

“This is a time when we can be leaders in education. I ask you to join me once again in turning your attention and in placing your efforts on spending our time and resources today wisely to realize our dreams of tomorrow, to enable our successors to credit the faculty and staff of 2006 at Old Dominion University with having had both a vision for the future and the discipline to achieve it.”

The president highlighted the following initiatives in the 2006-07 budget:

The creation of 113 new positions, including 41 faculty positions, valued at $7.6 million;

An increase of $10 million in the instructional budget;

Increases in scholarships and other financial awards for both graduate and undergraduate students, including an additional $1 million to the graduate assistants budget;

An extra $500,000 for public safety and $800,000 for admissions and marketing;

A $1.5 million investment in IT, which includes eight new support staff members; and

An additional $450,000 to library support and $2 million to athletics.

Runte publicly thanked Gov. Tim Kaine and the members of the General Assembly for their support, particularly in the area of improving faculty salaries.

“Indeed, we will not only increase the salaries by the amount specified in the budget, but will raise them by 4 percent (or $5.6 million) and continue the program begun two years ago to recognize merit and compression,” she said.

Runte added that pay band adjustments in the amount of $1.5 million would be made to increase staff salaries.

In another reference to the theme of her address, the president said, “We will also be able to give faculty the most precious commodity to support their research: time. An endowment will provide from 10 to 15 course releases a year to permit faculty to pursue research. These will be awarded competitively.

“The same endowment will provide a Dream Award for staff at Old Dominion, allowing them to submit applications for funds to realize the dream of their lifetime.”

Runte also mentioned that the university is in the process of establishing a committee “to take our environmental commitment for the campus and our surrounding community to a new level,” and she encouraged those interested in joining the effort to contact her or Robert Fenning, vice president for administration and finance.

“Some universities want to be excellent. Others describe themselves as quintessentially urban. Some boast of being just plain friendly. Others pride themselves on being service oriented. Old Dominion is all of these,” Runte said.

“There is no reason that we cannot pursue excellence in teaching and research and maintain a balance. There is no reason we cannot serve our community and welcome our students and neighbors alike. There is absolutely no reason we cannot succeed in each of these endeavors.”

Noting that Old Dominion has developed a strategy for excellence in interdisciplinary teaching and research, she observed, “We are not afraid to take on new challenges and to explore interdisciplinarity in the classroom. In our plans, we have included every college and need the active contribution of every faculty member and every student. We must all act with singleness of purpose. Our mission is too important and anyone who says the future is tomorrow, is already behind the times.”

In addition to recognizing the many high-profile highlights from the 2005-06 academic year – from SCHEV Award winners to the creation of the University College – Runte shared the following:

• Research expenditures were up 44 percent over the previous five years and new awards increased by 55 percent;
• Good progress was made in achieving Strategic Plan goals, including reducing the size of first-year English sections to 19;
• The capital campaign is at about $94 million on the way to its goal of $100,000 million;
• The Office of Student Affairs’ PAW (Programs All Weekend) initiative attracted 23,000 participants;
• Ninety percent of university classrooms are now fully mediated; and
• All of the audits on the university and foundation books were without comment, “our ultimate goal.” Back to top

Rufus Tonelson, 1911 - 2006
ODU pioneer leaves behind rich legacy
A. Rufus Tonelson, a former Old Dominion administrator and well-known alumnus, died after a short illness Aug. 6, 2006, at the age of 94, in Norfolk.

Tonelson’s affiliation with ODU dates to 1930, when he was one of the first three students to enroll and attend the university, then known as the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary. He lettered in basketball and baseball and was inducted into the ODU Sports Hall of Fame.

In the book “Old Dominion University: From the Great Depression to the New Millennium, 1930 -2000,” Tonelson shared several memories of the early days of the Norfolk Division, from a “hastily improvised” first library to walking or riding the trolley to school.

“We had little in the way of grounds facilities. I remember that many times the physical education class consisted of running down to the waterfront along Bolling Avenue and then running back. We probably had two showers at best for those who were in the gym classes, so it was not unusual on the hot spring and summer days ... to just keep going and plunge in.”

Tonelson went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in biology and master’s in guidance and personal work, both from the College of William and Mary. In 1963, he earned a doctorate in education administration from Michigan State University.

He was a teacher, coach and administrator in the Norfolk Public Schools for more than 25 years, serving as principal of Maury High School from 1955-66.

His actions as principal to support desegregation during the time of massive resistance inspired and helped teach tolerance and acceptance for all.

