Establishing Human Identity By Kathy Deweese A Treasure

Transcription

Spring 2003
Volume 26, Number One
FEATURES
Establishing Human Identity
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By Kathy Deweese
International leadership in human identification is emerging at WVU. Iris scans, face recognition, and
voice, cardiac, and neural signals are becoming the “fingerprints” of the future.
20
On the Tiger’s Trail
26
A Treasure Trove
By Ben Lapoe and A. Mark Dalessandro
A project that teams graduate students with middle-school teachers is invigorating students and
teachers with hands-on, inquiry-based learning activities.
By Jim Davis
Mementos and photographs of the USS West Virginia are donated to WVU, providing glimpses of
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everyday life on the ship in its prewar years.
A Promising Beginning
32
By Becky Lofstead
Every high school senior in West Virginia has a chance to earn a scholarship to WVU. Meet the first
class of PROMISE scholars.
Unleashing the Power—Moving Wheelchairs more Efficiently
34
By Laura Spitznogle and Shannon Sheehan
Two engineering professors, a graduate student, and the Office of Technology Transfer collaborate to
create a device that could make life healthier and more productive for wheelchair users everywhere.
DEPARTMENTS
2 Reflection A Presidential Abode • By Karen Zeller
3 Letters to the Editor World Faiths, Abraham’s Personal Faith
4 Pathways Establishing Human Identity, Research Funding, Congressional Earmarks, Research Park and Fire Academy, Role of Parents in Preschool, Mutant
Genes, Organic Agriculture Receives Grant
7 Around Campus and Beyond PRT Reaches Milestone, College of Law Kicks off
Quasquicentennial Celebration, WVU Press, Partnership with Oglebay Institute, Former Owens Corning CEO Joins B&E, Honors and Awards, Contract to
Help Persons with Disabilities, Student Affairs Honors Four, B&E Hall of Fame,
Outstanding Parents Clubs, Homecoming Honors, Faculty Participate in Institute,
Mountaineer Week Honors, December Convocation
13 Foundation Highlights Ware Family Creates Distinguished Professorship,
Geology Alumnus Establishes Professorship, Campaign Reaches $233.5 Million,
Capital Campaign Leaders, Family Honors Mother, Scholarship Web Site Wins
National Award, Tribute for Faculty, Irvin Stewart Society
38 Hail, West Virginia Women’s Basketball, Men’s Basketball, Football
40 Book Reviews The Handywoman Stories, A Valley Called Canaan: 1885-2002,
We Are Not Afraid
41 Class Notes Achievements and Transitions, Seeking Answers About AIDS, Our
$1.5 Trillion Man, JD at the DQ
47 Great Aspirations A Jazzman’s Journey • By Christy Day
FRONT COVER The deck of the USS West
Virginia. One of many photographs donated
by a former crew member.
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48 Expressions National Mother’s View • By Rosalie Gaziano
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Letters to the editor
Reflection
A Presidential Abode
By Karen Zeller
R
eclining on the Purinton House
lobby sofa, books, and papers scattered close by, Joe Gluck looks right at
home. And in many respects, he is.
For the past 22 years since he re-
tired in 1980 as vice president and dean
of students, Dr. Gluck has taken up office
space in statuesque Purinton House on
the downtown campus, former home to
many WVU presidents in the early days
of the past century.
Working in his small office on the
first floor, originally a sunroom, Gluck
typically counsels students on career
planning and other important life issues.
Last summer, however, he took occasional breaks to research his Purinton
House home and the some of WVU’s past
presidential occupants.
“There was a time when WVU presidents lived in Purinton House on the
downtown campus in the hub of student
activity,” he said.
Dr. Purinton, for whom the building is named, built the house in 1905
and lived there for seven years, followed
by Dr. Thomas Hodges and seven more
presidents, until the last resident, Paul A.
Miller, left to move to the new president’s
home on the Evansdale campus in 1964.
Though Purinton House is now
almost all office suites, Gluck said the
stately building once housed a massive
dining room capable of seating more
than a hundred guests, an equally huge
kitchen, pulley‑pulled dumbwaiters to
deliver items to the house’s upper stories,
and a grand ballroom on the second floor.
The third floors were generally reserved
for the president’s families, he said. “It
was very beautiful and very nice.”
However, the most historic room,
he said, is the sunroom off the great
dining room.
Reportedly, United States president
William Taft visited WVU for the installation of WVU President Tom Hodges on
November 3, 1912.
“Purinton House was the center
of activity that day,” he said, “with Mr.
Taft speaking from the front porch to
hundreds of school and townspeople
standing on the street. Following the
official luncheon, Taft called for a brief
nap, was seated in the sunroom—he was
too large to recline in normal beds. So
he took 40 winks there, seated in a large
wicker chair with the blinds pulled.”
Gluck kids that he believes that
President Taft still recalls his WVU visit
and knows that Gluck also was a Yale
graduate, like himself. Gluck suspects
that Taft sometimes speaks to him at
night in the sunroom by tapping Morse
code messages in the heating register.
“Sadly,” Gluck joked, “I never learned
the code.”
Angela Caudill
Art Director
Laura Spitznogle
Editor
Dan Friend
Photography Manager
Karyn Cummings
Web Developer
Carolyn Curry
Christy Day
Kathy Deweese
Pam Fronko
Becky Lofstead
Jacob Press
Contributing Editors
INTERNET
www.ia.wvu.edu/~magazine
EDITORIAL OFFICES
WVU Creative Services
P.O. Box 6690
Morgantown, WV 26506-6690
fax: (304) 293-4762
e-mail: [email protected]
Purinton House Residents
Christine Ballard
New Martinsville, West Virginia
CHANGE OF ADDRESS
WVU Foundation
P.O. Box 1650
fax: (304) 284-4001
CLASS NOTES
WVU Alumni Association
P.O. Box 4269
fax: (304) 293-4733
ADVERTISING
Lisa Ammons
P.O. Box 0877
fax: (304) 293-4105
VISIT OUR WEB SITE
www.ia.wvu.edu/~magazine
Read the latest news and information about
WVU and link to a variety of West Virginiarelated information sources. Read stories
from the current issue and an archive of
issues back to 1998.
West Virginia University Alumni Magazine is published
three times each year, in spring, summer, and fall,
for the alumni, friends, and other supporters of West
Virginia University. It is published by the WVU Alumni
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Services, a division of WVU Institutional Advancement.
Additional support is provided by the WVU Research
Corporation.
1905‑1911
Dr. Daniel B. Purinton
1911‑1914
Dr. Thomas E. Hodges
1916‑1928
Dr. Frank B. Trotter
1928‑1934 Dr. John R. Turner
1935‑1938
Dr. Chauncey S. Boucher
1939‑1945
Dr. Charles E. Lawall
1946‑1958 Dr. Irvin Stewart
1958‑1961
Dr. Elvis Staher
1962‑1964 Dr. Paul A. Miller
1980‑Present Dean Joe Gluck
(Office Resident)
World Faiths
I would like to respond to Phyllis P.
Nitshe who wrote a letter to the editor in
the Fall 2002 issue of the West Virginia
University Alumni Magazine to question
the course entitled “The Faiths of Abraham.” She pointed out that “As a Baptist
with years of Biblical training, I can tell you
that Abraham had only one faith.”
Do you not understand that there are
three world faiths (Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam) that trace their beliefs back to
Abraham’s tent? The study of these religions would be the object of this course. I
am a Catholic without much Biblical training, but this is common sense. What other
name do you suggest for this study?
Copyright © 2003 by West Virginia University. Brief
excerpts of articles in this publication may be reprinted
without a request for permission if West Virginia
University Alumni Magazine is acknowledged in print
as the source. Contact the Editor for permission to
reprint entire articles.
West Virginia University Alumni Magazine is an
integral part of the teaching, research, and service
mission of West Virginia University. The magazine
seeks to nurture the intellectual, social, and economic
development of its readers in West Virginia and
beyond. We encourage honest and open discourse
between our authors, readers, and society at large.
The opinions of authors expressed in articles in the
magazine are not necessarily those of WVU or of the
Editors, however. Readers should feel free to express
their opinions regarding the magazine’s contents in a
letter to the Editor.
®
THE WVU VISION
West Virginia University is a student-centered
learning community meeting the changing
needs of West Virginia and the nation through
teaching, research, service, and technology.
West Virginia University is governed by the WVU
Board of Governors and the West Virginia Higher
Education Policy Commission. WVU is an Equal
Opportunity/Affirmative Action institution.
Abraham’s Personal Faith
In the Fall 2002 issue, I read a terse
letter to the editor entitled, “Abraham Had
One Faith,” by Phyllis P. Nitshe. In her
letter, Ms. Nitshe was responding to a (presumably) new course offering entitled “The
Faiths of Abraham.” She simply claimed
that, from her years of Biblical training as
a Baptist, that Abraham had only one faith.
First, to offer my background, I am a
Catholic priest (ordained two years) with a
master’s of divinity from the Washington
Theological Union. I also had the pleasure
of studying under the late Dr. Manfred O.
Meitzen for several courses in religious
studies while an undergraduate at the
University [WVU].
Returning to Ms. Nitshe's comment, I
asked myself, “Did Abraham always have a
monotheistic faith?” I do not know the content of the University course, “The Faiths
of Abraham,” but I wondered if the course
would explore the different religions in the
areas of the Middle East (the towns of Ur
and Haran in the Mesopotamian valley) in
the time that Abraham purportedly lived
(c. 1700 B.C.E.). All that the Biblical book
of Genesis claims for Abraham was that
he moved with his family to Haran and
was called to move to Canaan from Haran
at age 75 (Genesis 11: 27—12:4). The Bible
says nothing else of Abraham before age 75,
other than he was born. Perhaps this course
would give some historical background of
the time period of Abraham and expound
upon those religious influences on the
personal faith of Abraham.
However, reading Ms. Nitshe’s short
letter a few weeks later, I realized that the
course title “The Faiths of Abraham,” may
not be about Abraham’s personal faith,
but rather those world faiths which claim
Abraham as their spiritual father in faith:
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I still
have not checked the course catalog nor
called the Religious Studies Program office to confirm this, but I would bet the
Sunday collection of my parish that my
above-conjectured synopsis is close to the
course description.
There is no possible way for anyone,
historian or theologian, to make a judgment on Abraham’s personal faith life from
the data given in the Bible. To claim that
Abraham had a monotheistic faith from the
first moment he came to faith when there
are so many unknown variables—the faiths
Printed in the U.S.A. on recycled paper.
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of his parents, the nonmonotheistic faiths
of his time, the use of idols in worship,
etc.—is ludicrous. Now, I admit that my
interpretation of Ms. Nitshe’s comment
may be wrong as well. I may be reading too
much into her statement, and she may only
mean that Abraham had one faith, a faith in
one God, from age 75 onwards, as the Bible
says. However, I would say that even this
simple statement says too much—we do
not know if Abraham ever had his doubts
and “tried on” another faith, if only for a
brief time, even after age 75.
As the Pontifical Biblical Commission also states, Catholics believe that
the fundamental approach to scripture is
dangerous, inviting one to an “intellectual
suicide.” It is such an intellectual death
that I see in Ms. Nitshe’s brief judgment
that Abraham had only one faith. It was
exactly this lack of thinking that the late
Dr. Meitzen, who founded the University’s
Religious Studies Program, bemoaned in
students who failed to use their brains. It is
always better to humbly admit, “We do not
know for sure,” and let that humility spur
us to learn what we do know, so our understanding may deepen and our intellectual
horizons broaden. It is for such intellectual
pursuit that our University exists.
Chris Kulig ’90 B.S.S.A., ’90 B.A.
Houston, Texas
Editor’s Note: This letter to the editor was edited for space. You can read
the entire letter on-line at www.ia.wvu.
edu/~magazine.
Corrections
Lloyd H. Wise, ’51 B.S., died on February 11, 2002. He was from Milton, WV,
not Indiana.
