Bissinger Examines Famed Violins

Having a Heart
Service Work on a
Friday Afternoon, p. 6
A Day in the Life of Stan
Simulated Patient Improves
Medical Training, p. 7
ECU Faculty and Staff Newspaper
October 6, 2006
Painting it Purple
Freshmen Construct,
Decorate Birdhouses, p. 6
http://www.ecu.edu/news/poe/poehome.cfm
Researchers
Honored
By Erica Plouffe Lazure
ECU physics professor George Bissinger (right) and world
renown violin maker Sam Zygmuntowicz (left) prepare to scan
for information on how a legendary violin radiates sound. Along
with violin maker Joseph Curtin and members of the California-
based PolyTec, Inc., they tested acoustics of three 18th
century violins. Resulting 3-D scans can help them learn
about violin sound production and quality. (Photos by
Cliff Hollis)
Bissinger Examines Famed Violins
with a National Science Foundationfunded project called VIOCADEAS
(VIOlin Computer Aided Design
or almost two centuries scienEngineering Analysis System).
tists have searched for the essential
Bissinger, a professor at East
measurable properties that separate Carolina University, worked with leading
violin makers and the California-based
good violins from bad violins.
Polytec, Inc., to expand his research using
In the past 30 years, East Carolina
the companyʼs 3-D laser scanning equipUniversity
physiment.
cist George
Two legendary Stradivarius violins — the 1715 “Titian” and the 1734
Bissinger
“Willemotte,” as well as the 1735
has made
“Plowden” Guarneri del Gesu — were
strides
brought to Greenville in September and
in this
endeavor,
tested at Bissingerʼs laboratory at ECU.
Violins by leading contemporary violin
using
makers, Sam Zygmuntowicz and Joseph
vibration,
Curtin, were also tested.
acousThere is a strongly held opinion
tics, and
that there are certain sound qualities assocomputer
ciated with old Italian violins that modern
analyses to
instruments do not attain.
help violin makers
Zygmuntowicz, who works with
craft better- Laser scans of legendary these violins, said he was excited that
sounding
violins may provide new PolyTecʼs equipment would reveal the
instrumentsʼ sonic properties.
instruments data on violin sound.
By Erica Plouffe Lazure
F
“There is no visible measurement
or point Iʼve not seen on these violins,”
Zygmuntowicz said. “The important
aspects of the violin are what we canʼt
see. With sound, you canʼt see it because
itʼs microscopic, but with this equipment,
it all becomes very tangible. You can see
and touch it.”
Bissinger hopes these scans will
reveal new ways that the violin vibrates
and thus provide information on how it
radiates sound, which will also be measured in an anechoic chamber during this
experiment.
“Weʼre getting a taste for how
things move,” Bissinger said. “Itʼs more
interesting to me from the science point
of view. I can say, here are ways you can
incorporate what you do with violins.”
The violins also underwent CT
scans at ECUʼs Leo W. Jenkins Cancer
Center at the Brody School of Medicine.
Comparing these 3-D scans on
superlative old Italian violins with previous “good” and “bad” modern violin
East Carolina University
continued on page 12
Three researchers at East Carolina
University received the universityʼs 2006
Achievement for Excellence in Research/
Creative Activity awards.
Dr. James McCubrey, a professor of microbiology and immunology at
the Brody School of Medicine, received
the University Lifetime Achievement
award. Derek Alderman, a professor of
geography, and Reide Corbett, a professor of geology, received the Five-Year
Achievement awards.
Dr. Deirdre Mageean, vice chancellor of Research and Graduate Studies,
said she was proud of the accomplishments of these three researchers.
“These faculty represent the spirit
and creativity of East Carolina University,” Mageean said. “Congratulations
to these faculty for their exceptional
research accomplishments.”
In the past 18 years at ECU,
McCubrey has received more than $3.5
million in grants to further his research
in cancer. He has written more than 100
manuscripts and articles, and serves on
the board of six academic journals.
He has been a visiting professor at
the University of Catania in Italy since
Oct. 2003.
continued on page 12
Highlights,
Plans Cited
By John Durham
The ECU Board of Trustees, now
in its second year under the chairmanship
of Steve Showfety, is looking forward to
participating in major university milestones in the coming months.
Showfety, president of the Koury
Corp. real estate development firm in
Greensboro, said that strategic planning,
master planning and the universityʼs centennial will occupy much of the Boardʼs
attention during the current academic
year.
He cited plans for a new dental
school at ECU, the groundbreaking for
continued on page 2
Pieces of Eight
Page 2
October 6, 2006
Showfety Cites Board of Trustees Plans, Highlights
continued from page 1
the new East Carolina Heart Institute, and
the completion of the Health Sciences
Building as major steps for the university
during the last academic year.
He also noted that the Board of
Trustees and the Board of Visitors held
their first joint meeting in June in an
attempt to more closely coordinate and
elevate their working relationship.
“We had a very productive year in
2005-06, capped by a retreat in July,”
Showfety said.
“There is no question that Board
members are united in their desire to help
take ECU to the next level. Under the
leadership of Chancellor Ballard, we are
clearly headed in the right direction.”
The Board will participate in a strategic planning workshop at its meeting
on Oct. 6, reviewing a draft of the plan
and providing suggestions and comments.
Faculty and administrators are also
reviewing the plan. Once the new university strategic plan is adopted, the Board
will begin to participate in developing a
new master plan to guide the universityʼs
property acquisition and construction.
Because the Board is charged with
approving the sites and plans for new
buildings, much of its work is focused in
these areas.
Showfety, in a recent report on
Board activities over the last year, also
highlighted the following activities and
projects:
Memberships and chairmanships
• Welcomed three new members to
the Board: Mark Tipton, Bob Lucas and
Bruce Austin.
• Took advantage of membersʼ
experience and previous service in
appointing committees.
ECU Board of Trustees chair Steve Showfety cited the
groundbreaking for the new East Carolina Heart Institute
as one of the universityʼs major accomplishments during the
Internal structure and governance
• Revisited the governing documents—The UNC Code and ECU
Trustees By-laws—to get a better understanding of the duties and responsibilities
of the Board.
• Merged the University Advancement Committee and the Naming
Committee to form the Advancement
past academic year. Construction has begun in earnest on
the center. Above, a welder works on the structural frame of
the facility. (Photo by Cliff Hollis)
and Naming Committee.
• Created a separate Audit Committee.
Relations with PCMH/University
Health Systems.
• Through the Joint Liaison Committee, continued to enhance relations
with Pitt County Memorial Hospital, the
university's most important partner. The
Board supported the relocation and temporary closing of Moye Boulevard to
facilitate the construction of the hospital's
new tower that is part of the East Carolina Heart Institute.
• Joined the hospital board in seeking the widening of N.C. Highway 43 all
the way to the 264 loop.
Taggart Recommends Peer Observation Training
In his role as chair of the faculty,
Mark Taggart (Music) shares his
perspective on peer classroom
observation.
By Mark Taggart
On Dec. 7, 1993, our Faculty
Senate passed Resolution 93-44 outlining direct, peer classroom observation of
teaching for non-tenured, probationary
term faculty. This resolution established
procedures and an instrument to be used
to assess and improve teaching.
The procedures require that all peer
observers be trained to evaluate teaching through special sessions. Currently,
these sessions are offered in the Center
for Faculty Development. The established
procedures state that individual academic
units can modify the Faculty Senate procedures and/or evaluation instrument,
provided that these are approved by the
appropriate vice chancellor. For example:
the School of Music had to modify the
evaluation instrument to include not only
classroom observation, but also studio
teaching and ensemble rehearsing as well.
The established procedures
and instrument also mandate that the
Chancellor appoint a committee to perform a regular validation study on peer
review instruments and procedures. The
overall purpose of these peer review procedures is to assess and improve teaching.
They are not to be used to punish or
threaten non-tenured, probationary term
faculty.
The Faculty Senate approved procedures and instrument require two
observers for each session: one who is
selected by the faculty memberʼs department chair and/or personnel committee,
and one who is selected by that particular
faculty member.
The minimum observation cycle is
two observations with feedback during
the professorʼs first year, and two observations with feedback during the faculty
memberʼs fourth year. The professorʼs
unit may decide that to use one observer
per class session observation. If that is the
case, then the total number of observations increases to eight over that faculty
memberʼs probationary period.
At this point, I would like to recom-
mend that all interested faculty register
for the peer observation training sessions
offered through the Center for Faculty
Development. Information can be found
at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/facdev/
peer.cfm.
The more faculty in your unit who
are qualified as peer observers, whether
using the Faculty Senate instrument or
one designed specifically for your academic unit, the easier it will be for the
tenure-track faculty to complete their
observation cycle during their probationary period.
As a trained peer observer, I have
learned that two very important components of the peer review process come
in conferences with the professor prior
to the observation and following the
observation. During the pre-observation
conference, the professor provides the
reviewers with copies of handouts, a list
of materials that will be used during that
class period as well as a current course
syllabus. In these sessions, I go over the
peer review instrument with the faculty
member, and ask questions regarding the
specific goals for that class period. I have
East Carolina University
learned that, the better prepared I am for
peer observation, the more effective I can
be in fulfilling that task.
The post-observation conference
is also important. I try to schedule it as
soon as possible after the class, where
I will go over the pre-observation goals
with the faculty member, and ask him if
he felt that those goals were met. I will
also discuss strengths, any needs for
improvement, and search for strategies
to improve. I mention what I regarded
as successful strategies that were unique
to that faculty member, for example, if
that faculty member was successful in
engaging his or her students in a special
“teaching moment.”
Over the years, I have enjoyed the
experiences I have had as a trained peer
classroom observer. I have learned to
recognize and appreciate effective teaching. I have also employed new techniques
learned from my colleagues when I have
observed their classes.
Please feel free to contact the
Center for Faculty Development for additional information on this and other ways
to enhance the teaching experience.
Pieces of Eight
October 6 2006
News in Brief
Page 3
Grant Funds Health Center
Combined Campaign Sets Goal at $250K
The 2006 State Employees Combined Campaign has begun, with a goal of raising $250,000 and a participation rate of 40 percent. Last yearʼs participation rate was 29
percent, with contributions totaling $225,000. Campaign co-chairs for 2006 are Dr. Alta
Andrews (Nursing) and John Toller (Human Resources). The SECC is an annual campaign that allows employees to make donations by selecting from an extensive list of
eligible agencies, so that charitable contributions are solicited from employees only once
per year. Additional information can be found at http://www.ncsecc.org/.
