Spectrum - Volume 19 Issue 08 October 17, 1996 - Calendar

A non-profit publication of the Office of the University Relations of Virginia Tech,
including The Conductor , a special section of the Spectrum printed 4 times a year

Calendar

Spectrum Volume 19 Issue 08 - October 17, 1996

Events

Thursday, 17

Choices and Challenges Forum, 9 a.m., DBHCC registration 8 a.m., Hotel Roanoke registration 8:30 a.m.: "Quality of Life in the Global Environment: Sharing the Earth's Water Supply."

YMCA Slide Show, noon, Cranwell Center: "Chili-Chillon, Los Angeles and Surrounding Areas," by Bob James.

Staff Senate Meeting, 5:30 p.m., 1810 Litton Reeves.

Friday, 18

Last Day to Resign.

VTU Family Weekend. Through 10-20.

VTU Family Weekend Open Classes, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Book Sale, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Newman Library.

Women's Center Activity, noon, Price House: "Becoming a Women's Resource Center Volunteer/Rape Crisis Companion."

CEUT Activity, 1-3 p.m., DBHCC auditorium: Videoconference on Learning Styles.

International Club Coffee Hour, 5-7 p.m., Cranwell Center.

Student Recital, 8 p.m., Squires Recital Salon: Student Chamber Concert.

Saturday, 19

Admissions Fall Open House Program. Through 10-20.

"With Good Reason," 7:30 a.m., WVTF-FM: "Seeing Green: The Economics of Environmentalism," with William Wood, JMU, and Melanie Marks, Longwood.

Mediation/Conflict Resolution Workshop, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., DBHCC.

Student Concert, 8 p.m., Squires Recital Salon: Lesley Headly, flute, and Dianna Koch, oboe.

Sunday, 20

Admissions Fall Open House Program.

YMCA Hike, 1:30 p.m., Meet at Y Parking Lot: McAfee Knob, led by Craig Smith.

Faculty/Guest Artist Concert, 7 p.m., Squires Recital Salon: Francesca Uhlenbroek, piano.

Monday, 21

CEUT Activity , 1-4 p.m., DBHCC Room C: Sharpening Presentation Skills.

University Council, 3-5 p.m., 1045 Derring Hall.

Performing Community Project, 7 p.m., Hillcrest Living Room: "Community Dialog and Social Change," by Mady Schutzman.

Tuesday, 22

CEUT Activity, 9 a.m.-noon, Hillcrest dining room: Sharpening Presentation Skills.

CEUT Activity, 3-5 p.m., Hillcrest conference room: Videoconference on Learning Styles.

VTU Production , 7:30 p.m., Burruss auditorium: Cotton Patch Gospel .

Women's Center Activity, 7:30 p.m., Squires Brush Mountain Room: "Men's Violence Against Women: Historical Perspectives and Future Directions."

Wednesday, 23

CEUT Activity, 9 a.m.-noon, Hillcrest dining room: Follow-up Workshop on Learning Styles.

Thursday, 24

Art Gallery Exhibit Opening , Armory Art Gallery: "Abstraction: Paintings by Javier Tapia." Through 11-22.

CEUT Activity, 9 a.m.-noon, DBHCC room A: Follow-up Workshop on Learning Styles.

YMCA Slide Show, noon, Cranwell Center: "Travels Through Albania," by Tina and Jerry Spittle.

Seminars

Thursday, 17

Entomology, 4 p.m., 220 Price: "Relevance of Indoor Arthropods to the Asthma Epidemic," by Thomas Platts-Mills, UVa Asthma and Allergic Disease Center.

Geological Sciences, 4 p.m., 2044 Derring: "Three-Dimensional Seismic Data in Oil-Field Development," by Dennis Neff, Phillips Petroleum.

Friday, 18

Finance, 2 p.m., 1003 Pamplin: TBA by Tom Noe, Georgia Tech.

MSE, 3:10 p.m., 114 Holden: "The Mechanisms of Deforming Contacts and Applications to the Modeling of Consolidation," by Dana Elzey, UVa.

Botany, 4 p.m., 1076 Derring: "Freshwater Algae in Water Supplies: Ecology, Problems, Prevention and Cure," by Bruce Parker.

Monday, 21

Biochemistry, 4 p.m., 223 Engel: "Spectroscopic Probes of Metalloenzymes," by Brian Hoffman, Northwestern.