Tonelson joined the Old Dominion faculty in 1966 as a professor of education. He later was named dean of the Darden School of Education. In 1972, he assumed the position of assistant to the president for school and community relations and a year later was named the university’s affirmative action and equal employment opportunity officer. He was awarded professor emeritus status upon his retirement. In his later years, he remained active as a marriage commissioner in Norfolk.

Tonelson served as past president of Phi Delta Kappa, and he organized the Old Dominion chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, both national honor societies in education. He also served as president of the Norfolk Education Association.

Tonelson is a recipient of both the ODU Distinguished Alumni Award and the University Medal, Old Dominion’s highest honor. The Alumni Association named its outstanding faculty award the Alan Rufus Tonelson Award, and Webb Center’s Tonelson Garden was named in his honor.

Claire Geiger Ackiss, former director of alumni relations, fondly remembers her association with Tonelson.

“Rufus was a gentleman and a gentle man. Of all the alumni I have met and worked with over the last 21 years, he was one of our most distinguished graduates. Rufus leaves behind a legacy of caring for the future of all our children through his tireless efforts in support of education.”

Tonelson received many service awards, including Kiwanian of the Year and the Optometric Society’s Humanitarian Award as well as and awards from the United Jewish Federation and the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

He is survived by his wife of more than 60 years, Sara Hamburg Tonelson, and two sons Louis O. Tonelson, the recently retired principal of Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach, and Stephen W. Tonelson, professor of early childhood, speech-language pathology and special education at ODU. Survivors also include four grandchildren and a number of nephews and nieces.

Memorial donations may be made to the A. Rufus Tonelson Athletic Scholarship at ODU or a charity of the donor’s choice. Back to top

Maglev approach shows promise
BY JIM RAPER

Old Dominion engineers have unveiled a new approach to levitating a maglev undercarriage designed to overcome fundamental problems of the “magnetic levitation” train car installed on an elevated campus railway four years ago.

The undercarriage, which the engineers call a “bogie,” is accomplishing sustained and reliable levitation after being outfitted with a newly engineered decentralized magnet control system. A computer with new programming drives the control system and this latest design employs additional sensors and some custom-built components.

The engineers said concerted efforts to reduce the electrical “noise” in the system, including tweaks to certain electronics components – one as simple as doubling the insulation wrapped around wires – have minimized the electrical buzz that plagued the sensor-controlled operations of the original maglev vehicle.

These changes have allowed the control system to perform effectively without the vibrations that gave the original vehicle a bumpy ride, and made it inoperable as a people mover.

“This truly is a story of the little engine that could,” said President Roseann Runte. “The university community is proud of the work done by our engineers to bring this project along.”

Two dozen of ODU’s top research faculty, administrators and representatives of the Research Foundation and Board of Visitors saw a demonstration of the levitating bogie in an engineering laboratory on Aug. 4. The presentation was presided over by Thomas Alberts, professor of aerospace engineering. He and other maglev team members have spent much of the past three years working on maglev technology, sometimes volunteering their time because of a lack of funds.

“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. This is a research project, and while this is a significant milestone, it is not yet a vehicle levitating on the track running across the campus,” said Jeremiah Creedon, the university’s director of transportation research. “But we have developed procedures that work in the lab and are expected to be the basis of a system that will work on the track.”

The 2-ton bogie was built to the dimensions of an undercarriage of the original ODU maglev. The 45-foot-long, 100-seat passenger compartment of the maglev vehicle rests on one undercarriage in the front and a second in the rear. The project’s next step will be to move the bogie from lab to railway and test it for levitation and propulsion.

The blue and white, futuristic looking train car came to be as the result of a $14 million pilot project of American Maglev Technology (AMT), Lockheed Martin Corp. and other industry participants. The federal government and the state of Virginia provided financial support in hopes of seeing a small, dependable and low-cost version of the extraordinarily expensive maglev projects elsewhere in the world.

These other projects involve technology that usually requires a cost per mile of $100 million for a maglev train line. The technology involved on the maglev at ODU is designed to work out to a lower installation cost, perhaps as low as about $20 million a mile.

The university agreed to allow an elevated track, about eight-tenths of a mile long, to be built across the campus to showcase AMT’s maglev. Levitated and propelled by electromagnetic energy, the train car was designed to race across the campus at 40 miles per hour, essentially floating a half-inch or so above its railway.

The train was built at an AMT facility in Florida and transported to Norfolk for test runs in the summer of 2002. Ride-quality problems could not be quickly solved, and by October 2002 the maglev project became mired in funding disputes and disagreements between partners. Engineers declared that refinements needed to be made to the vehicle’s complex control system, but the original project was out of money.