Teaching with Technology Think-In Set for Nov. 9
The ECU Office of Academic Outreach will host Teaching with Technology 2006:
A Think-In of Best Practices Nov. 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Mendenhall Student
Center. The event offers faculty from ECU and area community colleges the opportunity
to share their experiences in incorporating technology in both face-to-face and distance
education courses. For additional information about the event, visit http://www.ecu.edu/
cs-acad/academicoutreach/think-in2006.cfm
Ugandan Pop Star to Perform on Campus
Award-winning Ugandan pop superstar and gospel artist George Okudi will perform Oct. 27 from 7 to 9 p.m. in Mendenhall Student Center. Okudi is a musician
and dancer who was named Best Male Artist and Best East African Artist at the 2003
Kora All-Africa Music Awards. Okudiʼs single, “Wipolo,” was named best song on the
African market in 2003. Okudi fuses tribal sounds and instruments such as the adungu
or bow harp, the thumb piano, and the flute (Titus), with techno sounds produced on the
keyboard, at times supplemented by guitar and percussion. Most of his songs are bilingual, in English and at least one of the languages spoken in Uganda: Acholi, Luganda,
Ateso, Langi, or the pan-African language of Swahili. His visit coincides with the
GuluWalk scheduled for Oct. 28 to raise money for children displaced by fighting in
Uganda (see p. 12). Okudi lived in the Gulu region as a young boy. The performance is
sponsored by Multicultural Studies and the English Department. For information, contact Laureen Tedesco at 328-6571, or tedescol@ecu.edu.
Maril Testifies on Congressional Panel
Lee Maril, chair of the sociology department at East Carolina University, testified
before a congressional panel in Iowa Sept. 1 regarding the U.S. Border Patrol and immigration. Maril wrote a book on the subject in 2005, “Patrolling Chaos: the U.S. Border
Patrol in Deep South Texas.” His research has contributed to the immigration bill now
under consideration in Congress.
Phased Retirement Details Available Online
The Office of Academic Affairs has posted detailed information on East Carolina
Universityʼs phased retirement policy, including revisions completed in August. Faculty
and staff interested in phased retirement may find detailed information available at
http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/aa/AAPersonelForms.cfm. Scroll to the bottom of the page
for information on ECUʼs policy, frequently asked questions, the program for tenured
faculty continuation of benefits, charts listing numbers eligible or ineligible for the program, and details on UNC phased retirement.
Pediatric Healthy Weight Center Seeks New Associates
The Pediatric Healthy Weight Research and Treatment Center is seeking new
associates among ECUʼs faculty. The center strives to carry out its mission to reduce
childhood obesity by bringing together faculty from both ECU campuses who are interested in collaborating in childhood obesity care and research. As associates, faculty have
the opportunity to network and collaborate with others who share similar research interests. Associates also receive notification of obesity-related news, events and funding
opportunities. For additional informaiton, contact Yancey Crawford, program coordinator (744-5061 or e-mail crawfordy@ecu.edu) or visit www.ecu.edu/pedsweightcenter.
Pieces of Eight
http://www.ecu.edu/news/poe/poehome.cfm
Volume 29, Number 2
Pieces of Eight, a newspaper for East Carolina University faculty and
staff, is issued monthly during the academic year by the ECU News
Bureau (News & Communication Services).
Items may be sent to the Editor via campus mail addressed to
Howard House, East Campus; delivered in person to Howard
House, corner of East Fifth Street and Rotary Avenue; or e-mailed
to holsterj@mail.ecu.edu. Phone inquiries to 328-1162.
Editor: Joy Manning Holster
(5,000 copies of this issue were printed at an approximate pre-tax cost of $595 or 12 cents per copy.)
By Doug Boyd
An $800,000 federal grant will help
fund operating costs for a local community health center set to open in December.
The James D. Bernstein Community Health Center is one of 29 health centers across the country to share in $10 million in grants announced in August by the
Health Resources and Services Administration, part of the Department of Health
and Human Services. The center is near
the intersection of N.C. 33 and N.C. 11.
The grant officially goes to Greene
County Health Care of Snow Hill and will
cover 16 months of operating expenses at
the 15,000-square-foot center.
After that, it is renewable for
approximately $600,000 a year. The
money allows center leaders to begin
interviewing and hiring staff members,
including physicians.
“It was plan A,” Doug Smith, president and chief executive of Greene County
Health Care, said. “We had a plan B but
fortunately didnʼt have to use it.”
Access East, an independent, charitable, non-profit organization, is building and will own the center. That group,
the East Carolina University Division
of Health Sciences and Eastern Carolina
Community Health Centers, a division of
Greene County Health Care, will operate
the center. To be eligible for grants such as
the HRSA one, the center must meet certain requirements such as providing programs specifically for the uninsured and
turning no patients away.
With 35 years of experience operating health centers in Greene, Pitt and
Wayne counties, Greene County Health
Care was the obvious choice to operate the
center, Irons said.
“We have to demonstrate we can
produce top-quality results to sustain funding and get new funding,” said Dr. Tom
Irons, East Carolina University
associate vice chancellor for regional
Tom Irons speaks during a tour of the
newly funded community health center.
(Photo by Cliff Hollis)
health services and board member of
Access East. “We together decided
Greene County Health Care was the most
qualified entity to lead a communitybased health care center.”
When it opens, the center will
include 16 medical exam rooms, eight
dental operatories and areas for audiology, X-ray, social work and other services, many of which arenʼt available
at local health departments. Pitt County
public health, social services and mental
health departments will provide services
as well. The center will have space for
meetings and educational programs for
community and health sciences students.
The land and site development, valued at $538,500, were donated by E.R.
Lewis Construction. The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust pledged $300,000,
the Pitt Memorial Hospital Foundation
pledged $225,000, The Duke Endowment
pledged $200,000 and the N.C. Office of
Rural Health committed $200,000 toward
construction. Funds from other state and
federal agencies and private foundations
and individuals are pending, Irons said.
Carolina Consortium To
Benefit ECU Researchers
ECU faculty, students and researchers are reaping the benefits of the universityʼs participation in the Carolina Consortium, an informal group of academic
libraries in North and South Carolina that
negotiates with publishers and information resources vendors to provide journal
access for members at a lower price.
Consortium negotiations with publishers allow program members to share
journal subscriptions for an additional
fee. The access fee is much lower than
the cost of subscribing to the additional
journals.
For example, ECU has subscriptions to 68 journals through the publishing company, Cambridge Journals, but
membership in Carolina Consortium
allows ECU access to 195 journals. Other
publishers with whom ECU has Carolina
Consortium agreements include Oxford,
Blackwell, Brill, Kluwer, Springer, and
Wiley.
A wide range of subject areas are
East Carolina University
served through these agreements, including arts and humanities, sciences, and
social sciences. Blackwell provides ECU
more than 770 journals through its Synergy journals interface, grouping them
according to these subject areas: Agricultural and Animal Sciences; Arts; Business, Economics, Finance, Accounting,
Maths and Stats; Engineering, Computing and Technology; Health Sciences;
Humanities; Law; Life and Physical Sciences; Medicine; Social and Behavioral
Sciences. Brill, Kluwer, and Springer
journals—totaling nearly 1500—are
available through SpringerLINK.
ECU community members may
browse available journals by publisher at
http://www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/erdbs/ejournalpublishers.cfm, or search for a specific
journal through Joyner Libraryʼs EJournal Locator page.
For more information, contact Jan
Lewis, interim associate director for collections at 328-2267 or lewisja@ecu.edu.
Page 4
Pieces of Eight
October 6, 2006
McIver Writings Examined
By Nancy McGillicuddy
Jonathan Dembo found the collected writings of Brig. Gen. George
McIver, a post-Civil War general from
North Carolina, fascinating.
McIverʼs manuscripts, housed
in East Carolina Universityʼs Special
Collections, are the subject of a book
that Dembo edited, A Life of Duty: The
Autobiography of George Willcox McIver,
1858-1947 (2006, The History Press).
The autobiography offers a first-hand
account of life as a career soldier during the transformative period in American
history between the Civil War and World
War II.
“There are number of very important passages and descriptions of life on
the frontier posts,” said Dembo, an associate professor and the curator of Special
Collections Projects at East Carolina
Universityʼs J.Y. Joyner Library.
A native of Davidson, N.C.,
McIver was an active participant in many
important episodes in American hisECU professor Peng Yu pronounces Chinese language characters for students in
Chinese 1001, a first year course made possible this year by a grant from the U.S.
Department of Education. The grant allows expansion of ECUʼs Asian Students
Program. The expanded program will include additional offerings of Asian language
instruction. (Photo by Joy Holster)
Grant Expands Asian Studies
The U.S. Department of Education
has awarded East Carolina University a
$158,000 grant to develop and expand the
universityʼs Asian Studies program.
The two-year award allows for
development and expansion in three main
areas: curriculum, faculty research and
community outreach.
The grant began this fall and is
overseen by Sylvie Debevec Henning,
director of International Programs for
Harriot College of Arts and Sciences and
John A. Tucker, professor of Asian History and Director of the Interdisciplinary Asian Studies Program housed in the
Harriot College of Arts and Sciences.
The grant will enable the univer-
sity to expand Asian language instruction at ECU. The Harriot College of Arts
and Sciences and the U.S. Department of
Education are providing funds for a fulltime position in Japanese language and
cultures. This year additional sections
of beginning Japanese are being offered.
Currently 60 students are enrolled in Japanese language classes.
The grant has also made is possible for ECU to offer first year Chinese
language instruction after a long hiatus.
These students will have a chance to
continue to study Chinese in China either
during the summer at China Agriculture
continued on page 12
Whisnant Assumes Editor Post
Luke Whisnant was named editor
of East Carolina Universityʼs poetry journal, Tar River Poetry.
The publication had been under the
founding editorship of Peter Makuck, a
professor of literature and poetry, since
1976. Makuck retired in May.
Whisnant, a professor of creative
writing in ECUʼs
English Department,
said he hopes to
continue the precedent set by Makuck
30 years ago.