Wesley M. Bagby III, Morgantown,
WV professor emeritus of history, died
June 7, 2002.
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Establishing
Pathways
Human
Identity
S
ecurity, identification, forensics, and biometrics are
words that have become
commonplace since the
tragic events of September 11, 2001. Establishing one’s identity and making sure
that people are who they claim to be are
concerns that are not going to disappear
anytime soon, and in fact will probably
only intensify. Human identification is
an emerging technology that has been
propelled into worldwide prominence.
For those not familiar with the
terms, biometrics is the science that
uses unique physical characteristics to
identify subjects while forensic science
focuses on the biology and chemistry of
crime fighting using indicators such as
blood, DNA, and hair strands.
While the use of fingerprints revolutionized law enforcement in the
twentieth century, biometric systems
that use retinal and iris scans, face recognition, and voice, cardiac, and neural
signals are rapidly becoming the “fingerprints” of the near future. No longer are
these identification methods only found
in the realm of science fiction and hightech movie spy thrillers. Current popular
television shows highlight the use of forensic methods of solving crimes, and for
better or worse, you may soon encounter
these technologies when you go to the
bank, conduct business on-line, or travel.
International leadership in human
identification is emerging from a source
that may surprise you—West Virginia
University and the state of West Virginia.
WVU’s Forensic Identification Program
was established in December 1997 when
the University and the FBI signed an
agreement that led the way for WVU to
become the first university in the world
to offer a degree in forensic and investigative science and biometric systems.
WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr.
has noted that “It’s been a natural con-
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M. G. E l l i s
By Kathy Deweese
Waiting patiently for the next group of students, a mannequin sits in the corner of the new
Crime Scene House.
nection for the University and the FBI
Center in nearby Clarksburg. Since the
FBI went from fingerprint cards to a
computer system, opportunities emerged
for us in that specialty as well as in face
recognition and other areas.”
Jason Pizatella, an intern with the
WVU Research Office, recently discovered just how ready WVU is to lead in
these exciting new fields. “What Jason
found was WVU and the state are in a
position to have a huge impact, especially
in biometrics research,” said Dr. Edwin
Rood, director of research
program development. “I
cataloged all the assets
WVU and the state of
West Virginia currently
have, or are proposing
in the biometrics industry, compared with what
other states and higher
education institutions
are doing. No doubt, we
are on the cutting edge,”
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stated Pizatella, a 20-year old junior
from Fairmont whose major is political
science. “Combining those assets with
solid support from the state’s congressional delegation, WVU could be a real
force in biometrics, with facilities that
advance, analyze, and research identification technology,” Pizatella said.
Supporting the strength of WVU’s
leadership is the fact that the Forensic
Identification Program is the fastest
growing degree program on campus,
with enrollment doubling from 200
students to 400 last fall.
Michael Yura, director of
the program, noted that
“We had 51 students alone
transfer into the program
last summer after hearing
what WVU has to offer.
Biometrics has really been
in the news since 9-11, and
there are so many television
shows now focusing on the
importance of forensics in
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solving crimes. Top-notch students are
clamoring to learn more about these
growing opportunities.” Because it is
the first academic degree program to
be offered in forensic identification,
quite a few national publications have
written about it, including Newsweek,
USA Weekend, Rolling Stone, and The
Washington Times. WVU’s collaboration
with the FBI also has sparked media interest. “The national exposure certainly
has helped our program grow,” Yura said.
To support the increased enrollment, a second Crime Scene House was
recently opened. What used to be the
Field Service Center for Technology
Education on the Evansdale campus
now helps students, their professors,
and professionals interact to solve
mock crimes—everything from murder
to kidnapping. Two years ago, WVU’s
first Crime Scene House at 383 Oakland
Street (adjacent to the new site) was
developed to provide a place to practice
latent fingerprint techniques and crime
scene investigations. Both homes have
the appearance of an actual family dwelling, complete with furniture, toiletries,
and a well-stocked refrigerator. They
are used as working laboratories where
students use the skills they’ve acquired
to find evidence and solve crimes.
According to Yura, “A good educational foundation combined with
practical, hands-on experience are
what make WVU’s Forensic Identification Program so attractive. We equip
our graduates with the skills necessary
to land good jobs.” And Yura doesn’t
foresee any slowdown: “Our society will,
unfortunately, always have crime—and
coupled now with greater focus on security measures at the national level, I
think our program will remain popular
for quite some time.”
So, the next time you’re watching
Alias or CSI, remember that WVU is
helping to create those cool gizmos used
to identify the villains, and training the
heroes how to use them.
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WVU Experiencing All‑Time
High in Research Funding
WVU reached an all‑time high in funding
for research and sponsored programs
this past year, receiving $133.9 million
from federal, state, industry, and private
sources. This amount is up from $88.7
million in fiscal year 2001.
Vice President for Research and
Economic Development John Weete said
the 51 percent increase represents the
highest amount of funding in the history
of the University from external sources.
“We like these trends . . . the University is going in the right direction,”
said Weete, who is also president of the
WVU Research Corporation. “Funding
received from federal agencies accounts
for over 70 percent of the increase.”
WVU is also recognized by the Carnegie Foundation as a Doctoral/Research
University‑Extensive, which places it
among the top 154 research universities
in the country and the only one in West
Virginia.
“The ranking recognizes the achievements of our faculty and improves their
competitiveness in obtaining federal support—and lifts the worth of degrees for
our graduates and alumni,” Weete said.
Technology transfer is another area
where the University has seen significant
growth over the past year. The Office of
Technology Transfer, created only three
years ago, has had a flurry of activity that
involves assessing, protecting, and marketing intellectual properties generated
by WVU faculty and students.
In fiscal year 2002, 30 invention disclosures and 24 U.S. patent applications
were filed, and three patents were issued.
Six license agreements were signed last
year and two start‑up companies formed.
One notable example is Protea Biosciences Inc.—a firm based on technologies
developed by WVU faculty in the area of
proteomics.
“Our increases in funding for the
WVU research enterprise are resulting
in increased job creation,” Weete said,
citing approximately 800 new full‑ and
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part‑time jobs as a result of external
funding.
WVU Second in Nation in
Congressional Earmarks for
Academics, Research
The Chronicle of Higher Education’s
annual listing of congressional earmarks
for higher education was released in
September, and WVU was once again
near the top of the list, second only to
the University of South Florida.
WVU received some $31.6 million
of the $1.8 billion in congressionally
approved funds this past fiscal year, according to the survey.
Vice President for Research and
Economic Development John Weete
noted that public funds are put to good
use at WVU for worthwhile and important projects, such as $6.8 million
for a new facility for positron emission
tomography and $4 million for forensic
science research.
“We are, as always, delighted and
grateful for this congressional support—
much of which is due to Senator Robert
C. Byrd’s and Congressman Alan Mollohan’s assistance,” Weete said.
Grant Money Awarded for
Research Park and Fire
Academy
WVU’s proposals to develop a Research
Park in Morgantown and a new Extension Fire Service Training Academy
at WVU Jackson’s Mill near Weston
received a major boost in November
when the state Economic Development
Grant Committee approved $5 million for the park and $2 million for the
academy. Funding for the park was half
the amount requested by the University
while the training academy request was
fully funded.
John Weete, vice president of
research and economic development
at WVU and president of the WVU
Research Corp., said “This funding will
allow the University to start the infrastructure necessary for our future park.”
The park will be located on 100
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Pathways
acres near the Maple Avenue exit off
Route 705, site of the old WVU poultry
farm near Monongalia General Hospital.
“The overall mission of the park
will be to facilitate the economic development role of the University by
contributing to the diversification and
enhancement of the state’s economy,”
said Weete. “The Research Park also will
provide an outlet for the commercialization of University-based technologies.”
The park will host and nurture an
array of commercial entities, including
start-up companies based on technologies developed at WVU. Likely tenants
include those in the biometrics, biotechnology, biomedical, homeland security,
and forensics fields.
Grant funding for the new Extension
Fire Service Training Academy at WVU
Jackson’s Mill in Lewis County will be
used to complete site preparation, said
Dave Miller, special assistant to the
president for external affairs at WVU.
“Once completed, this state-ofthe-art training facility will attract first
responders, industrial emergency brigades, and other emergency personnel
from all across the Mid-Atlantic region,”
Miller said.
The Role of Parents in
Preschool
A professor from WVU’s Davis College of
Agriculture, Forestry, and Consumer Sciences has studied the effects of parents’
influence on preschool curricula and how
teachers can help parents understand
how a developmentally appropriate
classroom will benefit their children.
“Instead of focusing on a child’s
ability to be independent and work well
with others, parents of children enrolled
in preschool tend to be more focused
on their ability to read and write,” said
Barbara Warash, professor of family and
consumer science and director of the
WVU Child Development Laboratory
(nursery school). This simple fact puts a
lot of pressure on preschool teachers to
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Around Campus and Beyond
tally appropriate
classroom.
“Developmentally inappropriate
instructionforthreeto five‑year‑olds
would involve
structured activities where children
have to sit for long
periods of time, doing things such as practicing printing on
worksheets,” Warash said. “Appropriate
activities for children in this age group
should involve movement and choices
so that the children are not all doing the
same thing at the same time.”
“The pressure of standardized tests
and parents urging teachers to utilize
more formalized instruction have made it
difficult for preschool teachers to follow a
developmentally appropriate curriculum
for young children,” Warash explained.
“In West Virginia, standardized testing
begins in kindergarten, causing teachers to accelerate the learning process
in order for their students to know the
necessary information that will appear
on the test.”
Controlling the Speed of
Mutant Genes
Research by a WVU physicist on chemical waves could one day lead to new
ways of controlling the speed of mutant
genes and other foreign matter as it flows
through the body’s bloodstream.
Physics Professor Boyd Edwards
reported in the September 2 issue of
Physical Review Letters that a chemical
wave front moving through a tube filled
with fluid moving in the opposite direction is not slowed by the liquid. Laws of
nature dictate otherwise in most cases.
“We’ve learned chemical waves
are like pedestrians in a hurry,” said
Edwards. “Head winds don’t slow them
down but may bend them out of shape.
Tail winds, on the other hand, speed
them along.”
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Using trusted equations common
with physics, Edwards predicted that
a chemical wave front moving through
a tube filled with fluid moving in the
opposite direction develops a trailing
spike at the center of the tube. The spike
consumes just enough extra fluid to compensate for the flow, thereby allowing the
wave front to travel at its usual speed.
In contrast, a chemical wave moving in
the same direction as the flow is carried
along by the flow, and travels faster than
usual.
Laboratory experiments are already
under way at WVU to test these predictions. Deeper theoretical understanding
is being sought by physics doctoral student Robert Spangler.
PRT Reaches Milestone
by Jim Davis
What began as a mass transit prototype
to accommodate WVU students and alleviate traffic congestion in downtown
Morgantown is 30 years old.
Organic Agriculture
Research Receives Grant
Research will continue on organic agricultural production at WVU’s Davis
College of Agriculture, Forestry, and
Consumer Sciences thanks to a $150,000
grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The grant will help to expand and
continue the WVU Organic Research
Farm project started in 1999. The project
compares organic farming systems to
assist growers in the transition from conventional to organic farming methods.
“Organic food production is a rapidly growing sector of the United States
agricultural economy, and is considered
by many to be inherently safer and better
for the environment,” said James Kotcon, associate professor in the Division
of Plant and Soil Sciences at the Davis
College.
The new grant will allow researchers
to evaluate long‑term effects of crop rotations that began in 1999. Researchers will
also investigate new poultry and sheep
pasture rotations and how to integrate
these with crop production in whole
farm systems.
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The first phase of the Personal Rapid
Transit was dedicated October 24, 1972;
Tricia Nixon, daughter of then‑President
Richard Nixon, was on board one of the
five test cars for the first demonstration
ride. Since then, the PRT has undergone
expansions and renovations and managed to pick up a few honors along the
way.