The Federal Railway Administration (FRA) offered up $2 million more in maglev funding in 2003 to continue the work. As part of that effort Runte challenged the university’s engineers to undertake a maglev research project that could advance maglev technology, and possibly revive the campus train.

When the FRA effort was concluded, ODU administrators opted not to hold AMT to its contractual requirement to remove the elevated concrete railway and train car, and the university’s Office of Research anted up $94,000 more earlier this year to keep an ODU project going.

Alberts said the original maglev undercarriages had a centralized control system for the six magnets installed in each. The new bogie has the same type and number of magnets, but each magnet reacts independently to data it receives from its own sensors. Also, the bogie’s array of sensors has been expanded and updated.

This maglev technology involves magnets on the train’s undercarriage that are attracted to the track, or guideway, levitating each train car. Once floating on air the maglev vehicle is pulled along the track by more magnetic fields.

For several reasons, including track imperfections and vibrations of vehicle or track, the levitation needs to be constantly adjusted to maintain a stable floating-on-air ride. The adjustments are made by a control system that depends on signals from several sensors to raise or lower the electrical energy flowing to the magnets.

The original maglev vehicle at ODU moved in bumps and starts because its centralized control system did not work properly in the presence of an overwhelming buzz of electrical and magnetic “noise,” Alberts said. Back to top

Freshman Convocation is Aug. 27 at Constant Center
Freshman Convocation, the formal introduction to Old Dominion for new students, will be held at 4 p.m. Aug. 27 at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to participate in the processional, and to wear graduation regalia (gowns and hoods; caps are optional).

Sam Glenn, an internationally known motivational speaker, author and artist, will be the guest speaker.

For more information call 683-3446. Back to top

“Hurricane Preparedness” symposium set for Sept. 9
With hurricane season upon Hampton Roads and forecasters calling for a higher-than-usual amount of storms, area residents can learn important preparation and response information at the symposium “Hurricane Preparedness and You.”

Sponsored by the Town-N-Gown Association, the symposium will be held from 2-5 p.m. Sept. 9 in the Mills Godwin Jr. Building auditorium. It is free and open to the public.

The symposium will feature Ron Johnson, associate professor of ocean, earth and atmospheric sciences, who will give a presentation on the causes and effects of hurricanes.

Jim Talbot, assistant director of emergency preparedness and response for the city of Norfolk, and other experts, will participate in a panel discussion and answer questions on preparations for hurricanes, evacuation plans and emergency response planning and preparation.

Representatives from the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, National Weather Service, Norfolk Emergency Services Coordination Center, VDOT Smart Traffic Center and the ODU Police Emergency Team will also be on hand to answer questions and offer advice.

For more information call 683-3114. Back to top

Wireless access expands throughout campus
Starting this fall, students, faculty and staff will have wireless access to the ODU Network, via laptops and other wireless devices, from virtually anywhere on campus.

While wireless technology has been available at Old Dominion since 2002, the Office of Computing and Communications Services (OCCS) recently installed new access points for better coverage and updated existing access points with new technology.

“This technology will be easier to use, and more reliant and transparent to the end-user on campus,” said Ann Tatman of OCCS. The campus is currently 90 percent wireless, including all academic and administrative areas, as well as the majority of green spaces, she added.

The network upgrades, which are labeled as “best in class” in terms of security, offer more protection for users and the university.

Currently, the campus has 6,000 registered users, and Tatman expects many more now that the network has expanded.

Those wishing to use the service must first visit midas.odu.edu and accept the ODU wireless user agreement. Registered users can then access the network from laptops and other wireless devices at virtually any campus location. Back to top

BillBro Foundation will honor President Runte
President Roseann Runte will be honored with the BillBro Foundation’s Servant Leader Award Sept. 16.
She is one of eight recipients of the award, which honors individuals who have made valuable contributions to the betterment of Hampton Roads communities. Other honorees include attorney John Brown, FBI special agent Cassandra Chandler, Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim, former NFL player William Fuller, businessman and former ODU Board of Visitors rector Edward Hamm, “Mothers Raising Sons” director Drema Hymon and Calvary Revival Church Bishop B. Courtney McBath.

The awards ceremony, which is the first of what is to be an annual event, will feature keynote speaker Martin Luther King III, president and CEO of the King Center in Atlanta.

