News Briefs

Holland to step in after Holt leaves
University ombudsman Brad Holland has been appointed interim director of Equal Opportunity Programs while a search is conducted for director Karen Holt’s replacement.

Holt is leaving U.Va. July 25 to become executive director of Project Pericles, a not-for-profit organization in New York City that works with selected colleges and universities to promote civic engagement among students.

Pablo Davis changing jobs
Pablo Davis, assistant dean of students, is leaving that position in August to direct the new South Atlantic Humanities Center at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, a joint project with U.Va. and Virginia Tech. The center is one of eight regional centers that the National Endowment for the Humanities created to preserve and share each region’s cultural heritage. The South Atlantic center covers the coastal states from Virginia through Florida, as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

IATH in the interim
While a national search is under way for a new director of the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, Daniel Pitti, project director, and computer science professor Worthy Martin, technical director, will serve as interim co-directors.

Founding director John Unsworth will step down June 30 to become dean of the School of Library Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“John has made a substantial contribution to the University in building IATH into a national, indeed international, leader in humanities computing,” said Gene Block, vice president and provost.

Inside UVA’s summer schedule
Inside UVA will not be published in July. The next publication dates are Aug. 15 and Aug. 29.

Orientation begins July 1
New students and their parents will be coming to Grounds in July for two-day orientation sessions. A total of eight sessions, with separate programs running concurrently for students and parents, will begin July 1-2 and go through July 28-29. A session just for new transfer students and their parents will take place July 21-22. For details, see the Web site at http://www.virginia.edu/orientation/summer.html.

Alumni make best of weekend
About 3,000 alumni and family members sloshed from U-Hall to Madison Bowl to other nostalgic spots at U.Va. during a rainy Reunions Weekend June 6-8. Nine classes in five-year increments from 1958 to 1998 celebrated reunions. Participation in the 25th reunion of the class of 1978 was the largest ever for that significant milestone, said Jason Life, associate director of the Alumni Association.

Saturday events had to be moved inside due to the weather, which might have kept some people from attending, Life said. It kept U.Va. Facilities Management and Catering Service workers busy switching locales.

“They deserve a lot of praise for their flexibility and can-do attitude,” Life said.
Along with the rain, the dollars streamed in over Reunions Weekend. The fund-raising total may more than double the goal of $6 million. As of June 18, $7.3 million of $12.2 million pledged was already in hand.

General Faculty Council hosts Yoke San Reynolds July 8
Yoke San Reynolds, vice president for finance, will be the featured speaker at the next General Faculty Council meeting July 8. One topic will be a proposal to renegotiate areas of health insurance coverage that are of concern to general faculty. The meeting, open to all general faculty, will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Ruffner Hall Room 200.

Center for the Book joins VFH
Virginia is the home of 77 colleges and universities, with more than 29 percent of residents holding bachelor’s or graduate degrees. It also is home to almost 19 percent of Virginians who do not have high school diplomas and who cannot read well enough to complete job applications or read stories to their children.

To further the goals of meeting the literacy and literary needs of citizens, the state’s Center for the Book is joining the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, which presents the annual Virginia Festival of the Book.

The Center for the Book, a national program of the Library of Congress, was established in 1977 to use the resources and prestige of the Library of Congress to promote books, reading, libraries and literacy. Centers have been established in all 50 states; Virginia’s began in Roanoke in 1987 and is now based in Richmond.

Medical School’s Miesfeldt honored
The Medical School’s Humanism in Medicine Award went to Dr. Susan Miesfeldt, associate professor of internal medicine. The annual award recognizes a faculty member-physician who demonstrates humanistic qualities in the practice of medicine and in all facets of professional life, and provides expert patient care that is compassionate, altruistic, ethically informed, technically superb, culturally and spiritually sensitive. The honoree also has to show exceptional teamwork and serve as a role model for students and colleagues.

Miesfeldt is leaving U.Va. at the end of this month for professional reasons.

Faculty Senate fills executive council
The Faculty Senate elected three new members to the executive council: Rebecca D. Kneedler, Curry School of Education; Claire R. Cronmiller, Department of Biology; and William J. Kehoe, McIntire School of Commerce.

The executive council also includes Robert E. Davis, environmental sciences, the new chairman; Marcia D. Childress, School of Medicine, chairwoman-elect; Michael J. Smith, politics, outgoing chairman; and Robert J. Davis, chemical engineering, secretary.

Wilder focus of conference
The Center for Politics will host the sixth annual Virginia Governors Project conference July 17-18 at the Boar’s Head Inn. This year’s program will chronicle the life and administration of L. Douglas Wilder, the 66th governor of Virginia, and the only African American elected governor in the United States.
The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is required. To register, contact Molly Clancy at 243-8472 or mclancy@virginia.edu, or visit http://www.centerforpolitics.org/programs/govcon/wilder/wilder_reg.

Nursing honors alumnae
During Reunions Weekend, the School of Nursing Alumni Association recognized three alumnae. C. Fay Raines, who earned her bachelor’s degree in 1971 and her master’s in 1974, received the 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award.

Helen M. French, a 1991 graduate, received the 2003 Alumni Volunteer Award. A U.Va. operating room nurse, French organized MERCI, the Medical Equipment Recycling of Clean Inventory program.

Theresa “Tracie” Brown, who graduated last year, received the 2003 Young Alumni Award. After graduation, Brown was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy and cared for injured American soldiers and Iraqi POWs aboard the USNS Comfort in the Persian Gulf.

Studies in Bibliography draws readers with e-book format
The electronic version of the journal Studies in Bibliography, edited by U.Va. English professor David Vander Meulen, has attracted heavy international traffic since it became available online. In a recent month, the Web site drew 125,554 “hits” and 14,538 “visits,” in which users explored the site at length.