After three decades the PRT is still
serving the transportation needs of WVU
students, faculty and staff, and Morgantown residents. The system will remain a
vital alternative mode of transportation
as the University and city continue to
grow.
The PRT was the brainchild of
Samy E.G. Elias, then a WVU Claude
Worthington Benedum Professor of
Transportation who is now associate
dean for research at the University of Nebraska‑Lincoln’s College of Engineering
and Technology. Elias was one of many
engineers and traffic experts around the
country exploring new transit systems to
alleviate smog‑ridden traffic congestion
plaguing urban America.
He and his colleagues at the WVU
College of Engineering proposed a
guideway system of cars powered by
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electricity and controlled by computers
as their transportation model. They also
proposed Morgantown as the demonstration site.
The project and the site obtained
approval from the federal government
in July 1969, and grant money totaling
$123.6 million began filtering
in shortly thereafter to pay for
studies and eventual construction.
Phase I of the system consisted of 45 vehicles running
from Walnut Street to the Evansdale campus and began carrying
passengers in October 1975.
Phase II extended the system
to the Health Sciences Center,
added 28 more cars, and began
running in July 1979.
In 1998, the PRT underwent a $5.2 million computer
upgrade and other improvements, most
noticeably a paint job transforming the
system’s passenger cars from a bland
white to Mountaineer blue and gold.
The PRT has transported more than
57 million passengers since its dedication
30 years ago. Its 71 cars carry an average
14,000 passengers a day over 8.7 miles
of guideway, with stations at Beechurst
Avenue, Walnut Street, Evansdale
(engineering and Towers), and Heath
Sciences.
The PRT has attracted its share
of recognition over the years. In 1972,
the National Society of Professional
Engineers named the system one of the
nation’s top ten engineering achievements of the year, and the PRT guideway
across Monongahela Boulevard was cited
as one of the 18 most beautiful new steel
bridges to be built. In 1998, the PRT beat
out Disney World’s famed monorail as
The New Electric Railway Journal’s
pick for best overall people‑mover. Elias,
meanwhile, won the first Henry Gantt
Medallion Award from the Institute of
Industrial Engineers in July 2001 for his
innovative design of the PRT.
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College of Law Kicks off
Quasquicentennial
Celebration
The College of Law
launched its Quasquicentennial Celebration
September 17 at the
Robert C. Byrd United
States Courthouse in
Charleston with an event
cosponsored by the Kanawha County
Bar Association.
Established in 1878 as WVU’s first
professional school, the College of Law
has a history rich in tradition and spirit.
It has been accredited by the Association
of American Law Schools since 1914 and
by the American Bar Association since
1923. A chapter of the Order of the Coif,
which recognizes the top ten percent of a
graduating class for academic excellence,
was established at the College of Law in
1925. Additionally, the West Virginia
Law Review is the fourth oldest law
review in the country.
Throughout the 125‑year history of
the state’s only law school, the College
of Law has benefited from a professional
working relationship with the legal community in West Virginia. Members of the
bench and bar have provided important
counsel and advice to the law school
community, which has enhanced the
continued success in providing quality
legal education.
WVU Press Releases New
Fall Catalog
The fall catalog of the WVU Press is rich
in Appalachian fiction, history, and music while also containing academic texts
in a variety of areas. New to the catalog
is the first release of a limited edition
of rare collectable art prints from the
Gramlee Collection of Early American
Commercial Wood Engravings.
In 1977, two Pittsburgh businessmen, Bob Graham and Pat Lee, bought
the entire inventory of more than 2,000
engraving blocks, dating back to 1895,
from the S. George flour milling company
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College of Creative Arts
Partners with Oglebay
Institute
The WVU College of Creative Arts and
Wheeling’s Oglebay Institute are entering into a new collaboration that includes
performing arts attractions, art exhibitions, and educational opportunities for
Ohio Valley students.
“I’m thrilled with the opportunity
to partner with Oglebay Institute,” said
Bernie Schultz, dean of the College of
Creative Arts. “Oglebay Institute is one of
the most respected institutions of its kind
in the nation, and our partnership will
offer many wonderful opportunities to
the citizens of northern West Virginia.”
“Partnering with other educational
institutions is an essential part of Oglebay Institute's mission and ensures the
public that it can rely on us for vigorous
new directions and inspiring presentations,” said Frederick A. Lambert,
president of Oglebay Institute.
Included are collaborations with the
College of Creative Arts and the Oglebay
Institute's visual arts department. One
exhibition, “From Enoch to Strange
Creek,” will be shown from February 20
to March 22.
Kudos
McNair Scholar Earns National Award
WVU senior Gino Degregori became
WVU’s first McNair Scholar to capture
an award at the eighth Annual National
McNair Conference.
Degregori, a business management
major from Alexandria, Virginia, received
second place in the oral presentation
competition, capturing WVU’s first‑ever
McNair Conference award.
Degregori’s presentation, “Exploratory Study of the Representation,
Recruitment, and Retention of Hispanics
in US IT Employment: Conceptual Model
and Research Design,” was based on a
year‑long research project through the
McNair Scholar Program. His faculty
mentor is Dr. Virginia Kleist, assistant
professor of management information
systems in the College of Business and
Economics.
The McNair Program, federally funded by a grant from the U.S. Department
of Education, assists first- generation
college students and minority college
students in preparing for graduate education. The program bears the name of
Ronald E. McNair, who died along with
six of his astronaut colleagues aboard
the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986.
Art Professor Participates in
International Print Project
Digital Miniature Print Portfolio Project
organized by the Centre for Fine Print
Research (CFPR) at the University of
the West of England in Bristol, England.
The CFPR is a large research group
dedicated to the development of fine
print and is regarded as the center of
excellence within the international print
community.
Soave received a master of fine
arts degree from WVU in 1987. His
computer works, lithographs, etchings,
and silkscreen prints have been included
in more than 100 invitational and juried
regional, national, and international
exhibitions.
Eberly Dean Elected President
M. Duane Nellis, dean of the Eberly
College of Arts and Sciences, has been
elected president of the Association of
American Geographers, the largest organization of professional geographers
worldwide with a membership of more
than 7,000. He will serve a one-year term.
His primary goals relate to supporting
the AAG’s strategic initiatives, which
are designed to strengthen partnerships
between academic geographers, government, and business, as well as enhance
the position of geography in national
policy debate.
Sergio Soave, professor of printmaking and chair of the Division of Art,
participated in the First International
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“From Enoch to Strange Creek”
is a painting installation by Michael
Paxton, a native of West Virginia who
lives in Chicago. The works reference six
generations of Paxton’s family history,
lived at the juncture of Clay, Braxton,
and Nicholas counties in West Virginia.
WVU art faculty were also involved
with the Regional Student Art Exhibition at Oglebay that was held January
16 through February 8. The exhibition
included programs that offered local
students free art portfolio reviews by
WVU professors.
A new scholarship given by Oglebay
Institute and WVU also was awarded to
an incoming freshman in the Division of
Art. The $500 scholarship was presented
as a result of the portfolio reviews during the Regional Student Art Exhibition.
Former Owens Corning CEO
Joins B&E for Fall Semester
The former chief executive officer and
chairman of the board of Owens Corning
taught at WVU’s College of Business and
Economics as a faculty executive‑in‑ residence during the fall
2002 semester.
Glen H. Hiner,
who recently retired
from Owens Corning, taught a graduate
course in business ethics in the college’s
industrial relations
program.
During his time as
Owens Corning CEO, Hiner established
and implemented a global vision for the
company focused on customer satisfaction, individual dignity, and shareholder
value. The company introduced new
products and built new manufacturing
facilities around the world. The company’s business strategy drove sales by
shifting its focus from individual products to system‑driven solutions. The
company launched a major restructuring initiative in early 1998 and achieved
more than $110 million in cost savings.
M a g a z i n e
A native of Morgantown, he holds a
bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from WVU and received an honorary
doctorate in science from his alma mater
in 1989. Also in 1989, he was inducted
into the WVU Academy of Distinguished
Alumni.
WVU Receives Multimillion‑
Dollar Contract to Help
Persons with Disabilities
A national jobs clearinghouse based at
WVU that matches positions with the
needs and talents of disabled people has
won a $9.5 million, five‑year contract to
continue its work for the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Job Accommodation Network
(JAN), the only nationwide program of
its kind, answers more than 32,000 calls
each year, primarily from employers and
their workers with disabilities.
JAN is housed within the WVU
College of Human Resources and Education’s International Center for Disability
Information and is administered by the
U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of
Disability Employment Policy. A staff of
25 runs the jobs network.
This funding ($1.77 million in the
first year with the possibility of renewal
for four subsequent years) will further
help JAN perform its mission of assisting
in the hiring, retraining, retention, and
advancement of persons with disabilities
by providing accommodation information in a confidential manner.
The funds will be used to improve
three primary electronic services:
• A web site that serves as a gateway to information on accommodations, disability
laws, publications, and other resources
to assist employment of people with disabilities (www.jan.wvu.edu);
• Project SOAR, a Searchable On-Line
Accommodation Resource to provide
information on accommodation options and products (www.jan.wvu.edu/
soar); and
•The Small Business and Self‑Employment Service to provide information
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about resources available for people with
disabilities who wish to be self‑ employed
or to start a small business.
Student Affairs Honors Four
WVU’s Office of Student Affairs presented an Outstanding Achievement Award
and inducted three into the Student Affairs Hall of Fame at the annual Student
Affairs awards ceremony in October.
This year, the University honored
initiated and implemented new programs and publications that contributed
to the growth and well‑being of WVU’s
African American students.
She also planned and initiated leadership workshops and conferences for
the WVU African American population
and was pivotal in developing the current
Center for Black Culture and Research.
Belmear also worked for West Virginia
Extension, where she planned and con-
Mike Hardy
of Wellsburg. The company had used the
blocks to imprint its flour bags with the
designs for almost 100 years. The collection was later donated to WVU.
Pictured left to right are Arlene T. Hahn, Emma M. Jackson, James R. McCartney, and Geraldine
C. Belmear
James R. McCartney with the Student
Affairs Outstanding Achievement Award
for his lifelong commitment to higher
education. McCartney was student body
president from 1940‑41 and a member of
the Mountaineer basketball team.
After leaving the University, his
commitment to higher education continued with service in various capacities,
including serving as a member of the
West Virginia Board of Regents, a trustee
of the WVU Alumni Association Loyalty
Permanent Endowment Fund, a member
of the Board of Trustees for West Virginia
Wesleyan College, and as a long‑time
chapter advisor for the Gamma Delta
chapter of the WVU Delta Tau Delta
fraternity.
Three former WVU employees were
inducted into the Student Affairs Hall of
Fame: Geraldine C. Belmear, Arlene T.
Hahn, and Emma M. Jackson.
In 1978, as the student advisor for
the first Black Student Office, Belmear
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ducted Barbour County’s first 4‑H camp
for African American children.
She graduated from West Virginia
State College in 1940 with a bachelor of
science degree in home economics, and
in 1962 she received a master’s of science
degree in home economic education
from WVU.
From 1965‑81, Hahn served as the
administrative associate/receptionist
in Towers Residence Halls, where she
supported staff and students within the
Evansdale Residential Complex.
In 1981, Hahn began a new career
as the office manager for the Office of
Student Life. She retired in 1990.
For 31 years, Jackson served as the
room assignments clerk/assistant with
the Department of Housing and Residence Life.
This is the fifth year Student Affairs Hall of Fame awards have been
presented.
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Governor Bob Wise was
on hand to congratulate
the 2002 West Virginia
Business Hall of Fame inductees. Pictured left to
right are: Verl O. Purdy,
president and owner, AGDATA Inc.; A. Bray Cary
Jr., president and CEO,
West Virginia Media Holdings LLC; Charles E. Ryan,
chairman and CEO, Charles
Ryan Associates Inc.; Gov.
