LSU'S Biweekly Newsletter for Faculty & Staff
June 17, 2005 |
VOL. 21, NO. 18 |
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| Pictured from left to right are Bill Bowdon, president and CEO of the LSU Foundation; Todd St. Romain, owner of St. Romain Oil; Robert Twilley, School of the Coast and Environment; John Hofmeister, president and county chair for Shell U.S.; and Bill Jenkins, LSU System president, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Shell Coastal Environmental Modeling Laboratory. |
With the erosion of the coastline and loss of Louisiana wetlands, Shell Oil Company has partnered with LSU and the “America’s WETLAND” campaign to take significant steps to restore the region’s unique coastal ecosystem.
On Friday, June 3, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the new Shell Coastal Environmental Modeling Laboratory, or Shell CEML, at LSU. The lab is designed to advance wetland research and wetland mitigation programs. Also unveiled at the event were “Info-Stations,” an extension of Shell’s $800,000 partnership with the America’s WETLAND campaign.
“ It is important to raise public knowledge about the wetlands and how best to address the coastal erosion and wetlands loss,” said John Hofmeister, president, Shell Oil Company. “Through our partnership with LSU and America’s WETLAND, we are taking steps to protect and preserve Louisiana’s natural assets for future generations – we hope these steps help lead the way for others to get involved.”
The Shell CEML is a highly advanced computer modeling facility, which will allow scientists and engineers to simulate the effectiveness of different restoration alternatives to protect and rehabilitate natural resources of coastal Louisiana. The Shell CEML is made possible by a $300,000 grant by Shell to LSU’s School of the Coast and Environment. LSU researchers will use the lab to research innovative and efficient techniques of coastal restoration that will not only be used throughout Louisiana, but across the United States and throughout the world.
“ This very generous gift further demonstrates Shell’s commitment to LSU and the future of Louisiana,” said Maj. Gen. USMC (ret.) William Bowdon, president and CEO of the LSU Foundation. “We could not be more pleased to see one of the world’s great corporations take the lead in addressing Louisiana’s most vital environmental need.”
In addition to Shell’s direct involvement in the creation of the Shell Coastal Environmental Modeling Laboratory, Shell is the World Sponsor of the America’s WETLAND campaign. And, beginning this month, drivers will be able to get information on the America’s WETLAND Birding Trail and America’s WETLAND Resource Centers from “Info-Stations” at participating Shell stations across Louisiana. The maps are designed to draw the eco-cultural tourist to the region, which will, in turn, help increase awareness and support for saving Louisiana’s wetlands. This project is a joint effort between Shell; the America’s WETLAND campaign; the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism; and local entities to promote awareness of and tourism through America’s wetland.
Shell Oil Company, including its consolidated companies and its share in equity companies, is one of America’s leading oil and natural gas producers, natural gas marketers, gasoline marketers and petrochemical manufacturers. Shell, a leading oil and gas producer in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, is a recognized pioneer in oil and gas exploration and production technology. Shell Oil Company is an affiliate of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, which operates in more than 140 countries and employs more than 112,000 people.
The ceremony’s speakers included Hofmeister, LSU System President William Jenkins and Dean Ed Laws of LSU’s School of the Coast and Environment. Additionally, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu and Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu were in attendance. Participants were able to tour Shell CEML and other facilities connected to the laboratory.
It’s the world’s coldest and most mysterious continent, its many layers of ice holding secrets that only the bravest and most resourceful scientists seek to uncover.
While Antarctica may be the world’s final and most inaccessible frontier, visitors to LSU can experience some of its wonder firsthand at the LSU Museum of Natural Science in Foster Hall. “Experience Antarctica” is the first new exhibit in more than 40 years at the Museum of Natural Science, and is expected to be a permanent addition to the museum. Featuring displays of rare treasures from the ice continent, “Experience Antarctica” is a glimpse into the rugged life of Antarctic researchers studying the origin and history of our planet.
“Experience Antarctica” is a highly detailed exhibit that can satisfy the curiosity of both young and old. Antarctica has a reputation for being almost uninhabitable, but at one time it boasted an environment teeming with life. Visitors are immediately drawn to the main evidence of this biological abundance through a replica of a Cryolophosaurus skull dominating the center of the exhibit. Cryolophosaurus was one of the dinosaurs which once lived in Antarctica in warmer times. There are also numerous displays of plant life and rare meteorite samples from both the moon and Mars. Interactive video displays show LSU geology researchers conducting sea and land research in Antarctica, illustrating the difficulties involved in gathering information in the world’s most hostile natural environment.