“Peter
Makuck built Tar
River Poetry into
a highly-respected
and well-known
showcase for contemWhisnant
porary poets, and my first priority will be
to maintain the high standards he set over
the past 30 years,” Whisnant said.
The fall Tar River Poetry will feature work from Claudia Emerson, the
2006 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for
poetry, Louis Simpson and the late Leslie
Norris, Whisnant said.
In addition to his new position,
Whisnant published a collection of short
stories, Down in the Flood (Iris Books,
2006) in June. One of the stories, “How
to Build a House,” was included in the
anthology, New Stories from the South
2006 (Algonquin Press) and had been
originally published in the journal, Arts &
Letters.
ECUʼs creative writing department
will host a reading for Whisnant Nov. 9 at
8 p.m. in Bate 1031.
tory, including the Spanish-American
War and World War I. McIver trained
at West Point, served in various posts
on the Western Frontier, and fought in
Cuba during the Spanish-American War.
While commandant of Alcatraz Prison,
he played a crucial role in the relief
effort after the devastating San Francisco
fire and earthquake of 1906. His critical
observations of the Militia Bureauʼs militia mobilization during the Pancho Villa
campaign of 1916 led to reforms that
greatly improved the Armyʼs tactics during World War I.
Demboʼs annotations, along with
photos, maps and letters, put McIverʼs
life into context.
“There were lots of thing that were
common knowledge in the 19th century
that nobodyʼs heard of today,” Dembo
said.
Dembo described McIverʼs writing
as accessible. “He got a sense of humor
and a sense of humility,” McIver said.
“Heʼs constantly praising his men for
their military bearing. He supported the
men that served under him and with him.”
ECU Historian Revisits GOP
Effort To Give Blacks Vote
By Erica Plouffe Lazure
In his new book, Charles Calhoun
revisits the question of the role Republicans played to extend voting rights to
blacks in the South during the years
following the Civil War.
Calhoun, a professor of history at
East Carolina University, argues in Conceiving a New Republic: The Republican
Party and the Southern Question, 18691900 (University of Kansas, 2006) that
Republican leaders had set out, through
the enactment of the 15th amendment, to
recreate the ideals of the Declaration of
Independence but encountered opposition
from white Southern voters.
“Certainly giving blacks the right to
vote would be to the Republicansʼ benefit.
What interested me is what are the ideas
behind this and where they fit into the
notion of government,” Calhoun said.
The Southern question emerged
as one aspect of Calhounʼs larger body
of research on the Gilded Age, an era
of significant economic and technological change in the United States follow-
ing Reconstruction. Through his research
of the public and private correspondence
of Republican Party members of this
era, Calhoun sought to gauge their personal hopes for extending voting rights to
blacks.
While earlier scholars have blamed
Republicans for not being more steadfast advocates for blacks, Calhoun argues
that southern Democrats had so strongly
resisted the breakdown of white supremacy that Republicans ultimately could
not prevail. Calhounʼs interpretation of
the disputed election of Rutherford B.
Hayes in 1876, as well as the Lodge Federal Elections bill of 1890, shows that
Republicans had tried to put the best possible face on an all-but lost cause. “The
old interpretation is that Hayes made a
deal with the Southerners to pull out the
federal troops in the Southern states, and
they would give up the disputed election,” Calhoun said.
“My interpretation is considerably
different. By the time Hayes was running for presidency, Reconstruction was
already on its last legs.”
Cerutti To Hold Book Signing
In his new book, When Greek
Goats Sing Sad Songs (Independent
Press, 2006), Steve Cerutti offers an
easy-reading guide to Greek tragedy.
Cerutti, East Carolina University
classics professor, will hold a book
signing will be held at 7 p.m., Oct. 9 at
Barnes & Noble Booksellers.
The book focuses on the work
of the Greek dramatists of the fifth
century, Aeschylus, Sophocles and
Euripides.
East Carolina University
“This book was inspired by one
simple, albeit ambitious goal: to make
the surviving works of the ancient dramatists accessible to everyone who has
an interest in great literature,” Cerutti
said.
The title is inspired by the origin
of the word, “tragedy,” which means,
literally, “goat songs,” he said.
Independent Press is the publishing arm of University Book Exchange
in Greenville.
Pieces of Eight
October 6 2006
Page 5
Ribbons Cut For Health Sciences Facility Opening Day
C
By Crystal Baity
hancellor Steve Ballard and the
Board of Trustees cut the ribbon
Sept. 22 on the $66 million Health
Sciences Building, signaling a new beginning for the School of Allied Health Sciences, the School of Nursing and Laupus
Library.
“Whatʼs behind me is just one of
many great examples that moves higher
education forward in this state and in
this community,” Ballard said. “Itʼs making a huge difference for people, for programs, for economic development and for
the education of our children and for the
future leaders of eastern North Carolina.”
The schools and library moved
this summer, bringing the health sciences division together on west campus
for the first time in the history of the university. Positioned near Brody School of
Medicine and Pitt County Memorial Hospital, a true academic health center has
emerged. Fewer than 150 academic health
centers exist in the United States, said
Dr. Michael J. Lewis, vice chancellor for
health sciences.
“It is a remarkable achievement for
the health sciences division and the university at large,” Lewis said.
The site is providing interdisciplinary health sciences education, where doctors, nurses and allied health care providers learn to work effectively in teams. The
four-story, 303,000-square-foot building
has 296 offices, 31 classrooms, 30 class
labs, eight open labs and 25 research labs.
“Simulated patient labs place ECUʼs
School of Nursing in an elite category of
nursing schools in the United States that
have integrated advanced technology in
their curricula, giving students hands on
experiences in a controlled clinical environment,” Dean Phyllis Horns said. “Our
Officials prepare to cut the ribbon on Sept. 22 to commemorate
the official opening of the new Health Sciences Building, that
will house the School of Allied Health Sciences, the School
students will graduate with more experience, greater confidence and superior
knowledge of clinical skills than ever
before.”
Allied Health Sciences Dean Stephen Thomas said the new space is more
than a high-tech building.
“It is a state-of-the-art environment
in which the School of Allied Health Sciences faculty, staff, and students can create new opportunities in teaching and
of Nursing and Laupus Library. The $66 million, 303,000
square-foot facility was made possible through a $3.1 billion
bond referendum passed in 2000. (Photo by Cliff Hollis)
learning, research and discovery, the
application of new and applied knowledge, service and clinical practice that
will serve residents of eastern North Carolina, and collaboration with our new
neighbors in the Division of Health Sciences and surrounding health care community,” Thomas said.
Designed by architects Walter,
Robbs, Callahan & Pierce of WinstonSalem, the building was made possible by
the passage of a $3.1 billion bond referendum for the University of North Carolina
system and community colleges in 2000.
“The ceremony gave us the opportunity to show the community how much
our higher education bond dollars are
benefiting health professional education
in eastern North Carolina,” Horns said. “It
was truly a special day for everyone
continued on page 11
Hub Site Opens
ʻEat Smart, Move Moreʼ Targets Obesity
ECUʼs College of Education
has opened a new Wachovia Partnership East Northeast Consortium hub
site at Beaufort County Community
College to provide degrees in elementary education, special education and
middle grades education. ECU faculty
will teach class face-to-face, online or
in blended deliveries that use teleconferencing capabilities at the community college.
The program allows students to
complete general education coursework at community colleges and
then transfer into the ECU program
to complete their junior and senior
years. The consortium serves students
from Beaufort County Community
College, College of the Albemarle,
Martin Community College, Roanoke-Chowan Community College,
and Windows on the World; as well
as school systems in Beaufort, Bertie, Dare, Edenton-Chowan, Hertford,
Hyde, Martin, Tyrrell, and Washington Counties. Information is available
at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-educ/partner_east/Index.cfm.
they live, learn, work, play and pray.”
The Healthier North Carolina Summit, held at N.C. State Universityʼs McKimmon Center, also released the Eat
Smart, Move More county profiles, which
highlight successes in obesity prevention and emphasize the need for more to
be done in each of the stateʼs 100 counties. The day-long conference of state
and national leaders and experts working
to fight obesity was hosted by Trust for
Americaʼs Health and the North Carolina
Division of Public Health in partnership
with Healthy Carolinians.
“We have already made progress in
Pitt County,” Kolasa said. “Leaders at the
hospital, ECU, Pitt County Schools, the
county health department and many private companies are making changes to
make it easier for employees, staff and
students to eat smart and move more
when away from home. We have and need
strong collaborative efforts, but this is no
single agencyʼs problem or responsibility.
There is still more to do.”
In Pitt County, nearly 31 percent of
adults are obese, according to the 2005
state Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey. Another 34 percent
By Doug Boyd
Agencies, schools, businesses,
health care professionals and others will
have to work together to help turn the tide
of obesity, according to a plan released in
Raleigh with authors from East Carolina
University.
“Eat Smart, Move More: North Carolinaʼs Plan to Prevent Overweight, Obesity and Related Chronic Diseases” is
a five-year set of goals and strategies
designed to help people and organizations
address overweight and obesity in their
communities and create policies and environments supportive of healthful eating
and physical activity.
“Through these strategies, we can
all come together to create a North Carolina where healthy eating and physical activity are the norm rather than the
exception,” said Dr. Kathryn Kolasa, a
registered dietitian and professor of family medicine at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, who
helped write the plan. “Working together
we can create a North Carolina where
adults and children of all ages and abilities eat smart and move more wherever
East Carolina University
are overweight, while one-third are at a
healthy weight. In 2005, approximately
$503,000 in county Medicaid funds and
$2.8 million in state Medicaid funds were
spent on conditions attributable to overweight and obesity, according to the
county profile.
According to Trust for Americaʼs
Health, Mississippi is the nationʼs heaviest state, with 29.5 percent of adults
termed obese. Colorado has the lowest
percentage of obese adults at 16.9 percent. North Carolina ranks 17th.
The federal government equates
obesity with a body mass index of at least
30. Someone who is 5-feet-4 would have
to weigh 175 pounds to reach that
threshold.
A video filmed in Greenville and
played at the summit highlighted efforts
in Pitt County to reduce overweight and
obesity among children. It featured Dr.