Wise; Richard M. Adams, chairman
and CEO, United Bankshares Inc.; and
G. Ogden Nutting, chairman, Ogden
Newspapers Inc.
among the top in accomplishment and definitely
serve as role models for
our students and other
businesspeople.”
Those inducted into
the West Virginia Business Hall of Fame must
have connections to West
Virginia, either by birth,
residence, education, or
business presence. They
must also have established
a record of distinction in their field and
industry in the categories of national/
international businesses, state-based
enterprises, or entrepreneurial and family businesses.
“We could not have been more
pleased with the number and caliber
of nominations this year. It was a competitive field and the selection committee
had a difficult task,” said B&E Dean Jay
Coats. “The five we are honoring are
WVU Honors Outstanding
Mountaineer Parents Clubs
Mike Hardy
Sabrina Cave, left, Mountaineer Parents
Club director, and Susan Hardesty, right,
national chair of the Mountaineer Parents Club, congratulate Audrey Faust of
the Lehigh Valley, Pa., Parents Club and
Kathy and Bill Watson of the Preston
County Parents Club. The Lehigh Valley
and Preston County clubs were selected
as this year’s outstanding Mountaineer
Parents Club groups and were honored
at halftime of the WVU–East Carolina
football game.
Homecoming Honors
Royalty
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Two WVU students who hail from
southern West Virginia were named
homecoming king and queen October 19
during halftime of the WVU–Syracuse
football game.
Tim Valentine of Charleston and
Angella Piccirillo of Madison were
crowned by University President David
C. Hardesty Jr. before a Homecoming
game crowd of about 45,000.
Valentine is a senior music education major. He was sponsored by the
Gamma Beta Phi Society and serves as
the organization’s state and local presiU n i v e r s i t y
A l u m n i
dent. As president, he will be the host of
the organization’s regional conference
this fall and is leading his members to
raise money and toys for the St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital in a project
called U‑Haul for Life.
Piccirillo is a senior broadcast news
major. She was sponsored by Alpha Xi
Delta and is active in the sorority. She
has served as philanthropy chair when
the sorority received best philanthropy
designation. She has also served as the
vice president of public relations for
Panhellenic Council.
M a g a z i n e
Alumni Association
Honors Three
The WVU Alumni Association honored
three distinguished members of the
University community—all from Morgantown—at this year’s Homecoming
celebration.
Past chair of the WVU Board of Governors Vaughn Kiger received the 2002
Outstanding Alumnus Award. Horace
and Geraldine Belmear served as Homecoming parade marshals. All participated
in the annual Homecoming parade and
were honored during halftime of the
WVU–Syracuse game.
“These individuals have honored
WVU for decades by tirelessly working to
advance the interests of the University,
its students, and the cause of higher education in West Virginia,” said Stephen
L. Douglas, chief executive officer of the
WVU Alumni Association.
Vaughn Kiger, president of Dorsey
& Kiger Realtors of Morgantown, is past
chairman of the WVU Board of Advisors
and WVU Board of Governors, where he
remains a member and serves on the Executive, Business Affairs, Compensation,
and University Relations Committees.
The Morgantown native earned a
bachelor’s degree in history from WVU
in 1966. He has been a member of the
WVU Alumni Association for more than
25 years, serving as president of its board
of directors from 1992‑93.
Horace Belmear, a native of Bardstown, Ky., earned a master’s degree in
physical education from WVU in 1951.
After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Belmear taught social
studies and physical education at Dunbar
ing the first black woman in the nation
to hold this rank.
After retiring from the Extension
Service, Mrs. Belmear joined her husband at WVU, serving successively as
black student advisor, assistant dean
for minority affairs, and assistant coordinator of minority affairs from 1978
until her retirement in 1987. She helped
create the Center for Black Culture
and Research and counseled high‑ and
low‑achieving students and their parents, making a lasting impact upon a
generation of students by serving as a
“surrogate grandmother.”
Vaughn Kiger
High School in Fairmont for 18 years.
While at Dunbar, he coached football,
basketball, track, and baseball.
In 1971, Belmear came to WVU as
director of foreign student admissions.
In seven years, he tripled the number
of foreign students and the number of
countries represented at WVU. In 1979,
he was named assistant dean of admissions and records. The following year,
Belmear took on formal responsibility for
the recruitment and retention of black
students at WVU, which became his full‑
time role until his retirement in 1993.
His wife, G eraldine C arpenter
Belmear, was valedictorian of Dunbar
High School, and obtained a master’s
degree in home economics education
from WVU in 1962.
For nearly 30 years, Mrs. Belmear
worked with the State Cooperative Extension Service, ultimately supervising
a staff of 15. She made history when
she was placed in charge of the Marion
County Homemakers Program, becom-
Dan Friend
Five State Business Leaders Named to Hall of Fame
Geraldine and Horace Belmear
Together, the Belmears created an
annual welcome reception for incoming
minority freshmen; this event is now
WVU Faculty Participate in Institute
Some WVU faculty are participating in
the second annual Snowshoe Institute
at West Virginia’s Snowshoe Mountain
Resort. Ron Lewis, the Robbins Chair
of History; Mitch Finkel, professor of
medicine, on “Heart Disease and Depression”; Bill Pettit, assistant professor
of behavior medicine and psychiatry, on
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“Mind, Consciousness, and ThoughtFinding”; and a presentation by College
of Creative Arts Dean Bernie Schultz, and
his wife, Cookie, on the life and work of
Blanche Lazzell. Also, the James Miltenberger Jazz Quartet will perform, led by
a WVU faculty member.
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The Institute, modeled after the
famed Chautauqua Institute in New
York, will feature a broad spectrum of
engaging performers, scholarly speakers,
and creative workshops. The event is a
collaborative effort with WVU, Marshall
University, the West Virginia Humanities Council, and Snowshoe Mountain.
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Foundation Highlights
Ware Family Creates Campaign’s First
Distinguished Professorship
Mountaineer Week
Carolyn Peluso Atkins
Mr. and Ms. Mountaineer
Neil E. Bolyard
Honors
WVU Selects ‘Most Loyals’
A professor, a retired administrator,
an accountant, a retired CEO, and a
An exercise physiologist major from
Beaver, Jill Thomas, and a biology major
from Conklin, N.Y., Michael Morgan, are
this year’s Mr. and Ms. Mountaineer.
I am thrilled,” Thomas said. “This is
Dan Friend
December Convocation
Honored
Dr. Warner Schaie, the Evan Pugh Professor of Human Development
and Psychology at Penn State University’s Gerontology Center (center)
returned to campus for December Convocation to accept an honorary
doctor of science degree from President David C. Hardesty, left, and
Provost Gerald Lang. Schaie was chairman of WVU’s Department
of Psychology some 30 years ago, starting it on its path to national
prominence. He said it was an honor to be remembered for his
professional accomplishments, but even more so for the friendships he
forged.
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an incredibly high honor.”
Morgan agreed. “It’s great to know
your teachers and peers think so much of
you to even consider you for this award,
let alone win it.”
Candidates are nominated independently, or by a student organization,
college dean, or director. They must
complete an application and a 600-word
essay on what being a Mountaineer
means to them. They are interviewed by
two separate panels who choose both the
finalists and the winners.
Sage Advice
WVU alumnus and
president of the
NBA’s New Jersey
Nets, Rod Thorn,
told graduating
seniors that the
professional world
has changed. “It
used to be that if
you joined a top
firm, you stayed
with them and
changed jobs within
the company.
Today, people have
five and six careers
and may move to
different parts of
the country. Be
ready for that,”
he said. Thorn
also encouraged
WVU’s 1,200 December graduates to have a game plan. “You gotta
have a plan . . . clear goals. And don’t be afraid to fail or to try
new things.” The NBA executive, who has been a player, coach,
and general manager, knows of what he speaks. He had settled
into a comfortable career as vice president of operations for the
National Basketball Association until about two years ago when
the Nets came calling. “My wife said, ‘Are you crazy?’ But I needed
a new challenge.” That challenge resulted in the team going to the
playoffs in only his second season with the club and Thorn being
named NBA Executive of the Year.
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he Ware Family has established
the first-ever distinguished professorship in WVU’s School of Physical
Education and has created four new
scholarship endowments.
According to Scot Ware, the gift
honors his parents, WVU alumni Alfred F. and Dolores Jamison Ware. In
addition to the Ware Distinguished
Professorship, the gift includes two
Ware Presidential Scholarships, one for
students from Greenbrier County and
one for Monongalia County students, and
two Ware Student-Athlete Scholarships.
The Presidential Scholarships, made
possible through the Ware Family Foundation, are in recognition of his parents’
heritage. Al Ware is from Rupert, while
Dolores hails from Morgantown.
Al and Dolores Ware stated, “The
professorship is our family’s expression
of gratitude for the gift of education that
changed our lives some 50 years ago. The
results are reflected in our life experiences, careers, and multidimensional
family . . . What an exciting, stimulating, and enjoyable journey it has been!
‘Thank you WVU’ seems hardly sufficient
to declare the depth of our gratitude.”
The gift was made to the WVU
Foundation in conjunction with the $250
million Building Greatness Campaign:
West Virginia University. Al Ware serves
on the National Campaign Committee.
The Wares also have been members of
the WVU School of Physical Education’s
Visiting Committee. He has served as
chair for the past two years.
School of Physical Education Dean
Dana D. Brooks said, “The Ware Distinguished Professorship will be a
significant step in enhancing the School
of Physical Education’s commitment
to quality education by attracting, retaining, and supporting an exceptional
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M. g. Ellis
James R. and Clara
C. Thomas
By Pam Fronko
Mike Hardy
Royce Heiskell Keller
dedicated volunteer were honored as
“Most Loyals” during the 55th annual
Mountaineer Week, a celebration of Appalachian heritage, held November 1–9
on WVU’s campus.
The 2002 honorees were Royce
Heiskell Keller of Morgantown, Most
Loyal Alumni Mountaineer; James R.
and Clara C. Thomas of Charleston,
Most Loyal West Virginians; and Carolyn
Peluso Atkins and Neil E. Bolyard, both
of Morgantown, Most Loyal Faculty and
Staff Mountaineers, respectively. The
group was honored during halftime ceremonies of the WVU vs. Boston College
football game Saturday, November 9.
Pictured from left are Al, Dolores, Scot, and Sharon Ware, and Esther Zearley Chaplin ’32,
Dolores Ware’s aunt. Ms. Chaplin is the oldest living School of Physical Education alumna.
faculty member. The Ware Distinguished
Professorship enhances the School of
Physical Education’s academic reputation in a highly competitive market. An
appointment as the Ware Distinguished
Professor is one of the highest honors
the University can bestow upon a faculty
member."
Al Ware received his B.S. in physical education in 1950 and his M.A. in
speech/communications in 1952. His
career has been spent in international
trading, finance, manufacturing, and
operational management. He is the former chairman of the board of Amherst
International Inc. (Amherst FiberOptics), which he founded in 1977. The
company manufactures and markets
fiber optics, opto-electronics, and allied
laser products for telecommunications
and cable companies. He has served as
vice president of Manufacturers Hanover
Bank, vice president and director of
Manufacturers Hanover World Trade
Corporation, as president of the International/Export Division of Burlington
Industries Inc., and was the founder
and CEO of Mitsubishi-Burlington Ltd.
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(Tokyo). Ware and his family resided
in Tokyo from 1969-1974. He serves on
the WVU Alumni Association’s Board of
Directors and has been inducted into the
WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni
and the WVU School of Physical Education’s Hall of Fame.
Also a WVU School of Physical Education graduate, Dolores Ware received
her bachelor of science in 1952. She
began her teaching career in the school’s
dance program and also assisted with
the Orchesis dance troupe. She taught
public school in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Connecticut.