The BillBro Foundation is a nonprofit educational foundation created by the family of the late Dorothy Billups Brothers, a pioneer in fostering and promoting higher education and diversity within communities and the corporate sector. Back to top

Faculty emeriti luncheon scheduled for Sept. 13
The Faculty Emeriti Association has a new slate of officers and plans for another busy year of luncheons, book discussion groups and other activities.

President Roseann Runte will host a luncheon for the group Sept. 13, at which recipients of the association’s student scholarships will be introduced.

The group’s first book club meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 10 at the home of Annabel Sacks. Petra Snowden will lead a discussion of Carlos Fuentes’ “The Death of Artemio Cruz.”

Robert Ake, the association’s new president, said he plans to pursue over the next two years the development of a policy recommendation on a graduated retirement plan, whereby faculty could retire in two or more steps rather than just one. Other officers include:

• Vice President – A. Sidney Roberts
• Recording Secretary – William Dunstan
• Corresponding Secretary – Anne Daughtrey
• Treasurer – Norman Pollock
• Senate Representative – Albert Teich
• Directors – Ann Raymond-Savage and Griffith McRee.

For more information about the association contact Ake at rake@cox.net. Back to top

Blackboard to replace electronic reserves
The University Libraries will end their electronic reserves program Aug. 26, replacing it with Blackboard.

Blackboard offers a wide selection of course management options for faculty, including the ability to post materials and handouts. The move will aid in the consolidation of course-specific materials and heighten copyright compliance by limiting access to material only to students enrolled in a particular course.

Library staff will assist faculty and graduate assistants with copyright questions or other issues regarding the transition from library-based e-reserves to the Blackboard environment.

In preparation for the transition to faculty-managed supplemental readings, the library has copied current e-reserve material to CD, which faculty can use to relocate files to Blackboard. The CDs can be picked up at the circulation services desk through Sept. 8. After that date, they will be mailed to faculty on campus.

The move of electronic reserves readings to Blackboard will have no effect on reserve book collection and services.

For more information call 683-4174. Back to top

Blood drive is Sept. 8
The Hourly and Classified Employees Association will sponsor a Red Cross blood drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 8 on the fourth floor of Perry Library.

Appointments are encouraged and may be made by calling HACE President Judy Smith at 683-3269. Back to top

Favorite books of faculty on exhibit through 31st
BY STEVE DANIEL

Students looking for a little insight about some of their professors might want to drop by the Perry Library lobby by Aug. 31 for the exhibit “Faculty Favorites: Favorite and Influential Books.”

The exhibit, which has been up since July 1, features a display of the most revered and beloved reads of 25 ODU faculty members, along with explanations of why they chose the books.

Cynthia Swaine, instructional services librarian, who put together a similar exhibit here 20 years ago, said she just thought it would be nice to do it again – and she’s hopeful that it won’t be another 20 years for the next exhibit. Earlier this year, she surveyed a diverse selection of about 100 faculty members from all colleges, and received 25 responses.

There are probably some predictable choices – physics professor Gary Copeland, for example, lists J. Alvin Kugelmass’ “J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Atomic Story” as his most influential book – but there are no doubt some surprises as well. Who would have guessed that oceanographer Cynthia Jones’ most influential book would be Robert M. Pirsig’s “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” or that music professor Jim Kosnik’s would be Saul Bellow’s “Mr. Sammler’s Planet”?

Faculty were asked to list one book for either or both categories: most influential and favorite. A number of them found it hard to list only one per category. Physics professor Sebastian Kuhn included no less than 10 works on his “favorites” list, everything from Bill Bryson’s humorous “A Walk in the Woods” to Brian Greene’s bestselling book on string theory, “The Elegant Universe.”

The wide spectrum of books was interesting in itself, but some of the explanations proved fascinating, Swaine said. “I loved some of the responses.”

Kuhn wrote: “I grew up in Germany, and I read a lot as a kid. One of the books that I believe influenced me most in choosing my ‘intellectual love’ (physics) was a children’s book by Michael Ende, ‘Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotiv-führer’ (‘Jim Knopf and Lukas the Engine Driver’) – oddly enough, since the book is full of mythic creatures and blatant and deliberate violations of physical laws (perpetuum mobiles, or perpetual motion machines, self-multiplying echos and a man who increases in apparent size as he moves away from you).”

Gail Dickinson, assistant professor of educational curriculum and instruction, said of her most influential book: “I remember in 7th grade reading ‘My Antonia,’ by Willa Cather. Even though I read voraciously and had for years, the sheer power of the book swept me away and yet stunned me with its power. I had no idea a book could do that. I remember marveling how simple words could be strung together in simple paragraphs, and yet the effect was language that could make a reader experience such emotion.”

