May 21, 2004 - East Carolina University

ECU Faculty and Staff Newspaper www.news.ecu.edu/poe/poehome.htmMay 21, 2004

Fond FarewellMarks End to GlobalClassroom Session, p. 5

Well-Kept SecretRyan Winget LeadsSpring Break Alternative, p. 6

Return to UgandaDrilling Wells inNative Village, p. 7

ECU awarded 2,568 candidateswith degrees Saturday, May 8 at the95th spring commencement. Degreeswere conferred in two separateceremonies in Minges Coliseum.

Chancellor Bill Shelton encour-aged the graduates as they go forwardthrough life to have an open mind thatfosters creativity, independence,responsibility and a broad perspective.

“The idea of a higher educationis not to take an empty mind and fillit, but to take a closed mind and openit,” Shelton said. Rick Niswander,chair of the faculty, said he and hiscolleagues were proud of the gradu-ates and urged them to succeed and tostay in touch.

“As you leave you’ll take a partof us with you and you will leave apart of you with us,” he said. “We’vebeen through a lot. Your experienceshows you can meet a challenge andsucceed. And when you go throughlife, don’t set limits – set goals.Believe that you can. Because we do.”

The morning program honoredboth undergraduate and graduate

Chitwood Earns UNC’s Highest Faculty Honor

Long-Awaited Day of Celebration

Friends and parents of ECU graduates wave to theirloved ones during the May 8 commencement. ChancellorBill Shelton encouraged graduates to believe inthemselves and to keep an open mind throughout theirc o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 1 2

lifetimes. In the afternoon ceremony, Vice Chancellorfor Academic Affairs Jim Smith advised the students toseek knowledge beyond facts and figures. (Photo byMarc J. Kawanishi)

c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 7W. Randolph Chitwood

CHAPEL HILL – W. RandolphChitwood, professor of surgery and chiefof cardiothoracic and vascular surgery atEast Carolina University, and BranislavVlahovic, professor of physics at N.C.Central University, received the O. MaxGardner Award May 14 from the Board ofGovernors of the 16-campus University ofNorth Carolina.

Chitwood was honored for hisgroundbreaking innovations in cardiacsurgery, including his development ofendoscopic techniques, while Vlahovicwas recognized for his contributions to thefield of nuclear physics and the develop-ment of solar technologies as energysources, as well as his work with minorityundergraduate students.

The Gardner Award, givenannually since 1949, was established by

the will of North Carolina Gov. OliverMax Gardner to recognize faculty whohave “made the greatest contributions tothe welfare of the human race.” It is theonly award for which all faculty membersof the 16 UNC campuses are eligible.Recipients are nominated by theirchancellors and selected by the Board ofGovernors. The 2004 awards carry a$10,000 cash prize for each recipient andwere presented by UNC Board of Gover-nors Chairman J. Bradley Wilson, UNCPresident Molly Corbett Broad, andGardner Award Committee Chair PriscillaP. Taylor.

After receiving undergraduatedegrees in economics and history fromHampden-Sydney College, Chitwoodbegan his professional career as a chemistfor DuPont and a photographer in Dela-

ware. Two years later, he returned to hishome state to pursue a medical degree atthe University of Virginia. Followinggraduation, he spent ten years in thehighly competitive surgical residencyprogram at Duke University before beingappointed professor and chief of cardiacsurgery at ECU in 1984.

Chitwood pioneered the develop-ment and expansion of mitral valve repairsurgery in North Carolina, producingbetter outcomes than possible with valvereplacement, which had long been theprevalent surgical treatment. He alsorecognized that endoscopic methods, inwhich a specialized camera and instru-ments are introduced into the body,provide better visibility and access to the

2,568 DegreesConferred

East Carolina University

http://www.news.ecu.edu/poe/poehome.htm

Pieces of Eight May 21, 2004


Faculty Selected for Tenure and PromotionFollowing are departmental listings of facultyrecommended for promotion and/or tenure. Theactions are effective Aug. 23, with the exception ofAcademic Library Services, which becomeseffective July 1.

College of Arts and Sciences

Biology

Dr. Lisa Clough – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Dr. Alfred Lamb – to Professor

Chemistry

Dr. William Allen – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

English

Dr. Reginald Watson – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Geography

Dr. Patrick Pease – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Dr. Emil J. Popke – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

History

Dr. John Tucker – conferral of permanent tenure

Mathematics

Dr. Salman Abdulali – to Professor

Physics

Dr. Jun Qing Lu – conferral of permanent tenure

Psychology

Dr. Jonathan Reed - to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Professional Colleges/Other

Business

Dr. Tope Adeyemi-Bello – to Professor

Dr. Dan Schisler – to Professor

Dr. James Holloway – to Professor

Education

Dr. Todd Finley – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Dr. David Gabbard – to Professor

Dr. Plummer Jones – conferral of permanent tenure

Dr. Mark L’Esperance – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Education - Continued

Dr. Sheila Tucker – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Dr. Nancy Zeller – to Professor

Fine Arts & Communication

Art

Mr. Gilbert Leebrick – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Ms. Jacquelyn Leebrick – to Associate Professorwith conferral of permanent tenure

Mr. Craig Malmrose – to Professor

Ms. Eva Roberts – to Professor

Mr. Jim Tisnado – to Assistant Professor

Communication

Dr. Rebecca Dumlao – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Dr. Linda Goldbold Kean – to Associate Professorwith conferral of permanent tenure

Music

Mr. Jeffrey Bair – to Assistant Professor

Dr. Amy Carr-Richardson – to Associate Professorwith conferral of permanent tenure

Mr. Ara Gregorian – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Mr. John Kramar - to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Dr. Kevin Moll – Associate Professor with confer-ral of permanent tenure

Dr. Mark Richardson – to Assistant Professor

Health and Human Performance

Dr. Ronald Cortright – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Dr. Sharon Knight – to Professor

Dr. Anthony Laker – conferral of permanent tenure

Dr. Thomas Raedeke – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Dr. David White – to Professor

Human Ecology

Dr. Madhava Bodapati – conferral of permanenttenure

Dr. James Chandler – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Human Ecology - Continued

Dr. Runying Chen – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Dr. Laura McArthur – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Dr. John Pierpont – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Dr. Richard Pozzuto - to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Academic Library Services

Mr. Gary Greenstein – to Assistant Professor

Ms. Janice Lewis – to Associate Professor withconferral of permanent tenure

Ms. Nancy Shires – to Professor

Allied Health Sciences

Suzanne Hudson, Ph.D. – promotion to AssociateProfessor with conferral of permanent tenure

Kermit Cyrus Whaley, Ed.D. – conferral ofpermanent tenure

Brody School of Medicine

Harry J. DeAntonio, D.O. – promotion to Profes-sor

Walter J. Quan, M.D. – promotion to AssociateProfessor with conferral of permanent tenure

Kori L. Brewer, Ph.D. – promotion to AssociateProfessor

John E. Gough, M.D. – promotion to Professor

Everett C. Pesci, Ph.D. – promotion to AssociateProfessor with conferral of permanent tenure

David W. Hannon, M.D. – promotion to Professor

Nancy L. Smith, M.D. – promotion to AssociateProfessor with conferral of permanent tenure

Laxmansa C. Katwa, Ph.D. – promotion toAssociate Professor with conferral of permanenttenure

School of Nursing

Janice Neil, Ph.D. – promotion to AssociateProfessor with conferral of permanent tenure

Alta Andrews, Dr. P.H. – promotion to Professor

Linda Mayne, Ph.D. – conferral of permanenttenure

May 21, 2004 Pieces of Eight


News in Brief

Pieces of Eight

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.)

Pieces of Eight, a newspaper for East Carolina University facultyand staff, is issued monthly during the academic year by the ECUNews Bureau (News & Communication Services).

Items may be sent to the Editor via campus mail addressed toHoward House, East Campus; delivered in person to HowardHouse, corner of East Fifth Street and Rotary Avenue; or e-mailedto [email protected]. Phone inquiries to 328-1162.

www.news.ecu.edu/poe/poehome.htmVolume 26, Number 9

Holly Hapke, a professor ofgeography at East Carolina University,received a Fulbright-Hayes FacultyResearch Abroad award to continue herresearch in South Indian fishing villages.

Hapke’s work, “Gender, Caste-Religion andEconomic Liveli-hood in the Fisher-ies Sector of SouthIndia,” examines therelationships ofwomen’s roles infamily and themarketplace in theIndian state ofKerala and howthese roles areaffected bymodernization and shifting environmental

conditions.“What the project does is examine

the relationship between women’sautonomy in the fisheries sector,” shesaid. “I look at how ideology and thedivision of labor among the differentreligious communities influences theirstrategies for survival.”

Hapke will conduct research inthree villages in the vicinity of Kerala’scapitol, Trivandrum, during the next year.She will study Christian, Muslim andHindu families.

This is the second time Hapke hasstudied in India on a Fulbright grant. Inaddition to the current Fulbright-HayesFaculty Research Abroad grant, Hapke isalso an alternate for a second Fulbrightgrant, administered through the U.S. StateDepartment.

Fulbright Funds Indian Study

Hapke

The recipients of the Chancellor’sSynergy Awards were announced at a May4 ceremony at Hendrix Auditorium.

Jim Mullen, interim associate vicechancellor of human resources, congratu-lated the dozens of individuals and teamswho were nominated this year. There were22 teams in all that were nominated forconsideration.

“In order for ECU to reach its goals,we must combine our talents and skills,”he said. “I would like to express mysincere gratitude for the service you haveprovided to ECU and the community.”

