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ACHIEVERS
Eugene Seago, the R.B. Pamplin professor of accounting, received the 1997 Outstanding Member Award from the American Taxation Association (ATA). Presented to one member each year, the award is based on his or her cumulative service to the organization. Seago, who was president of the ATA in 1989-90, has chaired several committees and has testified on behalf of the organization before Congress and the Internal Revenue Service. The ATA's 1,100-plus members are primarily faculty members who teach tax courses in colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.
Gregory N. Brown, dean of the College of Forestry and Wildlife Resources, chairs the 1997 National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges' (NASULGC) Board on Natural Resources (BNR). BNR comprises the administrative heads of all forest resources, fish and wildlife resources, water resources, and mineral resources university programs in the United States. It handles policy, budget, and other legislative issues related to natural resources within Congress and the federal government's executive branch.
Brown also heads the new NASULGC-USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) Partnership Task Force, which joins USGS administrators in addressing competitive grants, scientific advisory committees, and related issues between USGS and universities. The task force membership includes administrators in natural resources, engineering, agriculture, human sciences, and oceans and atmosphere with interest in USGS.
Brown was installed as a member of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Forestry Association (VFA) at the organization's annual convention at The Homestead. As a director, he helps guide VFA in its mission to promote stewardship and wise use of forest resources for economic and environmental benefits to the state.
Brown gave the keynote address at the Forest Products Research Conference, September 15-18, in Madison WI. Attendees included forest managers and scientists from public agencies and private industry.
E. George Stern, Earle B. Norris research professor emeritus of Wood Construction, and Joseph R. Loferski, associate professor in the Department of Wood Science and Forest Products, co-edited the 200-page Proceedings of Preservation of Russian Antiquities: Its Impact on Russia's Rejuvenation. The proceedings include 15 papers from the summer workshop-conference, held as participants sailed along waterways in northwestern Russia from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Researchers from the United States, Australia, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, and Russia inspected historic architectural monuments and other structures needing repair and restoration before they are reopened to the public. The illustrated proceedings provide information on the technical aspects involved in the preservation of antiquities built with logs and timbers.
Resolutions resulting from the workshop-conference were submitted to Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. The conference was co-chaired by Stern and Loferski and faculty members from Vyatka State Technical University in Kirov, with whom Virginia Tech has a cooperative agreement in a number of fields. Information on ordering copies of the proceedings is available from the Brooks Forest Products Research Center, 1-7105 or 1-6639.
Robert Bush, associate professor of wood science and forest products, presented a paper to the U.S. EPA in Washington, DC. The paper, "Pallet recycling in the United States," detailed trends and the current status of wood pallet recovery by pallet producers and landfills. Bush also presented an invited talk on "Marketing mesquite products: methods, opportunities, and some novel ideas," to the annual meeting of Los Amigos del Mesquite in Corpus Christi, Texas. Participants sought to aid small manufacturers of mesquite products in developing new markets and increasing their share in existing markets.
Bob Smith, assistant professor and Extension specialist in wood science and forest products, co-conducted a short course, "Selling Forest Products," at Oregon State University in October 1997. He also served as wood-products session chair at the 1997 Forest-Based Economic Development Academy held in Birmingham, AL, in October. Smith and forest products associate professors Robert Bush and Tom Hammet presented "Assessing a wood science and forest products program: a case study at Virginia Tech" at the 1997 International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) Marketing Group meeting at Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and Smith presented "Growing the Forest Products Industry in Southwest Virginia" to the Economic Development Community of Virginia in late 1997.
Smith published numerous papers in various journals during 1997, including the Forest Products Journal ("Assessing Educational Needs of the Forest Products Industry in Oregon and Virginia"), Timber Bulletin ("Timber Bridge Members--An Untapped Market"), and Southern Lumberman ("Crossties and Poles--A Growing Market"). In addition, the Forest Products Journal will publish "An Industry Evaluation of the Re-use, Recycling, and Reduction of Spent CCA Wood Products" in 1998.
Smith co-authored several additional papers in the 1997 volume of Southern Lumberman: with Fred Lamb, professor of wood products, "Opening up the Cabinet Industry"; with Warren Spradlin, wood-products graduate student, "Fishing for Opportunity in Marine Applications"; with Delton Alderman, graduate student, and Vijay Reddy, former wood-products research associate, "Assessing the Availability of Wood Residues and Residue Markets in Southwest Virginia"; and with Phil Araman, USDA Forest Service project leader, "Opportunities in moldings and millwork."