In 1980 she became managing director
of the Color Association of the United
States in New York City. Founded in
1917, this international fashion industry association is the most prestigious
color-forecasting group in the nation.
Dolores Ware has been both a leader and
benefactor in the development of WVU’s
Stansbury Hall Fitness/Wellness Center.
She also is a member of the Blaney House
Visiting Committee.
The couple has two sons and nine
grandchildren.
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WVU Geology Alumnus Establishes Professorship
By Mark DAlassa
ndro
West Virginia University
alumnus Marshall S. Miller
has pledged $250,000 to
establish the Marshall S.
Miller Energy Professorship
in the Department of Geology and Geography.
“Marshall is one of our
college’s most distinguished
alumni and a longtime member of our
advisory board,” said M. Duane Nellis,
dean of the Eberly College of Arts and
Sciences. “This gift is an example of his
loyalty and commitment to WVU, the
Eberly College, and the geology and
geography program.”
The endowment was created
through the WVU Foundation in conjunction with the Building Greatness
Campaign. Miller is currently the chair
of the Foundation’s Board of Directors
and serves on the Building Greatness
National Campaign Committee. He also
is a member of the Eberly College’s Advisory Board.
Miller received his bachelor’s and
master’s degrees in geology in 1966 and
1973, respectively. He built a successful
geology consulting business, Marshall
Miller & Associates Inc. (MM&A), during
a period of time characterized by swings
in the financial fortunes of the energy
industry. Over the years, MM&A has
expanded throughout the Appalachian
region and into China.
“Marshall’s success is certainly due
in large measure to hard work and to
the family-like atmosphere he maintains
throughout his company, but it is also
due to his ability to perceive and offer
innovative technological services at affordable prices to the energy industry,”
said Thomas Wilson, associate chair and
professor of geology and geography.
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MM&A offers a wide
variety of environmental,
geographic information
science, and engineering
services, including investigative engineering,
analyses of environmental
hazards and reclamation
liabilities, and professional
communications and marketing consulting. MM&A
now employs more than 180 people.
In addition to this latest pledge, the
Marshall Miller Geology Endowment
Fund provides a scholarship that is
awarded annually to the student receiving the top grade in the geology capstone
field course. This fund also enriches the
department’s teaching mission.
Monies provided by the Marshall S.
Miller Energy Professorship endowment
will be used to enhance the salary of the
Miller Energy Professor, increase assistantship awards for qualified graduate
students, and support graduate student
research during the summer months.
The intent of the professorship is to provide outstanding academic leadership for
students who are preparing for careers in
the energy industry.
“Marshall Miller has been a faithful
friend of the department for many years,”
Wilson said. “The Marshall Miller Energy
Professorship brings a focus to what has
been one of the long-standing strengths
of this department—education and
research into the exploration and development of mineral and energy sources.
We are grateful for Marshall’s continued
expression of trust and support of our
work through this endowment.”
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Building Greatness
Campaign Reaches $233.5
Million
Meet the Leaders of the Building
Greatness Campaign
By Pam Fronko
By Cathy Goffreda
T he Building Greatness Campaign
T
has reached the $233.5 million mark in
gifts and pledges. The campaign’s goal is
to raise a minimum of $250 million by
December 31, 2003.
Commitments to the campaign from
alumni are at $53.3 million; friends of
WVU, $86.8 million; foundations, $24.4
million; corporations, $49.6 million; and
other organizations, $19.4 million.
Gifts and pledges to campaign
priorities include $35.8 million for
student support; $21 million for faculty
development; $93.4 million for academic
research and initiatives; $3.9 million for
library enrichment; $25.3 million for
campus development and technology;
and $34.7 million for the 21st Century
Opportunities Fund. Commitments
awaiting designation by donors total
$19.4 million.
Thirty-one new chairs and professorships have been created, and 287
new scholarship funds, including 43
student-athlete scholarship funds, have
been established.
The WVU Foundation is conducting
the Building Greatness Campaign, a fiveyear effort, on behalf of the University.
The West Virginia University Foundation,
chartered in 1954 as an independent,
nonprofit corporation, exists to provide
for the welfare and development of
WVU and its affiliated organizations by
securing, administering, investing, and
disbursing private funds in support of
academic programs, student scholarships, faculty development, public
service initiatives, and other priorities.
If you would like information on
making a contribution, please contact
the Foundation by telephone at 1-800847-3856, by e-mail at [email protected],
or visit our web site at www.wvuf.org.
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he WVU Foundation’s $250 million Building Greatness Campaign is
the most important private undertaking
ever made on behalf of West Virginia
University.
At the core of the effort is the
28-member National Campaign Committee, a dedicated group of individuals
who hail from Connecticut, California,
and points in-between. Members include
CEOs and presidents of national and
international corporations, leaders of
venture capital firms and professional
sports teams, educators, and philanthropists. They volunteer their time, energy,
and financial support to the University
they love and respect.
In this issue we continue spotlighting the members of this elite group.
Curtis H. Barnette is chairman emeritus of Bethlehem Steel Corporation,
the nation’s second-largest steel company. In 1956 he graduated from WVU
with a B.A. in political
science and served
as the student body
president. He studied
international law as
a Fulbright Scholar
at the University of
Manchester in England. Barnette earned
a J.D. from the Yale
Law School in 1962,
and an A.M.P. from
the Harvard University Business School
in 1975. He also has received honorary
L.L.D. degrees from WVU (1995), Allentown College (1996), the University
of Charleston (1998), and Lehigh University (1999).
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A director and former chair of the
WVU Foundation Board, he also chairs
the University’s Board of Governors and
was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 1993. Barnette is vice
chairman of the Foundation for a Drug
Free Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania
Business Roundtable, and is a member
of the American Law Institute. He is a
director and past chairman of the American Iron and Steel Institute and of the
International Iron and Steel Institute,
serves as a director of the Metropolitan
Life Insurance Company and Owens
Corning, and is a trustee of Lehigh University. Barnette resides in Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania, with his wife Joanne.
Glen H. Hiner is the retired chairman
and CEO of Owens Corning, a world
leader in advanced glass and building
material systems. Before
assuming his position at
Owens Corning, Hiner
had a distinguished 35year career with General
Electric. He is a former
member of the Toledo
Symphony Band, a past
Toledo United Way Campaign chair, and was
named the 1996 Peacemaker of the Year by the
University of Toledo’s College of Business Administration.
A WVU alumnus, Hiner received his
B.S. in electrical engineering in 1957 and
an honorary doctorate of science in 1989.
In addition, he earned a Ph.D. from the
University of Pittsburgh in 1990. His extensive WVU affiliations include serving
on the WVU Foundation Board of Direc-
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tors, being inducted into the Academy
of Distinguished Alumni in 1989, and
receiving the Most Loyal Mountaineer
Award in 1990. Hiner resides in Pebble
Beach, California, with his wife, Ann.
Rodney K. Thorn is the president
and general manager of the New Jersey
Nets of the NBA. In
2002 he was named
the NBA Executive of
the Year by Sporting
News.
Thorn, who previously served as the
NBA’s senior vice
president of basketball operations, has
been involved in professional basketball
for over three decades as a player, assistant coach, head coach, general
manager, and league official. In
1984, while working with the
Chicago Bulls, he made the decision to draft Michael Jordan. As
a player, Thorn averaged 10.8
points per game in eight NBA
seasons.
He attended WVU in 1963
and was an All-American guard
on the WVU basketball team.
He earned a board of regents
degree in 2000. Thorn resides in Rye,
New York, with his wife, Margaret, and
three children.
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Family Honors Mother
Foundation’s Scholarship Web Site Wins National
Award
by Pam Fronko
By Deborah Miller
T he WVU Foundation was honored
R
ose Burton Isaacs wrote these
words in 1931 as she sat in her tiny
Wheeling, West Virginia, home:
“And I hope when work has ended,
At the setting of life’s sun,
When I’ve made my own life’s record,
Photo not available.
That the Master shall say, ‘Well done!’”
This is the last verse of a poem entitled, “Life’s Record,” which has been
published in the book Rosebuds.
The book is a tribute to Rose Burton
Isaacs, who died in 1939 leaving behind
her husband, five children, and many
fine expressions such as this on scraps
of paper and yellowed ledgers. Rosebuds
began as a family project to preserve her
writings and to honor her memory. It
was first published in 1976 and is now
in its third printing. Recently, this inspirational book became a part of the West
Virginia and Regional History Collection
at West Virginia University.
The Isaacs children, however, wanted to honor their mother in another way
that related to education.
Russ Isaacs ’58, a prominent financial advisor in Charleston, West Virginia,
suggested that his sister, Maxine Isaacs,
create an income-producing gift with the
WVU Foundation. Maxine had retired in
Clarksburg, West Virginia, after 30 years
of service with C&P Telephone. The gift
for WVU provides a lifetime retirement
supplement to Maxine now and will create the Rose Burton Isaacs Scholarship
when the income ends.
Using stocks, Russ followed his
own advice and created another incomeproducing gift for himself that will add to
their mother’s scholarship for students in
the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.
Income-producing gifts also provide a partial income tax deduction and
are a way to avoid capital gains taxes
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by the Council for Advancement and
Support of Education (CASE) for its innovative private scholarship web page.
The Foundation received a Seal
of Excellence Award in CASE’s 2002
Circle of Excellence Awards Program
for Philanthropy Programs, which annually honors those institutions and
professionals who excel in fund‑raising
programs and services. The awards were
featured in the October issue of Currents
magazine.
Entries were assessed for development efforts that could be both used
as models for other institutions and
incorporated into CASE’s core curriculum framework. Of the more than 3,700
individual entries, 346 awards were
granted and only 12, including the WVU
Foundation, were profiled in Currents.
The web site identifies more than
750 privately funded scholarships at
WVU that provide assistance to more
than 2,800 students. Visitors to the site
can obtain scholarship descriptions and
eligibility requirements, interactively
search through scholarship funds based
on criteria entered, apply/self‑identify
on-line, and learn about the donor or
individual for whom the fund is named.
The site may be accessed three ways:
directly from http://domino.wvuf.wvnet.
edu/fundsch.nsf, from the Foundation’s
web site at http: //www.wvuf.org, or
from the WVU web site at http://www.
wvu.edu.
AD not available.
when appreciated assets are donated.
Each counts in the Building Greatness
Campaign and is an important way to
fund faculty support, library resources,
research, facility upgrades, and other
valued efforts at WVU.
The Isaacs’ gifts have been commemorated, along with other scholarship
gifts, in the Scholars Walk located in
front of the new Downtown Library
Complex. A brick imprinted with their
mother’s name serves as another tribute
to her.
Considering the many benefits
income-producing gifts yield, Rose
Burton Isaacs would surely be pleased
that her children made these opportune
choices —just as WVU is!
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Stating Your Intentions
Thinking of making a gift to benefit
WVU, West Virginia 4-H, or Potomac
State College of WVU in your will, living trust, IRA, or other manner? If so,
the proper wording is very important
in getting your gift to work out the
way you intended.
Please be sure to include the
proper legal name “West Virginia
University Foundation Inc.” and add
the Foundation’s tax identification
number: 55-6017181.
To direct your gift to a specific
college, school, or other unit, the wording must be: “to the West Virginia
University Foundation Inc. for the
benefit of . . . .”
For sample bequest language,
call 1-800-847-3856 or visit our web
site at www.wvuf.org.
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Alumnus Makes Tribute
for Faculty
WVU alumnus Dr. George V. Podelco
has presented a tribute for several people
who made an impact on his life.
He made a contribution to the WVU
Libraries’ Special Initiative to have
plaques with the names of 13 professors and others attached to chairs in the
Downtown Campus Library.
“I started thinking about how much
I owed to West Virginia University,
and particularly those professors who
inspired me,” Podelco said. “I thought
it would be nice to pay tribute to them.”
Ten of the people Podelco is honoring were in the Political Science
Department when he was a student in
the late 1950s. The others include an
economics professor, a philosophy professor, and a librarian.