David Collier, assistant professor of pediatrics and co-director of the ECU Pediatric Healthy Weight and Treatment Center;
Dr. Tate Holbrook of Childrenʼs Health
Services; Jim Cox, coordinator of the
continued on page 8
Pieces of Eight
Page 6
October 6, 2006
Employees Play Cards Right with Volunteer Efforts
In coordination with the Recognition and
Rewards Committee of the ECU Staff
Senate, the Pieces of Eight series honoring exceptional ECU staff recognizes the
Department of Human Resources.
By Judy Currin
“Are you Hearts or Diamonds,
Clubs or Spades?”
Visitors to ECUʼs Department of
Human Resources might overhear these
words and wonder if they have stumbled
onto a lively game of Bridge.
The departmentʼs employees would
not be discussing a card game, however.
Instead, they would be referring to the
names of four employee groups that are
challenged on a rotating basis to plan and
execute a unique staff development activity. Members of all four groups participate in the activity during quarterly meetings with Human Resources Associate
Vice Chancellor John Toller and Assistant
Vice Chancellor Jim Mullen.
“The activity encourages teamwork,” Mullen said, while helping
employees to get to know one another in
a positive, informal environment.
Septemberʼs challenge fell to the
Hearts members, who elected to engage
all the departmental employees in community service activities.
Following a business meeting
held Sept. 22, departmental employees
enjoyed comments from Jason Denius,
director of the ECU Volunteer and Ser-
vice Learning Center. He spoke about the
center and explained the vast number of
volunteer opportunities available to ECU
faculty and staff.
Then the employees headed out
to complete their service work. Half of
the group traveled to South Greenville
Church of Christ, where they helped ECU
student Andrea Starkie prepare bags of
food items for distribution to Greenvilleʼs
needy residents. The volunteers set up an
assembly line to fill 40 bags with food
items and approximately 50 bags with
essentials for families with infants.
A sociology major, Starkie founded
the Food Education Distribution Center
at the church. “People line up around the
block,” Starkie said, to “shop” with fake
money they are given to buy items in the
distribution center. Before they can shop,
they must listen to a brief session on how
to meet a familyʼs nutritional needs.
Another group traveled to Landmark Drive in Greenville for work with
the North Carolina Branch of Give2theTroops. There the volunteers sorted
donations and bagged them in Ziploc
bags for shipping. They also packed care
packages and wrote letters of support for
deployed troops.
Personnel analyst Michelle Morris, a Hearts group member, particularly
enjoyed working with Give2theTroops.
“The most important lesson I
learned,” Morris said, “was that any
amount of time and resources can help.
“It makes you feel good to know
Human Resources employees stuff food bags for the Food Education Distribution
Center in Greenville as part of a staff development activity. Pictured from left to
right are Dianne Henderson, Patricia Baldwin, Lee Ann Goff, Gwen Green and
Tina Hyman. (Photo by Joy Holster)
that whatever amount of time you give
can make a positive difference in your
community.”
Other members of the Hearts
group include Christopher Turner, Becky
Creech, Beverly Smith Savage, Robin M.
McKinnon-Wilkins, Connie Getsinger,
Jessica Wallace, Teresa Shook and Robyn
Galloway.
Galloway said the groupʼs efforts
were a success. She referred to an article she had read entitled, “Volunteer! Itʼs
Good for your Health,” by Kathy Hoff,
director of Volunteer Services for Truman
Medicine Center Lakewood in Kansas
City, Mo. Hoff said that “helping others
benefits more than just the people receiving the assistance.
“Research confirms that volunteers
derive physical, mental and social benefits from their efforts,” Hoff said.
And that is probably more than can
be said for playing a competitive game of
cards.
ʻHouses to Homesʼ Benefits ECU Habitat for Humanity
By Joy Holster
An ECU Pirate catchphrase urges
sports fans to “Paint it Purple!”
Volunteers on campus appropriated
that sentiment last month when, paintbrushes in hand, they applied purple and
gold to plain wooden birdhouses, transforming the structures into avian homes
emblazoned with Pirate Spirit.
More than 100 ECU students turned
out Sept. 15 to hammer, nail and paint
birdhouses for ECUʼs Habitat for Humanity chapter. They created more than 100
brightly-colored birdhouses in the first
of three scheduled “Houses to Homes”
events held on campus. Another successful event was held Sept. 29, and another
is set for Oct. 20 at Mendenhall Student
Center Brickyard, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Students from classes led by ECU
faculty members Alice Arnold (Art) and
Ronald Sessoms (Construction Management) serve as art and construction leaders for the project, supported by campus
leaders and members of both the ECU
and the Pitt County Chapters of Habitat
for Humanity.
Loweʼs Home Improvement Hardware donated the wood to build the
houses, and ECUʼs Dowdy Student Stores
donated acrylic paint to support the decorating theme of “Pirate spirit.”
Volunteer Fridays are focused “primarily on providing a comprehensive
service experience for our first year students,” said Jason Denius, director of
ingful activities during their first six
weeks of college as a way to ensure a significant first year experience and increase
retention.
“We know that the first six weeks
of college can be critical in creating institutional attachment for new students,”
Smith said. In addition, the office hopes
that a positive volunteer experience
will lead to repeated volunteer efforts
throughout the studentsʼ college careers.
Smith said the WOW program
focuses on creating co-curricular experi-
ences. “With a great committee of professionals from various parts of the university, this project has mushroomed into a
truly meaningful experience for our students,” he said.
ECU freshmen were invited to participate through an extensive publicity
campaign conducted by the Volunteer Fridays committee.
Volunteer Fridays are aimed at
increasing volunteering awareness while
raising funds for the ECU Habitat for
Humanity chapter. The chapterʼs ultimate
goal is to build a Habitat home in Greenville sponsored entirely through the chapterʼs funds and volunteer efforts.
The Volunteer Fridays lead up to
ECUʼs Oct. 28 celebration of National
Make a Difference Day, a national day
of helping others through large-scale,
one-day service projects across the country. Created by USA Weekend Magazine,
Make A Difference Day engaged more
than three million people in volunteer
activities last year.
ECU has several volunteer opportunities on tap for this yearʼs Make a Difference Day including food drives, building, painting, cleaning and landscaping.
Volunteer Fridays are sponsored by
the ECU Volunteer and ServiceLearning Center, the ECU Division of
Student Life, the Weeks of Welcome
Committee, Habitat for Humanity of Pitt
Students apply purple and gold paint to decorate wooden birdhouses for the ECU County, and Loweʼs.
For more information, visit www.
chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Profits from sale of the birdhouses will support the
chapterʼs goal of building a Habitat home in Greenville. (Photo by Joy Holster)
ecu.edu/volunteer.
ECUʼs Volunteer and Service-Learning
Center.
“The fact that this project is held
on campus and on Friday afternoons, and
that it incorporates the leadership skills of
our upperclassmen, are all in an effort to
accommodate first year students,” he said.
Al Smith, assistant vice chancellor
for Student Development, said the project
was designed as part of the ECU Office
of Student Developmentʼs Weeks of Welcome. Through the WOW program, the
office seeks to engage freshman in mean-
East Carolina University
October 6 2006
Pieces of Eight
Page 7
Life or Death Challenges Governed by Reset Button
By Jeannine Manning Hutson
S
tan had a bad week. First, he suffered injuries from an automobile accident, and then he was
shot by a friend and then again by
his wife. The story changed each time the
reset button was hit and Stan experienced
a new medical challenge for the medical
students, residents and new nurses working on him.
Stan is short for “Standardized
Man” and is the computerized mannequin
in the Department of Emergency Medicineʼs Medical Simulation and Patient
Safety Laboratory. He can assume one of
12 different patient profiles or an individualized patient profile, with a few keystrokes.
The computer-driven full-sized
mannequin can open its eyes, has vital
signs, varying breath rates and sounds,
heart tones, pulses and even has a voice
transmitted via a speaker under his neck.
“Weʼre trying to create a life-like
experience in this lab,” said Dr. Walter C.
“Skip” Robey, clinical associate professor
in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Brody School of Medicine.
“Medical students and residents are able
to learn and practice skills in this no risk,
hands-on environment before proceeding
to the bedside to provide care.”
The Medical Simulation and Patient
Safety Laboratory is directed by Robey
and is in the academic offices of the
Department of Emergency Medicine. Stan
isnʼt the only simulation modality used
for skills training. Robey and his colleagues use a variety of partial-task trainers (such as a torso model) and mannequins when teaching complex medical
procedures to medical students and emergency medicine residents.
Robey and Dr. Charles Brown, professor of emergency medicine and vice
chair for education for emergency medicine, recently put Stan through his paces
for a group of new emergency department
nurses at Pitt County Memorial Hospital
and an emergency medicine resident physician.
Emergency medicine professor Dr. Skip
Robey works with Stan, a mannequin
used in medical simluation exercises.
The Medical Simulation and Patient Safety Laboratory in the
Department of Emergency Medicine at the Brody School of
Medicine includes a computerized mannequin, nicknamed
After Stan was stabilized, Donna
Zekonis, educational nurse specialist at
PCMH, walked through with the group
what went well and what “they were slow
to make happen.”
She said the patient simulation lab
is a good tool for health care providers to
learn to work together in limited space.
“Itʼs true to life. We need to have the
nurses in here with the residents working
side by side,” Zekonis said.
Robey and his fellow faculty members provide several simulation sessions
each month to groups of three or four
residents, or physicians in training, plus
additional training for medical students
and PCMH personnel.
Brown added: “It gives them a
chance to get close to a gunshot wound
victim. In a real-life gunshot patient, the
medical student isnʼt going to be that
close, and the new nurse might be overwhelmed because of the demands and the
constant needs of multiple people in the
trauma bay.”
And if Stan dies, then the resident
has to speak to his family, usually portrayed by another faculty member.
Robey said they strive to make it as
real as possible.
“We strive to get the team members
to suspend disbelief and immerse themselves in the moment by making the mannequins and scenarios as realistic as possible,” he said.
He added that having Stan be able
to communicate with the residents adds to
the realism and their ability to treat him
as a real patient.
“Our residents start with selfdirected study materials to learn the
basics then proceed to a variety of skill
labs and workshops that include partialtask trainers, mannequins and cadavers,”
Robey said. “The next step is the full-
“Stan,” for practicing simulated medical emergencies. Above,
an emergency medicine resident physician and new PCMH
nurses treat Stanʼs latest injuries. (Photos by Cliff Hollis)
sized high-tech mannequin that allows
for the learner to put it all together, in the
context of a simulated patient and a team.