Smith and wood products graduate student Marshal Shiau's research was highlighted in the March 1997 issue of Environmental Building News, a monthly newsletter on environmentally responsible design and construction. "Disposal: The Achilles' Tendon of CCA-treated Wood" cited Smith and Shiau's work using various types of acid to chemically remove the preservative, chromated copper arsenate (CCA), from wood. Once it is out of service, wood that has been treated with this inorganic, waterborne preservative--an alternative to older, health-hazardous preservatives--presents a "solid-waste headache that won't go away," according to the newsletter. Waterborne preservatives such as CCA currently account for the majority of chemicals used in building applications.
Southern Loggin' Times highlighted its 25th anniversary issue in October 1997 with "Twenty-five men who've made a difference," an article featuring southern U.S. forest industry notables of the past quarter-century. Bill Stuart, forestry professor, was the only member of the education community to be listed. A "hands-on educator" who is "tough and demanding...with a soft heart for his students," Stuart helped establish the forestry department's industrial forestry operations (IFO) program for undergraduate students and graduate students at both the master's and doctoral levels. Stuart also heads the IFO Research Cooperative, a consortium of 14 industry companies and other organizations that support timber harvesting research and education activities.
Bill Hyde, professor of forestry, and Jintao Xu, a forestry doctoral candidate, participated in the Ninth Biennial Meetings of the Environmental Economics Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA) in Singapore in November 1997. Participants assessed the economic effects of the Indonesian forest fires, the largest in recent world history and the source of air pollution that enveloped regions beyond Indonesia. Xu also presented findings of his research on the discharge of environmental pollutants from China's growing pulp and paper industry. Hyde, as advisor and reviewer, met with eight EEPSEA researchers from six Southeast Asian countries and China who conduct joint forestry research.
At an international workshop in Gothenburg, Sweden, in November, Hyde presented the keynote paper on household economic analyses for addressing forestry and rural land use. Hyde's address centered on this approach to assessing economic problems related to deforestation/reforestation and rural uses of forest resources in developing countries. The Swedish International Development Agency and the University of Gothenburg hosted the conference.
Ralph Amateis, senior research associate in the forestry department, and Harold Burkhart, professor and department head, participated in a conference of the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) in Portugal in late 1997. Amateis moderated a session and presented "Modeling Temporal Response to Mid-rotation Fertilizer Treatments." Burkhart presented "Development of Empirical Growth and Yield Models." Burkhart also moderated a session and spoke at a IUFRO conference in Chile.
Burkhart and Gudaye Tassisa, postdoctoral research associate, presented "Thinning Effects on Ring Specific Gravity of Loblolly Pine" at the International Wood Quality Workshop in Quebec City in fall 1997.
Donald J. Orth, professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, presented the keynote lecture, "Zen and the Art of Instream Flow Assessment," at the 1997 Symposium on Riverine Ecosystems: New Directions and Challenges in Evaluating Instream Flows, held in Monterey, CA. Orth also taught a course at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Science National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, WV.
Jyl Smithson-Riehl, assistant director for program development in the Division of Continuing Education, recently received the 1997 Program of Excellence award for the Senate Productivity and Quality Award program at the Region III meeting of the University Continuing Education Association.
Roy Jones, associate director for program development in the Division of Continuing Education, delivered a presentation of "Faculty/Continuing Education Program Partnership" at the Region II meeting of the University Continuing Education Association.
Ted Settle, director of Continuing Education, has been selected as program chair for the 1998 Region III meeting of the University Continuing Education Association.
The staff of the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center was recognized for its support of the 1997 March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation Gourmet Chef's Charity Auction.
Mehdi Adldoost, managing director of the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center, has received his Certified Hospitality Administrator (CHA) certification from the Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Motel Association. CHA is the lodging industry's most prestigious professional designation.
Lisa Eichelberger, secretary to the director at the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center, was awarded the 1997 Hospitality Employee of the Year by the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association.
John Phillips, economic-development officer, was the keynote speaker at the Advantage Kingston Economic Development Symposium in Kingston, Ontario in November. The conference was held to discuss integrating Queens University into the economic development activities of Kingston.
S.K. DeDatta, director of the Office of International Research and Development, was honored recently at a meeting hosted by the Association of Agricultural Scientists of Indian Origin for his contribution to the Green Revolution and Food Security in Asia. The meeting was held in conjunction with the American Society of Agronomy. DeDatta also gave the keynote address.
Katherine Soniat, associate professor of English at Virginia Tech, has received a $5,000 fellowship in poetry from the Virginia Commission for the Arts.