“More people now see Studies in Bibliography in a month than have read it over the first half-century of its existence,” said Vander Meulen.

In collaboration with U.Va.’s Electronic Text Center, the periodical offers all 52 of its annual volumes on the Web site of its sponsor, the Bibliographical Society of U.Va., at http://etext.lib. virginia.edu/bsuva/, where readers can download the texts without charge as Microsoft Reader e-books.

Printing wins awards
In the 43rd annual Virginia Best In Print Competition, U.Va.’s Printing and Copying Services put its work up against the best printing from 53 other Virginia printers, mostly commercial, and won first place awards for all five printed pieces submitted.

The following booklets and brochures won: “Season’s Greetings” holiday card for the Virginia Football Office; “Some ‘Whys’ Behind the ‘Hows’” booklet for the Teaching Resource Center; “Foods of the Seasons” catering menus for Dining Services; Graduate Studies in Law catalog for the Law School; and Virginia Lacrosse Media Guide for the Athletics Department.

Women’s Center needs you
The U.Va. Women’s Center loses much of its large volunteer staff after students leave town for the summer, and is looking for volunteers to fill in for office duties. The time can be as little as several hours one morning a week or more hours on a regular basis.

Call the center at 982-2361 or e-mail sjg3h@virginia.edu.

Energy savings awarded
Facilities Management will receive U.Va.’s 10th award for energy savings, this one from the Association of Energy Engineers.

“We’re winning these awards because we have a very good energy program. Our energy savings record is pretty impressive,” said Cheryl Gomez, director of utilities.

Tony Motto, energy program manager, reported in May that more than 5,000 motion sensors and timers for lighting had been installed throughout the University, and at least 88 percent of U.Va. buildings have been upgraded with energy-efficient lighting systems. These two actions alone are estimated to save the University $863,000 a year in electrical costs.
2003-04 holiday schedule

The holiday schedule for U.Va. employees is set based on the academic calendar to ensure the least disruption to University operations when students are attending classes. When observed holidays fall on a less-than-ideal date, services should be maintained and compensatory leave awarded to those who work.

Employees who must work on a holiday should be given adequate advance notice for personal planning.

July 4
Independence Day

Sept. 1
Labor Day

Nov. 27 & 28
Thanksgiving

Dec. 24
Christmas Eve Day

Dec. 25
Christmas Day

Dec. 26
Day After Christmas

Dec. 31
New Year’s Eve Day

Jan. 1, 2004
New Year’s Day

Jan. 19
Martin Luther King Jr.Day

March 12
Spring Break Day

May 31
Memorial Day

Listen to issues on “With Good Reason”
Each week on NPR, the radio show, “With Good Reason,” features expert faculty from Virginia’s colleges and universities discussing a range of topics. Located at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, “With Good Reason” also encourages comments and feedback; write to withgoodreason@virginia.
edu. Listeners also can find the archives of past shows and more information at the Web site, http://www.virginia.edu/vfh/wgr/index.html.

Upcoming programs:

June 28-July 4
Super-Sizing the Media, with Frank Sesno of GMU, a former CNN journalist; Judy Turk, a journalism instructor at VCU; and communications professor Matt McAllister from Va. Tech.

July 5–11
The Obesity Epidemic, with Dr. Cindy Bulik, Medical College of Virginia, and Dr. Nancy McLaren, U.Va.

July 12–18
Widows of the Titanic, with Deborah Welch, Longwood University

July 19–25
The Crystal Desert, with Hugh Ducklow, Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William & Mary, and former W&M student, Jill Peloquin

July 26–Aug. 1
The Health Insurance Crisis, with Dr. Arthur Garson, U.Va., and Dr. Sheldon Retchin, VCU

Aug. 2–8
Zen and the Art of Healing, with Ellen Birx and Ginny Weisz, Radford University

Aug. 9–15
Uncovering Werowocomoco, with Martin Gallivan, William & Mary, and Margaret Huber, Mary Washington College

Aug. 16–22
Shakespeare and Race, with Imtiaz Habib, Old Dominion University
See calendar (page 11) for stations in or near the Charlottesville area.

Holliday scholarships announced for U.Va. children
The School of Engineering and Applied Science has announced recipients of the 2003-04 Jean Holliday Scholarships, named for the woman who served as secretary or administrative assistant to engineering school deans for 37 years, from 1944-81.

The undergraduate students are the children of faculty and staff in the Engineering School:

David Aylor, son of James Aylor, professor and chairman of electrical and computer engineering; Emily Bean and Jeffrey Bean, children of John Bean, professor of electrical engineering; Genevieve Cohoon, daughter of James Cohoon, associate professor of computer science; Dana French, daughter of James French, research associate professor of computer science; Seth Haxel, son of Bernard Haxel, staff of mechanical and aerospace engineering; Lindsay Howe, daughter of James Howe, professor of materials science and engineering; Michael Jones, son of Mary Beck, director of applied math instruction; Dan Laufer, son of Gabby Laufer, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; Rebecca Lobo, daughter of Alex Lobo, instrument engineer; Tina Lung, daughter of civil engineering professor Winston Lung; Jennifer Prey, daughter of Jane Prey, computer science lecturer; and Stephen Shiflet, son of Gary Shiflet, professor of materials science and engineering.

In Memoriam
• William Layton “W.L.” Baugher, 71, of Stanardsville, died June 1 at the U.Va. Medical Center. He retired from Facilities Management in 1999.

• James Joseph Romanello, 60, of Stuarts Draft, died June 4 in Charlottesville. At the time of his death, he was a security guard for the hospital.

• Dr. Nickolas Joseph Sojka, 69, died June 16 in Wilmington, N.C. He was founder and chairman of the Department of Comparative Medicine. He was a professor of medical education for 32 years.