CSES, 4 p.m., 232 Smyth: "Seventeen Years of Biofuels Work at Virginia Tech," by David Parrish.

Horticulture, 4 p.m., 102 Saunders: "Integration of Haploid Techniques into Potato Breeding," by Richard Veilleux.

Wednesday, 23

PPWS, 4 p.m., 503 Price: " Beta-tomatinase, an Enzyme Involved in the Degradation of Alpha-tomatine from Septoria Lycopersici ," by Sansanalak Rachdawong.

Science Study Center, 4 p.m., 304 McBryde: "Principles and Paradoxes of Group Life in Science: Initial Findings from a Longitudinal Study," by Ed Hackett, NSF.

Thursday, 24

CANCELLED. Biochemistry , noon, 223 Engel.

Science Study Center, noon, 132 Lane: "STS at NSF: Circumstances, Prospects, and Opportunities," by Ed Hackett, NSF.

Statistics, 3:45 p.m., 409 Hutcheson: "Empirical Spatial Distributions and Instantaneous Odds Ratios," by Wanzer Drane, University of South Carolina School of Public Health.

Entomology, 4 p.m., 220 Price: "Nematodes to Control White Grubs," by Miklos Nadasy, Pannon Agricultural University, Hungary.

Geological Sciences, 4 p.m., 2044 Derring: "The Three-Dimensional Structure of Double-Porosity Hydrothermal Convection Systems," by Mike Ryan, USGS.

Bulletins

Benefits open enrollment announced

An open enrollment period for health insurance, premium conversion, and flexible reimbursement accounts will be offered from October 20 through November 20, to be effective Jan. 1, 1997.

The open enrollment information will be mailed to your home address from the State Department of Personnel and Training in Richmond. You should already have received a memo from the Benefits Office at your office address outlining the primary changes to be effective Jan. 1, 1997.

No action is necessary if you do not wish to make any changes.

Children's program to focus on bats, bugs

The Virginia Tech Museum of Natural History will present a program for children on "Hall-o-ween Critters: Bats and Bugs!" Saturday, Oct. 26, from 10:30 a.m.-noon at the museum, 428 N. Main St.

The program, for children ages 5-12, begins with "Bat Tales" and is followed by a "spooky spiderweb and bug" quiz game. Participants will be able to make a Hall-o-ween critter craft.

Pre-registration is required by Thursday, Oct. 24. For more information or to pre-register, call 1-3001.

Red Cross plans on-campus blood drive

The American Red Cross will be at Virginia Tech today, at Squires Commonwealth Ballroom from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

Due to low collections, the Red Cross is below emergency inventory levels in O Positive and O Negative blood. As a result, the Red Cross has issued an emergency appeal for these particular blood types. However, all blood types are needed all the time, and no blood types will be refused.

Please call 961-2207 for more information.

Management workshop offered on campus

Project Management Skills and Techniques will be offered November 19-10 from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center.

According to pre-workshop literature, the course will "focus on you in the role of a project manager. You will be given the opportunity to enhance your project-management skills under the direction and tutelage of Rebecca Gonzalez, a world-class consultant in project management and team building. In this course you will learn the critical traits of a successful project manager, criteria for project team selection; five-point project model that takes the project from inception to completion; and tactics to get your project back on target."

Gonzalez has more than 15 years of experience working with Fortune 500 companies. In these companies, she enjoys a reputation for transforming corporate climates from traditional structures to team-based, project-driven organizations. At Xerox Learning Systems she was responsible for training top management trainers to successfully conduct national seminars targeted at Fortune 500 Companies.

Internationally, she is working with the Executive Committee of Eveready Pan American to implement a strategic vision that will coordinate the efforts of all the Eveready Latin American companies.

A $195 fee includes notebook materials, continental breakfasts, and refreshment breaks.

Registration is required by November 8, and enrollment is limited. For more information, call University Leadership Development at 1-6727.

Women in Mathematics Career Day set

University faculty members, students, and alumnae will join together on October 30 with 120 young women from area public schools for an intergenerational, multimedia, mathematical celebration. The welcome session will feature Susan R. Brooker-Gross, associate provost for undergraduate programs, at 1:30 p.m. in 136 Norris. From 2-5 p.m. in McBryde Hall, students will participate in hour-long sessions including computer investigations, an Internet scavenger hunt, and a panel discussion on educational and career opportunities in mathematics.