Other influential works in the exhibit include Thoreau’s “Walden” (Garrett McAuliffe, professor of educational leadership and counseling), Ernst Mayr’s “Animal Species and Evolution” (John Holsinger, professor of biological sciences), Joseph Heller’s “Catch 22” and Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Next” (Pamela Gibson, assistant professor of urban studies and public administration).

“They invited a challenge of established thought and institutions,” Gibson said in way of explanation. “I began a 15-year career in mental health services after reading Kesey’s book in hopes of advocating respect for the disadvantaged in our society.

“In my first published work as an academic, I wrote of the advantages the disadvantaged have for questioning privileged authority and seeking truths which extend beyond the message sold by those in power.” Back to top

Prof’s new book looks at infuriating, mean people
Following on the high heels of “The Devil Wears Prada,” in walks Old Dominion’s Nina Brown with her latest book of advice, “Coping with Infuriating, Mean, Critical People: A Guide to Understanding the Destructive Narcissist."

To be released in October by Praeger Publishing, it is Brown’s 15th book.

“Only the extremely lucky among us have never faced or felt the effects of narcissistic behaviors and attitudes,” Brown said. “The people with these might include colleagues, bosses, friends, parents and lovers who boast and brag constantly, take credit for other people’s work, expect favors but return few or none, and never listen, but know all the answers and what is right regardless of the topic.”

Brown describes these infuriating people as those who micromanage, are hypercritical and mistrustful. Although some people with these tendencies don’t exhibit them to a strong enough degree to be diagnosed with a full-blown personality disorder, the destructiveness of their personalities nonetheless often results in causing the same amount of anguish, she says.

This book and several of her other works dedicated to coping with the narcissist as parent or spouse all sprang from the same incident in the workplace when a boss regularly drove Brown and her co-corkers to the Tylenol bottle.

“After every meeting I would have to take a Tylenol and go home and lie down,” she said of the experience. “As a therapist, I wondered if it was just me. Then one day I mentioned my need for Tylenol after a meeting and each and every person in that office told me they were having the same type of experience. They all felt the same way and it was caused by this very destructive boss.”

– Lisa Suhay
Back to top

Seven programs rank among nation’s Top 100
Seven Old Dominion programs rank among the nation’s Top 100 in research and development (R&D) expenditure categories, as reported this month by the National Science Foundation.

The high-ranking programs are aeronautical engineering, electrical engineering, oceanography, mechanical engineering, education, civil engineering and mathematics, according to the R&D data for fiscal year 2004 released by the NSF.

The university is ranked 74th in the nation for overall engineering R&D expenditures. As a subcategory, aeronautical engineering garners ODU’s highest ranking, at 21st.

Engineering results for ODU this year are generally higher across the board. R&D expenditures for 2003, which were reported last summer by the NSF, placed ODU at 90th for overall engineering and 26th for aeronautical engineering.

“This is excellent progress,” said President Roseann Runte, who is the chief proponent of the school’s strategic-plan goal to break into the nation’s Top 100 among public universities in overall research ranking. “One can easily see the improvement and how it will continue.”

Among the 601 colleges and universities included in the survey, ODU is 181st in total R&D expenditures, rising six places from 187th in the report last year.

Mohammad A. Karim, vice president for research, said he believes university researchers are on the right trajectory. “Engineering and all its subfields have moved ahead, beyond where they were a year ago.

“This year, we are seeing mathematics, oceanography and education also in the league. With significant efforts that are ongoing, I envision other fields also rising in the rankings in the near future.”

Some ODU rankings from the latest NSF report:

• Electrical engineering: 28th in total expenditures, 30th in federal expenditures
• Oceanography: 37th in federal expenditures
• Mechanical engineering: 71st in federal expenditures; 83rd in total expenditures
• Education: 58th in federal expenditures
• Civil engineering: 80th in federal expenditures; 83rd in total expenditures
• Mathematics: 97th in federal expenditures
• ODU overall: 42nd in NASA expenditures
• ODU overall: 86th in Department of Defense expenditures.
  Back to top
  

Engineering college sponsors 1st faculty-led study abroad course
Eight students from the electrical and computer engineering department and the modeling and simulation graduate program took part in a new ECE course in July taught by Rick McKenzie, associate professor of ECE.

In addition to work in ODU labs, the Medical Imaging and Simulation course featured a study abroad component that included visits to research labs at Warsaw University of Technology and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, where various techniques in medical imaging and simulation are being explored.

