Campus Communique

Researchers Recommission Aquarius, World's Only Undersea Research Laboratory

On August 26 researchers in Florida recommissioned AQUARIUS 2000, the world's only undersea research laboratory, which has undergone a high-tech overhaul enabling it to better study coral reef habitat and transmit video and other data from the ocean floor. The lab is scheduled to resume its extensive underwater studies later this year. Officials last year provided the funding required to improve the capabilities and expand the communications of AQUARIUS 2000, an 81-ton, 43-foot long steel cylindrical chamber that serves as an undersea "space station" at the base of the Conch Reef off Key Largo, Fla. The refurbishment is the result of a partnership between communications engineers at Harris Corporation; ocean engineers at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution; Aquarius' owner, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and its operator, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. "None of this could have been done without the effors of each group," said UNCW Provost Marvin Moss. "Together, the partnership represents the best of government, academic and public sectors." "Harris Corporation's interest in communications fits with our university's commitment and interest in communications," said Chancellor James R. Leutze, adding that UNCW was the first university to enter the information highway and is a leader in transferring technology to the classroom. Aquarius enables up to four scientists or "aquanauts" and two habitat technicians to live up to 10 days at a time while they conduct research to better understand, preserve and protect coral reefs and water quality in the Florida Keys. The research includes: studying the effect of ultraviolet radiation on coral reef damage, the impact of sewage pollution and declining water quality on sea and plant life and the use of fossil records in coral reefs to better understand the natural cycles of the ocean and reef creation. The research is also used in the potential development of new drugs for the treatment of arthritis, heart disease and cancer. Pharmacological companies are researching the chemical extracts, which some reef organisms produce as a natural form of protection from predators, to determine their pharmaceutical possibilities. The cost of operating Aquarius is about $1.2 million a year. To increase the lab's communication capabilities, engineers at Harbor Branch and Harris equipped a 33-foot unmanned navigational buoy with a microwave communications system that is linked to a shore-based station seven miles away. The buoy was obtained by NOAA and is on loan to the Aquarius program from the National Data Buoy System. The buoy was also retrofitted with diesel generators and compressors to supply Aquarius' electrical power, breathing air and a variety of other life support systems. Previously, a 50-by-100 foot barge staffed by four crew members had to be permanently stationed over the submerged Aquarius. The upgraded communication system will enable divers to access the Internet and transmit data, voice and video that ultimately will be accessible via the Internet. The new system also improves the safety of the aquanauts who work on the reef up to nine hours a day using a form of diving known as "saturation diving." A new acoustic tracking system allows habitat technicians onboard the Aquarius to constantly monitor an aquanaut's condition and location. Improvements also enable aquanauts to rest and fill their own tanks at underwater way stations, eliminating the need to deliver tanks from the surface. "The improved capabilities of Aquarius would not have been possible without the synergy of this unique partnership," said Andrew Clark, director of engineering, Harbor Branch. "Scientists will now be able to significantly increase the amount of vital information they are sending back from the laboratory, and that information will also be available via the Internet." "Aquarius will be used as a platform to capture the attention and imagination of the public about our coastal ocean, with coral reefs as a backdrop," said Provost Moss. "The foundation of the program will be the science, but there will be the flash and excitement throught Internet access, real-time broadcasts and companion educational efforts."

University Bookstore to Hold Booksigning

The UNCW Bookstore will conduct a special pre-publication booksigning for The Death Penalty: An Historical and Theological Survey by James Megivern, philosophy and religion, from 5 to 7 p.m. September 4 and 10 a.m. to noon September 5. The 640-page book, being published by Paulist Press, will be released nationwide in November.

Announcements

Women of UNCW Scholarship Recipients

Nancy R. Lee and Donna Lynn Packer have been awarded the 1998 University Women of UNCW scholarships. These scholarships entitle them to an award of $500 each. Lee, daughter of Doris Hubbard, Tavares, Fla., graduated from Page High School in Greensboro and Guilford Technical Institute, Jamestown. She is a senior majoring in computer science and accounting. After graduating she hopes to pursue a master's in accounting. Packer, daughter of Maybell Packer, graduated from New Hanover High School and is a senior majoring in English. After graduating she hopes to continue her education to become an English professor, specializing in literature. These scholarships were established in 1987 to aid female students who have excelled academically.