The Synergy Awards are designed torecognize employees who combine theirindividual talents to produce outcomesthat would not be possible without theircollaboration, Mullen said. Award winnersare offered eight additional hours ofvacation time and receive a plaque and

certificate. Event attendees celebratedwith a reception after the awards cer-emony.

The five teams that received theaward are:

• Brenda Brown, Elizabeth Colbert,Hisham Barakat, Walter Pories, Al Morris,William Chapman, David Resnik, NatalieMorace, Linus Dohm, Edward Seidel,Bobbie Lou Price, Robert Hickner, MohaTabrizi, Al Schreier, Joseph Houmard andKenneth MacDonald.

This team, nominated by MichaelRotundo of the Brody School ofMedicine’s Department of Surgery, wasrecognized for their years of dedication indeveloping ECU’s Bariatric Surgery andMetabolic Research efforts. Worthy ofnote is the development of the Greenville

Campus Teamwork Awarded

Rick Niswander, chair of the Faculty Senate, will continue to lead the board foranother year. Members of East Carolina University’s faculty senate voted April 27 tokeep Niswander, faculty vice chair Catherine Rigsby (Geology) and secretary Jan Tovey(English) in their current seats. Niswander, a professor of business, was challenged byRalph Scott of Academic Library Services. Connie Ciesielski of the College of Technol-ogy and Computer Science and John Cope of the Psychology Department vied with Rigsbyfor the vice chair seat. Patricia Anderson of the College of Education will serve again asparliamentarian. Members also chose meeting dates for the 2004-05 academic year (Sept.14, Oct. 12, Nov. 9, Dec. 7, Jan. 25, Feb. 22, March 22, April 19, April 26).

Faculty Senate Officers Named

To help researchers become more knowledgeable about the childhood obesity epi-demic in eastern North Carolina, the ECU University Health Systems Pediatric HealthyWeight Research and Treatment Center has prepared a white paper on the topic. The paperprovides data from regional studies as well as data from self-reported youth behavioralstudies on diet and physical activity. The paper highlights the fact that close to half of allchildren and youth in eastern North Carolina are either at-risk for being overweight or arealready overweight. The role schools play in childhood obesity is discussed as well aslocal research and community efforts to combat the epidemic. The paper is available athttp://www.ecu.edu/pediatrics. Hard copies are available through Ms. Yancey Crawford,program coordinator at [email protected].

The ECU Board of Trustees approved nine new members of the Board of VisitorsMay 7. The Board of Visitors, which has 50 members, serves as an advocacy group forthe university in the community and throughout local and state government. Those ap-pointed to serve a four-year term through 2008 are: Marvin Blount III, of Greenville;Michael F. Bumpass of Greensboro; Jim Creech of Greenville; Carl W. Davis, Jr., ofRaleigh; Christopher J. Gauland, of Greenville; John R. Grinnell, Jr., of Chapel Hill;Mary Plybon, of Greensboro; and Johnnie M. Robbins, Jr., of Manteo. Benjamin A. Parrottof Greenville was appointed to serve a three-year term through 2007. All of the visitorsappointed Friday are ECU alumni. Board of Visitors officers reelected for the 2004-05term are: Chair Joel K. Butler of Greenville; Vice Chair Doug Byrd of Raleigh; SecretaryE.A. (Tod) Thorne of Charlotte.

New Members Selected for Board of Visitors

ECU students in 14 programs arerequired to have access to a computer forthe upcoming fall semester. The policychange will affect about 1,700 students.

University officials say the mandateis the next step in moving ECU toward itstechnology proficiency goals.

“This is a significant step in theinformation technology maturity of theuniversity,” said Jeff Huskamp, chiefinformation officer for ECU’s InformationTechnology and Computing Services.

About 80 percent of freshmen cometo the university with a computer, he said.

Participating programs vary frombiology to business. Huskamp said theuniversity chose to take a slower approachin order to more effectively introducefaculty, staff and students to the change.

Financial aid will be available tostudents who cannot afford a computer. Inaddition, IBM and Apple computercompanies are working with the univer-sity to provide discounts of up to 52percent when computers are purchasedthrough the university bookstore.

Beginning in the fall of 2004, thefollowing academic degree programs willrequire their students to have access to acomputer that meets the minimum speci-

fications for their department:

• College of Education, businesseducation majors

• College of Arts and Sciences,biology majors

• School of Industry and Technol-ogy – construction management, indus-trial distribution, industrial technology,information and computer technology,networking/electronic, planning, design/drafting and manufacturing majors.

• School of Art, communicationarts majors

• School of Medicine• College of Human Ecology,

criminal justice majors• School of Allied Health SciencesThe following departments strongly

recommended that their students haveaccess to a computer that meets theseminimum specifications:

• In the College Arts and Sciences,anthropology and physics

• In the College of Education:graduate program, music education,teaching fellows and theatre education.

Additional information can be foundat www.ecu.edu/ACE/departments.htm.

Programs Mandate Computers

c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 9

Food Literacy Volunteer Training Begins in June

The Food Literacy Partners in partnership with ECU Campus Dining will offer theFood Literacy Training Program June 2 through Sept. 15. The free program is a 16-weekcourse focusing on food and nutrition messages identified as important for the nutri-tional well-being of eastern North Carolinians. In return for training, volunteers provide20 hours of service to the community over the next year in locations such as schoolclassrooms, churches or service club meetings. Volunteers receive incentives such as t-shirts, books, and tote bags for completing the class, which occurs on Wednesdays fromnoon to 1 p.m. Contact Jacqueline L. Duffy at 744-1388 or [email protected].

White Paper Available on Childhood Obesity

Biology Department Celebrates 40 Years

ECU’s Biology Department celebrated its 40th anniversary with a series of eventsheld May 6 and 7. A 40th anniversary seminar was presented by Dr. Claude Hughes,outstanding ECU alumnus and senior director of Medical and Scientific Services atQuintiles Transnational in Research Triangle Park. Hughes spoke on “Exposure of theHuman Fetus to Endocrine Toxicants and Dietary Phytoestrogens.” In addition, thedepartment’s spring commencement ceremony, held May 7 in Hendrix Theatre, was fol-lowed by a formal anniversary celebration and reception in the new Science and Technol-ogy Building. Hughes delivered the keynote address at the departmental ceremony.

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.news.ecu.edu/poe/poehome.htm

http://www.ecu.edu/pediatrics





Dr. Robert G. Carroll, professor ofphysiology at the Brody School ofMedicine, has received the highestteaching honor given by the AmericanPhysiological Society (APS).

Carroll was presented the Arthur C.Guyton Physiology Educator of the Yearaward during the society’s annual meetingApril 17-21 in Washington, D.C.

“It is an honor to receive thisrecognition,” said Carroll. “Physiology,which emphasizes normal body function,is a core subject in the health sciences.Physiologists have a long tradition ineducating researchers and health careproviders, and I am proud to be part ofthat tradition.”

The selection committee consideredexcellence inclassroom teaching,commitment to theimprovement ofphysiologyteaching within thecandidate’s owninstitution andcontributions tophysiologyeducation at thecommunity,national andinternational levels.

Carroll was nominated for theaward by his colleague Dr. Walter N.Durán, professor of physiology and ofsurgery at the University of Medicine andDentistry of New Jersey.

“He has the ability to ask importantand timely questions to analyze andevaluate what we are teaching, why aparticular topic is relevant, and how weare transmitting the message to ourstudents,” Durán wrote.

His work on training physiologiststo teach led to Carroll being namedcoordinator and leader of the APS effort tocomplete the “Medical Physiology CoreLearning Objectives Project.” The resultsof that project, which took about threeyear of dedicated work to reach comple-tion, according to Durán, were approvedby the Association of Chairs of Depart-ments of Physiology and published by theAPS.

Durán listed many of Carroll’steaching accomplishments and interests,including designing, writing and evaluat-ing multiple-choice questions. He hasrecently completed three years service tothe USMLE Step 1 Physiology TestMaterial Development Committee of theNational Board of Medical Examiners,Durán noted.

As recipient of the award, Carrollwill receive a framed certificate, hisexpenses paid to attend the APS meetingand an honorarium of $1,000.

Interestingly, Carroll completed hispostdoctoral training under the sponsor-ship of Guyton, for whom the award isnamed. “It seems clear that the influenceof Dr. Guyton was strong in the develop-ment of Dr. Carroll as a scientist and as aneducator,” Durán wrote.

The Chemistry Department at EastCarolina University received grantstotaling $282,500 that will build a top-flight laboratory facility in the university’sScience and Technology Building.

The new laboratory will enablestudents at both ECU and Pitt CommunityCollege who specialize in analyticalchemistry to work in a so-called GoodManufacturing Practices (GMP) labora-tory, a facility that meets the federalstandards and guidelines required forpharmaceutical and biotechnologyindustries.

Moreover, the new lab will enablestudents to graduate from their respectiveprograms prepared to enter the growingpharmaceuticals industry, said ChemistryDepartment chair Chia-yu Li.

“This is not like a regular teachinglab. It will meet all federal regulations.Students need to understand what is goingon in the current industry,” Li said.“When they finish this course, they willbe very marketable in the pharmaceuticaland biotech industry.”

The GMP lab, made possiblethrough the Golden LEAF Foundation andthe North Carolina Biotechnology Center,will be the first of its kind in easternNorth Carolina, and possibly in the state,Li said.

The Golden LEAF Foundation gave$250,000 toward the lab and the NorthCarolina Biotechnology Center gave

$32,500.In addition to the grants, Li credits

the arrival of the lab as the result of along-standing partnership with two localpharmaceutical companies, Metrics Inc.,and DSM Pharmaceuticals.