“It is our hope that this new exhibit creates a spirit of enthusiasm and excitement for our museum,” said Sophie Warny. Warny is the education director of the MNS and she is responsible for raising the funds, designing and implementing the new exhibit. “We are very proud of the high level of quality scientific research we conduct here at LSU and our goal is to share the excitement we have for our research with the public. What better way to do so than by translating LSU research into exhibits? Hopefully, this will only be the beginning of a new generation of K-12 outreach programs to generate more interest in the world of science, particularly among our young people,” Warny said.
The exhibit is free and open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. “Experience Antarctica” is made possible through support and funding by the Louisiana Board of Regents, the Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation and the National Science Foundation.
For more information, contact Scott Madere, director of public relations for the LSU Foundation, at 225-578-3826 or smadere@lsufoundation.org.
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LSU’s Summer Reading Program is not just for students anymore. The university is encouraging all citizens of the Baton Rouge area to read “Mountains Beyond Mountains” along with incoming freshmen, and then watch the author and the subject of the book on live television as they speak to students at LSU on Aug. 19.
“Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World,” was selected earlier this spring as the book that all LSU incoming freshmen would be required to read this summer.
The book’s Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Tracy Kidder, and the subject of the book, Dr. Paul Farmer, will speak at LSU’s Academic Convocation on Aug. 19. Their talks will be televised live on Metro 21 in the Baton Rouge area, so that all of the capital area can benefit from this cultural and educational event.
“Just as other cities in Louisiana and across the nation are creating city-wide book clubs, where one city reads one book, LSU hopes to encourage that same sense of community and literacy here in Baton Rouge,” said Holly Carruth, coordinator of LSU’s Summer Reading Program.
The Summer Reading Program’s Web site, www.lsu.edu/srp, includes a study guide with discussion questions that could be used by Baton Rouge book clubs, as well as those reading the book on their own.
“The summer reading program represents a wonderful opportunity for our incoming students to share a common intellectual experience before their classes even begin. We are pleased that the Baton Rouge community will join with us this year to share the insights and the inspirational message of Dr. Farmer’s experience,” said LSU Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Risa Palm. “As the state’s Flagship University, we want to find ways to reach all citizens of Louisiana and invite them to share in the educational opportunities available on our campus.”
The East Baton Rouge Parish Libraries have joined in the effort by ordering extra copies of “Mountains Beyond Mountains” to have on hand for patrons and by putting up posters in the libraries about the book and the event on Aug. 19. And Country Roads magazine, which covers the arts and entertainment in the Baton Rouge area and beyond, is also helping to promote the idea of a city-wide book club. Members of University Presbyterian Church are just one example of a local community group that is reading and discussing the book this summer.
The book is a human-interest story with the compelling message that individuals can make a difference in the world. The story is about Farmer, who grew up with meager resources and in humble surroundings and persevered to become a medical doctor as well as a Ph.D. anthropologist. He has spent much of his professional life serving the rural population of Haiti, and the book’s title is based on a Haitian proverb, “Beyond mountains there are mountains,” which means that when you solve one problem, another appears.
Farmer pursued both his M.D. and Ph.D. work at Harvard University. He is currently the Lillian and Maude Presley Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and also the chair of the Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He still spends much of the year at his clinic in Haiti. He is a founder of Partners in Health, a non-profit organization that has provided medical services to hundreds of thousands of patients in Peru, Cuba, Russia and Boston, as well as Haiti.
In “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” Kidder follows Farmer as he commutes from his teaching responsibilities at Harvard to the many lands where he is involved in the treatment of infectious diseases. Kidder, known for his non-fiction narratives, is also a winner of the National Book Award.
LSU is one of more than 30 universities that start their academic year with a program surrounding a summer reading assignment. LSU began the program last year, when the freshman class was asked to read “Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.”
The Lady Tigers softball team, Laville Honors College Residential Hall students and the departments of Animal Science, Food Science, Veterinary Science and Dairy Science will all get new digs in the next few years thanks to the LSU Board of Supervisors’ approval of architectural renderings that either provide for renovations, additions or new construction to campus buildings for these groups.