Soniat was one of 10 poets, out of 61 who applied, to receive the fellowship. The award was given on the basis of her work on an unpublished collection of poems on the Chesapeake Bay. The work is called The Landing.
Soniat's most recent published collection of poems, A Shared Life, won the Edwin Ford Piper Award in 1993 from the University of Iowa Press and was selected by Mary Oliver for a Virginia Prize for Poetry. Her work Notes of Departure won the Camden Poetry Prize in 1984 from the Walt Whitman Center for the Arts and Humanities. Her other collections include the book Cracking Eggs and a chapbook, Winter Toys.
Soniat's poetry has been published in such journals as The Nation, The New Republic, The Southern Review, The Harvard Review, TriQuarterly, The Boston Review, and The North American Review.
Judges for this year's Virginia Commission for the Arts fellowship in poetry were Claudia Emerson Andrews of Chatham, a poet and dean of Chatham Hall, who received the commission fellowship in 1995-96; David McAleavey of Arlington, a poet and faculty member at George Washington University; and Amy Tudor of Norfolk, a poet and member of the creative-writing faculty of Old Dominion University, who received the fellowship in 1995-96.
The third number of The New River journal of hypertext literature and art is now on-line.
The issue includes Stuart Moulthrop's revised and expanded "Hegirascope 2," a new hypertext poem by David Sten Herrstrom, and Jeanne Larsen's response to Shelly Jackson's Patchwork Girl.
The journal can be found at http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/olp/newriver/ on the World Wide Web.
Ed Falco established the on-line journal. He is a professor of English and author of a book of hypertext poems published by Eastgate Systems as well as books of short stories and a novel.
In The New River, Falco said, new writers and artists "will make culture-changing art on the computer."
"In the hypertext work," Falco said, "the reader controls or significantly influences the order of presentation. The authorial control of timing is eliminated, calling into question everything about traditional art, including the role and position of the author."
Terry Cobb, associate professor of management, gave the keynote address at the annual International Conference of Human Resource Management in the Asia-Pacific Region. The conference was held last December at Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Cobb spoke on "Organizational
Justice in Times of Organizational Change."
Doris Kincade, associate professor of apparel merchandising management in the Department of Housing, Interior Design, and Resource Management/Clothing and Textiles in the College of Human Resources and Education, and Cynthia Regan, a doctoral advisee of Kincade's and now faculty member at California Polytechnic State University at Pomona, attended the Second Annual US Department of Energy Fellows Symposium in Washington, DC. Regan presented her dissertation research "A Concurrent Engineering Framework for Apparel Manufacture." The symposium is sponsored by the National Academy of Science. Regan is the second female and the only clothing and textiles Ph.D. student to receive an US Department of Energy Fellowship in Integrated Manufacturing. Kincade is the only female advisor and the first non-engineering advisor to have a student to receive the Fellowship. Kincade and Regan are the first team to receive this fellowship at Virginia Tech.
Billie Lepczyk, associate professor in the health and physical education program in the College of Human Resources and Education, has been named the 1998 National Dance Association Scholar/Artist and will present a scholar lecture in Reno, Nevada, at the 1998 NDA national convention. Lepczyk was chosen as the 21st recipient of the scholar status on the basis of her groundbreaking scholarly research in movement analysis and dance style, her creative works including the founding of two performing groups at Virginia Tech, and her ability to effectively communicate ideas and knowledge to diverse groups. She is active in the NDA as well as the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. Before joining academia Lepczyk had an extensive dance career in Europe.
Don Creamer, professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in the College of Human Resources and Education, has been selected recipient of this year's Shaffer Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). The highly prestigious award is conferred to a faculty member who has served as a mentor to graduate students and whose work has made a significant contribution to the profession of administrative and educational services. Creamer is a 20 year member of the Virginia Tech faculty and served on the NASPA task force for graduate preparation and practice.
Patsy Pelland, a nutrition and wellness family and consumer sciences Extension agent in Prince Edward County, has been appointed to the Prince Edward County school board for a three-year term. Pelland is a member of the Family and Consumer Sciences State Leadership Council, a network of Extension agents, advocates, and academics concerned with nutrition, wellness, finance, parenting, education, and consumer issues affecting Virginia's families.
Muzzo Uysal, faculty member in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management has been cited with the Highest Quality Rating by ANBAR Electronic Intelligence for his work on segmentation with overlaps, co-authored by S. Baloglu, an HTM doctoral graduate. Uysal was awarded with a "citation of excellence for this outstanding contribution to the literature and body of knowledge," published in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 8 no. 3, 1996. The ANBAR Citation of Excellence and Highest Quality Rating will be carried for five years at the ANBAR Hall of Excellence (1997-2001). Uysal has co-authored three articles on the topic.
The Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, chaired by Mahmood Khan in the College of Human Resources and Education, was ranked number one among Ph.D. programs again for the sixth consecutive year, according to a survey of directors of hospitality programs and executives from the hospitality industry. According to the same survey, the M.S. program moved from fourth rank to second nationally. Also for the first time the B.S. program was ranked as number eight among over 150 institutions offering four year degree programs. Tech's Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management is the only program nationally and internationally that offers franchising as an area of specialization in graduate studies.
PE Central and Coaching Youth Sports are featured Web sites for January on Microsoft Works Education homepage. Both sites are administered from the health and physical education program in the College of Human Resources and Education at Virginia Tech. Billed as the ultimate Web site for physical education teachers, students, interested parents and adults, PE Central provides the latest information about developmentally appropriate physical-education programs for children and youth. Physical-education doctoral students Mark Manross and Todd Pennington are the creators and senior editors of PE Central, and professor George Graham is senior advisor. Coaching Youth Sports contains information about coaching, teaching, and performing sports skills for athletes ranging in age from six-16. It was created and is edited by HPE faculty member Richard Stratton. Microsoft Works Education is located at http://www.microsoft.com/works/teachers/teach.asp on the Web.
M. David Alexander, chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in the College of Human Resources and Education, and Kern Alexander, former Tech university distinguished professor in education and now president of Murray State University, are co-authors of American Public School Law, recently released in its fourth edition by West/Wadsworth. The book, originally published in 1969, is the definitive work on the history, precedents, and issues pertaining to education law and arbitration, and is used widely in education and law programs. The book is available in the University Bookstore or via the World Wide Web at www.thomson.com/wadsworth.html.
Michael Olsen, professor of strategic management in the hospitality industry in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, was a featured speaker at the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines (HRAP) in Manila. Olsen spoke on "Key Forces Driving Change in the Hospitality Industry." This year's HRAP theme was "New Millennium Strategies: Human Resource, Environment, and Technology."
A study in the Journal of Vocational Education Research (volume 22, number 3, 1997, pages 145 and 146) notes that College of Human Resources and Education at Virginia Tech authors were the second most frequent article contributors to the journal during the 10-year period ending 1996. University of Minnesota ranked first, and University of Georgia was third. Eighty-six institutions were identified, and 27 of those were listed.
The December 1997 issue of the Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal featuring the annual listing of theses and dissertations noted that the College of Human Resources and Education at Virginia Tech was first in number of dissertations and third in number of theses (Iowa State was first and University of Nebraska-Lincoln was second). Virginia Tech reported the highest number of titles in art and design (four theses, one dissertation) and second highest in clothing/apparel (three theses, one dissertation). Forty-three colleges or universities representing 32 states reported theses and dissertations completed in Family and Consumer Sciences in 1996.
Susan Magliaro, a faculty member in the Department of Teaching and Learning in the College of Human Resources and Education, and R. Neal Shambaugh, a doctoral student in teaching and learning, are authors of Mastering the Possibilities: A Process Approach to Instructional Design, recently published by Allyn and Bacon. Through a learner-centered approach, the book shows educators how to directly involved students in the process of designing instructional events. The ideas and pedagogical model used in the book are research based, using data from more than nine years of study and teaching instructional design.
E. Thomas Garman, professor of consumer affairs and family financial management in the College of Human Resources and Education, has been honored with the Louis M. Linxwiler Award for his outstanding support of consumer credit education. The award was made at the National Foundation for Consumer Credit (NFCC) annual conference held in Atlanta. In addition to his teaching and research, Garman is also a prolific author and speaker on consumer and financial affairs. "Tom Garman has given a lifetime of service to advocate consumer and personal finance education," said Durant Abernethy, president of NFCC. "His research on worker productivity and credit problems is especially noteworthy, and his dedication and support of money-management concepts have helped make great headway in educating and aiding consumers." Garman is a distinguished fellow with Tech's Center for Organizational and Technological Advancement where he focuses on personal finance employee education.
Virginia Tech Magazine was selected to receive an Award of Excellence in the CASE District III awards competition for magazine-publishing improvement, category 24. The magazine will be on display in the winners' circle area at the CASE District III Conference in Orlando in February. Su Clauson-Wicker is the editor of the magazine. Glen Duncan is the art director. Netta Smith is the former assistant editor and Jill Elswick is the current assistant editor. The magazine also received an honorable mention from the Best in Virginia awards in the category of four-color magazine.