NAACP Membership Drive

Joining the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is one way concerned members of the majority community can take specific, personal action toward racial understanding. Annual membership is $15 and includes a respected journal with an African-American outlook. For an application form, call Earl Sheridan at ext. 3222 or Charlie West at 458-4136.

New Associate Director of Honors Scholars

The Honors Scholars Program announces that Bill Atwill, English, has agreed to serve as the new associate director of the Honors Scholars Program. Atwill is a specialist in American literature and has taught in the Honors Program. He has a strong focus on students as shown by his work as an advisor to the international students from the University of Wales at Swansea. Atwill will work most closely with the recruitment of faculty for honors courses. Call him with any honors course proposals at ext. 3679.

Educational Lab Offers Tutoring

The Educational Lab will offer tutoring for children K-9 in reading/language arts and math from September 8 to November 20. UNCW education students will be matched one-on-one with a child for the tutoring sessions. Children will attend one-hour sessions once or twice a week between 3 and 6 p.m. Mon.-Thurs. in King Hall, Room 203. Tutoring fees are: 20 hours of elementary reading/language arts, $150; 25 hours elementary reading/language arts, $187.50; 10 hours elementary math, $75; and 10 hours of diagnostic testing, $75. For more information, call ext. 3633.

Seminar on Extinction

The talk "Dinosaurs and Dodos: The Effect of Mass Extinctions on the History of Life," by Thor Hansen, chair of the Geology Department at Western Washington University, will be held at 1 p.m. September 5 in DeLoach Hall, Room 128. More than 99 percent of all the animals and plants that ever lived have become extinct. Most of these extinctions occurred during relatively brief episodes of mass extinction during the earth's history. Mass extinctions were pervasive, involving plants and animals in nearly all environments and on a global scale. By examining the cause and effects of these extinctions, Hansen will shed light on one of the largest extinctions in the earth's history, one going on right now. Hanson holds a doctorate in geology from Yale University and served as a visiting scholar at Oxford University during 1991-92. Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend the talk, which is geared to the non-specialist.

School of Nursing Forum

The School of Nursing will hold two programs, "Family Support Forum" and "Ingredients for Attaining Excellence in the School of Nursing," from 9:30 a.m. to noon September 6 in the University Center Ballroom. School of Nursing students and their families are invited to attend. Call ext. 3784 or fax ext. 3723 with RSVP by September 2.

Study Abroad Travel Grants

Applications for spring semester Study Abroad Travel Grants are available in the Office of International Programs, University Union, Room 103. Return completed applications for spring travel grants by September 15.

UNCW Bowling League Meeting

The UNCW Bowling League will have its kickoff meeting at 6 p.m. tonight at Cardinal Lanes on Shipyard Blvd.

Honors Scholars Reception

The campus community is invited to meet the new and continuing honors scholars at a reception from 4 to 5:30p.m. September 3 in the University Center Ballroom. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call ext. 4181.

50th Facts

September 22, 1946

Wilmington College began as two college centers - one located at New Hanover High was an extension of the University of North Carolina. The other unit was established at Williston High School as an extension of Fayetteville State Teachers College. The centers were established to meet the demand of veterans returning from World War II. Coordinators from 12 departments at the University of North Carolina made course syllabi available, suggested rates of progress and made sure courses were similar to those offered at the parent institution. Registration fees were $5 per student and tuition was $4 per quarter hour of credit. Two hundred and twelve (212) students enrolled at New Hanover and 26 students enrolled at Williston on this date. Information from Marshall Crews' From These Beginnings.

Focus on Faculty and Staff

Amy Zeng, production and decision sciences, had her paper "Make-or-Buy Decisions in Deterministic and Stochastic Settings" published in the production and operations management track of the Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference of American Chinese Management Educator Association (ACME) held in Las Vegas, Nev.