Metrics founders William PhilHodges and John T. Bray were instrumen-tal in assisting the chemistry departmentin the development of the lab. Peter G.Amanatides, director of quality assurancefor DSM Pharmaceuticals, has also lenthis expertise to the project.

“We have cultivated a relationshipwith our local industries through theyears,” Li said. “The lab was initiated bythe president and vice president ofMetrics. They hire a lot of our studentsand they saw a need in having a lab likethis.”

Li plans to work with these partnersthroughout the summer to build the laband create a new course for the fallsemester. Li will serve as the lab’sdirector. Already several rising seniorsand graduate students have registered forthe course.

“In the laboratory section of thiscourse, working with modern equipment,such as gas and liquid chromatographsand optical spectrometers, students willgain hands-on experience working underthe strict guidelines and regulationsrequired by GMP,“ Li said.

ECU Physiology ProfessorHonored for Teaching

Grant to Fund GMP Lab

It’s a Stretch!

Owen White, father of BethSherrod (Vending Services),Patrick Sherrod (Plumbing) andRalph Sherrod (Grounds), diedMay 8.

In Memoriam

The university’s highest honor forstaff members, the Chancellor’s Awardsfor Excellence, were presented to nineEast Carolina University staffers May 4.

Chancellor William Shelton, alongwith Chuck Hawkins, senior associatevice chancellor of financial services,congratulated the recipients for theirdedication to the university.

“You have expressed your willing-ness to go the extra mile and make sureECU was the best institution we couldpossibly be,” Shelton said. “We knoweach of you provide a service and that isextremely valuable.”

The awards ceremony at HendrixTheatre was followed by a reception inthe multipurpose room of the MendenhallStudent Center.

There are five categories for whicha person may be recognized for theChancellor’s Awards for Excellence:Devotion to Duty, Human Relations,Safety and Heroism, Innovations andPublic Service. In all, 67 ECU stafferswere nominated this year by their peers.Those nominated will receive a certificateof appreciation.

Award winners received a plaque, acertificate and eight extra hours ofvacation time.

The recipients are:• Safety and Heroism: Atlas Adams

of Facilities Services/Grounds Services,nominated by Randy Bridge and JohnGill. During a move-in weekend oncampus, Adams came across a studentconvulsing in front of Jones Dormitory.He quickly called for an ambulance andstayed with the student until help came.

• Devotion to Duty: Jason Denius ofECU’s Volunteer Center, nominated by

Shawn Moore and Jessica Gagne.In addition to his duties as Interim

Director of the ECU Volunteer Center,Denius volunteers for community activi-ties on a regular basis. He also makes timefor both school and his young family.Through his personal experiences, hemotivates others to volunteer as well.

• Devotion to Duty: George Howardof Facilities Services/Grounds Services,nominated by Randy Bridge. Instead ofcalling in on a snowy day on Jan. 23,Howard, a College Hill landscaper, startedto walk to work out of concern for thesafety of his wife, who regularly driveshim to work. He caught a ride after a mileor two and made it to work just a fewminutes late that day.

• Public Service: Linda Schadler ofAdult Hematology, nominated by MelissaSmith.

In addition to working at the LeoJenkins Cancer Center, Schadler volun-teers her time to outreach clinics forcancer screening, cheers up cancersurvivors at the Survivor Day Ceremony,and promotes the center’s annual gala andpatient programs.

• Devotion to Duty: Lynne Siegel ofPsychiatry, nominated by John Diamond,M.D.

Chancellor’s Awards Presented

Walkers warm up before the one-mile Super Walk that highlighted ECUEmployee Health and Fitness Day on May 5. Activities also included doorprizes, free fitness and nutrition information, exercise tips, and blood pressurescreenings, along with program information for the Student Recreation Center.The event is co-sponsored annually by Recreational Services, HumanResources, Campus Dining, and the ECU Staff Senate. Employee Healthand Fitness Day was part of Employee Appreciation Week, May 3-6, sponsoredby the ECU Staff Senate Rewards and Recognition Committee. Eventsthroughout the week included Pirate Pride Day, May 3; Awards Day, May 4;and Community Day, May 6. Community Day included both blood drives andfood drives to benefit the community. (Photo by Marc J. Kawanishi)

c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 10

Carroll



Earl Smith thought the highlight ofhis visit to East Carolina University inApril would be the pleasure of throwingthe first pitch at the Pirates’ match-upagainst Louisville.

But the retired ECU coach andprofessor left Greenville with more thanjust the honor of tossing the first pitch atthe April 23 game. The man who broughtECU’s baseball team to the NCAA finalsfour times in the 1960s was the star guestat a luncheon attended by a mix of retiredand current faculty from ECU’s Collegeof Health and Human Performance atTodd Dining Hall.

Health and Human PerformanceDean Glen Gilbert said he was delightedto have the chance to meet with Smith andhis wife, Florence Smith.

“We started this about a year ago.We decided to make contact with theemeritus faculty in our department,”Gilbert said. “It’s blossomed into anappreciation lunch for our retirees, andoften current faculty members to comeand join us for the afternoon.”

By all accounts, Smith’s pitch at theballgame was strong and focused, andperhaps set the tone for a three-game

sweep against the Cardinals. Smith,recalling the game that day, said he wasimpressed with the quality of the team.

“I thought they were well balancedand if their pitching holds, they’ll do well

this season,” Smith said.In addition to his list of athletic

accolades, the 86-year-old Smith can takethe credit of being both alumnus andemeritus at ECU. Smith came to ECU in

1937 after stints at North Carolina Stateand Campbell Universities. He playedbaseball in the 1938-39 seasons, hisbatting average peaking at .513 in 1939,he said.

Smith returned to ECU just over adecade later, serving as a health andphysical education faculty member andcoaching several different sports at ECUfrom 1953 through 1972.

Smith said he coached baseballexclusively from 1963 through 1972,earning the Southern Conference champi-onship four years out of nine. He retiredfrom ECU after 26 years in 1979. He wenton to become a professional baseballscout and coaching instructor.

In 1977, Smith was inducted intothe ECU Hall of Fame. He was added tothe roster of the North Carolina SportsHall of Fame in 2003.

These and other aspects of Smith’slong career at ECU were fodder fordiscussion at the noontime gathering atTodd Hall. The luncheon had the feel ofan Old Home Day, with antiquated pagesof yearbooks passed about and jovialrecaps of games past. Chatter ranged frombatting averages and star players to thereal reason why Smith left NCSU and

ECU alumnus, emeritus and coach Earl Smith, (center) chuckles at a page from a1968 yearbook. His wife, Florence Smith (left), and ECU Health and HumanPerformance Dean Glen Gilbert look on. Retired and current faculty assembled inSmith’s honor in April at a luncheon at Todd Dining Hall. (Photo by Erica Plouffe)

Luncheon Honors Former Winning Baseball CoachBy Erica Plouffe

As if glitches on the screen, heavypixilation and power outages weren’tenough, then someone trips on a cord inSwitzerland, causing the Internet connec-tion to drop.

If Murphy’s Law applies to aca-demic environments, East CarolinaUniversity’s Global Classroom in the newScience and Technology Building has hadmore than its fair share. But that’s all partof the learning process in this latest formof global education.

“Sometimes the technology fails,”said Elmer Poe, who, along with RosinaChia, created ECU’s Global Classroom.“And we expect that.”

Participants say the technical andcommunication challenges are part of theproject, which expanded this year toinclude China, the Gambia and Switzer-land.

On April 20, students from the fournations said goodbye to each other onscreen as part of the ceremonial farewell.

“The world is becoming a smallerplace, even for the 98 percent of studentsin any country who cannot participate instudy abroad programs,” said Chia, ECU’sinterim assistant vice chancellor forglobal academic initiatives.

For ECU student Joe Wolyniak,who has participated in the venture twiceand will participate in a class with Russiathis summer, the world is shrinking by thesemester.

“I’m very interested in Africa, so tome the Gambia was the most interestingnew element of the course,” he said.“Gambia loses power eight to 10 times a

day and they had to receive specialarrangements from the power company toparticipate. For them to join us was reallyan honor.”

The course includes more than 40students from four continents who meetand interact, using real-time digital videofeed and e-mail. Students team with eachother through e-mail and then engage ingroup discussions during class time.

Topics including family, media,philosophy and business are discussed.Professors from all four institutionsparticipate in teaching the class.

For professors and students alike,the relationships established during thecourse of the semester will continue.

One ECU student will meet up withher Swiss partner, Zsolt, this summer inVenice. The two now talk every day andhope to tour the city together.

For others involved, the expansionof the global classroom to the Gambia andSwitzerland piqued the interest of otherU.S. colleges and universities who wish toincrease their global scale.

Plans are in the works to help otheracademic institutions this summer get setup with ECU’s model of the globalclassroom. For ECU, two global classesare on the horizon for the fall of 2004involving partnerships with universities inRussia and South Africa.

At the closing ceremony, futureexpansion was recognized as inevitable.

“I really feel proud to be a part ofthis,” said an administrator at China’sSoochow University via live feed. “Fiveto 10 years in the future, I believe thistype of program will be common in theclassroom.”

Electronic Farewell Ends Global Classroom Session

By Nancy McGillicuddy

c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 1 1

Elmer Poe, associate vice chancellor in the College of Technology and ComputerScience, speaks with colleagues in the Gambia, China and Switzerland duringthe closing ceremony of the global classroom. (Photo by Erica Plouffe)





In coordination with the Recognition andRewards Committee of the ECU Chan-cellor’s Staff Senate, the Pieces of Eightseries honoring exceptional ECU staffmembers recognizes Ryan Winget.