The latter individual played an instrumental role in Podelco developing
a love for reading and thus his success
in life.
“Reading is the foundation of education,” Podelco said.
Podelco graduated from WVU in
1959 with an A.B. degree in political
science. He later received his doctorate
from the University of Maryland, College
Park. He recently retired as executive
director of a dual government agency,
the Area Agency on Aging and the Community Action Agency.
He and his wife, Mary Lou, live in
Onancock, Virginia.
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The Irvin Stewart Society is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Its many members have included gift provisions in their wills or
revocable trusts, created income-producing gifts, designated retirement account funds, donated life insurance, or created real estate
remainder gifts to benefit West Virginia University, Potomac State
College of WVU, or West Virginia 4-H in the future. The members
who have joined since July 2002 include:
Lee C. Bakalarski ’74
Newport, RI
Pamela J. Bakalarski
Newport, RI
Jennifer L. Belcastro
Naples, FL
Robert L. Belcastro ’70, ’74
Naples, FL
Cynthia Ann Craig
Naples, FL
James W. Craig ’58
Naples, FL
Claudia N. Goldberg ’93, ’95
Haymarket, VA
David S. Goldberg ’94
Haymarket, VA
Don Hoylman
Fairmont, WV
Marcella Hoylman
Fairmont, WV
Helen W. Johnson
South Pasadena, FL
Clarence Pritchard McKinley
’54, ’57
Bivale, MD
Eunice Hatfield McKinley ’56
Bivale, MD
Gary L. McKown, ’60, ’65
West Chester, PA
Jill M. Meuser
West Chester, PA
Wanda B. Mitchell ’32
Parkersburg, WV
Arch A. Moore Jr., ’48, ’51
Moundsville, WV
Shelley Riley Moore ’48
Moundsville, WV
Martha L. Nelson ’42
St. Petersburg, FL
Michael A. Petruski ’74
Charlotte, NC
Catherine D. Raese ’40
Seminole, FL
Firman G. Raese ’34
Seminole, FL
Monroe L. Rosenthal
La Junta, CO
Giving More Than You
Think You Can
Yes, it is possible—through a gift included
in your will or revocable trust to benefit your
University.
Sam Huff (’56), a WVU and Washington
Redskins football great and now president of
the Middleburg Broadcasting Network, made
provisions for intercollegiate athletics and the
School of Physical Education in his estate plan.
Gifts for WVU made through wills and revocable trusts by those who will be age 65 or older
by December 31, 2003, count in the Building
Greatness Campaign.
“This way of giving made it easy to support
WVU—and I’m proud to be able to do it!”
West Virginia University
1-800‑847‑3856 • www.wvuf.org
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Gary J. Schweitzer ’77, ’78
Marietta, GA
Henry G. Theierl
Burkburnett, TX
Judith Jacob Theierl ’64,
’72
Burkburnett, TX
Thomas L. Thomas ’81
Charleston, WV
David L. Wickham ’92
San Francisco, CA
In Memoriam
June Roberts Cornog
Anna Blair Curtis ’41
Linus R. Hollaway ’70
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On the
Trail
A Tale of Innovation in Mathematics and Science Education
A
M. G. E l l i s
By Ben LaPoe and
A. M a r k D a l e s s a n d r o
M. G. E l l i s
Graduate student Mike Long helps an eighth grader make a roller coaster in order to
demonstrate potential energy.
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brisk wind that signals the threshold of a West Virginia win‑
ter rustles a collage of orange, yellow, and red leaves across a battered two‑lane highway. A yellow school bus, dusted with dirt and mud from its adventurous tour of coun‑
try roads, parks in front of a building reminis
cent of an early twentieth-century courthouse.
Children sluggishly and reluctantly stumble
through a bus door on their way to school each day across the nation, but at West Preston Middle
School, the students anxiously barrel through the front doors and make a dash for class.
As the sun attempts to slice through the grey skies over Masontown, West Virginia, a group of 20 boys and girls laugh while herded into a
classroom that has its desks arranged in a horse‑
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M. G. E l l i s
M. G. E l l i s
Students in the TIGERS program conspire to make the perfect roller coaster.
shoe figure. Chuckles erupt as eager eyes
inspect a long tube of soft plastic coiled
in the center of the class.
The apparatus begs their inquisitive
stares, and excitement begins to swell.
Their eighth‑grade teacher, Tina Cool,
strides to her desk, smiling as a tall young
man trots to the front of the classroom.
Mike Long, a graduate student at WVU,
greets the class with a witty remark.
After the laughter settles, he ex‑
plains their assignment. At first the
young teenagers moan in unison.
“I want you to copy the definitions
on the board in your journals,” he says.
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“But, there is a reason for this; you will
use these later.”
Long begins uncoiling the clear,
flexible tube as the students frantically
scribble in their journals. When the stu‑
dents finish their task, they impatiently
study Long’s every move. He makes one
more request before revealing the pur‑
pose behind the tube; this time though,
followed by a more elated response.
“OK, draw what you think a scientist
looks like.”
Curiosity transforms into bewilder‑
ment. After a short pause, their hands
begin painting what their imaginations
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can create. One student though, contin‑
ues to ponder the assignment.
Finally, he says, “Hey Mike, just
stand there for a second.”
“Remember, I’m a mathematician,”
he jokes back.
“Well, then I’m going to draw Mrs.
Cool,” he replies.
“I’m not a scientist, I’m a science
teacher,” she reminds him.
In this moment, the traditional roles
of the teacher and student have been
reinvented. Discipline and rules still
govern, but the teachers and the students
are attached in a way that encourages a
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collegial atmosphere.
Long is not a student teacher, he is
a TIGER fellow. He is part of TIGERS
(Teams of Interdisciplinary Graduate
Fellows Engaged to Re‑invigorate Stu‑
dents), a project funded through a $1.5
million grant from the National Science
Foundation. TIGERS pairs up teams of
graduate students in biology, chemistry,
engineering, geography, geology, math‑
ematics, physics, and psychology at WVU
with middle-grade teachers. Together
they coplan and coteach unique stan‑
dards‑based, hands‑on, inquiry‑based,
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learning activities that help students
understand the value of science and the
scientific method along with learning the
concepts of scientific disciplines.
On this day, the team of TIGERS
fellows and teachers creates an activity
for seventh‑ and eighth‑grade students
that illustrates potential energy. Long
explains to the students that he wants
them, as a team, to arrange the tube like a
roller coaster, even with loops. A marble
should be able to pass from one end to
the next without stopping. The students
attempt the task, but the tubing forms a
kink in one turn.
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“Think of how you can bend it so it
won’t kink,” says Long. He doesn’t offer
answers, but instead encourages and
challenges them to solve the problem
themselves.
The 30‑foot‑long tube becomes a
roller coaster with several turns and
three large loops. One student stands
on top of a table and holding one end of
the tube, he drops the marble into the
hole. It whirls through one loop, but then
becomes snagged in a turn, followed by a
collective moan of disappointment.
“All right, you need to make adjust‑
ments somewhere. Notice that a loop
slows down the marble in the roller
coaster,” says Long, gently guiding them
through the problem‑solving process.
The entire class, except for one
student, named Josh, who chooses to
remain seated, begins brainstorming. “I
think this,” and “No, that won’t work,”
bounce from wall to wall. Then, with 19
students holding the tube, they signal
that they are ready.
Confident smiles gleam while eyes
eagerly trace the marble passing down
the tube. It zips through two loops and
winds around several turns, but stalls in
the last loop about four feet from the end.
Disbelief replaces discouragement
this time, with determination fading
from their eyes. Long reassures the un‑
successful scientists. “Earlier we tried
this with a group of science teachers,
and it took them as many tries,” he says.
Reinvigorated with a desire for suc‑
cess, the students carefully construct a
third coaster. They signal with nods of
their heads for Long to drop the marble.
They hold their breaths collectively
as the marble blasts through the roller
coaster. It clears three loops down and
then begins to slow as it exits the last
turn, but it then regains momentum and
jets out the bottom.
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Laughter and applause radiate from
the room as the students celebrate. Even
Josh smiles and claps from his desk.
After the victory celebration calms,
Long says, “All right, now break up into
two groups. I’ve got two smaller tubes,
one for each group. Do the same thing,
but this time use the formulas that you
copied down earlier to calculate the po‑
tential energy.”
Two groups diverged from the one
large pack, but Josh remains seated. A
familiar frown is plastered on his face,
one that teachers observe all too often
from students who are confronted with
mathematics and science.
This is where Long’s learning
begins. At moments like these, the
middle- school teachers are invaluable.
Long studies the teacher as she engages
Josh. She is a part of his life, not just a
science teacher. Now, at this moment,
as she persuades Josh to join one of the
groups, the TIGERS project has met all
of its lofty goals.
The schoolteachers benefit from
working with graduate fellows who have
extensive knowledge in a particular field,
the graduate fellows benefit from work‑
ing with skilled teachers who help shape
their instructional abilities, and the stu‑
dents benefit by being actively engaged
in a new learning environment that
enhances their educational experience
and may impact their later educational
aspirations and career decisions.
“Remember, be as creative with
your roller coaster as you want to be,”
Long says.
Josh now glows with excitement
while creating yet another loop, and any
doubt of creativity is cast out the door.
“I don’t think that will work, we need
to untangle that knot,” he says. “Hey
Mike, we made one that works, it’s really
cool. Here, watch.”
After the marble passes through,
Josh’s eager eyes peer up at Long. For‑
gotten are the days of mind‑cramping
tests and muscle‑binding note‑taking.
The reluctant student is transformed
into a scientist.
“All right, good. Now calculate the
marble’s potential energy.”
“How?”
“Take some measurements, like
the mass of the marble, the height from
which it was dropped, and use the for‑
mulas.”
Students run to the chalkboard, grab
rulers and a set of electronic scales, and
begin working. They use the information
provided and learn to compute physics
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calculations. Unlike many students who
watch the clock tick, waiting for the bell
to sound for the end of the period, this
group ignores the alarm when it blares,
oblivious to the passage of time spent
learning.
Long, who recently completed
his master’s degree in mathematics
and is now working toward a doctor
of education degree in curriculum and
instruction, collects the roller coaster
materials, places them in the center of
the classroom, and quickly prepares for
the next class. Then he smiles, knowing
he has made a difference today.
“Extensive research has shown that
students (in the United States) lose in‑
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terest in mathematics and science in the
middle grades and develop negative at‑
titudes toward these subjects, especially
among girls and minority groups,” ex‑
plains Eric Pyle, an associate professor of
educational theory and practice at WVU.
In 1999, WVU was one of only 30
universities chosen to create a program
to enhance mathematics and science
education from more than 150 submit‑
ted proposals.
“This is an exciting project, and one
in which WVU is uniquely positioned
to provide tremendous benefits to the
state,” says proposal coauthor Fred King,
a research chemist and associate dean for
graduate education in the Eberly College
of Arts and Sciences.
“As [part of] the only comprehensive
research university in West Virginia,
WVU’s graduate students can provide
teachers and students with access to re‑
search projects that are among the most
exciting and important in several fields of
science, engineering, and mathematics,
including those involving space probes,
biotechnology, and semiconductors,”
King says. If successful, this program
could alter the economic future of the
state.
Days and activities like these are
not confined to the classrooms of West
Preston Middle School. Through the
TIGERS project, 16 graduate fellows
coteach several days each month during
the academic year in 17 schools through‑
out 13 counties in the state.
Pyle says that a new model for teach‑
ing mathematics and science has become
a necessity if the United States is going
to continue to produce the majority of
the world's top scientists, engineers, and
innovators.
“The model that we are developing
for teaching is as important as anything,”
Pyle says. And the middle grades—fifth
through ninth—are the perfect place to
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develop this model. These teachers are
here by choice because they love what
they’re doing. They are a part of the stu‑
dents’ lives, and they teach our graduate
fellows how to engage the students.
