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

NEWSMAKERS
Virginia Tech faculty and staff members and students are often the subject of significant national and state-wide news coverage. To better inform the university community about these accomplishments, the Office of University Relations has compiled this monthly report. This report excludes coverage in the Roanoke news-media market. For more information about the articles mentioned, call Julie Kane, university public-relations coordinator, at 1-9934, or contact your college public-relations office.
The Potomac News (Feb. 7), (Covington) The Virginian Review (Feb. 9), and the Danville Register & Bee (Feb. 15): An article discussed the saving of Solitude and quoted Elizabeth Fine, coordinator of Appalachian Studies.
The Washington Post, Minneapolis Star Tribune (April 8), (Paris, France) The International Herald Tribune (April 9): David Kingston, chemistry professor, was quoted in an article about threatened species of plants.
The Newport News Daily Press (April 9), Potomac News (April 16): Chemistry Professor John Dillard was quoted in an article on a program that helps students remain in graduate school through the Ph.D. in chemistry.
(New Jersey) The Hackensack Record (April 16): Scott Geller, psychology professor, was quoted in an article about the 65-mile-per-hour speed limit.
The Washington Post (April 19): English Professor Anne Cheney was featured in an article about the meetings of the Popular Culture Association and the American Culture Association.
Northern Virginia Daily (May 2): An article appeared about Roger Ekirch, history professor, and his winning of a Guggenheim to finish his book about the role of nighttime in society.
(Waynesboro) The News Virginian (May 7), and (Staunton) The Daily News Leader (April 10): An article ran about English Professor Nikki Giovanni's speaking at the Waynesboro Branch NAACP.
(Charlottesville) Daily Progress (May 24): An article discussed the fact that the book Stonewall Jackson by James I. Robertson, history professor, won the Jefferson Davis Award.
Richmond Times-Dispatch (June 4): An article ran about the work of Matthew McTammany, a Virginia Tech biology graduate student, and colleagues on the impact of urbanization on the diversity and populations of insects that live at the bottom of streams.
(Lynchburg) News and Advance (June 4): History Professor James Robertson was featured in an article about a Civil War seminar.
Danville Register & Bee (June 5): An article appeared about Virginia Tech's international conference on the use of technology in instruction.
Winchester Star, Suffolk News Herald (June 19): An Associated Press article ran about the geography cross-country course featuring geography professors Bob Morrill and Bill Carstensen.
Richmond Times-Dispatch (July 2): An article appeared on the work of Biology Professor Charles Rutherford, that may boost cancer research.
Publishers Weekly (July 20), The Atlanta Journal and Constitution (Aug. 23), Chicago Tribune (Aug. 31) The San Diego Union-Tribune (Sept. 6), The Christian Science Monitor (Sept. 10): A review appeared of the book Amelia Earhart's Daughters: The Wild and Glorious Story of American Women Aviators from World War II to the Dawn of the Space Age, co-written by David Toomey of the English department.
CNBC "Power Lunch" (July 27): A story on biotechnology companies featured CropTech at the Corporate Research Center and Plant Pathology Professor Carole Cramer's work with transgenic tobacco.
Richmond Times-Dispatch (Aug. 2): An article was included about a team of Virginia Tech engineering students winning first place in the 1998 National General Aviation Design Competition sponsored by NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration. The team's advisor, aerospace and ocean engineering Professor, James F. Marchman, is quoted in the article.
Chronicle of Higher Education (Aug. 7): An article and photo appeared of the geography department's cross-country course "Geography for Life Explorers." Professor Laurence W. Carstensen was quoted.
RCR (Aug. 10): An article about the future technology of base stations with wireless software radios featured comments from Jeffrey Reed and Brian Woerner, associate professors of electrical and computer engineering and associate directors of the Mobile & Portable Radio Research Group. RCR is the weekly newspaper for the wireless-communications industry.
(Richmond) WRVA Radio (August 20): Center for Leader Development Director Robert Denton discussed President Clinton's standing in light of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the bombing of suspected terrorist camps overseas. Denton was the main guest in a two-hour live radio call-in program.
(Mutual Radio) "Why is It?" (August 21): Associate Professor of Entomology Jeff Bloomquist and former electrical engineering student Steven Bathiche discussed using electrical impulses in insect muscles to power machines, as a possible precursor to using similar impulses to power wheelchairs and other assistive devices for disabled people.
Bristol Herald Courier (Aug. 21): Chris Haycocks, professor of mining and minerals engineering (MiNE); Eric Westman, MiNE graduate student; and Jon Rockett, an Extension agent with the Powell River Project, were quoted in an article about coal-mining economics.
Bristol Herald Courier (Aug. 22): An article mentioned mining and minerals engineering Professor Chris Haycocks and Extension Agent Jon Rockett.
Virginia News Network(August 24): Vice President for Student Affairs Landrum Cross discussed Virginia Tech's efforts to reduce binge drinking among students. Cross's comments came from a report to the Board of Visitors.
Virginia News Network (August 31): Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Professor James Fraser discussed the effects of Hurricane Bonnie on endangered piping plovers and other shore birds.
ABCNEWS.com (Aug. 31): English Professor Daniel Mosser was quoted on applying to literature the same type computer analysis used on DNA to determine the evolution of the versions of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.
USA TODAY (Sept. 7): Stephen Prince, communication-studies professor, was quoted in an article that also included quotes from film director Martin Scorsese and other academic experts about the death of renowned Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.
Virginia News Network (September 7): Horticulture Professor Richard Marini discussed this season's apple harvest.
WTVR-TV Richmond(September 8 and 9) A two-part news story on transgenic tobacco featured the research of Plant Pathology, Physiology and Weed Science Professor Carole Cramer.
(Public Radio International) Marketplace (September 10): Assistant Near Environments Professor and Consumer Education Extension Specialist Irene Leech discussed teaching children about money. Marketplace is heard on more than 200 public-radio stations.
Chronicle of Higher Education (Sept. 11) Elizabeth Creamer, head of Liberal Arts and Sciences in the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, was featured in an article entitled "Why Don't Women Publish as Much as Men?"
Richmond Times Dispatch, Virginia News Network (Sept. 15): The Center for Survey Research's 1998 received coverage on their Quality of Life Survey.
Virginia News Network(September 16): Assistant Near Environments Professor and Consumer Education Extension Specialist Irene Leech discussed consumer issues revolving around the year 2000 computer problem.