By Judy Currin

Winget Leads Students in Alternative Spring Break

ECU Staff Collaborate for ‘Dreams to Degrees’ CD

Ryan Winget thinks ECU’s Alterna-tive Spring Break program is the best-keptsecret on campus.

Offered by the Campus LivingDepartment and chaired by Winget, JonesHall coordinator, the program helpsstudents find volunteer community serviceopportunities during the annual break.

“We call it ‘alternative’ spring breakbecause it offers students another way tospend the traditional ‘party’ week,”Winget said.

“Each spring we take a group ofstudents to a location to do communityservice and have the students reflect onthat service.

The secret is that the educationalreturn far exceeds the monetary invest-ment,” Winget said. The cost for studentsin the past has only been $100. CampusLiving pays the additional $100-$150 fortransportation. The number of participantsvaries from year to year. But there doesseem to be a lot of recurring interest.

“The program is a learning experi-ence outside the classroom,” Winget said.

“Students learn from the work theydo and from each other. And they have alot of fun.”

Winget, 28, has a lot of fun, too. Hisinvolvement with the Alternative SpringBreak program is voluntary, but not new.Winget was a student participant inexperiential learning trips as an under-

graduate at Wright State University inDayton, Ohio.

While working his way throughgraduate school as a resident director atN.C. State, Winget turned down theopportunity to volunteer as an adviser ontwo international alternative spring breaks.

“I regret that decision,” Winget said.“When the opportunity presented itselfthree years ago at ECU, I jumped right in.”

Winget’s volunteer efforts oncampus extend well beyond the Alterna-tive Spring Break program.

He co-advises the new ECU Campus

Chapter of Habitat for Humanity withJason Denius, interim director at the ECUVolunteer Center. He also serves onCampus Living’s Service LearningAdvisory Board, which sponsors day andweekend-long service learning trips forstudents in the immediate area.

“I love advising the trips andwatching the students interact with eachother,” Winget said.

Information sessions held in the fallallow student volunteers the opportunityto choose where they want to spend theweek. Past locations include Washington,D.C., Atlanta, Cleveland and Tallahassee.Community service projects vary with thelocation.

In Washington, the students workedwith a retirement home and childrenliving in high-risk areas. In Atlanta,efforts focused on the local food bank,Goodwill and a homeless shelter.

“The students found Cleveland to betoo cold,” Winget said. “That’s why thispast spring they picked Florida.”

Last March, Winget and co-adviser,Christine Guy, took 18 ECU studentvolunteers to Tallahassee, Fla., to workwith Habitat for Humanity’s CollegiateChallenge.

In Tallahassee they stayed at acampsite, worked all day and relaxed inthe evenings with students from DallasBaptist College, the University ofMinnesota and the University of Wiscon-sin at Madison.

Winget said they worked onbuilding a house, renovated a donatedformer crack house and spent time withTallahassee’s Coalition for the Homeless.

Winget said the trips offer students achance to share experiences and plan forvolunteer endeavors.

“They are emotionally chargedabout what they are doing that week,”Winget said. “Christine and I ask them tothink about how they are going to directtheir volunteer efforts for the rest of theirlives. What are they going to do to giveback to their communities in the future?”

Ryan Winget, Jones Hall coordinator and chair of ECU’s Alternative Spring Breakprogram, takes a rare opportunity to relax and settles into a rocker on the porchof Jones Hall. (Photo by Marc J. Kawanishi)

When James Sadler, UNC’sassociate vice chancellor for academicplanning, presents his report on thesystem’s distance education program tothe general assembly this spring, he’lltake a little bit of East Carolina Universitywith him.

ECU staffers created and produced aCD, “Dreams to Degrees” which focuseson UNC-wide efforts in distance educa-tion. Sadler, who oversees the system-wide initiative, needed to find a way toinform legislators of the relatively newway of delivering higher education. Heasked ECU to help him out.

“The state is funding distanceeducation enrollment and we wanted toproduce something that would illustrate tothe legislature, to the Board of Governorsand to any of the universities’ boards oftrustees what exactly distance education isin the UNC system,” Sadler said.

The collaboration occurred afterSadler saw a promotional video for ECU,shot and produced under the direction ofElmer Poe, ECU’s associate vice chancel-lor for distance education, informationtechnology and faculty development.Upon Sadler’s request to produce a CDthat would illustrate the system’s distanceeducation program, Poe’s creative team

sprang into action this winter. The CDwas completed this month.

“(Dr. Sadler) wanted to have a videothat told the story of the distance educa-tion program of the UNC system,” saidCarolyn Dunn, ECU’s coordinator formarketing for the Division of ContinuingStudies. Dunn, along with Laurie Godwin,interim director for ECU’s MultimediaCenter, and technology consultants GinnySconiers and David Paul Jones, producedfootage and prepared the documents forthe project. ECU theatre professor JohnShearin provided narration for the film.

In addition to the 13-minute filmthat provides four vignettes aboutdistance-education students who attendUNC schools, the CD provides aPowerPoint presentation, along withdistance education facts and figures fromevery UNC school.

Sadler, who used the CD to presentat the May meeting of the UNC Board ofGovernors, said he was pleased with thecontent and quality of the CD, and notedit will be a great informational tool forlawmakers, the UNC Board of Governorsand trustees at various campuses.

In the past four years, the UNCsystem’s online degree offerings haveincreased dramatically, Sadler said. The

CD will show legislators that distanceeducation helps their goal of makingeducation more accessible to NorthCarolina residents. More than 20,000people across the state have taken one ormore distance education course just lastyear.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth,”he said. “In the past four years, onlinedegree programs have grown from six in

2000 to 67 in 2004.”Dunn said that quite a few distance

education programs – including nursing,information technology and education –enable students to earn degrees that willhave a positive economic effect as well.

“The legislature had said years agotheir goal was to make universities moreaccessible,” she said. “We are able to dothis through distance education.”

Left to right, Laurie Godwin, Carolyn Dunn, David Paul Jones, and Ginny Sconiersdiscuss creation of a promotional CD on distance education. (Photo by Joy Holster)

‘They are emotionallycharged about what theyare doing that week.’




The village of Kadami, Uganda andthe city of Greenville are figuratively andliterally a world apart. No one can explainthe differences better than Dr. SylvesterOdeke, who has a foot in both cultures.

As a physician at the Brody Schoolof Medicine at East Carolina University,Odeke has access for his patients to themost up-to-date medical diagnosticequipment and tests. In November, Odekereturned to his native village and con-tracted with a well-drilling company inthe capital city of Kampala to drill twoboreholes to provide a source of cleandrinking water. And it was cause for localcelebration.

“One of the things on my mind for along time has been to get a source of cleandrinking water for my village and thelocal primary school,” said Odeke, whowas born and educated in Uganda. Theschool servesapproximately300 children anddidn’t have asource of cleandrinking water.The well at theschool will alsoserve a widercommunitybeyond theschool grounds.The village hasapproximately300 residents,including family members of Odeke. “Agood many of them are my relatives,” hesaid. “Everybody there is related.”

Odeke, clinical assistant professorof internal medicine at the Brody Schoolof Medicine at East Carolina University,

provided the funds to dig two wells withhand pumps to serve his village and thenearby school. The wells were dug to 30meters (approximately 100 feet) – deepenough to provide clean water through theyear, including the dry season. Uganda islocated in eastern Africa with a populationof approximately 26 million; Kadami islocated in the Kumi district in the easternpart of Uganda.

Odeke’s original plan was to dig one50-meter well at the school and to install alarge water reservoir complete with asolar-operated pump so residents couldeasily draw water from the reservoir.Although this would have been a muchmore reliable and enduring source ofclean water, it would have cost nearly$9,000 to complete. Odeke and the well-drilling operator saw the immediate needand decided to dig two 30-meter wellsinstead. Odeke had already scheduled ahydro-geological survey so the drill oper-ator would know precisely where to drill.

In total, the two wells and thesurvey cost $4,500. The majority of thefunds came from Odeke, but he didreceive $850 in contributions from formercolleagues at the University of Pittsburgh,members at his church, Faith and Victoryin Winterville, and fellow faculty mem-bers in the Division of Endocrinology.

Odeke joined ECU in 2002 afterpracticing two years in Australia. Born inUganda, Odeke earned his medical degreefrom Makerere University in Kampala,Uganda and received a diploma alongwith a masters degree in tropical medicineand hygiene from the London School ofHygiene and Tropical Medicine.

He completed residency training atMercy Hospital in Pittsburgh and afellowship in endocrinology, diabetes andmetabolism at MCP Hahnemann Univer-sity in Philadelphia.

Before the wells, the source ofwater for the village and the school washand dug holes in the ground near a localswamp where water would slowly trickle.Women would walk the mile or mile-and-a-half distance from the village each dayto draw their water for cooking anddrinking and then walk back with thebuckets on their heads.

“The water from the spring is notdrinkable, but they would drink it. Therewas a high incidence of water-bornediseases. They don’t want to have to boilthe water and then wait for it to cool downto drink,” he said. “When the water cameup after we drilled, it looked like watershould look—clear and drinkable.”

When the first pan of water waspumped up from the ground, the villagers

prayed and poured it onto the ground as athanks offering to God.

“If I had my way, I would buy adrilling machine,” to provide wellsthroughout the other neighboring areas, hesaid.