“One of the personal highlights of the visit to Warsaw with the doctors, researchers and faculty was their genuine desire to collaborate in future researcher endeavors with ODU,” said Catherine Banks, assistant director of modeling and simulation education programs, who went on the trip.Janet Brunelle, lecturer of computer science and chief departmental adviser – Adviser of the Year Award. Back to top

A head start on fall semester: Incoming freshmen perform oceanography research on transatlantic sailing voyage
BY JIM RAPER

Freshmen Christina and Josh Conover, siblings from Smithfield, will have a head start on their oceanography classmates this fall.

The two teenagers, together with parents Joan and Greg, returned to Hampton Roads on May 15, ending an 11-month, 10,000 mile voyage on the family’s 51-foot ketch, Growltiger. Part of the voyage involved an ocean-surface research project designed by Alexander Bochdansky, assistant professor of ocean, earth and atmospheric sciences, and which was performed by Christina with help from Josh.

Christina and Josh had been accepted for entry at Old Dominion in fall 2005. But a medical condition of Joan Conover persuaded the family to take the voyage across the Atlantic, into the Mediterranean, and back through the Caribbean – which is something they had dreamed of doing – while all of them were able seamen. Joan asked Alice McAdory, admissions director, for deferred admission for her children, and it was McAdory who suggested the family contact Bochdansky to see if a research project was possible.

The research was conducted while the family made its initial crossing of the Atlantic. Christina went through a three-hour routine on many days taking surface water samples, mixing the water with formaldehyde to preserve organisms in the water, and then filtering the water to collect the organisms. The filters were stored in a freezer on the Growltiger.

“That was my biggest concession to Professor Bochdansky and the research project, allowing plankton samples in the freezer where steaks could have been,” joked Greg Conover, a defense analyst and retired Army lieutenant colonel.

The research project involved a survey of tiny protists that play an important role in the food web and are predators of marine bacteria. Bochdansky said there have been few transatlantic transects sampling for organisms the size of protists or smaller.

The frozen samples were packed in dry ice in Portugal and shipped back to ODU, a plan that threatened to go awry when Portuguese authorities showed up to check out what was in the box. The encounter had a happy ending, but not before Christina had a good scare. “The officials could have easily taken everything away,” she said.

The Conovers met up with Bochdansky last November in the Canary Islands, while he was working on a project on a Dutch research vessel.

“My brother and I were taken on a personal tour of the research vessel that Dr. Bochdansky was using to perform practically the same procedure that I had performed, but on a much larger scale with better equipment,” Christina said. “It was a fantastic opportunity to be able to see what kind of vessel I may one day be working on.”

On May 16, a day after the family’s return, they had a homecoming with Bochdansky at the pier in downtown Hampton, where the Growltiger was tied up pending a trip to a marina in Little Creek for painting and minor repairs.

“I’m finding some interesting things in spot checks,” the oceanographer told Christina regarding her samples. But he said the primary analysis is awaiting the arrival in the ODU oceanography labs of a robotic microscope that will do a lot of the sample analysis automatically.

He also told her that there would be an internship available for her in his lab, where she will be able to learn the molecular techniques necessary to analyze a portion of her own samples. Back to top

ODU researcher leads team studying injury risk factors among athletes
BY LISA SUHAY

James A. Onate, assistant professor of exercise science, sport, physical education and recreation and director of Old Dominion’s Sports Medicine Research Laboratory, heads a team that recently received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study 200 student-athletes over a two-year period.

Beginning Sept. 1, Onate’s group will conduct a preseason screening program for collegiate athletes (primarily soccer and basketball players) to assess the combined risk factors that may lead to acute repetitive ankle sprains and highly debilitating anterior cruciate ligament tears among this physically active population.

The $137,000 grant is funded through NIH by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

Bonnie Van Lunen, ODU’s graduate athletic training education program director, will serve as a co-investigator, and education students in the university’s new human movement science track doctoral program will play a role in the project.

Doctoral researchers in the field of athletic training from four other universities will join Onate and Van Lunen in the study: Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Virginia, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Penn State University.

Despite intensive research efforts, the exact risk factors associated with lateral ankle sprains (LAS) and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries remain elusive, according to Onate.

“We hypothesize that these lower extremity injuries are multifactorial in nature, with a combination of structural alignment, neuromuscular strength and dynamic movement patterns playing a critical role,” he said. “The risk of osteoarthritis and subsequent loss of function is inherent in any physical activity.”

The goal of the study is to determine “what modifiable factors play a role in lower extremity injury with the intent of creating an intervention program aimed at reducing occurrence and intensity of injury,” Onate said.

