Spectrum - Volume 21 Issue 08 October 15, 1998 - BULLETINS

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

BULLETINS

Spectrum Volume 21 Issue 08 - October 15, 1998

Speaker discusses Antarctica
The Virginia Tech Geographic Society (VTGS) Colloquium Series continues with the presentation "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Antarctica but Were Afraid to Ask," Friday, Oct. 16 at 3 p.m. in 136 McBryde. Alan Moore will discuss the geography of Antarctica, science in Antarctica, living in Antarctica, Antarctic maps and GIS, and Virginia Tech in Antarctica. Refreshments will be served. The public is welcome.
Multicultural Center celebrates expansion
The Virginia Tech Multicultural Center will celebrate its expansion on October 27, at 4 p.m. in the Multicultural Center in Squires Student Center. The program is Celebration of Inclusion: Signs of Progress. Celebrate the expansion of the Multicultural Center and the recognition of Virginia Tech Comfort Zones. For more information, call 1-3787.
Open lecture features on-line communities
On October 23, the Virginia Tech Multimedia Users Group (VTMMUG), under the co-sponsorship of the New Media Center and the Educational Technologies division of Media Services, will host a presentation by William George Paul titled "The Electronic Charrette: Tools and Processes in Support of Online Community Building and Design Collaboration." Paul as will demonstrate how tools such as virtual photographic tours, DataBeam and NetMeeting, on-line data archives, and e-communication centers can be used to increase community participation, facilitate crisis management, and support distance learning.
Paul is a Ph.D. student in the environmental design and planning program. With the Internet, Paul has developed the electronic charrette, an on-line version that is now being tested at Virginia Tech.
The VTMMUG web site is http://www.nmc.vt.edu/vtmmug/ . For more information, call 1-4826.
Professor to receive award
The IEEE Computer Society and the department of Electrical Engineering will be presenting Irving John Good with the Computer Pioneer Award for his work in code breaking technology during World War II. The presentation will be Thursday, Oct. 15, at 5:30 p.m. in 113 McBryde. Good's work led to the development of the first working, special-purpose, electronic computers and the first computer to be controlled by an internally stored program. He came to the United States in 1967 and joined the faculty of Virginia Tech, and is a university distinguished professor emeritus in the department of statistics.

Scheduling change announced
The CEUT and the University Office of International Programs upcoming international colloquium has been changed from Wednesday, Oct. 21 to Wednesday, Oct. 28 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Alumni Hall. Lunch will be provided. To register, call 1-6452.
Speaker to discuss decentralization
On Wednesday, Oct. 21, CEUT and Media Services will co-sponsor a forum titled "Technology in Higher Education: De-centering the University." The guest speaker will be Jean-Claude Guedon, professor of Comparative Literature/Science Historian at the University of Montreal. Guedon will present his views on the future of technology. Although Guedon will be on campus for two days, this forum is the only activity open to all faculty members. The forum will take place from 3-5 p.m. in Hillcrest Dining Room. Please pre-register at ceut@vt.edu or call 1-8553 or 1-6995
Planning society presents videoconference