The next project on Odeke’s list ismuch more ambitious – a 150-bedhospital. In 1999, he met with communityleaders and secured 15 to 20 acres for thehospital in a local town near his village.Currently residents in the parish whereOdeke grew up have to travel 20 mileseach way to go to a hospital or physician,usually on foot or bicycle in the heat ofthe day or rain.

The local government has estab-lished with Odeke’s supervision acommittee of 16 people to educate theirfellow residents of the neighboring fourparishes about the need for the hospitaland to raise money for it. “It is not thatthey will raise a lot of money,” Odekesaid, “but they will feel they haveownership of it and it is their project.Because of the great need, other parisheshave joined in on the project.”

Odeke said local craftsmen arewilling to make the bricks and work onthe project, but still money is needed foreverything from the architectural draw-ings to the windows and medical equip-ment.

Odeke conservatively estimates thebuilding could be built for $500,000, plusthe cost of the medical equipment needed.

“I don’t know if it will happen inmy lifetime,” he said while he stared aspot on the wall for a long moment. “I’mjust trying to do what is good.”

Odeke and his wife plan on travel-ing again to Kadami in 2006. “Whenever Igo home, it is usually not a vacation. Iusually wake up each morning to find 10to 15 people outside of my house waitingfor me to examine them and give themmedicine, or give them clothes and meetother needs. They have usually come fromafar. Others just come to wish me well,”he said. “The need for a closer hospital isclear.”

As is the water from the new wells.

Physician Returns to Native Uganda to Drill WellsBy Jeannine Manning Hutson

Odeke

A new well was cause for excitement, celebration, and prayers in the Africanvillage of Kadami, Uganda, where ECU’s Sylvester Odeke worked to provide asource of clean drinking water. Above, schoolchildren with water containers gatheraround the newly drilled well. Odeke is a native of the village. (Contributed photo)

Chitwood Earns UNC’s Highest Honorc o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1

mitral valve, and he devised a set ofspecial instruments to simplify theprocedure. He performed the first totallyendoscopic mitral valve repair in NorthAmerica and the second in the world.

The endoscopic technique wasfurther improved by Chitwood’s recogni-tion that robotic technology could providesurgeons with the visibility and freedomof movement required for performing theintricacies of cardiac surgery.

As a result, surgeons from aroundthe world now come to learn the da VinciSurgical System techniques at the BrodySchool of Medicine, the first U.S.institution to perform robotic-assistedmitral valve surgery. The CardiovascularCenter at Pitt County Memorial Hospital,directed by Chitwood, now performs1,200 cardiac surgical, 3,000interventional, and 5,000 catheter-basedprocedures every year.

A member of 25 professionalsocieties, Chitwood recently was electedto the prestigious Royal College ofSurgeons of England and has received his

alma mater’s highest alumnus award,Fellow of Hampden-Sydney College inthe Natural Sciences.

A native of Zagreb, Croatia,Vlahovic received his undergraduatedegree in physics from Zagreb University.He then worked as a research scientist atInstitute Rudjer Boskovic, where he alsoearned master’s and doctoral degrees inphysics.

In 1990, he came to Duke Univer-sity as an associate researcher in experi-mental and computational nuclearphysics. He accepted a visiting professorpost at NCCU in 1995, funding both hissalary and research through NationalScience Foundation grants. Two yearslater, he joined the NCCU faculty full-time.

At NCCU, Vlahovic has establishedstrong research programs in nuclear andparticle physics, computational physicsand nanotechnology and material science,and has made significant contributions inphoton, semiconductor, and few bodyphysics.

With his team, he designed and builta polarimeter for high-energy photons in2001, which was a breakthrough in

experimental nuclear and particle physics.In 2003, Vlahovic created a distinctivecomputer program that advanced the studyof low energy nuclear physics. He alsohas developed unique experimentalfacilities at NCCU for the study ofadvanced solar cells, which are critical fora variety of NASA’s space explorationmissions.

In addition to his research,Vlahovic is committed to teaching andpreparing minority students to pursuescientific careers. He has written severalsuccessful research grants designed tohelp train undergraduate students toconduct research in computational scienceand nanotechnology.

He is continually developing newmodules for student research and includesstudents in active research programs.Largely due to his guidance, in recentyears, NCCU has graduated half of allminority undergraduate physics majorsfrom UNC institutions. He also hasmentored a large number of students whohave continued their research in graduateprograms, and has worked to improve theNCCU physics curriculum and developnew courses.



NewsMakers

In the Spotlight

Service, Honors andProfessional Activities

Appointments/Elections

Cynda Johnson, dean of the BrodySchool of Medicine, was elected vicepresident of the American Board ofMedical Specialties (ABMS) at theorganization’s annual meeting.

Joel Butler (Medicine) wasappointed to the board of directors of theN.C. Global Transpark Authority.

Richard C. Kearney (PoliticalScience) was awarded best article, Reviewof Public Personnel Administration(2003), for “The Determinants of StateEmployee Compensation.” He wasawarded by the Section on Personnel Ad-ministration and Labor Relations, Ameri-can Society for Public Administration.

Charles Fantazzi (Foreign Lan-guages) was distinguished visiting scholarfor 2004 at The Centre of Reformationand Renaissance Studies in the Universityof Toronto, March 15-20. He gave twopublic lectures, “Vives Philologus-Paedagogus” and “The ars combinatoriaof Angelo Poliziano,” and presented aconference at the 50th Annual Meeting ofthe Renaissance Society of America inNew York, entitled “Vives’ Fabula dehomine: A Parody of Pico’s Oratio?” Hisedition of Poliziano’s Silvae will appear inMay in the I Tatti Renaissance Library,Harvard University Press.

Mixed media art work by CynthiaBickley-Green (Art), “UnfoldingGeosolid,” was selected for the 47thAnnual National Juried Art Exhibition at

the Rocky Mount Art Center. Juror wasMichael Crane, assistant curator ofAmerican Art, Detroit Institute of Art,Detroit, Mich.

Hanna Jubran (Art) participated inthe 13th International MonumentalSculpture Symposium in Tultepec,Mexico, and his work from last year’ssymposium was used for this year’spromotional poster. Stainless steelsculptures from the international eventwill be exhibited throughout Mexico.

Audrey Kilgore (Art) exhibited “AYear’s Work,” in April at the Upper Crust.

Scott Eagle (Art) exhibited paint-ings, drawings, prints and mixed mediaworks at the Starlight Café in Greenvillein April. His solo show, “Killing Mod-ern,” runs through June 26 at Gallery I atArtspace in Raleigh (www.artspacenc.org/exhibitions_main.html).

Lovinder Gill and Geoff Thomp-son (Communication) premiered thetrailer of their film Chicks 101 at theCucalorus Film Festival in Wilmington,and the film was featured in ProductionUpdate magazine. Composer DavidMcHugh (Mystic Pizza, Moscow on theHudson, Three Fugitives) is writing thescore. Thompson also headed up a 48-film competition at the River Run Inter-national Film Festival in Winston-Salem.

Scott Carter (Music) was guestadjudicator for both the Virginia Band andOrchestra Association District VIII BandFestival in Glouchester, Va., and the N.C.Bandmaster’s Association Northwestern

Band Festival at Lenoir-Rhyne College inHickory. He was guest conductor andclinician at Idaho State University inPocatello, where he worked with areabands and guest conducted the Idaho StateWind Symphomy.

A book by Seodial F. H. Deena(English), Canonization, Colonization,Decolonization, was listed as #41 in theIndian Comparative Studies Top 100Bestselling Books on Indian ComparativeStudies at http://www.indology.net/books.html. Deena also contributed to theNational Humanities Center’s web site,“Making of African American Identity1865-1957, available at http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us/pds/africanamer/africanamer.htm, and organized ECU’sAfrican American Reading Day inFebruary, with 40 readers participatingand attendance nearing 100. Deena’ssummer research, “From Around theGlobe: Secular Authors and BiblicalPerspectives,” was approved and funded.

Reginald Watson (English) waschosen as the first instructor for the newETHN 3500 African American studiescourse. Watson also served as judge forthe Optimist Club Speech Contest.

Tim Daughtry joined MaterialsManagement as the new Central Storesand Receiving manager, responsible forpurchasing, inventory, shipping andreceiving, fixed assets and surplusproperty. A 1981 NCSU graduate,Daughtry was previously employed byMaddux Supply Company.

Construction CranksUp in Summertime

All the ECU sunbath-ers have packed up theirswimsuits and relocated towarmer climes. All theFrisbee players and dog-walkers and cell-phonetalkers that make up a largepercentage of the studentpopulation have loaded theirluggage and moved on forthe summer. Yet one suresign of the season remains –the predictable and ongoingnoises made by work crewscompleting long-awaitedconstruction projects oncampus.

At left, workmen addfinishing touches to the newtower on the $11.9 millionexpansion and renovation forthe Rivers Building. Con-struction is expected to becompleted in June.

Housing the School ofNursing and the College ofHuman Ecology, the buildingwill provide more office andclassrooms space for ECU

faculty and students.Occupants will move

into the new space later thissummer, according toGeorge Harrell, seniorassociate vice chancellor forcampus operations.

Additional projectsunderway across campusinclude construction of theWest End Dining Hall andrenovations to the FlanaganBuilding.

Located on the cornerof Cotanche and Fifthstreets, the new West EndDining Hall should be readyto open for the fall semesterand add capacity for approxi-mately 600 diners. TheFlanagan Building renova-tions will likely be com-pleted by December, Harrellsaid. Academic departmentsnow housed in the OldCafeteria Complex willmove into the renovatedspace. (Photo by JoyHolster)

Rebecca Dumlao (Communication)on WNCT-TV regarding family responsesto media images of sex and violence,March 30.