Career Day activities are sponsored by the Department of Mathematics, Office of the Provost, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Women's Center at Virginia Tech and Womanspace, the Women's Undergraduate Network. For more information contact Susan Anderson (phone 1-8041, e-mail anderson@math.vt.edu ) or John Rossi (phone 1-8272, e-mail rossi@math.vt.edu ).

Paintings by Javier Tapia at Armory Art Gallery

Virginia Tech's Armory Art Gallery, at 201 Draper Road, will showcase works by native Peruvian Javier Tapis October 24 through December 11. Tapis will give a casual gallery talk Wednesday, Oct. 23.

Born in Lima, Peru, Javier Tapia now lives in Richmond, where he is an assistant professor of painting and drawing at Virginia Commonwealth University. Previously he has taught classes and workshops with Studio Arts Centers International in Florence, Italy, the University of Texas at Austin, and with the Horizons workshops in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, and Mitla, Mexico. His work has been exhibited in many professional and educational galleries across the United States, Peru, and Europe.

Tapia's works have been described as heroic in scale and concept. His non-objective oil paintings are mythical abstractions in which the accumulation of time and experience are expressed directly in the dense, sometimes sculptural, layers of paint. Tapia's intimate earthy watercolor-based works on paper portray those personal incidents from which epic themes are derived. Both styles will be exhibited in the Armory Art Gallery's showcase of Javier Tapia's works.

The Armory Art Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information call 1-4859 or 1-5547.

Biotechnology Showcase scheduled

Advances in biotechnology, patents, and entrepreneurship are topics that will be presented Monday, Oct. 21 at the third annual Virginia Biotechnology Showcase at the Donaldson Brown Center.

The event is open to all interested persons. The day-long series of sessions, which begins at 8 a.m., is followed by a biotechnology careers night at the Fralin Biotechnology Center.

The keynote speaker will be Walter Koch, of the Duke University Medical Center. His presentation, which is scheduled for 4 p.m., is entitled "Gene Therapy Prospects for Heart Disease."

Virginia Tech faculty members, researchers from other universities, representatives of biotechnology companies, and other experts will make presentations during the event.

Among the biotechnology issues to be addresses are using plants and animals for the production of therapeutic proteins, using biotechnology to improve crops, and biotechnology applications to benefit the environment. On the business side will be sessions concerning the operations of companies, entrepreneurship, packaging intellectual properties to attract industrial partnerships, and issues concerning patents.

The careers night will provide students with information about careers in the field. Dave Jensen of Search Masters International will discuss careers in biological sciences. Tracy Wilkins, director of the Fralin Center, will discuss alternative careers in biotechnology, and Virginia Tech Career Services will be on hand to explain its services. An industry question-and-answer period and a panel discussion will conclude the program.

The careers night program starts at 5 p.m. at the Fralin Center. For more information call the center at 1-6933.

Feminist artist/scholar to lecture, demonstrate

The Virginia Tech Performing Community Project presents a special guest speaker, Mady Schutzman, in collaboration with the Theatre Arts Department and the Women's Studies Program. Schutzman will present a public lecture/demonstration, Community Dialog and Social Change , Monday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. in the Hillcrest living room.

Schutzman is a nationally recognized artist/scholar whose focus is in issues of diversity and feminist performance theory and practice. Her specific expertise is in the interactive theatre techniques of Brazilian artist Augusto Boal. These techniques bring theatre art and skills into the public arena as tools for active learning and personal empowerment, cooperative education and healing, participatory theatre and community action.

Schutzman is a poet, scholar, and theatre artist. She has a Ph.D. in performance studies from NYU and is currently the assistant dean at the School of Critical Studies at California Institute of the Arts. She has a background in anthropology and sociology as well as theatre She is a contributing writer and a co-editor with Jan Cohen Cruz of Playing Boal: Theatre, Therapy, Activism .

In addition to the publication Playing Boal , Schutzman has trained extensively in Augusto Boal's techniques of theatre of the oppressed-analysis and practice of theatre's ability to empower community and encourage public dialog to increase political and social awareness and motivate change.

The Performing Community Project is a growing performance group for actors and non-actors at Virginia Tech that includes members of the university and the community. The Performing Community Project builds, rehearses, and presents interactive theatre games and scenes designed in collaboration with community groups. Currently, Performing Community works as a partner with The Women's Center, Amnesty International, YMCA, and Blacksburg Middle School after-school programs

Schutzman's lecture/demonstration is free and open to the public. For more information call 1-5200 or 1-7615.

