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crew works through Labor Day to prepare building for grand opening Grounds crew works through Labor Day to prepare building for grand openingA group of UK employees gave up their entire Labor Day weekend this year to prepare the Ralph G. Anderson Building for its grand opening.
According to their supervisor, it was a labor of love. Nine members of the Grounds Department of the Physical Plant Division worked eight hours a day in above-90-degree heat Saturday through Monday, Aug. 31 through Sept. 2, tilling, cultivating, laying sod, mulching, applying compost and top soil and planting trees, shrubs and plants – including 500 mums – around the new UK College of Engineering building. The workers received the project Aug. 24 and had until Sept. 5 to complete it prior to the grand opening Sept. 6. George Riddle, superintendent of the grounds department, said the workers volunteered for the job. "These people are always there when you need them," he said. Sharron Townsend, director of development for the College of Engineering, said, "The grounds staff worked tirelessly to get the area surrounding the Ralph G. Anderson Building ready for the dedication ceremony. Their hard work made the difference in the success of the ceremony as many donors and guests commented on the beautiful landscaping. We are sincerely grateful for their efforts and thank them for making the dedication so special." Paul Cable, UK architect and project manager of the Anderson Building construction, added: "George Riddle, Jerry Hart and the entire crew involved with the project went well above and beyond the call of duty. Their efforts in making the site ready for the dedication ceremonies on Sept. 6 provided a natural and welcoming atmosphere for our guests. The final results of the design and installation of the landscaping by the Buildings and Grounds Division is a tribute to their talent and desire in making our campus a pleasant and attractive place to call home." History professor chronicles history of African Americans in LexingtonWith over 200 photographs, Gerald Smith, professor of history at the University of Kentucky, chronicles the African-American experience in his new book "Lexington, Kentucky," the newest installment in the Black America Series by Arcadia Publishing.
"What I wanted to do was reach deep into the heart and soul of the African-American community," Smith said. "Because so little information is known about black life in Lexington, I wanted to show the struggles and progress of African Americans in this city from slavery through the civil rights movement." Since being published on Aug. 21, nearly 1,000 copies of the 1,200-copy first printing have been sold, prompting Arcadia to begin planning the volume's second printing. "Lexington" is available at many local booksellers, as well as Arcadia Publishing at (843) 853-2070 or www.arcadiapublishing.com. Smith, director of the UK African-American Studies and Research program, conceived the idea for "Lexington" about five years ago when he saw a similar book about Dallas, Texas. He has long been interested in a project such as this. As an undergraduate at UK, he thought the African-American community was invisible, but he knew that there were black businesses and schools and people who played a prominent role in the town. In his research, he learned that stories and photos were there. It was just a matter of collecting them. Smith used the products of a project by the Lexington History Museum. LHM submitted a grant application to the Kentucky Humanities Council to hold a photo fair where citizens could gather and bring photos that would be scanned and included in the Kentucky Digital Library. When Smith was ready to begin the process of compiling his book, he needed to go back to those who had provided photos at the fair to get permission for their use in his project. "The original process allowed me to do an early screening," Smith said. "I then went back to the owners to gather photos for my book, including many that were not gathered at the fair. Many thanks go to Calvert McCann who provided a photographic history of the Civil Rights era." By visiting each home, Smith was able to hear first hand the stories represented by the photos. And with each story, Smith said that new stories arose, broadening his database and helping him produce a much-needed history - a history of which he is proud. "I think this complements our understanding of Lexington's history," Smith said. "I am pleased with the photographic history of the civil rights movement in Lexington. The response for the book has been overwhelming from the African-American community. It has been humbling." Smith also is the author of "A Black Educator in the Segregated South: Kentucky's Rufus B. Atwood," which was published in 1994. In addition, he is serving as a co-editor on the sixth volume of a series compiling the papers of Martin Luther King Jr., as well as serving as co-author with Kenneth W. Goings, professor at The Ohio State University, on "The Duty of the Hour: a Memphis, Migration and African-American Agency 1862-1923." UK football player creates complete college experience
What do athletics, academics and culture have in common? They are all components of the first Complete College Experience, a one-day mentoring program solely created and designed by University of Kentucky football player Antonio Hall. Hall, a junior offensive tackle from Canton, Ohio, created the program to give middle school-age students a chance to experience the benefits of college before they undergo the peer pressures and rigorous demands of high school. The mentoring program promotes the importance of continuing education and athletics, providing a glimpse of the real college experience. "When I was in the eighth grade, I was a knucklehead sometimes," Hall said. "But a teacher took interest in me and took me to a University of Pittsburgh football game. I knew after watching those guys that I wanted to be a student-athlete, and I didn't want to do anything in high school to mess that up." The goals of CCE are three-fold: expose middle school students to college life not just in athletics but in academics and culture; inspire them