John Rose and Jean Haas (Medi-cine) on WNCT-TV, WRAL-TV, and inThe Daily Reflector, on reopening of theCountry Doctor Museum, April 14 and 15.

Carroll Dashiell Jr. (Music) and astudent ensemble from the jazz studiesprogram on WITN-TV, performing insupport of the Billy Taylor Jazz Festival,April 16.

Laura Prividera and NikkiHoward (Communication), April 20, onWITN-TV on the oratorical exhibitionheld on campus April 22.

Ralph Rogers (Technology andComputer Science) in The News andObserver, on ECU’s new engineeringprogram, April 29, and The Daily Reflec-tor, April 30.

Kenneth MacDonald and JamesPeden (Medicine) with patients, on

WCTI-TV regarding gastric bypasssurgery, May 10 and May 11.

Charles Phillips (Medicine) onWITN-TV regarding children, recess andskin cancer, May 10.

http://www.indology.net/books.html

http://www.indology.net/books.html

http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us/pds/africanamer/africanamer.htm





PublicationsGastric Bypass operation.

• Amanda Turner, Alise Rowan,Hilda McLawhorn, Greg Miller, ToyaJacobs, Donna Poe, Christina Tugwell,Michelle Evans, Diane Meadows, GingerDrake, Jennifer Vaughan, Cindy Lewis,Faye Tripp, Linda Sawyer, Karen Sabo,Tiffany Poe Smith, Anthony Bartholomewand Kim Holley.

This team, nominated by MichelleEvans of Health Information Systems,received the award for their efforts toprovide training throughout East CarolinaUniversity regarding the new HealthInsurance Portability and AccountabilityAct (HIPAA).

• Scott Alford, Paul Wright, StephenGray, Todd King and Shelly Myers.

This team was nominated by KarenKus of Bate Advising Center for theirefforts to create a new evening compo-nent, “First Night: We’re Throwing A

Party Pirate Style” for the Discover ECUSummer Orientation Program.

• Chuck Boulineau, Bob Griffin,Bridget Brown, Lisa Ross, KevinCarraway and Barbara Ellis.

This team was nominated by NellieTaylor of Materials Management forcreating an electronic tracking andnotification system to assist all depart-ments in keeping their standing orders andcontractual agreements up-to-date.

• Tom Pohlman, Ken Kisida, WayneBlanks, Richard Highsmith, RonRandolph, Doris Rhem, Ronnie Jones,Randy Boyd, Ed Traynor, Robert Cooley,Don Hoggard, Ray Baldree, James Lewis,David Lancaster, William Yarrell, JamesWilloughby, Dennis McGee, BarbaraHenry and Clinton Speight.

This team was nominated by BillKoch of Environmental Health and Safetyfor conducting sanitation inspections andfor substantially reducing the recurrenceof unhealthy conditions.

Campus Teamwork Awarded

Web module by Holly Mathews (Anthropology),“The Importance of Cultural Beliefs in CancerControl: Anthropological Approaches to the Studyof Cultural Meaning,” for the Culture, Cancer andLiteracy Institute, Moffitt Comprehensive CancerCenter, University of South Florida. The modulewas selected as one of the five best modulespublished in three years of the institute’s existence.

Book chapter by Debbie Keelean, John Wiley,and Susan Kaye McGinty (Medicine) with JohnPierpont (Social Work), “Preventing Birth De-fects,” in the Handbook of Preventive Interven-tions for Children and Adolescents.

Article by Medicine faculty T.K. Lee, Ron Alli-son, Kevin O’Brien, Roberta Johnke, CharlesKovacs, and Kalika Sarma, “Radioprotectionof WR-1065 on Human Lymphocytes,” in TheCancer Journal.

Article by Maya Socolovsky (English), “Land,Legacy, and Return: Negotiating a Post-Assimilationist Stance in Allegra Goodman’sKaaterskill Falls” in Shofar: An Interdisciplinary

Journal of Jewish Studies.

Article by Lida Dutkova-Cope (English), “TexasCzech Ethnic Identity: ‘So how Czech are you,really?’” in the Slavic and East European Journal.

Essay by Roger Schlobin (English), “Dark Shad-ows and Bright Lights: Generators and Maintainersof Utopias and Dystopias,” in The Utopian Fantas-tic: Selected Essays from the Twentieth Interna-tional Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts.

Edited and introduced by Tom Douglass (En-glish), a new edition of Hubert Skidmore’s Hawk’sNest for the Appalachian Echoes series, Univ. ofTennessee Press. Also by Douglass, a review ofDon West’s No Lonesome Road: Selected Proseand Poems, in the Charleston Gazette.

Freelance work by Bryan Oesterreich (English)appearing in Our State magazine includes, “GotShrimp,” “Island Music,” and “Return of theLight,” in May 2004; “Rigs to Rhetoric” and “Portof Call,” in March 2004; “Bright Lights, ForestCity,” Dec. 2003; “Painting Lies,” Nov. 2003; and“Gone Fishing,” July 2003.

Sam Hunter (right) speaks at the dedication ceremony of the T.A. LovingLaboratory in the new Science and Technology building on May 6. Hunter,who served as chairman of the construction management department for10 years, is the President and CEO of T. A. Loving Company, a generalcontractor with a long-standing relationship with the university. Also pictured(from left) are Jim Talton, chairman of the ECU Board of Trustees; ChancellorBill Shelton and Richard Brown, vice chancellor of administration andfinance. (Photo by Nancy McGillicuddy)

Loving Lab Dedicated

An East Carolina Universityeducator was named the 2004 ClarissaHug Teacher of the Year Award by theCouncil for Exceptional Children (CEC).

Debbie Metcalf was honored fordedicating more than 30 years to studentswith learning disabilities. In addition tobeing a teacher-in-residence at ECU’sCollege of Education, Metcalf is also anexceptional children’s teacher with PittCounty Schools at H.B. Sugg and Sam D.Bundy schools in Farmville.

She is the first in Pitt County toreceive this award. A formal presentationwas made at the CEC Annual Conventionin New Orleans in April.

Nominated by her colleagues in thedepartment of curriculum and instructionat ECU, Metcalf said this award is themost rewarding of her career.

“Winning the CEC Clarissa HugTeacher of the Year Award furthervalidates my life’s mission to build moreinclusive, caring educational communi-ties,” she said.

“It is truly a great honor.”Metcalf has received several other

honors in her field prior to this includingthe P. Buckley Moss Society’s NationalLearning Disabilities Teacher Award andOutstanding Elementary MathematicsTeacher for Pitt County. She has also beennamed Teacher of the Year at H.B. Suggand Sam Bundy elementary schools threetimes.

David Powers, chair of ECU’sDepartment of Curriculum and Instruc-tion, said Metcalf’s commitment toenriching the lives of her students isunsurpassed.

“Ms. Metcalf is quite extraordinary

in introducing students to the field ofspecial education. She uses her richnetwork across public school systems inthe area to provide the sorts of experi-ences to ECU students that confirmspecial education as their career choice.She offers these prospective teachers amodel of excellence that allows them toenvision what they can become in thisprofession,” he said.

As the 2004 Council for Excep-tional Children Clarissa Hug Teacher ofthe Year, Metcalf will travel the country asthe spokesperson for CEC, representingthe organization before members ofCongress, before CEC administration andthe media.

“I plan to advocate for increasedresponsible inclusion, increased accep-tance of the use of alternative assessmentswith students with disabilities for schoolaccountability purposes, increasedfunding for teacher training and program-ming in special education, and for theimplementation of strategies that promoteteacher retention in schools,” Metcalfsaid.

Marilyn Sheerer, dean of ECU’sCollege of Education, said she was proudof Metcalf’s efforts at ECU and in thepublic school system.

“CEC’s award to Debbie reflects, toa large degree, her work in two contexts— the public schools and in highereducation.

“Because of the strong partnershipbetween Pitt County Schools and ECU’sCollege of Education, Debbie works part-time in both settings, bringing to each aparticular credibility. Debbie’s rolebridges theory and practice, therebyinforming all players in the partnership inan effective, meaningful way,” Sheerersaid.

Metcalf received her bachelor’s andmaster’s degrees from San Diego StateUniversity. She has been teaching childrenwith disabilities since 1971 and has taughtin schools in California, New Mexico,Hawaii, and Michigan before coming toNorth Carolina.

Metcalf Honored for‘Exceptional’ Dedication

Carol Ann Tucker, professor inECU’s College of Health and HumanPerformance, received recognition for herefforts to study and work with those whosuffer from substance abuse.

Tucker received the Art of Preven-tion Award, presented annually by theAddiction Professionals of North Caro-lina/National Association of AddictionProfessionals.

In addition to her faculty post atECU, Tucker has directed the college’sRegional Training Center in the Depart-ment of Health Education and Promotionsince 1985. The substance abuse preven-tion center is funded through the stateDivison of Mental Health and Substance

Abuse Services. Through Tucker’s efforts,the center assists people in 41 countiesacross eastern North Carolina in theirefforts to prevent substance abuse.

Tucker serves on several substanceabuse prevention awards, including theN.C. Substance Abuse ProfessionalCertification Board, the Pitt County Safeand Drug Free Schools Committee and theEastern North Carolina Substance AbuseCoalition.

She is past chair of the statewidePrevention Advisory Committee.

She holds two degrees from EastCarolina University, a bachelor of sciencein health and physical education and amaster’s in education.