The building of a new stadium, playing field, bleachers and berm seating for the LSU Lady Tigers softball team received the green light from board members at their May meeting. Trahan Architects told board members that the new 35,700 square-foot stadium will be built south of Skip Bertman Drive and will include 1,200 bleacher seats and 1,200 covered seats, locker rooms for both LSU and visiting teams, coaches offices, meeting rooms, a press box, a batting cage, supporting space and visitor accommodations. The estimated construction cost is $3.9 million and will be funded by the LSU Athletic Department. Construction is set to begin later this year and be completed by the fall of 2006.
Plans to renovate 173,000 square feet of the Laville Honors College buildings and construct a new 5,000 square-foot two-story addition to connect East and West Laville will begin in the summer of 2007. Architects with Bani, Carville & Brown told board members that plans include upgrading mechanical and electrical systems, reconfiguring rooms to allow for more single and double occupancy sleeping rooms and the redesigning of restrooms and showers to allow for added privacy. On the south side of the building, plans include renovations to the exterior courtyard and the addition of a water feature to the landscaping. The project will be paid for by revenue bonds supported by self-generated funds acquired through resident hall fees and is expected to be completed in January of 2009.
Near the heart of the campus, new lab space is slated for four departments of the LSU Agricultural Center. Currently, the existing Animal Science, Food Science, Veterinary Science and Dairy Science departmental labs are located in several different buildings on campus and are inadequate for these department’s laboratory needs. The new $9 million facility, named the Animal and Food Science Laboratory Building, will consolidate the research functions of these four departments into one, two-story building. Representatives with Sizeler Architects and Grace & Hebert Architects told board members the building will be built where the current Radioisotope Lab is located on Forestry Lane. If the legislature provides funding, as expected during the 2005 session, the Radioisotope Lab will be demolished to provide room for the 48,000 square-foot laboratory project. Current Animal Science, Food Science, Veterinary Science and Dairy Science buildings will remain for use as office and administrative space for these departments. The project will be paid for through general obligation bonds as managed by the state Division of Administration and is expected to be completed in January of 2009.
Another building project that received board action was the original three-phase plan for the Residential College One project. Board members approved a recommendation to downsize the original three-building project to a two-building project, since initial advertisement for the original plan failed to yield competitive bids within budget. University and state leaders believe that the reason for the lack of interest in constructing a project of the Residential College One project’s original magnitude is that contractors are being paid top dollar for rebuilding efforts along the Alabama and Florida panhandle as a result of the hurricanes that devastated these states’ coasts last year. The downsizing of the project would reduce its original budgeted cost by approximately $9.9 million and allow this money to be reallocated to the construction and renovation of Blake Hall.
In other news, LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe reported to the Flagship Committee on revisions to an internal university program designed to recognize and reward exemplary departments leading LSU in its efforts to achieve national prominence. According to O’Keefe, the 17-member University Planning Council, which was composed of a cross-section of LSU’s leading faculty and senior administrators, evaluated 33 campus units and then awarded seven with “Foundation of Excellence” status for a five-year term. Recognition as a “Foundation of Excellence,” the university’s top departmental honor, brings additional funding for enriching faculty pay and graduate student stipends in hopes of drawing high-quality students and faculty to LSU. All colleges and department were invited to participate, and 33 applied for “Foundation of Excellence” status.
The seven departments to receive the five-year term designation are biological sciences, chemistry, English, mass communication, mathematics, music and physics. O’Keefe also told board members that those who did not reach Foundation status this year will get to reapply in the next two years.
Other highlights of the meeting were:
• Board of Supervisors member Dorothy “Dottie” Reese was sworn in as a member of the Board by her husband, Judge Kern Reese. Dottie Reese is a healthcare executive and was appointed by Gov. Kathleen Blanco to represent the 2nd Congressional District.
• The May meeting was the last for Brad Golson, student member of the board. His contributions to the board were acknowledged with a resolution presented to him by board members. Lacey Spencer of LSU Shreveport will become the 2005-2006 student member of the board. Spencer will be inducted at the July 2005 meeting in Shreveport.