Combined choral concert to be presented

Blacksburg High School auditorium will be the site of a combined concert hosted by the Blacksburg Master Chorale and Orchestra and including the Virginia Tech Meistersingers and the Virginia Tech University Concert Choir Saturday, Oct. 26, at 8 p.m..

Mozart's Requiem has been chosen to showcase this combined talent and will feature soloists Dave Holly of UNC-Greensboro, tenor; Lee Lassiter of Topeka, Kansas, bass; Patricia Campbell of Liberty University, alto; and Nancy McDuffie, soprano, of Virginia Tech.

Joining the Master Chorale and Orchestra for this evening of music, The University Concert Choir, largest choral ensemble at Virginia Tech, is comprised of any and all students who possess a desire to sing. The group traditionally performs three concerts each year presenting pieces mostly classical in nature.

The combined ensemble will be completed with the voices of the Virginia Tech Meistersingers, an a cappella chamber choir of 20 to 26 singers, which performs motets and madrigals from the Renaissance period, part songs from the Classical and Romantic periods, and representative selections from the twentieth century.

Tickets for the combined concert are $8 for adults and $4 for children under 12. They will be available at the door or can be purchased in advance by mailing a check made payable to Blacksburg Master Chorale, c/o Alex Templeman, Route 1, Box 192-A, Pembroke VA 24136.

Conference to detail effect of new farm bill

What farmers need to know to make effective production, marketing and long-term investment decisions since implementation of the 1996 Farm Bill will be the topic of a conference organized by Virginia Tech's Rural Economic Analysis Program.

"Virginia Farmers Adjusting to the 1996 Farm Bill" is scheduled for November 15 at the Williamsburg Marriott. The conference will help farmers, bankers, educators, and state leaders as they plan for market reactions to the 1996 Farm Bill. Anyone involved in Virginia's $35-billion agriculture industry, directly or indirectly, is invited to attend the conference..

Pre-registration is required by November 8, but there is no charge. The conference registration starts at 9 a.m., with the first speaker scheduled for 10 a.m.

Ron Trostle, chief of the trade analysis branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will provide an overview of the world agricultural situation and how the 1996 Farm Bill affects the global markets in which Virginia's agriculture industry will be competing.

This discussion is followed by Virginia's place in the global economy and the effect of the Farm Bill on Virginia farmers, agribusinesses, and rural communities. Virginia Tech's James Pease will be the speaker

The luncheon speaker, Louis Swanson from the University of Kentucky, will address the relationship between the well-being of farmers and their local communities. This relationship is emphasized in the Fund for Rural America and the Rural Community Action Plan provisions of the Farm Bill.

The afternoon sessions by Virginia Tech agricultural economists will examine the potential price impacts to commodities of the 1996 Farm Bill and outline ways of coping with the increased market risk.

Grains and oil seeds will be covered by David Kenyon; livestock and dairy by Wayne Purcell; and cotton, peanuts, and tobacco by Dixie Reaves, all well-known agricultural economists in Virginia's agricultural community. They will discuss market reactions and look ahead to possible future policy changes.

The final session will tie together the major issues discussed during the day. Les Myers, head of the university's Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, will be the speaker.

The conference is sponsored by the Rural Economic Analysis Program at Virginia Tech, the Virginia Agribusiness Council, the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, the Virginia Cattlemen's Association, the Virginia State Dairymen's Association, and Colonial Farm Credit.

For more information contact the Rural Economic Analysis Program office at 1-9443 or by e-mail ( reap01@vt.edu ).

Library friends to hold book sale

Duplicate books and books that do not fit into the holdings of Virginia Tech's University's Libraries will be sold to the public during a gift-book sale Friday, Oct. 18, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at Newman Library.

Lon Savage, chairman of the Friends of the University Libraries, which is organizing and conducting the sale for the first time, estimated that 2,500 books would be available for the event, including old Virginia Tech yearbooks, The Bugle, and thousands of hardcover and paperback books and magazines on numerous subject areas, including both fiction and non-fiction.

Hardcover books will cost $2 each, while paperbacks will command $1 each, and magazines will go for 50 cents each. Some selected titles will cost more.

The book sale will be conducted near the entrance to Newman Library. In case of rain, the event will be moved to the lobby.

For more information, call Margaret Shuler at 1-3427.