Prevention Efforts Recognized

c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 3

BORN: to Tomegia M. Winston(Business, Career and TechnicalEducation), a daughter, AriannaJenae, April 3.

Vital Records



PresentationsPresentation by Rodney C. Roberts (Philoso-phy), “The Counterfactual Conception of Com-pensation,” at the Central Division Meeting of theAmerican Philosophical Association in Chicago,Ill.

Presentation by Susan DelVecchio (Marketing),“Effective Information Technology Sales SupportSystems,” to the 2004 National Conference inSales Management in Reno, Nev.

Presentation by Bonnie G. Mani (Political Sci-ence), “County and City Managers: Professional-ism, Election Systems, Relationships with ElectedOfficials, and Job Security” to the Annual Meetingof the Midwest Political Science Association inChicago, Ill. Patricia Mitchell (Political Science)co-authored the paper.

Carmen Russoniello (Recreation and LeisureStudies), member and past president of the Ameri-can Therapeutic Recreation Association, was in-vited to present, “The Use of Recreational Activityto Promote Health and Prevent Disease,” at theSecond National Steps to a Healthier U.S. Summitin Baltimore, Md.

Presentations by Seodial F. H. Deena (English):“Credibility in Michael Malone’s Time’s Witness,”part of the Let’s Talk About It series sponsored bythe N.C. Humanities Council, Williamston; on thepanel held on campus entitled “Racial Issues,”sponsored by the Kappa Sigma Chapter of DeltaSigma Theta Sorority; and as chair of “What’s InA Name,” session at the Ledonia Wright CulturalCenter.

Presentation by Michael Aceto (English), “TheTriangulation of Language Contact in theAnglophone Atlantic region: West Africa, theWest Indies, and North America” at LAVIS III(Language Variety in the South): Historical andContemporary Perspectives at the University ofAlabama, Tuscaloosa.

Presentation by Don Palumbo (English), “TheMonomyth in Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Des-tination,” at the National Popular Culture Asso-ciation meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Palumboalso chaired a session on Science Fiction andFantasy, and attended a meeting of The Journal ofPopular Culture Editorial Advisory Board.

Presentation by Mike Hamer (English), “TheDigital Dilletante: Taking a Song from Idea toDigital Recording” as keynote speaker at the Sec-

ond Annual Digital Content Consortium Confer-ence, UNC-Pembroke.

Presentation by John Given (Foreign Languagesand Literatures), “Narrative Discontinuity andIdentity in Greek Old Comedy and the AmericanConcept Musical,” at the 28th Annual Compara-tive Drama Conference in Columbus, Ohio.

Presentation by LuAnn Sullivan (Medicine), “TheEffect of Gastric Bypass Surgery on the DigestiveSystem,” to the Anatomy and Physiology classesat J.H. Rose High School in Greenville.

Presentation by Medicine faculty T.K. Lee, RonAllison, Kevin O’Brien, Roberta Johnke,Charles Kovacs, and Kalika Sarma, “Radiopro-tection of WR-1065 on Human Lymphocytes,” atthe 86th Annual Meeting of the American RadiumSociety in Napa Valley, Calif.

Presentation by Janice Neil (Nursing), with co-presenter, “Envrionmental Surveillance in theOperating Room,” at the 51st annual congress ofthe Association of periOperative Registered Nursesin San Diego, Calif.

Presentation by Kelly Adams (Art), “The DigitalResource Collection: An Interdisciplinary Re-source,” at the Digital Content Consortium Brickand Mortar Conference at UNC-Pembroke.

Presentation by Lovinder Gill (Communication)on his film Chicks 101, as a panel member on filmmarketing and distribution at the Cucalorus FilmFestival in Wilmington.

Presentation by Henry Doskey with Kerry Carlin(Music), “The Gillock World Tour: IntroducingWorld Music Styles Through the Solos of WilliamGillock,” at the Music Teachers National Associa-tion National Conference in Kansas City, Mo.

Performances by John Kramar (Music) as direc-tor of a program of opera scenes, “On the Edge,”for Middle Tennessee State University’s OperaWorkshop. Kramar and John O’Brien (Music)also appeared in a local concert, “A Celebration ofBroadway Musicals,” that benefited the EasternN.C. Parkinson’s Disease Support Group.

Jonathan Wacker (Music) participated in a clinicon the performance of improvisation for jazz vi-braphone, and directed the ECU Percussion En-semble as part of the 2004 N.C. Percussive ArtsSociety’s Day of Percussion. Wacker is presidentof the N.C. Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society.

Chancellor’s Awards Presented

Getsinger to Head Alumni

The East Carolina Circle of Omi-cron Delta Kappa National LeadershipHonor Society conducted its springtapping ceremony April 3, inductingStephen Gray, associate director of theUniversity Union.

Omicron Delta Kappa recognizesboth students and faculty at ECU whohave made significant, continuingachievements and contributions to theiruniversity and community as leaders inscholarship, athletics, community, campusservices, or creative and performing arts.Students are nominated during junior andsenior years, and must demonstratesustained leadership experience whilemaintaining high standards of personalscholarship in academics.

Since it was formed in 1989, theECU Circle has inducted over 400 facultyand student members.

Honored at the induction ceremony

were the organization’s faculty advisor Dr.Raymond Webster (Psychology), recipientof the Keating Award for outstandingleadership as a student advocate andmentor; and vice president K’CharisDrewery, recipient of the Richard R.Eakin Award for leadership and contribu-tions to the Circle.

Current officers also includeAmanda Gibbons, president; ArielleHogarth, president elect; Leanne Smith,treasurer and web designer; and TytishiaDavis (University Union), facultysecretary.

Students inducted at the ceremonywere Elizabeth Anderson, LindsayCreech, Kirstin Hendricks, ArielleHogarth, Angel Holland, Lauren Mason,Williams Morris, Ajlana Music, BrandiPayne, Kenneth Phelps, Melissa Poag,Patricia Ragin, Stephen Rice, JohnSouthern, and Charles Tucker.

ODK Inducts New Members

Siegel took on an exceptionalworkload and responsibility at a timewhen the department was under signifi-cant stress, attacking problems bothresourcefully and cheerfully.

• Devotion to duty: Rose Gutierrez,landscaper, nominated by Randy Bridgeand John Gill.

Gutierrez, a landscaper on CollegeHill, incorporates what she learns as astudent of agriculture at NCSU into herdaily duties, while also caring for hermother and her young family.

• Devotion to duty: Jenny Simpkinsof Industrial Technology, nominated byLeslie R. Pagliari.

Simpkins demonstrates a dailycommitment to quality customer service, adedication to professionalism withinternal and external constituents, and awillingness to always be there to help.

• Human Relations: Judy St. John of

Pharmacology and Toxicology, nominatedby David A. Taylor.

St. John, office manager andassistant to the chair of ECU’s Pharmacol-ogy and Toxicology department, hasprovided a source of stability over theyears. She serves as an important linkbetween the department, school adminis-tration, the university and the public.

• Innovations: Allen Vervisch ofUniversity Printing & Graphics, nomi-nated by the Business Services Team

Vervisch has improved the effi-ciency of University Printing and Graph-ics by developing new services to benefitthe university. He conducted extensiveresearch on the Composer Optical DiskDuplication System and helped thedepartment purchase and test the newequipment. Allen redesigned a trackingand billing system for the University’scopier services program and helped thedepartment transition to a new fiber opticsystem.

The East Carolina UniversityAlumni Association has selected LaytonGetsinger to serve as its president.

Getsinger, a native of Goldsboro,graduated from East Carolina in 1969 andis a 1965 graduate of Goldsboro HighSchool. In recognition of his lifelongsupport of ECU, in 1999 he received theAlumni Association’s prestigious Out-standing Alumnus Award. He serves aschief operating officer for Copypro, Inc.Professional Office Systems in Greenville.

Paul Clifford, associate vicechancellor for alumni relations at EastCarolina, said Getsinger is a visionaryleader who has a deep passion for hisalma mater.

“His leadership is much needed andgreatly appreciated,” Clifford said.

Founded in 1911, the ECU AlumniAssociation represents over 108,000 ECUalumni worldwide. Clifford saidGetsinger’s skills and enthusiasm meshwell with the mission of the association,

which is dedicated to fostering coopera-tion and loyalty among alumni.

“Layton is adedicated andfiercely loyalindividual withunwavering loveand support forECU,” Cliffordsaid.

Getsinger,who lives inGreenville, is aVietnam Warveteran whoserved more than20 years as a naval officer and navalaviator. In addition to his bachelor’sdegree from East Carolina, Getsingerholds a master’s degree in internationalstudies from Old Dominion University inNorfolk, Va.

His term as president will run fromJuly 1, 2004 until June 30, 2006.

c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 4

Getsinger

Edwin Clemmons, Julie Ocker, Anthony “T” Thomas, and Norman Pugh(left to right) participated in the 7th Annual Stop Abuse For Everyone Walk,the only annual fundraiser for TEDI BEAR: Children’s Advocacy Center,part of the Brody School of Medicine since 1992. The center works toincrease public awareness about issues related to child abuse and neglect.Clemmons, Thomas, and Pugh are employed in the office of ProspectiveHealth. Ocker is director of TEDI BEAR. (Contributed photo)

Walking for TEDI BEAR



Campus Calendar

ExhibitionsThe ECU Volunteer

Center, along with the Jewishstudent organization Hillel,sponsored the Yom HashoahHolocaust RemembranceProject, “Unto Every Person isa Name,” April 19 from 6 a.m.to 6 p.m. on the steps ofChristenbury Gynmasium.