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| From left to right: University College Board Member John Daniel, University College Board Member Marvin Borgmeyer, University College Dean Carolyn Collins and University College Board Member Norman Deumite recently attended the University College Merit Awards Program. The University College board members were presented with excellence awards for their continued commitment, service and support of University College. |
On Thursday, May 19, the University College staff was honored for their outstanding accomplishments during the past year at a luncheon and awards program held in the Lawton Room of Tiger Stadium. In addition to University College staff, which includes staff from the Center for Freshmen Year, the Center for Advising and Counseling, the Center for Academic Success, and Student Support Services, other special guests were in attendance. Among those were Neil Mathews, vice chancellor of the Division of Student Life and Academic Services; Granger Babcock, assistant to the vice chancellor of the Division of Student Life and Academic Services; Arthur Goulas, assistant vice chancellor of the Student Health Center; Cleve Brooks, director of Admissions; and Lupe LaMadrid, associate director of Admissions.
Carolyn Collins, associate vice chancellor and dean of University College, presented staff members with Merit Awards, Service Awards and certificates of Excellence. University College Advisory Board members Norman Deumite, Marvin Borgmeyer, John Daniel, Kay Kirkpatrick, Dana Cossey, Sue Tweedy, Tutta Vetter and Mickey Mangham of Lafayette were also presented with excellence awards for their continued commitment, service and support of University College.
The 2005 Merit Award winners are:
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Newcomer of the Year – Aimee Frierson, counselor
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Clerical Employee of the Year – Cortney Greavis, administrative coordinator
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Employee of the Year – Saundra McGuire, associate dean and director of the Center for Academic Success
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Counselor of the Year – Nanette Cheatham, counselor
Dean’s Awards for outstanding achievement in 2005 were presented to the following staff members:
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Paul Ivey – Outstanding Counseling Programs
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Gwendolyn Clark – Martin Luther King Community Service Award
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Jan Shoemaker – Service-Learning Award
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Dorothy Morgan – Advisor of the Year Award
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Deborah Hollier – Outstanding accomplishments in Student Support Services
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Deborah Normand – Meritorious Service
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Saundra McGuire – 2004 National College Learning Center Association, or NCLCA, Outstanding Learning Center Award
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Melissa Brocato – 2004 NCLCA Outstanding Learning Center Award
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Essie Cockrell – Educational Achievement
LSU Libraries presents Education Resources’ Giverny Book Award exhibition on display through June 24 in 227 Middleton Library.
The internationally recognized Giverny Award is given to the author and illustrator of the book selected as the best children’s science picture book.
The exhibition in Middleton Library will showcase the past eight winners of the award. Visitors can read synopses of the plots, award-winning characteristics and suggestions for using these books in the science classroom.
James H. Wandersee, a faculty member of the LSU College of Education, and fellow biology educator and author Elisabeth Schussler co-founded the Giverny Award in 1988. The award is given annually by their 15 Degree Laboratory research group, currently based at LSU. The laboratory focuses on science education and literacy through visual learning. It performs research on visual cognition in biology, visual approaches to learning biology, and graphic representation of biological knowledge. The name of the award alludes to the renowned village that provided the site, setting and inspiration for famous impressionist paintings synonymous with the “visual capture and explanation” of the floral esthetic experience.
The award criteria states that the book must be a children’s science picture book written in English and published within five years of the award date. The book must teach the young reader at least one important scientific principle. The artwork must be in harmony with the text, and the text must have a story with a plot and characters to be considered for the award.
Past winners include:
1998: “COMMON GROUND” by Molly Bang. Blue Sky Press, 1997.
1999: “SAM PLANTS A SUNFLOWER” by Axel Scheffler and Kate Petty. Macmillan, 1997.
2000: “A LOG’S LIFE” by Wendy Pfeffer, illus. Robin Brickman. Simon & Schuster, 1997.
2001: “HENRY HIKES TO FITCHBURG” by D. B. Johnson. Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
2002: “RARE TREASURE” by Don Brown. Houghton Mifflin, 1999.
2003: “THE HIDDEN FOREST” by Jeannie Baker. Greenwillow Books, 2000.
2004: “LONESOME GEORGE” by Francine Jacobs, illus. Jean Cassels. Walker, 2003.
2005: “SQUIRREL AND JOHN MUIR” by Emily Arnold McCully. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2004
A lecture held in conjunction with the exhibit titled, “The Giverny Lecture: Three Perspectives,” was recently held at LSU. The lecture discussed three different perspectives of the Giverny Award. Wandersee discussed the award and how it has become a new award for a new genre of children’s literature. Jean Cassels talked about illustrating the 1994 Giverny winner, “Lonesome George,” and Carol Muller Gueringer discussed the use of science picture books in the classroom.