to set goals to make the grade on and off the field throughout their high school careers; and provide a window to show the endless opportunities for them once they get to college. Local middle school student-athletes participated in the program on Saturday, July 27, on the UK campus, beginning with a tour of the Center for Academic and Tutorial Services. UK head football coach Guy Morriss spoke to the group about building character and the importance of staying in school. The group also toured all the athletic facilities and specific areas on campus such as the College of Engineering and the Singletary Center for the Arts. The students then participated in team-building simulations and rap sessions. "It's an honor that UK wants to work with our students, and I applaud Antonio and thank him so much," said T.C. Johnson, the Youth Service Center coordinator at Winburn Middle School. "This program is so beneficial because a majority of our students have never been on a college campus. CCE brings more of an awareness of the partnership between athletics and academics. The earlier we can allow these middle school students to experience the opportunities of higher education may motivate them to do better." Hall, a gifted opera singer, is majoring in music education at UK and plans to teach music to children following his playing career. Hall hopes the program will continue to grow even after he graduates from UK. "If it hadn't been for my experience as an eighth grader, I'm not sure I would have been serious enough about high school to even make it to college," Hall said. "When you have a goal to work toward it helps you stay focused. My goal was to become a college football player and study music, and now I'm doing both. If CCE helps just one student achieve his or her goals, then it's all worth it." PDP Task Force nears home stretch, on verge of recommendationsThe Performance Development Partnership (PDP) Task Force is entering the final phase of its evaluation of PDP. The Task force will recommend whether to keep PDP, modify it or replace it as a method to evaluate employees at the University of Kentucky. The task force has held six open forums and 10 focus groups. Using the information gathered from those meetings, the task force wrote a survey, which it mailed to about 1,200 randomly selected staff members and their supervisors. Task force chairperson Nancy Johnson wants to encourage those who received the surveys to complete and return it to the task force members. "We've learned a lot about what staff thinks about PDP through the open forums, focus groups and e-mails, but the survey will help us discern whether or not these views are widespread," said Johnson, who teaches in the Gatton College of Business and Economics. The task force will compile information taken from the surveys and draft a report, which will be posted in early October on the task force Web site. A final report with recommendations on the fate of PDP is likely to be completed by the end of the semester, Johnson said. A specialist in human resource management, Johnson said the goal of any performance evaluation process is to help employees do their best. It should also lead to an understanding of institutional barriers that hinder performance, she said. For more information, including a list of task force members, summaries of the forums and focus groups, and minutes of task force meetings, visit http://gatton.uky.edu//PDPTaskForce/. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a mosaic should be worth…
Nearly everyone has a story about a defining moment that helped chart the course of his or her life or career. In Kathy Walsh-Piper's case it was more like a defining glimpse, and she can tell you precisely when and where it happened. When she was nine years old and on a school field trip to the Baltimore Museum of Art, recalls the new director of the University of Kentucky Art Museum, "I turned a corner in the museum and there was a beautiful floor mosaic with the sun shining on it (a mosaic with animals from fourth century Antioch) and my first thought was, 'This carefully-made picture was once in someone's home.'" An interest in interpreting art and art history led Walsh-Piper on an educational and career trail that has brought her to the directorship of the UK Art Museum. "A work of art is a physical document from another time and constitutes a primary source. For me, just the sense of time is a source of wonder." After graduating from Washington University with a master's in art history, she taught school for seven years prior to taking her first museum job at the St. Louis Art Museum. Her principal goal was to teach and lecture in art museums, and she became a museum educator, working in several major museums and winning several awards and fellowships. The invitation to be a museum scholar at the J. Paul Getty Research Institute culminated in a new book by Walsh-Piper for art teachers. The book, titled "Image to Word: Art and Creative Writing," is due out in November from Scarecrow Press Inc., of Lanham, Md. It will come with a color CD produced at the University of North Texas that will enhance its value as a teaching aid. One of the goals Walsh-Piper has set for UK's Art Museum is forming partnerships in education with many areas of the University including, initially, the College of Fine Arts, the Arboretum, the College of Architecture, writing programs and Asian Studies. Other goals include exhibiting as much of UK's permanent collection as possible, whenever possible, and bringing outstanding national and international exhibits to the UK Art Museum located in the Singletary Center for the Arts. "A museum needs to build a sense of ownership in its audience," Walsh-Piper said. "The works of art in the permanent collection are a real treasure for the city of Lexington." Walsh-Piper wants to balance the collection with interesting exhibitions. "To build our audience, we need to bring in a major exhibition, like the Armand Hammer show that people are still taking about." One example of the show she would like to book is from Cambridge, England, called "From Medieval to Modern Times: 700 Years of French Arts From the Fitzwilliam." It's available for 2005. "This kind of exhibition