“We have models, such as adult airways or pediatric mannequins, that they
use to practice psycho-motor skills. Once
they have mastered the skill, such as a
lumbar puncture, then they may proceed
to the bedside to perform the procedure
under direct faculty supervision.”
Robey said he and his colleagues
focus on educating the medical students
and resident physicians in a non-
threatening educational environment, not
ridiculing those who make a mistake.
“We are decreasing the risk to actual
patients. Mistakes can be made in the lab.
Errors can be discussed in a nonthreatening way,” Robey said.
“The days of see one, do one, teach
one philosophy are gone,” said Brown.
“Now itʼs a system like the airlines have.
You donʼt fly an airplane until youʼve
trained on the simulator.”
continued on page 10
Long: Lincoln Attempted
Jeff Davis Assassination
The October issue of North and
South magazine will feature an article by
East Carolina University history professor David Long in which he claims that
ECU history professor David Long has
marked former President Abraham
Lincolnʼs involvement in an assassination
attempt on Confederate President
Jefferson Davis. (Contributed Photo)
East Carolina University
President Abraham Lincoln attempted to
have the Confederate President Jefferson
Davis assassinated.
Long claims that the assassin was to
be Ulric Dahlgren, the 21-year-old son of
Lincolnʼs friend and Navy Admiral John
Dahlgren.
The attempt, Long claims, was
foiled when the would-be assassin was
shot and killed by Confederate home
guard troops in King and Queen County,
Virginia. Papers were discovered on
Dahlgrenʼs body that revealed the plan.
“It set off a major controversy at the
time, and has remained a controversial
subject ever since,” Long said.
Long said the discovery could significantly alter the impression most
Americans have of Lincoln.
“A conspiracy to assassinate
Jefferson Davis is hardly compatible
with the image of Lincoln as a savior
of the Union, the Great Emancipator,
the man who spoke the noble words of
the Gettysburg Address and the Second
Inaugural Address.”
Page 8
Pieces of Eight
In the Spotlight
Forgiveness Affects Health
By Erica Plouffe Lazure
The old adage, “forgive and forget,”
could be good advice for the body as well
as for the mind and heart.
This is according to Kathleen Row,
the chair of the psychology department
at East Carolina University, who studies correlations between a personʼs health
and the ability to forgive.
Row, who arrived at ECU this
semester from the University of
Tennessee at Knoxville, has been studying the forgiveness question, and how
it relates to spirituality, well being and
health, for the past seven years.
“Some people would like to forgive
and they canʼt; but they still see it as a
value. Religions treat it as a value,” Row
said. “From a psychological perspective,
instead of moral or spiritual value, does
forgiveness have a physical value?”
Rowʼs research has shown a marked
difference in the blood pressure and heart
rate recovery levels of those who can
more easily forgive compared to those
who cannot. “You literally carry it around
with you,” Row said.
“If you had a heavy sack on your
back, your blood pressure would rise to
let you be able to carry it around with
you. My question is, how is forgiveness
mapped onto the body?”
For her research, Row asks participants to fill out a questionnaire about
forgiveness. In a one-on-one meeting,
the participant, hooked up to heart rate
and blood pressure monitors, is asked to
recount a time when he or she had been
wronged or betrayed.
“One finding is that people with a
more forgiving personality will struggle
to tell a story about a time when someone
hurt them,” she said. “Other people will
say, ʻWhere do you want me to start?ʼ”
The blood pressure and heart rates
of everyone who interviewed rises as
they recount their betrayal, Row said, but
those who had forgiven the wrongdoing
showed a marked difference in returning
continued on page 10
Political Scientist Honored
Carmine Scavo, a political science
professor at East Carolina University,
received two awards this month from the
American Political Science Association
for developing a web-based version of the
Voting Behavior SETUPS program.
Scavo, along with UNC-Greensboro
political scientist Charles Prysby,
received the Rowman & Littlefield Award
for Innovative Teaching in Political
Science and the Best Instructional Web
Site award at the APSA meeting in
Philadelphia on Sept. 1.
Scavo and Prysby have co-authored
the Voting Behavior SETUPS series since
1984. SETUPS, short for Supplementary
Empirical Teaching Units in Political
Science, was once released in booklet
form but is now an online tool to help
political science students analyze data
from national elections. Voting Behavior:
The 2004 Election is a new program that
offers students the ability to analyze voter
data from the 2004 National Election
Study survey.
The site includes about 160 variables, including party affiliations of
voters, basic demographics, voter perceptions of candidates and voter attitudes
on issues such as foreign policy and civil
rights. To access the site visit http://www.
icpsr.umich.edu/SETUPS/index.html.
Behm Delivers Safety Training
East Carolina University professor
Michael Behm (Occupational Safety) provided a safety training session Sept. 22
for personnel in the Habitat for Humanity
ReStore facility in Greenville.
Along with
Matt Rice, a graduate student in ECUʼs
occupational program, Behm presented information
on general safety
awareness, moving
heavy objects, and
handling hazardous
materials. He also
Behm
completed a safety
inspection for the store, which resells
donated household items to support Habitatʼs building efforts in Pitt County.
Faculty and students from the occupational safety masterʼs program in the
ECU Department of Technology Systems
complete outreach programs regularly,
Behm said.
“It helps our students gain experience, while providing an important service that can mitigate accidents…in organizations that may not have the resources
to proactively address occupational safety
and health issues,” he said.
In 2005, a graduate student from
the program completed a fire safety audit
for an economically disadvantaged preschool. This year, plans are underway for
an occupational safety program for TCIWorks of Rocky Mount, an organization that hires the mentally and physically
handicapped.
Faith Medrano, Greenville ReStore
manager, said the safety training was an
effort to be proactive in addressing safety
and workplace hazards to help ReStore
provide a safe environment for employees, volunteers and customers.
“We want to have a solid safety policy in place for our store move coming
up in November,” she added. The store
will move from West 10th Street to the
14th Street Merchant Center, behind Harris Teeter in Greenville. ReStore solicits
donations of household items including
furniture, appliances, books, office furniture, collectible and vintage items. Profits fund construction of Habitat homes
and offset operational costs of Habitat for
Humanity of Pitt County. For more information on ReStore, call 252-329-8364.
October 6, 2006
Appointments/Elections
Brian Massey (Communication)
was invited to serve as co-investigator of
the 2006 installment of a three-year attitudinal survey of journalists in Australia and
New Zealand, sponsored by APN News
and Media.
NewsMakers
Heidi Lane and Maria Clay (Medicine) in The Daily Reflector on standardized patients at the Brody School of Medicine, Aug. 22.
Jan-Ru Wan (Art) in The Independent Weekly (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) on the large-scale textile installations of her work at the Louise Jones
Brown Gallery, Duke University, Aug. 23.
Sage Claydon and Trish Payne
(Medicine) on WNCT-TV, on the morning after pill, Aug. 24.
Daniel Sprau (Environmental Health Sciences) in Pine Magazine,
on solutions for radioactive waste from
increased use of nuclear power in the
United States, Sept. 12.
Lee Maril (Sociology) in The Daily
Reflector and the Des Moines Register,
and on Fox News on his report to the U.S.
House Judiciary Committee on the state
of U.S. Border Patrols, Sept. 18.
Clancy Ratliff (English) in The
International Herald Tribune and the
New York Times on bloggersʼ effect on
business travel, Sept. 18.
Service, Honors and
Professional Activities
Paul D. Bell (Allied Health) was
awarded a Ph.D. from the School of Education at NCSU after successfully defending his dissertation, “Can Factors Related
to Self-Regulated Learning and Epistemological Beliefs Predict Learning Achievement in Undergraduate Asynchronous
Web-Based Courses?”
ECU Business Services Quest for
Excellence and Treasured Pirate Awards
recipients were Barbara Ward (Dowdy
Student Stores), Captain Award; Carolyn Carraway (Materials Management),
Navigator Award; Carol Hudnell (University Printing and Graphics), First Mate
Award; and both Tony Roebuck (Medical
Storeroom) and Jan Foust (Dowdy Student Stores), Explorer Award.
SEANC District 65 received the
District of the Year award at the State
Employee Association of North Carolina
Conference, Sept. 7-9 in Greensboro, NC.
ECU staff serving as official delegates
(active or retirees) for the conference this
year were Beverly Moore (Chair D65),
Treva Brigman, Sherry Pernell, Debbie
Austin, Clayton Weaver, Evelyn Hinnant, Del Kingsland, Tammy Heller,
Gloria Highsmith, Shirley Williams,
Sharon Sharpe, Debbie Gardner, Lynn
Tuthill, Linda Nelson, Vivian Bazemore, Bobbie Austin, Donna Poe, and
Bill Dawson.
Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies professors Dr. Jane A.
Funderburk and Dr. Susan McGhee
received awards at the 2006 Annual Conference of the American Therapeutic Recreation Association. Funderburk was
awarded a certificate of recognition for
meritorious service related to her efforts
in coordinating the Higher Education
Institute for recreational therapy educators. McGhee was awarded a 2006 presidential award in appreciation for her support of the profession of recreational therapy. Both Funderburk and McGhee
teach in the recreational therapy degree
programs at ECU.
Jeff Johnson (Sociology) took
third place for his tutorial, “Network Theory and Data,” at the International Conference on Social Networks, Indiana University.
English faculty Luke Whisnant
and Barri Piner received the 2006 Bertie
E. Fearing Excellence in Teaching Award
for the ECU Department of English.
Eat Smart, Move More Program
continued from page 5
Pitt County Memorial Hospital Pediatric
Healthy Weight Case Management Program; ECU dietitian Sarah Henes; and
exercise physiologist Allison Spain of the
ViQuest Center, part of University Health
Systems of Eastern Carolina.
The specific goals of Eat Smart,
Move Moreʼs five-year plan are to
increase healthy eating and physical
activity, increase the percentage of North
Carolinians who are at a healthy weight,
increase the percentage of North Carolinians who consume a healthy diet and
increase the percentage of adults and children age 2 and up who get recommended
amounts of physical activity.
More information is available at
www.EatSmartMoveMoreNC.com.