On Thursday, Oct. 22, CEUT will host a videoconference titled, "Creating Tomorrow's Learner-Centered Environment--Today." Presented by the Society for College and University Planning, the program will feature discussions of ways universities are creating learning-centered environments by implementing new technologies, developing programs that anticipate the future, becoming learning agents to support individuals and organizations to assess learning needs, and building new types of facilities to support multiple uses.
Speak Out on sexual assault set
Womanspace and the Women's Center at Virginia Tech are sponsoring the first annual Speak Out on sexual assault on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 5 p.m. The Speak Out will give individuals a time to voice their experiences with sexual assault and how the experiences have affected their lives. There will be an open microphone and a candle light vigil. The event will be enclosed by the Clothesline Project in front of the Women's Center, providing an intimate setting for sharing, healing, and educating.
The Speak Out will begin with representatives from both the Women's Center at Virginia Tech and the Women's Resource Center of the New River Valley. The microphone will be available for those who wish to share their personal stories or readings. Anyone wishing to share a story anonymously may drop it off at the Women's Center in the safe box.
The Clothesline Project will be on display during Sexual Assault Awareness Month on October 28 and 29 in front of the Women's Center, which is located behind McBryde Hall. T-shirts for the Clothesline Project can also be made in the basement of the Women's Center, from October 28 to 30, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, contact Kathy Templin at ktemplin@vt.edu or 961-6104.
Data warehousing conference November 6.
Two Pamplin College of Business faculty members are organizing the Data Warehousing for Competitive Advantage conference on Friday, Nov. 6, at Virginia Tech's Northern Virginia Center. The conference will feature seminars on the latest trends in data warehousing and its strategic applications, said Parviz Ghandforoush, professor of management science and information technology and director of the MBA Program in Northern Virginia, and Tarun Sen, associate professor of accounting and information systems.
Both professors are members of the college's Information Technology Management Center, which is sponsoring the conference together with KPMG's Knowledge Management Practice. The conference will feature speakers from AMS, EDS, Microsoft, KPMG Consulting, and NCR, who will discuss the fundamentals and strategic applications of data warehousing, Microsoft's approach, an integrated framework for data warehousing and business intelligence, very large applications, and market trends.
The registration fee is $50; registration deadline is Saturday, Oct. 31. A registration form is available at http://tksen.nvgc.vt.edu/dwc. For more information, visit the Web site or call (703) 538-8410.

Author to give interactive poetry reading
Gloria Naylor, author of the novel The Women of Brewster Place , which was made into a television, will conduct an interactive poetry reading and discuss the evolution of The Men of Brewster Place on Tuesday, Oct. 27. in Haymarket Theatre. It is open to the public.
Naylor's book The Women of Brewster Place won a National Book Award in 1983. Naylor is also the author of the novels Linden Hills , Mama Day , and Bailey's Café . Most recently, she edited Children of the Night: The Best Short Stories by Black Writers Volume II . She also has written essays and screenplays and the stage adaptation of Bailey's Café .

Naylor also works in film and the theater. She runs One Way Productions, an independent entertainment company whose mission is not only to bring positive images of the African-American community to film, stage, and television, but also to inspire children.

The Black Student Alliance (BSA), Womenspace, the department of English, and the Dean of Students Office are sponsoring Naylor's visit. For more information, call 2-6831.
Speaker on outreach scheduled
Mary L. Walshok, associate vice chancellor for extended studies and public programs at the University of California, San Diego, and author of Knowledge without Boundaries, will give a presentation on outreach on Monday, Oct. 26, at 9 a.m. in Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center conference rooms D and E. Her talk, which is sponsored by the Outreach Division, is open to the public.
Walshok is a noted speaker on outreach and is credited with initiating CONNECT, a successful program that supports high-tech entrepreneurship, at her university. She lectures and writes extensively on the changing role of universities in the knowledge economy.
For more information, call 1-3205.
Slovenian speaker slated
A lecture by Matjaz Mulej, professor of Innovation and Systems Theory at the University of Maribor in Slovenia, titled "Applied Systems Thinking vs. Systems Theories," will be presented at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, in 114 Architecture Annex. Mulej will contrast informal methods designed to master complexity by creative cooperation with several pairings of systems theory (deterministic or probabilistic, disciplinary or interdisciplinary, and descriptive or future impact oriented). He will also consider western as compared with far-eastern theories about systems, and will show how all can be combined to enhance holism and creativity in finding solutions to complex everyday problems in the socio-environmental context.
Mulej is a leading international authority on systems applications and is the author or co-editor of about 35 books published in 24 countries, including Self-Transformation Of The Forgotten Four-Fifths , co-authored with Bob Dyck. He is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences. The presentation is co-sponsored by the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning together with the Business Leadership Center and the department of Management. The general public is welcome to attend.