The TIGERS project is a joint effort
of the Eberly College of Arts and Sci‑
ences, the College of Engineering and
Mineral Resources, and the College of
Human Resources and Education.
Whether or not students at TIGERS
sites such as West Preston Middle School
like science or math, they do end up
learning. During this pivotal period of
their lives, students who might be in‑
timidated by the complexity of algebra or
chemistry might find, through this new
learning environment, that they actually
like math and science.
The TIGERS project has developed
dozens of hands‑on activities for stu‑
dents. A bridge-building project using
popsicle sticks as material involves in‑
struction on engineering concepts such
as strength of materials, cost analysis, re‑
inforcement of structures, and different
bridge designs. Groups of students act
as engineering firms to design and build
a bridge within given constraints and
then test the final product for strength
and stability.
Another project focuses on the
human impact on the environment
and the importance of planning for the
future. Teachers and graduate fellows
lead students through experiments with
hydroponically grown plants to illustrate
the scientific method and teach experi‑
mental design and data analysis. Then,
students create a classroom herbarium
where they collect, press, identify, and
mount plant specimens.
In a community atlas project, a webbased learning environment is provided
through which students contribute to an
atlas of their community on Internetbased interactive maps. Teachers and
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students are introduced to geographical
information systems and remote sensing
technology as they participate in describ‑
ing their community.
As Mike Long travels to West Pres‑
ton Middle School, he smiles as he
describes the impact of the TIGERS
project.
“The students joke that their school
is held up with duct tape and cardboard,”
he says. “But, the outside appearance
doesn’t reflect the quality of education
on the inside.”
The students arrive at school around
7 a.m., some after being on the bus for
more than an hour. And as Long parks,
he is greeted with smiling, eager faces.
He is connected with the students:
not as an observer, not as a professor,
but almost as a larger, smarter student
himself.
Long meets with Mrs. Cool, the
teacher. He reviews his last visit and be‑
gins asking her questions. He probes her
for information on the students. “How is
John’s mother doing?”
Then, as breakfast finishes, the
students stampede into the classroom.
And as Long, the other TIGERS, and
the teachers begin working, it feels as
though it isn’t work at all. They choose
to do this—to educate and to serve as
mentors. They choose to raise a group of
children in a way that opens new avenues
of life for them. They choose to make a
difference.
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A Treasure Trove
Donated Artifacts Tell of Life
Aboard USS West Virginia
in Prewar Years
By Jim Davis
O
n Christmas Day 1937, the men of the USS West Virginia and their families sat down to a midday feast
f
it for a king: roast turkey, giblet gravy, whipped pota‑
toes, chestnut dressing, buttered cauliflower, French peas,
glazed yams, lettuce salad, hot rolls, mince pie, assorted
fruits and nuts, and café noir. Santa Claus dropped by at
1330 hours (1:30 p.m.) to pass out gifts to the children, and
crew members and their wives or girlfriends danced away
the rest of the afternoon.
Two months earlier, on October 28, the servicemen
gathered in the evening to watch Knights Without Armor,
a romantic action story set during the Russian revolu‑
tion and starring German film siren Marlene Dietrich.
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The ship was docked in Seattle,
Washington, on July 4, 1938. The crew’s
Independence Day dinner was another
royal fare: cream of tomato soup, sweet
mixed pickles, ripe olives, roast turkey,
giblet gravy, sausage dressing, fresh
apple pie, Neopolitan ice cream, and
much more.
These snapshots of daily activities
on the USS West Virginia are among the
memorabilia collected by the late Russell
L. McIlwain, a Marine who served four
years aboard the battleship prior to its
bombing by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor
and its reconstruction and service during
World War II.
This collection is now housed at
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McIlwain was stationed aboard the
West Virginia from July 3, 1936, to April
1, 1940, as a member of the U.S. Marine
Corps Detachment, 7th Division. During
this time, he saved a boatload of items,
from holiday and movie programs to
ports of call and personnel lists, from
Radio Press news summaries to news‑
paper and magazine articles pertaining
to the ship or its crew.
Other keepsakes include fabric from
the wing of a catapult airplane that was
aboard the USS West Virginia; copies
of the ship’s weekly, The Mountaineer;
a printing of the ship’s song, Song of the
Mountaineer; two wrestling and boxing
West Virginia University, joining the
mast of the USS West Virginia—which
stands proudly on Oglebay Plaza—as a
tribute to the men who served aboard the
vessel. The gift also says loads about the
donor, a man from the Chicago suburbs
who never set foot in West Virginia but
cherished the time he spent on the ship
that bore the state’s name.
“This gentleman loved the ship so
much and his experiences on it, as we
believe people love their experiences at
WVU, that he wanted the memorabilia to
be where the mast of the ship was,” said
Deb Green, who, as president of the WVU
Alumni Association’s Chicago Metro
Chapter, played a critical role in acquir‑
ing the collection for the University.
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schedules, called smokers; and a 1938
Chesterfield college football schedule,
with WVU’s 26-0 loss to Michigan State
among the scores recorded.
The memorabilia also contains
executive officer’s memorandums, to
which McIlwain would have been privy
as captain’s orderly.
One such missive is a September
2, 1939, memo announcing the start
of World War II and stating American
neutrality. It reads in part: “England and
France are now at war with Germany
you will govern yourself accordingly.
For the present the attitude of the Navy
Department is to discourage speeches
broadcast articles on the Military and
Naval situation by Personnel of the Navy
active or retired.”
Another high-level document is a
September 9, 1939, message from the
acting secretary of the navy. In it, he
relays a presidential executive order
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proclaiming a national emergency and
announcing plans to increase Navy
enlistment to 145,000 men and Marine
Corps personnel to 25,000 men.
The collection also contains more
than 40 photographs, most of them
taken by McIlwain. The black-and-white
prints feature the ship’s captains in full
regalia, crew members, the ship in dry
dock at Bremerton, Washington, and
views from the deck of other vessels and
San Francisco Bay.
McIlwain’s military service did not
end with the completion of his tour of
duty aboard the West Virginia. He saw
action in the South Pacific after America
entered the war.
Following the war, he became an
electrician, settled down in Lisle, Illinois,
and became a member of the Interna‑
tional Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Local No. 701.
McIlwain was aware the USS West
M a g a z i n e
Virginia mast came to WVU after the
ship was dismantled in the late 1950s and
contacted the Chicago Metro Chapter in
1998 about his memorabilia, said Green,
a high school guidance counselor.
“Besides attending church with a
chapter member, he was familiar with
the organization through local press
coverage of its annual gatherings,” she
said. These get-togethers have featured
speeches by such well-known WVU
alumni as MIT President Charles Vest,
U.S. State Department of Interior De‑
sign and Furnishings Director Vivien
Woofter, and best-selling author Stephen
Coonts.
McIlwain’s offer piqued the curios‑
ity of Green, who earned a bachelor’s
degree in history from WVU in 1970 and
once taught West Virginia history at Sun‑
crest Junior High School in Morgantown.
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The two met, and McIlwain
showed Green the memorabilia.
The Morgantown native, who
also has a guidance counseling
degree from WVU, said she was
moved to tears when she saw the
history the former serviceman want‑
ed to give to her alma mater. Green
heartily accepted the gift on behalf of
the University.
McIlwain died October 17, 2000, at
the age of 85. His gift has been included
with the WVU Libraries’ West Virginia
Collection. It is Green’s hope that a
University history professor will delve
into the memorabilia and write about it.
“I view this as a treasure trove,” she
said. “I’m proud that Mr. McIlwain was
willing to entrust us with mementos from
an important time in his life and de‑
lighted that the Chicago Metro Chapter
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was able
to play a sig‑
nificant hand in getting this
memorabilia back to the University.”
See more photos and artifacts at www.
ia.wvu.edu/~magazine.
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M. G. E l l i s
By Becky Lofstead
PROMISE scholar Knute
Scholl, a mechanical
engineering major from
Madison, enjoys a pepperoni
roll with Governor Bob Wise
during a reception honoring
WVU’s 1,300 PROMISE
students. Scholl applied to
two out-of-state schools,
but credits PROMISE
for keeping him in the
Mountain State. Wise, who
spearheaded the creation of
the program, said retaining
West Virginia students was
a critical goal of PROMISE,
citing the state’s declining
high school enrollment
coupled with a low college-
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reshman Nai Ying Chao, a graduate of Robert C. Byrd High School, was seriously
considering attending the University of Maryland, but changed her mind after the
state introduced the PROMISE Scholarship Program last year.
Knute Scholl, a mechanical engineering major from Madison, also applied to two
out-of-state schools, but credits PROMISE for keeping him in the Mountain State.
The valedictorian of Iaeger High School, Robert Mitchem, said he always intend‑
ed to come to WVU, but receiving the PROMISE award made it financially feasible.
This is just a small sampling of West Virginia University’s record freshman
class—some 4,000 strong, with nearly 1,300 attending WVU on the PROMISE
award that provides free in-state tuition, regardless of family income, to high school
students who earn a 3.0 grade point average and a composite score of 21 on the ACT
college entrance exam.
“I’m proud to be among the first recipients of the PROMISE Scholarship,” said
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A Promising Beginning
Chao. “It especially encouraged me to
stay in the state and motivated me to take
another look at WVU. The University has
an excellent pre-pharmacy program, and
now my family can use the funds we’re
saving to put me through pharmacy
school.”
Mitchem said
he worked hard in
high school so that
he could get schol‑
arship aid to attend
WVU’s College of Hu‑
man Resources and
Education, which he
called “the best in the
state.” When PROM‑
ISE was introduced,
he was overjoyed.
“This is where I always
wanted to come,” said
the secondary educa‑
tion major who plans
to teach math, “but I
knew I had to get some financial assis‑
tance. The PROMISE Scholarship made
it possible for me to get here without
taking out a lot of loans.”
Scholl called the scholarship “the
determining factor” when it came down
to making a choice between Florida State,
Virginia Tech, and WVU. “Of course, I’ve
always loved WVU, so it wasn’t a difficult
choice,” he added, “but it was the deal
breaker. What PROMISE also does,”
Scholl noted, “is motivate students to
maintain good grades.”
WVU officials are also reminding
students of this goal. “Make no mistake:
PROMISE rewards students for working
hard and being successful, but they will
also have to continue to demonstrate su‑
perior grades to keep their scholarship,”
said WVU President David C. Hardesty,
who along with Governor Bob Wise and
PROMISE Executive Director Robert
Morgenstern, hosted a campus reception
for WVU’s freshman scholars.
Students must maintain a 2.75
grade point average during their fresh‑
man year, Morgenstern noted, and a B
average in subsequent years to maintain
the award.
Nearly 3,500 high school graduates
are attending West Virginia’s colleges
and universities on PROMISE Scholar‑
Whitney Holmes, a journalism major from
Nutter Fort, said she worked hard in high
school so she could get college scholarships,
but the PROMISE was the most substantial.
“It’s a huge motivation to attend an in-state
school . . . and to work hard to keep it. I have
to study five times harder than I did in high
school, but the scholarship motivates me to
do that,” she said.
ships this year. In fact, the nearly 1,300
attending WVU make up more than a
third of all those in the state—and helped
the University set a record enrollment
this fall with 23,492 students and the
largest freshman class ever.
While talking with WVU’s PROMISE
scholars, President Hardesty recently
made them this promise: “We will pro‑
vide you with the outstanding faculty,
supportive programs, and educational
resources that you need to succeed. You
have the ability to achieve greatness, and
we will do everything we can to help you
reach that goal.”
Governor Wise, who spearheaded
the creation of the program, told the
freshmen that “retaining West Virginia
students was a critical goal of the pro‑
gram,” citing the state’s declining high
school enrollment coupled with a low
college-going rate. He also promised to
work hard for them so that job opportu‑
nities are available once they graduate.