Documentary Released on DVD
ECU School of Communication
Director Tim Hudson served as executive producer of “Tornado Glory,”
an award-winning documentary now
available on DVD through PBS Home
Video. The fast-paced, feature-length
film follows two risk-taking tornado
chasers from Oklahoma.
The wide-screen documentary, directed by Kenneth Cole, was
East Carolina University
shot in 2003 and 2004 and featured in
film-festivals nationwide before PBS
picked it up for national broadcast this
summer.
Hudson described the documentary as “part storm-story and part
buddy picture, with some of the most
compelling tornado footage youʼll
ever see.” For more information visit
tornadoglory.com.
Pieces of Eight
October 6 2006
Page 9
Petroleum Consumption Cut
East Carolina University has taken
another step to reduce petroleum product
consumption on campus by using
re-refined motor oil for vehicles.
“Re-refining is the reuse of oil
that would otherwise be discarded,” said
George Harrell, senior associate vice
chancellor for campus operations at ECU.
“In recycling, reuse is the goal.”
Lubricating oil does not wear out,
Harrell said, it simply becomes dirty.
Once water and other contaminants are
removed, it is as good as new.
“We have found there is no compromise in the quality of re-refined oil;
it must meet the same high standards
as new oils,” he said. “It complies with
American Petroleum Institute certification
requirements and vehicle manufacturersʼ
warranty requirements.”
During the research that led to the
conversion, ECU found re-refined motor
oil to be an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly way to manage used
motor oil. The cost savings are minimal,
averaging a few cents a quart less. Harrell
said the decision to use the recycled oil is
based on conservation, not fiscal reasons.
The change follows the ECUʼs conversion to gasohol, a mixture of ethanol
and gasoline that can be used in place of
regular gasoline. The university began
using the mixture this year, resulting in a
10 percent reduction in petroleum.
Partnership Proves Effective
By Nancy McGillicuddy
A partnership of five years is starting to pay off for students of M. H. N.
Tabrizi, a professor of computer science
at East Carolina University.
Tabrizi and IBM executives Angela
Allen and Rich Ward began a partnership
program between ECU and IBM in 2000.
The partnership encourages IBM employees to become actively involved with
students in teaching, mentoring and software development.
Students then gain real world professional experience while at ECU and
are prepared for high tech job opportunities upon graduation.
“It is a true partnership program
– we get software, tools and real world
experts from them and they in return collaborate with ECU experts. IBM recruits
and opens up our students to a high technology job market,” Tabrizi said.
In the fall of 2005 IBM recruited
six students that were in Tabriziʼs software engineering class. “Besides having
access to the resources of IBM, we have
ECUʼs Storybook Theatre troupe presented the story, “The Rainbow Fish” to a
been putting together more permanent
captivated audience of elementary school children Sept. 28. The children enjoying
plans for IBMʼs experts to attend and
the show are in a mentor program in which local at risk grade school students are
paired with students in the ECU Honors Program. (Photo by Joy Holster)
teach different modules of courses,
collaborate with ECU faculty, and participate in the education of our students,”
Tabrizi said.
The partnership continues this fall
as Tabrizi – with participation of different
experts from IBM – teaches the software
engineering-1 course. During this semester IBM will hire as many as ten students.
The School of Theatre and Danceʼs experiences. “We have great ideas for the
These students will enroll in software
program,” said Clark.
Storybook Theatre has received a $5,000
engineering-2 in spring 2007 with IBMʼs
“Our hope is to have a playwriting
gift from Target to expand their tours of
continued participation, Tabrizi said.
contest for the kids and to also establish a
elementary schools in Pitt and surroundIBMʼs lectures are designed to
Storybook Theatre Junior program in the
complement software engineering courses ing counties.
elementary schools.”
“This
funding
from
Target
will
by bringing real world expertise into
The funding from Target will help
really
help
us
grow,”
said
Patch
Clark,
classrooms.
the group to create fresh costumes and
professor
of
theatre
and
director
of
the
“It is my strong belief and sincere
sets, develop new scripts, and offset the
hope that this unique partnership program troupe. “It can further help us to create an
costs of transportation.
interest
in
reading
through
participation
will become a model of how to effectively
The troupe will perform on campus
and
visual
literacy.”
bring the university and high technology
as part of the Family Fare series, presentWhile
entertaining
children
and
companies together,” Tabrizi said.
ing “James and the Giant Peach” Nov. 11,
promoting visual literacy, Storybook
“This partnership will hopefully
and Chester Freemanʼs “Runaway Bear,”
Theatre
provides
opportunities
for
ECU
grow further to help in strengthening high
April 14.
students
to
enhance
their
own
learning
technology job market and economic
development of eastern North Carolina.”
Target Grant Will Expand
Storybook Theatre Tours
Biotechnology Center Grants
Strengthen Research, Teaching
Presentations
Presentation by John Moskop (Medical Humanities, Bioethics), “The Constitution and the
Right to Die,” as part of ECUʼs celebration of
Constitution Day at Joyner Library.
Presentation by Charles Fantazzi (Foreign
Languages and Literatures), “The Erasmus-Vives
Correspondence” at the Conference on Erasmus
and the Republic of Letters, held at Corpus
Christi College, Oxford University.
Presentation by Carson Bays (Economics),
“Does the Droit de Suite Benefit Artists?” at the
biennial meetings of the Association for Cultural
Economics International in Vienna, Austria.
Presentation by Sitawa R. Kimuna (Sociology), “Intimate Partner Violence among Married
Women in Kenya,” at the American Sociological
Association annual conference held in Montreal,
Canada.
Presentations by Larry Nash White (Education),
as invited presenter to the Library World Congress at the International Federation of Library
Associations in Seoul, South Korea: “Using the
L.E.A.3.D. Technique to Turn Your Competition
into an Emergent Strategic Cool,” and “Library
Administrators Knowledge Management Practices and Perceptions When Conducting Organiza-
tional Performance Assessment.” White was the
only invited presenter from the U.S. on the two
panels, and ECU was the only U.S. library school
represented by a presenter. White was also invited
by the Chilean Library Association and the U.S.
Embassy in Santiago, Chile to be the inaugural
keynote speaker at the joint XXVI International
Santiago Book Fair/Chilean Library Association
International Library Conference.
Presentation by Cheryl McFadden (Education),
“Integrating Online Learning,” at the annual conference of the National Council of Professors of
Educational Administration in Lexington, Ky.
Presentation by Recreational Therapy faculty at
the American Therapeutic Recreation Association
conference: by Richard Williams, “The Effects
of Recreational Therapy on People Recovering
from Stroke”; by Williams with David Loy,
“Making Collaborative Efficacy Research Happen”; by Thom Skalko and Lisa Morgan, “Public
Policy: Affecting Change at the State and National
Levels”; and by Carmen Russoniello and Susan
McGhee with student T. Maes, “Children and
Natural Disasters: Post Traumatic Stress and
Coping.” David Loy and Richard Williams led
the associationʼs Research Institute highlighting
efficacy-based research.
Three grants from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center totaling $371,992 will boost biotechnology
research and teaching at ECU.
One grant will fund research into
freeze-dried blood platelets being commercially developed to stop bleeding in
emergencies. The second grant will support research into engineered nanoparticles for delivering medicine to heart
patients. The third will support recruitment of a chemistry department head
whose specialty is biophysical chemistry.
“These awards represent not only
financial support for our researchers but
a vote of confidence in the exciting work
being conducted at ECU and the ability
to translate that work into products which
are beneficial to the people of North Carolina.” said Deirdre Mageean, vice chancellor for research and graduate studies.
Recipients and titles of the three
projects follow:
• Dr. Arthur Bode, ECU Cardiovascular Center,“Hemostatic Performance
of Lyophilized Platelets (Stasix) in the
East Carolina University
Presence of ADP Receptor Blockade and
Other Platelet Dysfunction.”
• Dr. Timothy A. Johnson,
Brody School of Medicine, “Engineered
Nanoparticles for Targeted Delivery of
Nitrous Oxide to Decrease Ischema/
Reperfusion Injury in the Heart.”
• Dr. Paul Gemperline, Department of Chemistry, “Recruitment of Dr.
Rickey Hicks of the Walter Reed Army
Institute of Research as the Chair of the
Department of Chemistry.”
The three grants, awarded this summer, are in addition to three other Biotechnology Center grants awarded to
organizations in Eastern North Carolina
earlier in the fiscal year.
Those grants included funding for
Dr. Arun P. Aneja, College of Technology
and Computer Science, “Enhancement to
Undergraduate Laboratory for Bioprocess
Manufacturing Education.”
The Biotechnology Center is a private, non-profit corporation that supports
biotechnology research, business and
education statewide.
Page 10
Pieces of Eight
October 6, 2006
Forgiveness Affects Health
continued from page 8
more quickly to normal levels.
“We want to see what they are like
when something negative happens to the
body and afterwards. How long does it
take to get back to the relaxed state?”
Row has found that older people, in
general, are more likely to be forgiving,
and that women are more likely to be forgiving in general than men, although men
had shown to be more forgiving when
considering specific situations.
For much of her 25-plus year career
in psychophysiology, Row studied the
mind-body connection of how certain
behaviors could be predictors of cardiovascular disease.
“At some point, I realized I wanted
to look at what psychological states could
lead to lower blood pressure,” she said.
“If you hold in anger, if you are competitive, what are you supposed to do? To
be less of these things, what are ways to
enhance healthy attitudes that can prevent
cardiovascular disease?”
In 1999, Row received a grant that
enabled her to extend her research to the
question of forgiveness. Her work in the
past seven years, she said, validates that
forgiveness can yield positive benefits not
only for the forgiven, but for the forgiver
as well.
Life or Death Challenges
continued from page 7
One reason that simulators are valuable is because in July 2003, residents
were limited to 80-hour work week of
patient care.
While Robey and Brown understand and support the need to regulate
work hours, it also limits the number of
unusual medical cases a resident might
see in a given week, such as an allergic
reaction to a medication, which Stan can
easily have.
Physicians are evaluated on six
core competencies during their residency
training and are expected to have mastered those competencies by residency
graduation, according to the Accreditation
Council for Graduate Medical Education.
Those core competencies are in
patient care, medical knowledge,
practice-based learning, interpersonal and
communication skills, professionalism
and systems-based practice.
“Using the computerized mannequin and the different modalities, you
can cover the six core competencies and
assess the residents on each one,” Robey
said.