DERC to visit Roanoke area

The Department of Employee Relations Counselors will meet with interested employees in Roanoke on Wednesday, Oct. 23, from 9:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Brody Room of the Roanoke City Main Library in downtown Roanoke at 706 S. Jefferson St.

The counseling program provides employees outside the Richmond area with an opportunity to meet individually with a staff counselor and to receive assistance in options for dealing with work-related concerns, discussion of applicable state policies, information on the grievance procedure, and/or referral for further assistance.

Half-hour appointments must be made in advance. To arrange an appointment, call the Department of Employee Relations Counselors at 1-800-552-9720.

CEUT Presents Learning Styles Teleconference

The Center for Excellence in Undergraduate teaching is hosting a live, interactive video workshop focusing on learning styles at 1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 18, at Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center front auditorium. "Teaching with Style: Enhancing Learning by Understanding Teaching and Learning Styles," a two-hour satellite broadcast, is sponsored by the Virginia Tidewater Consortium for Higher Education and the National University Teleconference Network and is originating from Old Dominion University's award-winning Academic Television Services in Norfolk.

This teleconference offers educators and administrators an overview of ways to improve teaching effectiveness by illustrating the practical applications of an integrated model of teaching and learning styles. In addition to the model, a variety of active learning strategies will be used to help participants explore their teaching styles and the learning styles of their students. During interactive segments of the program, participants will have an opportunity to ask questions of the featured presenter and share practical ideas and information with others.

The video workshop features Tony Grasha, professor of psychology at the University of Cincinnati. Grasha is well-known nationally for his interdisciplinary work over the past 25 years on aspects of enhancing the teaching-learning process, student learning styles, and curriculum and organizational issues in higher education.

The teleconference is open to all faculty members, administrators, and graduate students. No registration is required.

As a follow-up to this videoconference, CEUT has planned related activities. First, the tape from the teleconference will be rebroadcast on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 9 a.m. in Hillcrest. Second, Margaret Hable, faculty-development specialist, will conduct two sessions of a workshop on learning styles: one at 9 a.m. on Wed., Oct. 23, and the other at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 24. The workshops will allow participants to experiment with specific strategies in preparation for classroom use. Registration is required for the workshops by Friday, Oct. 18. Register at the videoconference is acceptable if space is still available.

For more information about the teleconference or to register for a workshop, call 1-9109, or e-mail CEUT@vt.edu .

CEUT workshop focuses on presentation skills

The Center for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching will conduct a workshop focusing on classroom presentations for faculty members who want to sharpen their communication with students. Margaret Hable, faculty-development specialist, will offer strategies for building audience rapport, enhancing presentation structure, asking and responding to questions, and recognizing processing strategies. Registration is required for either of the workshops: Monday, Oct. 21, from 1-4 p.m. or Tuesday, Oct. 22, from 9 a.m.-noon. To register, call the CEUT office at 1-9109 or send e-mail to CEUT@vt.edu .

Internationalizing Curriculum Work Shop Schedule

Faculty members at Virginia Tech and Radford University can learn how to internationalize the content of their courses in a workshop on "Internationalizing the Curriculum," which will be held Friday, Nov. 8, from 8 a.m. to noon, in 150-152 Squires.

Richard Sears, director of the Office of International Programs at Wake Forest University, will conduct the workshop. Facilitators will include Virginia Tech and Radford University faculty members who currently teach internationally oriented courses.

"The workshop is for faculty members interested in developing, designing, or revising their curriculum to include an international dimension," said Patrick R. Liverpool, vice provost for international programs at Virginia Tech. Tech's University Office of International Programs (UOIP) and its Center for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (CEUT) are sponsoring the workshop with Radford's International Programs Office and Center for Teaching Excellence.

The workshop will feature discussions of various models of internationalization, factors influencing the choice of models, and questions of course-material selection. "Participants should leave the workshop with a greater desire and the tools to internationalize, and with increased confidence that it can be accomplished within their academic disciplines," Liverpool said.

According to Terry Wildman, CEUT director, faculty members who complete the workshop "will be well-positioned to compete in the next round of minigrants on internationalizing the curriculum, which will be sponsored again in the spring by UOIP and CEUT."

Department heads have been asked to designate appropriate faculty members to participate in the workshop, but any faculty members can register.

Registration deadline is October 24; send an e-mail message to carltonp@vt.edu or calling 1-6459.