Two hundred student-athletes from the five NCAA Division I schools, Old Dominion, Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Virginia, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Penn State, initially will undergo a baseline assessment that includes measurement of structural alignment, neuromuscular factors and dynamic movement patterns.

The participants will be followed for up to two years with prospective identification of LAS and ACL injuries. The focus of this pilot prospective study is to establish the feasibility and procedures for a large multicenter cluster group study, Onate said. Ultimately, the research is expected to make a significant contribution to understanding the causes of lower extremity injury, he added. Back to top

Old Dominion ranked 145th in Washington Monthly’s College Guide
The College Guide of Washington Monthly Magazine, which rates institutions based on their record for good works as well as research, places Old Dominion University at 145 in a ranking of 245 major colleges and universities.

Among public institutions in Virginia, only the College of William and Mary (19th), the University of Virginia (20th) and Virginia Tech (51st) are ranked higher. George Mason University placed 199th and Virginia Commonwealth University 221st.

Washington Monthly includes the College Guide in its September issue, which is now available. (See www.washingtonmonthly.com.)

“Unlike other college guides, such as U.S. News and World Report, this guide asks not what colleges can do for you, but what colleges are doing for the country,” the editors note in their introduction.

Institutions are scored based on research spending, doctorates awarded in the sciences and engineering, and the percentage of undergraduates who go on to receive doctorates. But they also get scores based upon the number of students enrolled in ROTC programs, number of graduates who join the Peace Corps, and other public/community service performed by students and alumni.

Another score for social mobility attempts to track an institution’s success at educating students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.

MIT is first in the ranking. The University of California at Berkeley, Penn State, UCLA and Texas A&M round out the top five. Back to top

Numerous construction projects on tap for 2006-07
BY JENNIFER MULLEN

This fall, Old Dominion is in the midst of the largest period of construction in its 75-year history, with changes under way – or on the way – in virtually every corner of the campus.

Nearly 20 projects – both renovations and new construction – will be undertaken during the 2006-07 academic year. And these projects come on the heels of dozens of others that have been completed over the past several years.

“Our goal is to create an improved environment for quality instruction and support greater sponsored research,” said Robert L. Fenning, vice president for administration and finance. “Additionally, with the university’s emphasis on increasing the number of resident students, our master plan focuses on strengthening the campus’ residential character and providing improved recreational and athletic facilities for the entire campus community.”

Phase one of the Quad Student Housing project is nearing completion in the center of campus. The new four-building, 900-bed student residence hall is located on the site of the former parking lot between the Health and Physical Education Building and Elkhorn Avenue. The first two four-story buildings, primarily for upperclassmen who are members of student organizations, are expected to open in October. Phase two, which includes two additional buildings, will open in fall 2008.

Preparations are under way to demolish the Health and Physical Education Building to make way for a $16.5 million, state-of-the-art recreation center and an eight-court indoor tennis center. The 140,000-square-foot recreation center, which is scheduled for completion in spring 2008, will feature everything from a rock-climbing wall to an indoor track, racquetball courts, pool and snack bar. The eight-court tennis facility will have a pro shop, lounge and elevated spectator area, as well as locker facilities for ODU’s tennis teams. It is expected to open in late spring 2007.

Other projects in athletics include a renovation and expansion of the Athletic Administration Building to triple the size of the training room, expand the academic support facilities and build a $1.5 million addition for the wrestling program. Work is also under way on an administration building for offices, support facilities and locker rooms at the soccer complex.

The much-anticipated renovation of the Batten Arts and Letters Building, ODU’s largest classroom facility, commenced last February with substantial completion expected in August 2007. The east entry facing Hampton Boulevard will mirror the architectural “crown” design of the Ted Constant Convocation Center, while the west entry will feature similar design elements. Interior changes include modernized office and classroom space.

Phase two of the Physical Sciences Building got under way this summer. The 60,000-square-foot addition will house offices and research wet labs to complement the current research facilities of the College of Sciences in the Oceanography and Physics Building. It is expected to open in late 2007.

The entire university community will have a new quiet spot on campus when the Orchid Conservatory opens this winter next to the Oceanography and Physics Building pond. Featuring a conservatory for public display of plants and flowers, a growing area and research laboratories, the new facility will house a nearly 1,000-plant collection of orchids donated by Dr. Arthur S. and Phyllis Kaplan, a retired Norfolk physician and his wife, for whom the facility will be named.