Simona Bartl, biological sciences, presented the talk "Full-length MHC Class I cDNA Clones Isolated from Cartilaginous Fishes" at the Seventh Congress of the International Society of Developmental and Comparative Immunology at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. Meredith Baish, Kathleen Williams, Rebecca Lohr and Evonne Mochon presented posters. Baish and Williams are two of BartlÕs former students who defended their master's theses this past spring. Lohr and Mochon are working toward master's degrees in marine biology.

Moorad Alexanian, physics, had two articles accepted for publication in the Journal of Luminescence: "Population Transfer in a Three-level Atom" in collaboration with Subir K. Bose of the Physics Department of the University of Central Florida and "Trapping and Number States in a Two-photon Micromaser" in collaboration with Bose and L. Chow also from the University of Central Florida. Both works were presented at the 11th International Conference on Dynamical Processes in Excited States in Solids in Mittelberg, Kleinwalsertal, Austria/Germany.

Jack Levy, chemistry, gave an invited lecture at Budapest Technical University on "The Chemistry of Phenoxaphosphine Derivatives and a Computational Study of the Related Compound, 2-Phosphinylphenol." He was hosted by Istvan and Magdi Hargittai, with whom he and Ned Martin, chemistry, have been collaborating on theoretical research employing the Cray T90 supercomputer at the North Carolina Supercomputing Center (NCSC). During the 1996-97 academic year, Istvan was visiting distinguished professor of chemistry and Magdi was a visiting scientist. In Budapest, Levy worked with the Hargittais on the manuscript that was submitted for publication in the Journal of Physical Chemistry A. Levy was awarded 200 hours of supercomputer time by NCSC for continuing work in this area.

Len Lecci, psychology, had his article "Revising the Factor Structure of the Juror Bias Scale: A Method for the Empirical Validation of Theoretical Constructs" accepted for publication in Law and Human Behavior.

T. D. Evans, criminal justice, Francis T. Cullen, Velmer S. Burton, Jr., R. Gregory Dunaway and Michael L. Benson had their article "The Social Consequences of Self-Control: Testing the General Theory of Crime" published in the August issue of Criminology.

Richard Engdahl, management and marketing, attended the 17th Organization Development World Congress in Colima, Mexico, where his paper ÒThe Evolving Role of Managers as Teachers/FacilitatorsÓ won the Outstanding Presentation Award.

John Clifford and Janet Ellerby, English, had their article "Composing Ethics" published in Composition Studies.

Steven Errante, music, received funding for his project "Work for the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra."

Marlene Rosenkoetter, nursing, and John Garris, business, had their research manuscript, "Perceptions of Retirees: Depression in Retirement" accepted for publication by the Journal of Nursing Science.

Diane B. Talley, public service and extended education, attended and presented at the International Marine Educators Association's annual conference in Chicago, Ill.

Richard Veit, English, had his book Research: The Student's Guide to Writing Research Papers, second edition, published by Allyn & Bacon. He has contracted with Allyn & Bacon to publish the second edition of his book Discovering English Grammar in the spring of 1998.

Chris E. Fonvielle, Jr., history, was interviewed by William Friday for "North Carolina People" to be broadcast August 29 and 31 on UNC Public Television. They discussed the N.C. Civil War Council's annual symposium to be held September 26-28 in Wilmington and Fonvielle's new book The Wilmington Campaign: Last Rays of Departing Hope.

Lu Huntley-Johnston, English, published "Framing Grammar within Literacy Instruction" in the North Carolina Journal of Teacher Education.

Dick Scott, business affairs, taught a class on "Financing Auxiliary Services" at the National Association of College Auxiliary Services Management Institute in Charlottesville, Va.

Joe Hickman, music, was a clinician at the Ninth Annual Music Conference of the East Carolina Episcopal Diocese at the Trinity Center on Emerald Isle. His paper "Sight-Reading for Choirs" was well received, and he was invited to present again for the 1998 conference. Hickman also served as cantor and singing leader for a number of other functions during the conference.