One hurdle is time. A faculty member must be present to operate the computer and evaluate the simulated patient
encounter.
“The issue is providing the environment where they can practice these type
of things on demand,” Robey said.
Stan cost approximately $40,000
and was paid for by a grant from the Pitt
Memorial Hospital Foundation. The Eastern Area Health Education Center also
provided approximately $10,000 for the
video recording devices and other equipment.
Videotaping the patient encounters
with Stan allows Robey and other faculty
members to show the students what went
well and what needs to be improved or
done differently the next time.
For second-year emergency medicine resident John Whitman, who worked
with the new PCMH nurses during a
recent training session, Stan is close to
what he sees in the emergency department on any given day or night.
“Itʼs not exactly the real thing, but
itʼs close,” he said.
Then it was time to reset Stan. He
had been shot again.
The East Carolina University Pediatric Healthy Weight Research and Treatment
Center received a Good for Kids Award from the N.C. Pediatric Society during
the groupʼs annual meeting Aug. 18 in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The award recognizes
people and organizations who start or promote community or statewide efforts
to improve the health and well-being of children. Accepting the award on behalf
of ECU were (left) Dr. John Olsson, associate professor of pediatrics, and
(center) Yancey Crawford, clinical instructor of pediatrics. At right is Dr. Olson
Huff, chairman of the Task Force on Obesity and Nutrition of the N.C. Health
and Wellness Trust Fund. (Contributed photo)
Model Saves Time, Money
Three College of Business faculty
members, with input from ECU Student
Health Center staff, developed a mathematical model that helped the center save
an estimated $150,000 annually in staff
downtime.
Decision Sciences professors John
Kros, Scott Dellana and Dave West developed the model in response to costs associated with health center patients who
missed appointments at the center. With
nearly 35,000 patient visits annually, and
a 10 to 15 percent rate of patients who did
not show up for appointments, the cost
was significant.
The model demonstrated the benefits and consequences of selectively overbooking the clinical schedule, or scheduling two patients in the same appoint-
ment time period. Kros, Dellana and West
explained how overbooking could reduce
idle time for center staff, increase abilities
to service patients, and improve availability of open appointment times.
As a result of their demonstration,
the SHC began overbooking by about
five percent during selected times in
the Spring of 2006. Periods overbooked
were identified as times with the highest probability of no-shows, that also had
the smallest impact on the system if all
patients kept their appointments.
The overbooking resulted in significant savings, reducing server idle
time with no significant adverse effect on
patient satisfaction. As a result, the SHC
will increase their rate of selective overbooking this fall.
Publications
Article by William Joseph Thomas and Carolyn
Willis (Joyner Library), “Students as Audience:
Identity and Information Literacy Instruction,”
in portal: Libraries and the Academy.
Article by Dale Sauter (Joyner Library/Special
Collections), “The ʻMystery-Filledʼ Natchitoches
Meat Pie: A General Investigation by Dale Sauter,” in Louisiana History.
Texbook by Joseph Kalinowski (Allied Health)
with Timothy Saltuklaroglu (University of Tennessee, ECU Ph.D. graduate), Stuttering, a new
paradigm for understanding the treatment of stuttering based on discoveries in neuroscience.
Article by Robert Kulesher and Susie T. Harris
(Allied Health), “Managed Care and the Bottom
Line of Your Practice,” in The Health Care Manager. In the same journal, by Kulesher, “Impact
of Medicareʼs Prospective Payment System on
Hospitals, Skilled Nursing Facilities, and Home
Health Agencies.”
Chapter by Michael F. Bassman (Honors, ECScholars, Undergraduate Research), “A Project
in Integrating Undergraduate Research with
Service Learning,” in Designing, Implementing
and Sustaining A Research-Supportive Undergraduate Curriculum.
Article by Brian Massey (Communication) with
co-author, “Exploring Some of the Factors that
Contribute to the Use of Ordinary People as News
Sources,” in the Australian Journalism Review.
Book by Barbara Bullington (Communication),
The Work of Life, her first novel.
Article by Sitawa R. Kimuna (Sociology) and
co-author, “HIV/AIDS Orphansʼ Education in
Uganda: The Changing Role of Older People,” in
the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships.
Article by Atticia Bundy McAtee (Counseling and Student Development) with co-author,
“Rural Dislocated Women in Career Transition:
The Importance of Supports and Strategies,” in
the Community College Journal of Research
and Practice.
Chapter by Charles Fantazzi (Foreign Languages), “Vivesʼ Parisian Writings” in Humanism and Creativity in the Renaissance. Also by
Fantazzi, “Las relaciones de Erasmo con algunos
universitarios de Alcalá y Salamanca” (Erasmusʼ
Relations with University Professors at Alcalá and
Salamanca) in Permanencia y Cambio, Universidades hispánicas (Permanence and Change in
Hispanic Universities).
Publications by Juan J. Daneri (Foreign Languages and Literatures), “Fernández de Oviedoʼs
Pineapple and Cultural Authority in Imperial
Spain,” in Monographic Review; and “Reescritura
y tensión utópica en Noticias del extranjero (19591998) de Pedro Lastra,” in Acta Literaria.
Article by John B. Harer (Education), “LibQual
in Liliput: The Assessment Benefits for a Small,
Academic Library,” in Performance Measures
and Metrics, Fall 2006.
Presentations by Cheryl McFadden (Education)
with recent ECU doctoral graduate D. Grimes
and former ECU faculty member Susan Colaric,
“Factors for Adopting the Internet for Instruction,” in Academic Exchange Quarterly; and with
Marilyn Sheerer (Student Life), “A Comparative
Study of the Perceptions of Teacher Preparation
Faculty and School Superintendents,” in Action
in Teacher Education.
Abstracts by Martha Alligood (Nursing),
East Carolina University
“Implementing Theory-Based Nursing Practice at
a University Medical Center,” Southern Nursing
Research Society; and “Implementing TheoryBased Nursing Practice with Action Research at a
Major University Medical Center,” 14th Annual
Collaborative Research Day in Greenville.
Article by Phyllis N. Horns and Phyllis S.
Turner (Nursing), “Funding in Higher Education: Where Does Nursing Fit?” in the Journal
of Professional Nursing.
Abstract by D. Elizabeth Jesse (Nursing), “Reusable Units of Learning: An Innovative Teaching
Strategy for Online Nurse-Midwifery Education,”
Conference Proceedings, 27th International Confederation of Midwives), Brisbane, Australia.
Article by Kathryn Kolasa with co-authors
on the N.C. Eat Smart Move More Leadershop
Team, “Eat Smart, Move More: North Carolinaʼs
Plan to Prevent Overweight, Obesity and Related
Chronic Disease.” Also, commentary by Kolasa
with Kay Craven, Sarah Henes and Catherine
Sullivan (Medicine), “The Clinical Nutrition
Implications of Obesity and Overweight,” in the
N.C. Medical Journal.
Pieces of Eight
October 6 2006
Campus Calendar
FRIDAY
OCTOBER
THURSDAY
5
ECU/Loessin Playhouse, “Chicago,”
(through Oct. 10). McGinnis Theatre.
Performances nightly at 8 p.m. except
Sunday performance at 2 p.m.
Folkfriends Concerts featuring acoustic
music performed by Folk Arts Society
members and guests, Tipsy Teapot/
Kennybrook-Parker Books, 409 Evans
St., 7 p.m. Free.
ECU Opera Theatre, “Curlew River,”
(through Oct. 7). St. Paulʼs Church, 4th
St., Greenville, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY
6
Geriatric Symposium, led by Kenneth
Steinweg (Medicine), City Hotel and
Bistro, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Third Annual Eastern Regional Trauma
Symposium, Greenville Convention
Center, 7:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
“Reporting on the War and Insurgency in
Iraq,” Hannah Allam, Middle East Bureau
Chief, McClatchy Newspapers, Mendenhall 244, 2 – 3 p.m.
Comm Crew Reunion Banquet, featuring
ECU alumnus and best-selling author
James Dodson; Mendenhall Student
Center Great Rooms, 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
7
“Representations of Japanese Women,”
Asian Studies Program workshop, Science
and Technology Building Room 309, 8:30
a.m. – 4 p.m.
Pitt County Womenʼs Agenda Assembly,
Bate 1031, 1 p.m.
ECU Pirate football, ECU vs. Virginia,
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, 6 p.m.
TUESDAY
10
“What Does the Muscle Have to Do
with Obesity,” lecture by Lynis Dohm
(Medicine), Brody Auditorium, 4 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
11
Russian Film Series, “Passions,” Bate
2011, 6:30 p.m.
20
Homecoming Weekend
Volunteer Fridays to benefit Habitat for
Humanity, Mendenhall Student Center
Brickyard, 3 – 5 p.m.
Salsa Dance, Lesson, 7:30 p.m.; dance,
8 – 11 p.m., Willis Building.
SATURDAY
21
ECU Pirate Football, ECU vs. SMU,
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, 3 p.m.
MONDAY
23
“Connecting Community Colleges and
the Four-Year Institutions of North Carolina,” Phi Kappa Phi Leadership Forum,
Mendenhall Student Center, 10 a.m. - 5
p.m.
WEDNESDAY
25
Russian Film Series, “A Cruel Romance,”
Bate 2011, 6:30 p.m.
THURSDAY
26
ECU Career Centerʼs Fall Career Fair,
Two locations: Minges Coliseum and the
Health Sciences Building, 10 a.m. to 2
p.m.
ECU Tourism Conference, “Making
Tourism Work for You II,” Hilton Greenville
(through Oct. 27).
Hispanic Film Series, “Iluminados por el
fuego” (Enlightened by Fire), Bate 2011,
5:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
27
Contra Dance, Willis Building. Lesson,
7:30 p.m.; dance, 8 – 10:30 p.m.
Family Fare Series, “Alice,” by Whoopi
Goldberg.
SATURDAY
28
ECU Pirate Football, vs. Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Miss., 7:30 p.m. (CSTV).
NOVEMBER
THURSDAY
2
14
Folkfriends Concerts,Tipsy Teapot/
Kennybrook-Parker Books, 409 Evans
St., 7 p.m. Free.
ECU Pirate Football, ECU vs. Tulsa,
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, 3 p.m.