can bring new audiences to the museum and be a major component of our plan to build our audience and create a statewide outreach program." Before coming to UK, Walsh-Piper was director of education and public programs for the Dallas Museum of Art. As a cultural specialist for the U.S. Information Agency in 1997, she taught management and planning to museums in major cities in Brazil. She also held posts at the National Gallery of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago and the Terra Museum of American Art. To learn more about the UK Art Museum and upcoming exhibits, visit www.uky.edu/ArtMuseum/. Teachers who make a difference to be honored by UKWas there a teacher or professor who made a lasting impact on your life? That's a question the University of Kentucky College of Education is asking of Kentuckians in its annual Teachers Who Made a Difference program. For five years, this program has provided Kentuckians an opportunity to thank special teachers for the way they inspired their students, motivated them and encouraged them to succeed. All the teachers named for recognition will be honored at the Teachers Who Made a Difference recognition ceremony at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, in the William T. Young Library at UK as part of UK Homecoming activities. A reception precedes the ceremony in the gallery of the library. Teachers named for recognition do not have to have a connection with UK. Deadline for nominations is Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2002. Dermontti Dawson, former lineman for the UK Wildcats, is the spokesperson for the 2002 Teachers Who Made a Difference program. "Too many times we don't realize the difference teachers make in our lives until long after we're grown. I know of several teachers that, throughout my life, had a great influence on me. This program gives anyone the opportunity to thank that special teacher in their lives and I'm glad to offer my support to the program," Dawson said. The easiest way to name a teacher for recognition is to use the online form on the UK College of Education Web site at www.uky.edu/Education/welcome2.html. Teachers may also be named by faxing Mary Ann Vimont at (859) 323-1046 or by mailing to the College of Education, 103 Dickey Hall, Lexington, KY 40506-0017. Since the program's inception, more than 400 teachers have been honored. Walter Ferrier takes reins at Gatton's MBA centerIn the late 1960s and 1970s, young Walter Ferrier looked forward to the drives from urban New Jersey to his grandmother's farm outside Owensboro. "Every year, we'd take that station-wagon drive down here," Ferrier recalls.
On the farm, Ferrier would help uncles and older cousins care for the tobacco crop. He got a prime job. "I was the youngest at the time, so I got to drive the tractor" while his older, stronger relatives would lay sticks of tobacco on a large trailer, he said. Thirty years later, Ferrier still enjoys driving a tractor - this time, to mow the fields on a small hobby farm in southern Fayette County. That spot isn't the only place where Ferrier is in charge. The 42-year-old Gatton Endowed Associate Professor of Strategic Management recently took over as the new assistant dean and director of MBA Programs at the UK Gatton College of Business and Economics. He has big plans. "I've always considered myself a 'big idea' person. I believe if we dangle some big ideas out there, they'll be attractive enough to draw some interested faculty and students," Ferrier says. Among his plans are encouraging those with master's degrees in business to participate in an "Idea Competition" sponsored this fall by the UK Entrepreneurs Club and a statewide business-plan competition in the spring organized by the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation that will offer a $20,000 first prize. "Both competitions would establish small teams of MBA students to assist campus and Lexington area entrepreneurs on issues like marketing and raising capital," Ferrier said. "And I think it would be a thrill for our students to be able to say they won high places in the business plan contest. Think what that would add to their resumes for their job searches." Ferrier became head of the center at a momentous time. President Lee T. Todd Jr. has emphasized his desire to offer an "executive MBA" program, and Ferrier predicts the first of two EMBA programs will be ready to enroll in fall 2003. He is especially excited about the university's preparation to offer the nation's first Executive MBA in sports marketing. "The MBA faculty are highly enthusiastic to launch that program, and we've already accumulated good visibility in this area with our UK Sports Marketing Academy," Ferrier says. The academy, held early in May for the last seven years, has been headed by Gatton Endowed Associate Professor of Marketing Scott Kelley. It has drawn sports marketing professionals from corporations, college campuses and professional sports organizations all over the country to UK. Ferrier understands what it's like to be drawn to Lexington. Although a native of Daviess County, he moved to New Jersey when he was a child. Still, the yearly summer vacations outside Owensboro instilled a love of the Bluegrass State. He nurtured that love by coming to UK to earn his bachelor's degree and then his master's. After four years at the University of Maryland at College Park, he received his doctorate. Eight years ago, he joined the Gatton College's faculty. This month, when he's not at his office, he'll likely be found skeet shooting and hunting dove – on his hobby farm in south Lexington. BriefsWhitley named to
board Medical Center
teams up with Habitat to build home Ophthalmology professor
to speak at National Science Writers seminar The seminar is held annually to inform science writers – and through them, the general public – of significant developments in vision research. Ambati, a specialist in diseases of the retina and vitreous, will give a talk on transcleral drug delivery, a relatively new form of treatment developed by him and his colleagues, allowing direct delivery of medication to specific areas of the eye. Submit briefs to UK News by sending an e-mail to uknewseditor@email.uky.edu. |