Ned Martin, chemistry, received funding for his project "Probing the Effects of Solute-Solvent Interactions and Solvent Free Volume on the 13C Spin-Lattice Relaxation of C60."

Sally Sullivan, English, published her poem In Nursing Homes All Over in Pembroke Magazine, and her review of James Schiff's monograph Understanding Reynolds Price appeared in North Carolina Libraries.

Kristin Howell, economics and finance, had her paper "Effects of Lending to Developing Countries by the Bank for International Settlements, The IMF, The World Bank and Bilateral and Private Sources" accepted for publication by the Scandinavian Journal of Development Alternatives and Area Studies.

Official Notices

Staff Development

Come Sign with Us - Part III, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursdays, through August 28 and 2 to 3:30 p.m. Thursdays, September 4 to November 20.

Connections E, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. September 3, 10, 17.

Understanding FRS Reports and Screens, 9 to 11:30 a.m. September 5.

New Employee Orientation, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. September 11

Defensive Driving, 8 a.m. to noon, September 12

Please refer to the Staff Training and Development Booklet for registration information or call ext. 3274. To register for computer classes, call ext. 4357.

Employee Appreciation Week

Employee Appreciation Week is September 8-12. Everyone is invited to the following events: "Breakfast Is Served" from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. September 8; "Lunch Is on the House" from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. September 10; and "Ice Cream Social" from 1 to 3 p.m. September 12. All events will be in the University Center Ballroom.

E-mail Passwords

To obtain a new e-mail or SIS password, call computer operations at ext. 3541. An interim password will be assigned and forwarded to you by campus mail or you may come by Hoggard Hall, Room 206 to pick it up. Passwords will not be given over the phone. Passwords to VAX accounts expire every 30, 90 or 180 days depending on the type of account and the critical nature of the data it contains. To change your password, select the "Password" option on your menu or enter the DCL command "Set Password" at the $ prompt in your personal account.

Deadline for Student Timesheets and Departmental Recaps

The deadline for student timesheets and departmental recaps for September 15 payment is 3 p.m. August 29 in the payroll office. Students should submit timesheets to their department representatives, not to payroll. Students not listed on the departmental recaps sheets may require additional paperwork. Check with Frances Carr in career services to make sure all paperwork has been received prior to adding students to recap sheets. Remember the minimum wage will increase to $5.15 on September 1 for payment on October 15. Call payroll at ext. 3163 with any questions regarding the increase.

Carowinds Coupons

Discount coupons for admission to Carowinds theme park are available to UNCW faculty and staff. Valid dates are August 30 - September 1. Pick up coupons in human resources.

Raleigh Artist Thomas Sayre Completes Khan's Garden

Thomas Sayre, an accomplished sculptor who lives in Raleigh, has created the newest artwork on campus, Khan's Garden. Located in front of the new Science Building, Khan's Garden is a pocket park or small garden, composed of several sculptural forms enclosed in an elliptical shape created by a low brick wall. The artwork derives its theme from the Coleridge poem "Kubla Khan." Sayre interprets the poem to be a metaphor for the creative process: that one can create something by imagining it. In Coleridge's poem erosion caused by a river displaces the landscape and creates a canyon. Through the poem, the landscape is brought back into existence. Sayre uses the poem's symbolism to create the sculptural forms included in the garden which describe and imply a giant ice sphere or "pleasure dome" which could never exist except in one's imagination. The walkway represents the river. Plant material, seashell or boat shell shapes and other forms in the work are not only drawn from the poem, but are coastal references. The 3,000 pound black and concrete sphere is enhanced with relevant symbols suggested by faculty and students. These symbols describe aspects of the imaginary ice dome and hint at the point chemistry becomes biology.

The Campus Communique is UNCW's weekly faculty/staff newsletter. It is published every Thursday. The deadline for Communique submissions is noon, Tuesdays. E-mail submissions to Communique, send faxes to 962-3847 or mail to 108 Alderman Hall. Phillip Brown can be contacted at ext. 7223.

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