On the east side of campus, the University Village continues to grow with the start of construction on Innovation Research Park @ ODU, an $80 million economic development project. Construc-tion on the park’s first 100,000-square-foot, five-story, Class “A” office/lab building began in January, with completion anticipated by spring 2007.

The new University Gallery, which will house an unparalleled 300-piece folk art collection from Ellin and Baron Gordon, is expected to open on 45th Street and Monarch Way by the end of the fall 2006 semester.

A hotel and university bookstore are also planned for the Village and construction should begin on both projects this fall.

In January, Old Dominion announced plans to develop two new facilities for its Tri-Cities Higher Education Center and Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) along the burgeoning I-664 corridor. The two buildings, which are slated for completion by fall 2007, will be the centerpiece of the planned MAST Center at Hampton Roads, a 32-acre research, education and technology park. Back to top

Art dept. acquires old press, rare typeface collection
The smell of printer’s ink and the roll and squeak of a hand-cranked flatbed proofing press assault the senses as you enter the printmaking facility in the Visual Arts Building, where interest has been sparked in the making of hand-printed books and the revival of typefaces not seen for decades.

Earlier this year, the art department acquired approximately 1,500 turn-of-the-century typefaces from a Pensacola, Fla., museum, as well as an upright platen letterpress. The typefaces and the Chandler & Price press, which is currently in storage at the University Gallery, previously came from a Philadelphia print shop.

Each block of type and line-cut illustration cast in foundry lead or carved in wood is an education in history and fine arts. A fish wrapped around an exquisite anchor, it was discovered, is a turn-of-the century variant of the ancient Roman printer’s mark of quality, “ancora secca.”

Members of the art department are still sorting through the typefaces that arrived both in galley trays and jumbled together in cases upon cases.

“Some of these typefaces are just about extinct,” said Ken Daley, professor of art and ODU’s master printer. “We have found more treasures in these cases of type than we ever dreamed possible.

“Some of the line cuts in wood and foundry lead date back to the 1920s, but many are undated and anybody’s guess. This will take research and patience, but it is an extraordinary collection.”

In addition to using the press and typeface collection as teaching tools, plans call for cataloging the typefaces, line cuts and border art for use by the publishing industry.

They will also be used in the creation of a university-published book, tentatively titled “Flowers and Plants in Southern Literature.” The handmade, handbound editions will be sold to raise scholarship funds.

– Lisa Suhay
Back to top

Albin to compete in 2007 Senior Olympics
Sacharia Albin, professor and graduate program director in electrical and computer engineering, has qualified to represent Virginia in the 2007 Summer National Senior Games –the Senior Olympics.

Albin qualified for the national competition by winning first place in men’s badminton singles and doubles, and finishing third in mixed doubles at the Virginia Senior Games this year. The 2007 Summer National Senior Games will be held June 22 to July 8 in Louisville, Ky.

“Badminton is the fastest racket sport that requires both good skills and physical fitness,” Albin said. “Winning the Virginia Open is reward enough, while the opportunity to represent Virginia in the Senior Olympics is a good recognition.” Back to top

Newsmakers
In many sports, “it’s the battle of the chemists instead of the athletes.” (Mel Williams, eminent scholar emeritus of exercise science, sport, physical education and recreation)

– “Sports needs set of detectives to handle doping investigations”
The Virginian-Pilot, Aug. 14

“It was almost eerie because we were there at night and didn’t hear a thing.” ... “Because the tadpoles have died, nothing is grazing on the algae.” (Julie Ray, biology doctoral candidate)

– “Rescuers race to save Central American frogs: Fungus puts species at risk of extinction”
The (Toledo) Blade, Aug. 6

“We probably have the most savvy applied faculty because they’ve done real projects.” (Jerry Robertson, executive director of the Virginia Applied Technology and Professional Development Center)

– “A hidden one-stop shop”
Inside Business, July 31

“I do think there is an increase in home health caregivers victimizing the elderly because the reliance on that type of care is increasing.” (Brian Payne, chair of sociology and criminal justice)

– “More elderly residents fall victim to caregivers”
MySa.com, July 23

“The market often reacts to events in the Arab-Israeli side of the Middle East conflict, but these events rarely have anything at all to do with the security of oil supply.” (Steve Yetiv, professor of political science)

– “Mideast focus: Israel-Arab conflict premium resurfaces”
Dow Jones Newswires, July 12

“We’re deliberately going after users with some experience and we’re not going to lease to national franchises. We’re creating a destination.” (Julie Adie, director of real estate development, ODU Research Foundation)

– “University Village”
Inside Business, July 3
Back to top