“Wellness Japan,” Allied Health Sciences
Room 1102, 5:30 p.m.
Contra Dance, Willis Building. Potluck
dinner, 6 p.m.; lesson, 7:30 p.m.; dance,
8 – 10:30 p.m.
Exhibitions
SATURDAY
Fall Break (through Oct. 17)
TUESDAY
17
S. Rudolph Alexander Performing Arts
Series, “Gilbert & Sullivan Players: Pirates
of Penzance,” Wright Auditorium, 8 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
18
Russian Film Series, “Tycoon: A New
Russian,” Bate 2011, 6:30 p.m.
2006 School of Art and Design Alumni
Exhibition, “Bringing it All Back Home,” on
view in Gray Gallery (through Oct. 7).
2006 School of Art and Design Faculty
Exhibition, Gray Gallery (Oct. 19 through
Nov. 18).
“A Century of Education and Impact:
The History of East Carolina University,
an Exhibit in Four Parts.” Series II: The
College Transformation -- East Carolina
Teachers College (through Feb. 15,
2007).
Page 11
Japan Center East Hosts
Eastern Health Seminar
Acupuncture, Reiki and other alternative health topics are the focus of a
seminar offered by East Carolina Universityʼs Japan Center East.
The program, “Wellness Japan,”
will be held at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 2, at ECUʼs
School of Nursing, Room 1102, in the
Allied Health Sciences Building.
“The program is designed to educate people to become more health conscious by introducing them to contemporary and traditional Japanese methods of
wellness,” said Chikako Massey, interim
director of Japan Center East.
Experts in the fields of acupuncture,
Reiki, Shiatsu acupressure, karate, and
power eating will present information and
demonstrations.
Mark Stebnicki, an ECU rehabilitation studies professor, will discuss Reiki.
In addition to his work in the School of
Allied Health, Stebnicki is a Reiki Level
I Practitioner and has had basic and intermediate training as a Shamanic counselor
through the Institute of Shamanic Studies.
Delores Harris will discuss Shiatsu massage. She is founder and owner
of Alternative Healthcare in Greenville.
She is nationally certified by the National
Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and licensed
by the state of N.C. as a massage and
bodywork therapist.
Rie Ishida will discuss Japanese
power eating and Natto, fermented soybean curd from Japan. Ishida is a native
of Hiroshima, Japan and has been a professional chef since 1995. She is the chef
for the annual Taste of Japan in Greenville.
William White will discuss karate.
White has been teaching and practicing
martial arts, including karate and Kobudo
since 1994. He had taught Shorinji-Ryu
Karate at the Bushido Martial Arts Center, and now teaches karate in Greenville
and New Bern.
Jeffery Pierce, M.D., will discuss
acupuncture. Pierce is a clinical assistant
professor in the Department of Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation at the ECU
Brody School of Medicine. Pierce completed his training in medical acupuncture
in 2002 and obtained board certification
in medical acupuncture in 2005.
For information, contact Massey at
masseyc@ecu.edu or 737-1352, or visit
http://www.ecu.edu/japancentereast/.
Ribbons Cut for Opening Day
continued from page 5
associated with the School of Nursing students, alumni, staff, faculty, and emeriti faculty.”
The Medical Foundation of ECU
was recognized for working to strategically assemble and purchase land for the
site. The foundation continues to seek
donors to endow and support educational
programs in the building.
Ballard saluted the contributions of
the schools and library to the region and
state.
The nursing program has grown
from 40 students in 1960 to 1,006 students today and graduates more new
nurses each year than any college in the
state. Projected enrollment is 1,100 students by 2011. ECUʼs nurse graduates
have a 99 percent pass rate on the licensure exam.
Approximately 88 percent of allied
health sciences graduates remain in the
state to work. The school, established
in 1967, is the largest producer of allied
health professionals in North Carolina.
With nine departments and 661 students,
enrollment is expected to top 725 students in just two years.
“This new building is something
that the residents of eastern North Carolina deserve, and can be proud of, and
the faculty, staff and students in the
nine departments in the School of Allied
Health Sciences will use strategically in
serving our region though improved professional education, research, service,
clinical practice, and collaboration,”
Thomas said.
Programs Set for Faculty, Staff
Campus Recreation and Wellness
provides a variety of services for ECU
faculty and staff. Exercise Wisely is a fitness and instructional program designed
in a 45-minute workout routine for the
lunch hour. Size Friendly Fitness and a
free aqua fitness class will also accommodate faculty and staff schedules. Other
opportunities include yoga and pilates,
sports specific training, fitness workshops, self defense, and ballroom dance.
The youth and family program
offers many Sunday afternoon activities.
Sunday Slam Youth Basketball¸ open for
individuals ages 7-12, provides an opportunity to learn basic basketball skills. The
Super Spiders Wall Climbers includes a
mixture of skill development and recreational climbing for children, ages 7 to
14. Beginning this fall, Parentsʼ Night
East Carolina University
Out will provide an evening for children
at the SRC while parents have a night out.
A new 50-foot state-of-the-art
Alpine Tower was unveiled as part of the
team training center and challenge course.
ECU faculty and staff can purchase
SRC membership on an annual, semester
or summer basis. For more information,
contact the department at 252-328-6387,
visit www.ecu.edu/cs-studentlife/crw, or
come by the Student Recreation Center.
Vital Records
BORN: to Michael OʼDriscoll (Geological Sciences) and wife, Carolina
Loop, a son, Seamus and a daughter,
Claire on July 18.
Page 12
Pieces of Eight
On Campus
Violins Examined
continued from page 1
September 1, 2006
Around the World at Mendenhall
results promises to generate new insights
into violin sound production and violin
quality, Bissinger said. Finally the map of
essential material properties – stiffness,
density, damping and shape – that govern the vibrations of any violin will be
extended to these legendary violins.
“Basically, a very good violin
sounds loud while still sounding beautiful,” Zygmuntowicz said. “We know what
it sounds like, but it wonʼt tell us why itʼs
good.”
In addition to the violin makers,
Violin Society of America members Fan
Tao and Joseph Regh were also involved
in this first-ever 3-D scan of legendary
violins.
Asian Studies Grant
continued from page 4
University in Beijing or during the next
academic year through one of the available exchange programs.
The grant will enhance the interdisciplinary minor in Asian Studies, which
debuted two years ago. Several new curricular projects will be developed as part
of the program. These include a template
for an Asian Studies concentration for
the Multidisciplinary Studies major, new
Asian Studies content courses, new modules for existing courses and additional
study abroad opportunities.
The University Honors Program
will be an important contributor to the
project with two new courses with Asian
Studies content as well as opportunities for Honors students to meet visiting
scholars.
Another aspect of the Department
of Educationʼs Asian Studies project is a
two-week curriculum development trip to
a country or region of Asia. Faculty will
compete for four travel grants for spring/
summer 2007. An additional four grants
will be available for 2008.
The grant will also allow for the
procurement of research and instructional
materials for the language lab and library.
The final aspect of the grant involves
community outreach.
A film series, an Asian Studies
Forum, an Asian Studies web site and
workshops with Pitt County Schools will
expand the program.
In Memoriam
Sarah McPherson, former associate
dean for the College of Technology
and Computer Science, and wife of
Bill McPherson, former faculty member in the College of Technology and
Computer Science, died Sept. 21.
Taiko Drummers performed at ECUʼs first World Community
Day Sept. 19 in Mendenhall. The event was billed as a
“whirlwind trip around the world,” where spectators could
immerse themselves in global cultures. Performances
included Philippines Dance, Indian Dance, Gospel
Choir and Salsa Dance. Participants could experience
such diverse activities as learning Chinese calligraphy,
communicating with students in Morocco, and sampling
sushi. The event was organized by the ECU Office of
Student Development. (Photo by Jack Hoskins)
Volunteers Sought For GuluWalk Greenville
ECU graduate Neil Klinedinst (May
ʼ06) is seeking volunteers to participate
in GuluWalk Greenville, a 4.5 mile walk
scheduled for Oct. 28, 9:30 a.m. at the
Greenville Town Common.
The event is part of an international
effort to raise money and awareness for
the “night commuters,” children of northern Uganda who nightly walk up to eight
miles in search of a safe place to sleep.
Approximately 40,000 children from
rural communities in Uganda “commute”
to larger cities such as Gulu to avoid capture by a rebellion force known as the
Lordʼs Resistance Army.
The children gather to sleep wherever they can find safe haven, bedding
down in such places as church grounds
and bus stations. They return to their
homes each morning.
If captured by the rebellion forces,
the children may be raped, tortured, murdered, abducted and forced into abducting
and murdering other children or even
their own families.
More than 35,000 children have
been abducted since 1986.
GuluWalk Greenville is seeking 200
ECU Researchers Honored
continued from page 1
Alderman, who has taught at ECU
since 2000, specializes in the politics
of public commemoration and symbolic landscapes of the American South,
including the politics of naming streets
for Martin Luther King, Jr. He also studies popular culture such as NASCAR, the
Internet as electronic folklore, Graceland
as a pilgrimage site, Wal-Mart and the
cultural history of kudzu.
Corbett, who has taught at ECU
since 2000, studies the sediment and geochemical processes in coastal areas, the
discharge of groundwater on the coast.
In the past five years, he has worked on
research grants totaling more than $3.3
million.
Each researcher will receive a cash
award and will speak at a research seminar this fall.
East Carolina University
individuals who would be willing to raise
$100 each in sponsorships to benefit the
night commuters.
Seventy-five percent of funds raised
in the walk go directly to childrenʼs programs in northern Uganda, programs that
work to prevent AIDS/HIV, provide basic
education, award scholarships or grants
and facilitate peer-to-peer networking and
support.
The remaining twenty-five percent
supports ongoing educational and awareness efforts.
Last year, in the inaugural global
GuluWalk, more than 15,000 people
around the world collected more than
$40,000 to support these children.
The goal for 2006 is $1 million.
More than 100 cities in 20 countries are
scheduled to run GuluWalk events this
year.
For more information on GuluWalk,
visit www.guluwalk.com. For details
on the Greenville event, or to register as a volunteer, contact the GuluWalk
Greenville Committee Chair, Neil
Klinedinst at 252-917-1938 (e-mail,
Nok0421@ecu.edu) or committee member Kenneth Taylor at kat0809@ecu.edu.