Throughout the 12-hourvigil, volunteers from ECU andthe community recited thenames of Holocaust victims, inan effort to give voices to thosewho were stripped of theiridentities during the Holocaust.

Reciting the names wasintended as a way to recall thateach victim was an individual,a son or daughter, sister orbrother, child or parent.Volunteers also wore braceletsbearing victims’ namesthroughout the day.

Remembrance Project

Campbell for ECU. It wasn’t just hischemistry grades, he said; rather, his then-girlfriend was a student here.

The son of tenant farmers growingup on the Little River, near Micro, N.C.,Smith was the first in his family to go tocollege. His family rented land on theproperty of an old schoolmaster who hadthe only radio and newspaper in the area.

“He liked me and so I’d help himwith the garden, bringing in the wood andhe let me listen to the radio. We would

talk about me going to college,” he said.Now living in Fayetteville, Smith

said he is enjoying retired life.The Smiths brought with them a

basket of goodies, from homemade peppervinegar to apple butter to a gavel, found atan estate sale of a longtime judge. Hegave it to Health and Human PerformanceProfessor John Rose for his efforts incoordinating the lunch and making theSmiths feel at home.

“This is so he (Rose) can call toorder any meeting whenever he wants,”Smith said.

Lunch Honors Winning Coachc o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 6

Ranked #5 in the nation, the Pirates baseball team scoreda 7-2 win over NCSU May 12 in front of a season-highcrowd of 3,510 fans at Grainger Stadium. The game

included five double plays for the Pirates. Above, a hit byPirate outfielder Drew Costanzo drives in yet another run.(Photo by Marc J. Kawanishi)

MAY

FRIDAY 21

ECU Baseball, Pirates vs. Southern Miss.,Hattiesburg, Miss., 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY 22

ECU Baseball, Pirates vs. Southern Miss.,Hattiesburg, Miss., 2 p.m.

WEDNESDAY 26

ECU Baseball, Conference USA Tourna-ment, Houston, Texas, Time TBA.

THURSDAY 27


FRIDAY 28


SATURDAY 29


MONDAY 31

Memorial Day – no classes – holiday forHealth Sciences campus.

JUNE

SUNDAY 13

School of Music Summer Band Camp,through June 18.

TUESDAY 22

ECU/Loessin Playhouse and SummerTheatre, Damn Yankees, Messick The-atre, (through June 26).

Summer Session I classes end.

WEDNESDAY 23

Final Exams

11-week session Midsummer Break, noclasses.

2004 Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibi-tion, Gray Gallery, through May 22.

The Quickening: An Exhibition by Gradu-ate Students, Gray Gallery, June 1through June 29.

THURSDAY 24

Second Summer Session Classes begin

JULY

MONDAY 5

State Holiday, no classes

TUESDAY 6

ECU/Loessin Playhouse and SummerTheatre, Always…Patsy Cline, MessickTheatre, (through July 10).

SATURDAY 10

Summer Guitar Workshop (through July13). Performance by Elliot Frank and JohnMichael Parris July 10, by Jason Vieauxon July 11, and by Jeffrey McFadden andAndrew Zohn on July 12. Workshop at-tendees compete on July 13. Perfor-mances at 8 p.m., Fletcher Recital Hall.

TUESDAY 20

ECU/Loessin Playhouse and SummerTheatre, Smokey Joe’s Café, MessickTheatre (through July 24).

THURSDAY 29

Summer Session II and 11-week sessionclasses end.

Student Janice Jett takes her turn atthe marathon reading of names of theHolocaust victims. Volunteers recitedthe names from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.(Photo by Joy Holster)



On Campus

Facilities Services employees (left to right) James Gainor, Willie Hollis, Billy Suggs,Anthony Mizzelle, James Dixon, James Hines, and Elaine Montalban enjoy anafternoon break in a shady spot across from The Wright Place. A spot in theshade quickly became a desired commodity when the month of May ushered inbright, sunny days and temperatures soaring into the 80s. (Photo by Joy Holster)

ECU’s Todd Dining Hall was namedthe 2004 Loyal E. Horton Dining Awardwinner for “Best Special Event ThemeDinner” Gold Award, a national award inthe large school/university categorypresented by the National Association ofCollege and University Food Services(NACUFS). The winning event, held Feb.26 at Todd Dining Hall, was entitled“Seven Wonders of the World,” andincluded a 10-foot pyramid cake, achocolate replica of the Parthenon, a 60-pound Leaning Tower of Pisa made fromcheese, and a model of Stonehengecreated with Rice Krispy treats. Twelveentrees were served and more than 1,000people attended.

The event was broadcast live fromECU radio station WZMB, and featuredon the WNCT-TV News.

The extravaganza was directed byAngela J. Hall (Dining Services), withmore than 42 managers and employeesparticipating in the set-up and execution.Planning began in September, 2003.

This is the dining hall staff’s secondconsecutive first place win in the NationalNACUFS competition. The staff willcompete for the Loyal E. Horton Grand

Prize in Las Vegas.Todd Dining Hall also captured an

honorable mention for the HalloweenHorror Feast Special Event ThemeDinner, and Mendenhall Dining Hallreceived honorable mention for the Tourof Italy Special Event Theme Dinner.

Todd Wins National Award

Phil Smith, executive pastry chef, putsthe final gold icing on the pyramid cakehe created for the award-winning “7Wonders of the World” event at ToddDining Hall. (Contributed photo)

As of Jan. 1, 2004, the Power ofOne Mentoring program transferred fromthe sponsorship of the ECU VolunteerCenter to Communities in Schools.

The Power of One Mentoringprogram matches Pitt County youth ages 6to 19 with responsible caring adults.Jennifer Boyd, the Pitt County Power ofOne Coordinator, is actively recruitingmentors throughout the Pitt County area.

The organization seeks responsible,committed individuals who want to seethe positive results of their interactionswith a deserving youth. Statistics haveshown that mentors who follow therequirements of the Power of OneMentoring Program will see dramatic

improvements in the mentored youths’attitude, school attendance, and outlooktoward the future.

Mentors spend at least two hours aweek with their youth for a minimum of ayear. Mentors and their youth are engagedin activities such as bowling, picnics,outdoor games, art and theatrical shows,homework, fishing, as well as exploringcommon interest areas.

Frequently, the Power of Oneprogram sponsors a group activity for allyouth and mentors to meet and connectwith each other.

If interested, contact the Power ofOne program at 902-6504, or [email protected].

Power of One Seeks Mentors

Brody School of Medicine, the College ofEducation, the College of Human Ecol-ogy, the College of Health and HumanPerformance, the College of Technologyand Computer Science, the School ofAllied Health Sciences and the School ofNursing. The afternoon ceremonyrecognized candidates from the ThomasHarriot College of Arts and Sciences, theCollege of Business and the College ofFine Arts and Communication.

Irene Smith Howell, founder of theHowell Centers and longtime supporter ofECU, was awarded an honorary doctor ofletters at the morning ceremony.

Five graduates were also honored atthe afternoon ceremony with the RobertH. Wright Alumni Leadership Award. The

recipients were: Drew Edward Davis ofWeddington, Gail T. Kennedy of Wilson’sMills, Daphne Melvina Harrington ofGreenville, Kevin Michael Lamm ofWilson and Leanne Elizabeth Smith ofGreenville.

James LeRoy Smith, vice chancellorfor academic affairs, spoke to students inthe afternoon ceremony and advised themthat their final exam is to seek knowledgebeyond facts and figures. Truth, commit-ment and autonomy, he said, contribute tothe success of the whole self and give riseto true leadership. “How you carryyourself with regard to truthfulness, thekinds of commitments you make, and theultimate autonomy of how you carryyourself, personally and professionally,will be part of that final exam,” he said.

ECU Awards 2,568 Degreesc o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1

Purple Alert Marshals ECUSupporters Across the State

The East Carolina Universitycommunity has created a statewidenetwork of support through its newestinitiative, Purple Alert.

Launched in April, Purple Alertaims to create a network of ECU support-ers all across the state and in each votingdistrict.

“When a critical issue arises orcomes to a vote, you as a member of thePurple Alert team are contacted, armedwith information and asked to contactyour local legislator,” said Allen Thomas,an ECU alumnus and local businessmanwho launched the effort with ChancellorBill Shelton.

Describing the program as anadvocacy network, Allen introducedPurple Alert to ECU’s Board of Trusteesat their May meeting. Noting that ECUfriends and alumni teach, work and liveacross the state, Thomas said he hopes tosend all legislators a message supportingECU’s interests, not just those in easternNorth Carolina.

“We all know eastern North

Carolina legislators care about ECU; theywant us to succeed. But we can makethese local issues in each county,” he said.

“We hope this will help us get someof our initiatives passed through andhopefully we’ll be able to accomplishsome things.”

More than 70,000 ECU alumni havereceived a voice mail message fromShelton, urging them to sign on to PurpleAlert, said Thomas. Another 30,000 havereceived e-mails. As of May 7, about1,000 ECU supporters had signed up forthe Purple Alert network, Thomas said.He hopes to have support from Pirates inevery county across the state.

“It is a communication mechanism.Not only will we be able to receive input,but we will also be able to send outspecific messages to the ECU commu-nity,” he said. A great attribute of EastCarolina University is if we can organize,we can do anything.”

Faculty and staff interested injoining may sign up online at http://purplealertecu.edu or by calling 328-9300.


http://purplealertecu.edu

http://purplealertecu.edu

May 21, 2004 - East Carolina University

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