Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 9, 1993 TAG: 9305100355
SECTION: DISCOVER PAGE: 62 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSEBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But that's not the way the schools want it.
Virginia Tech, Radford University and the two area community colleges use the summer for convferences, classes for the elderly, oodles of sports camps for the young and jamborees for everybody.
And these days, they're trying to make summertime into just another semester for college students.
For the first time this summer, Virginia Tech is offering a tuition discount to students who attend school during the warmer months.
Making the summer sessions cheaper is part of an effort to attract more students to school during that time, Minnis Ridenour, Tech's chief business officer, has said.
Tech is a land-grant research institution and the state's largest university, with more than 20,000 students. It offers a number of master's and doctoral programs along with an extensive undergraduate curriculum.
Radford University is smaller than Tech, with more than 9,000 students. It doesn't offer doctoral degrees but does offer a number of master's programs and is opening a new College of Global Studies in 1997.
Meanwhile, New River Community College and Wytheville Community College are seeing a higher enrollment every year of young and older students.
New River Community College is working with more students under a federal jobs retraining act than any other college in the state.
While classes continue at these universities, summer is a time to relax.
Following are a few highlights from the summer cultural scene:
The Tour DuPont Bicycle Race goes through Tech's campus on May 14, and films are shown throughout the summer in Squires Student Center.
This year, there also will be 10 outdoor concerts on Tech's Henderson Lawn as part of the Blacksburg/Virginia Tech summer arts festival.
And there also will be a number of plays, free and open to the public. For more information, call 231-5200.
Virginia Tech's Museum of Natural History offers exhibits on all kinds of critters. And there are butterfly walks through the university's horticulture gardens throughout the summer. For more information, call 231-3001.
And of course, fireworks for Independence Day will blast off from Tech's Lane Stadium.
Radford University will hold three Elderhostels for adults age 60 or over, as it does every year.
The first of the weeklong sessions in May will focus on music, art and wellness. The second session will cover "How Consciousness Influences the Brain," communication, and sociological issues in sports. A final session in June will focus on cults, how much we've let television change our lives, the stories of religious leaders.
June also will feature a judo college and a karate college at Radford, featuring masters in the martial arts from all over the area.
Appalachia also will be a focus at the university during the summer, with the 16th annual Highland Festival, featuring writers who will discuss the heritage, environment and culture of the region.
Creative writers will find a camp at Radford during the summer, as will youths with asthma and diabetes.
"Our facilities are open during the summer and we like to stay as full as we can," said Deborah Brown, Radford's chief information officer.
New River Community College will host its monthly New River Valley Fiddle, Banjo and Dance Jamborees. The events will feature acts like Down Home, James Lindsey and the Mountain Ramblers, the UCLA ramblers and Jim Elliot and the Virginia Drifters.
The jamborees are June 12, July 10 and Aug. 21 at New River Valley Fairgrounds starting around 7 p.m.
For more info, call Charlie White 674-3611 or 639-9507.
Joyce Taylor, spokeswoman for the college, said New River doesn't sponsor a large number of events for the general public during the summer. "But we are busy and active and open every day."
Wytheville Community College also has little activity beyond academics during the summer. Its Community Band will perform, though, at its graduation ceremony Friday and at the dedication of a Wall of Honor by the Town of Wytheville May 30.
The Wall of Honor will not only list all those from Wythe County who died in wars from World War I to Desert Storm, but also the area's prominent civic leaders and sports figures.
For further band info, call Dan Jones at 228-5541.
by CNB