Calling them the “PROMISE pio‑
neers,” the Governor noted, “People
ask me all the time, ‘What is the best
economic development tool the state
has going?’ I tell them the PROMISE
Scholarship Program is one of them.”
Morgenstern agreed: “We met the
first test of PROMISE—keeping our best
and brightest in the state. Now, we have
another challenge in front of us. For stu‑
dents, it is fulfilling your requirements
and graduating in four years. For the
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state, it’s providing opportunities to keep
you here after you graduate.”
Brenda Thompson, assistant vice
president for enrollment services at
WVU, said the University’s PROMISE
scholars bring an average high school
GPA of 3.74 and a cumulative ACT score
of 24.7 to the University. “It’s a very
academic-minded group,” she said.
Laura Gronell, a graduate of Wheel‑
ing Park High School and an exercise
physiology major, said she plans to re‑
turn to her high school to tell students
what an “awesome opportunity” PROM‑
ISE presents. “This award is something
high school students should strive for,”
she said; “I plan to tell them if they work
hard, most will be able to maintain a 3.0
GPA and obtain good test scores.”
Professor Jack Byrd, who teaches
industrial engineering to freshmen,
said he views the PROMISE Scholar‑
ship Program as a critical investment
in building the new economy of West
Virginia. “These students are our future,”
he said, “and I know from talking to them
that many would have gone elsewhere
to college if these scholarships were
not available. Some had their choice of
universities to attend, yet decided to stay
in-state.”
Byrd said he has witnessed a “higher
level of seriousness” in this year’s
PROMISE students than from previ‑
ous freshman classes. “They are taking
advantage of learning centers and other
academic support services, and their
performance on assignments in my class
is well beyond expectation,” Byrd noted.
“Furthermore, they are elevating the
level of performance of other students
in my class.”
Governor Wise also noticed this
studious trend on his visit to campus. “As
I was coming in tonight (for the recep‑
tion), a student stopped me on his way
out and said ‘I’m a PROMISE scholar,
Governor, and I just wanted to stop by
and thank you for this great program.
However, I can’t stay. I’ve got a big test
tomorrow and need to study.’ I think that
speaks well for our PROMISE students,
don’t you?”
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Unleashing
the Power
Moving Wheelchairs More Efficiently
By Laura Spitznogle and
Shannon Sheehan
West Virginia has the highest per capita rate of handicapped citizens
in the country, but we rarely see them. Why? Because of the mountainous terrain.
It’s virtually impossible to guide a manual wheelchair from the Beechurst PRT
station to the Mountainlair. Or to go from the downtown campus to a house in
Sunnyside. It’s easier to stay home.
Of course, the Mountains aren’t limited to Morgantown; West Virginia is “The
Mountain State,” after all. We don’t see the mobility impaired because they can’t
negotiate the hills and valleys that make our state unique and beautiful. Wheelchair
users who live in flatter terrain have other navigation problems such as uneven
sidewalks, sand, ice, or even thick carpeting.
The mechanics of a wheelchair are fairly simple. You use your arms to push
the large wheels forward. This repetitive asymmetric motion of the arms, however,
can cause injury. Rotator cuff injuries and carpal tunnel (both of which often require surgery
to repair) are common among wheelchair users.
Despite those obstacles, the wheelchair has been called the most important technological
innovation of the 20th century. It allows mobility-challenged people to hold a job, go to the
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grocery store, and to live productive and satisfying lives. In 1997, there were over 1.5 million
wheelchair users nationwide.
The Concept
MIKE HARDY
34
Physical therapy graduate student
Misty Smith helps during the testing
phase of the Mountaineer Mover. She
is using the device for three threeminute periods. The wheelchair, set on
a stationary surface, is set to provide
the resistance of a slight grade (as
opposed to a flat or uneven surface).
During the last minute of each session,
she is hooked up to an oxygen sensor
that will monitor the level of oxygen
she is using. Smith will return later to
complete the same test, but without
the Mountaineer Mover attached to
the chair. All of this data, along with
other vital signs, the student’s opinion
of difficulty, and much more will be
compared and analyzed to determine
the feasibility of production of the
mechanism.
Dr. Al Stiller, professor of chemical engineering in WVU’s College of Engineering and
Mineral Resources, is not your average professor. He likes to teach. He loves to tinker and
invent new stuff. Stuff that brings in research dollars to the University and has some benefit
to the state of West Virginia.
His latest creation is a the Mountaineer Mover. No, it’s not a new addition to the PRT.
It’s a device that makes wheelchairs more efficient.
The idea came to him one day as he was riding a mountain bike up the monstrous hill
on Beechurst Avenue that eventually leads to the Engineering Sciences Building. He began
to perspire and he didn’t like it. He figured he could make the bike ten percent more efficient
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so he wouldn’t have to pedal so hard. So
he did. He created a device that used the
linear motion of his legs to move the bike.
He could then pedal up the hill without
a drop of sweat on his brow.
Stiller thought there must be some
practical application for his newest
invention. It didn’t take him very long
to figure out that it would work for
wheelchairs too (with modification, of
course). He then enlisted the help of Dr.
Tom Long and graduate student Scott
Wayne. Together, they designed a device
which could be attached to a wheelchair
and would help propel the machine more
efficiently, therefore reducing the risk of
injury to the operator and increasing the
mobility of the handicapped.
output. A Cardan gear mechanism is a
hypocycloidal gear train that is used to
convert rotation (circular motion) into
straight-line motion.
The device permits propulsion with
minimal grip changes (important for
people with neurodegenerative handi‑
caps, i.e., muscular dystrophy) and offers
a variety of hand positions to accommo‑
date a wider range of impairments. It
weighs less than ten pounds and does not
add more than two inches to the width
of a wheelchair.
The lever position can be changed
on the wheelchair to meet the comfort
needs of the user, and its simple con‑
struction can be retrofitted onto existing
wheelchairs.
The Design
Testing
The Mountaineer Mover attaches
to a standard wheelchair and allows the
user to propel the chair in both the push
and pull strokes of the handle. Therefore,
power is produced during the entire
stroke, and not just in one direction as
with a regular wheelchair.
The mechanism works by employ‑
ing a lever-actuated elliptical input
motion and a Cardan gear system that
changes the elliptical input into rotary
The device has gone from concept to
design to testing. Now, the researchers
need concrete data on how their new
device will help propel a wheelchair.
The data should show that the chair
has a real benefit and is safe. It will also
provide feedback from some physical
therapists and potential end users.
This is key information that wheelchair
manufacturers must have before they
will consider producing the chair.
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During testing, a wheelchair, fitted
with the new device, is hooked up to a
dynamometer (a machine that allows
for a load to be applied as a torque on
a shaft). As a person propels the wheel‑
chair, monitors record vital signs that
are then compared to data from normal
wheelchair propulsion. The preliminary
data showed gains in energy, horsepow‑
er, and RPM ratio with the new device.
This assistive technology reduces
the stress that is normally placed on the
upper extremities during propulsion of
a standard wheelchair, and amplifies the
user’s force by approximately 50 percent.
The tests also show that the simple el‑
liptical path created by the new device
produces fewer injuries to the shoulder
and arm than the stroke used by typical
wheelchair users. The user will not have
the asymmetric muscle development
associated with standard wheelchair
propulsion, making the device beneficial
to almost all wheelchair users.
Production
Before inventions like the Moun‑
taineer Mover reach the end user, a
long road of assessment and develop‑
ment must be traveled. At WVU, new
inventions are submitted to the Office of
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Hills like this one by Olgebay Hall won’t be as menacing to wheelchair users if they have a Mountaineer Mover.
Misty Smith tests the Mountaineer Mover, attached to a stationary wheelchair.
Technology Transfer. There, inventions
are assessed for their technical, com‑
mercial, and intellectual property merits.
Assessment determines if a commit‑
ment will be made to market the creation
and pursue intellectual property protec‑
tion, usually a patent. If the technology
appears technically unfeasible or if no
market exists for the end product, then
there is little chance that further resourc‑
es will be expended on the invention.
In the case of the wheelchair, the
technology was sound, and the prototype
showed this. It was clear that a few re‑
finements could make the chair lighter,
more efficient, and improve manufac‑
turability.
Market research indicated a need for
this kind of chair not only in low-income
areas where motorized chairs are not an
option, but also with any wheelchair us‑
ers who wants the benefits of less wear
and tear on the body.
A local company, Swanson, showed
an interest in producing and selling the
wheelchair. Swanson had originally been
involved with Stiller and company be‑
cause of their involvement in building the
prototype. This emphasizes the impor‑
tance of the collaboration between the
University and local companies not only
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to develop useful technology but also to
initiate projects that will bring jobs to
West Virginia. Swanson was not willing
to make a commitment to produce and
sell the chair until the physiology data on
the chair was collected. This collection is
now under way.
Market research also revealed that
in 1999 about $1.5 billion was spent on
wheelchairs worldwide. Additionally,
wheelchairs are produced by a number
of small companies. This indicated that
a small local firm like Swanson would
be an excellent venue to make and sell
the final chair.
Before the chair was demonstrated
to outsiders or graduate committees, care
was taken to protect its confidentiality.
Through confidentiality agreements and
finally a patent, the Office of Technology
Transfer made sure that the intellectual
property rights to the wheelchair were
protected.
Why patent something as altruistic
as a wheelchair? If no patents are filed
on an invention at the time it is shown to
the public, then that invention becomes
public property for all to use. History has
shown that once no specific party owns
an invention, there is then no incentive
for any one potential company to make
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the investment to develop and take it
to market. This is because they could
never recoup their costs to develop and
market the technology.
Impact
Even though the device is still in
testing stages, Jess Mancini, a quad‑
riplegic and assistant dean of WVU’s
College of Business and Economics,
can’t wait to try it: “I might be able
to forego the electric wheelchair for
everyday use. Using a manual wheel‑
chair would improve my muscular and
cardiovascular health.”
“I don’t get to design much stuff
that directly impacts on the people
of West Virginia,” said Stiller. “The
quality of life of these citizens will be
changed.” And what an impact this
new device could have for the handi‑
capped community that lives within
the state. A product that was concep‑
tualized, designed, and tested at WVU,
and built by an in-state company could
allow handicapped people to lead
healthier and more independent lives.
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Hail, West Virginia
Hail, West Virginia
Carter Helps Women’s Team to a Perfect Beginning
A Season to Celebrate
Michelle Carter has been a cheerleader
The October 5th Maryland game was the
Junior Michelle Carter ranks third on the
team in scoring with an average of 11.9 points
per game.
is so far away from Little Rock, but still
I got that home kind of feeling and that I
was welcome. I felt I could adjust here.”
While at Arkansas-Fort Smith, Carter averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds a
game last season. A bi-state all-conference and region II first team performer,
Carter helped her junior college team to
Freshmen Leading the Pack
Avon Cobourne runs over an East Carolina
Unviersity player. WVU won 37-17.
By John Antonik
L ast year, West Virginia basketball was
breaking in a freshman class considered
one of the best in school history.
Among WVU’s three highly rated
freshmen was one named MVP of a
national AAU tournament, another
considered one of the best 75 players in
the country, and yet another who ranked
among the nation’s top 200 players.
It was supposed to have been the rebirth of Mountaineer basketball. Instead
they helped end a great coaching era.
This season West Virginia is once
again relying on a large number of freshmen. However, this group didn’t come
in with the same fanfare as last year’s.
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One played in the West Virginia
north-south all-star game and another
was his high school’s team MVP and
didn’t even average double figures. A
third traveled across the ocean for a
chance to play college basketball in
America, while a fourth came to WVU as
an invited walk-on to play for his father.
No, you won’t find five stars next to
the names of Kevin Pittsnogle, Jarmon
Durisseau-Collins, Joe Herber, and Patrick Beilein in the recruiting reports, but
what you will find is a group of players
determined to play hard and win basketball games.
As of early January, Pittsnogle
was averaging a surprising 11.7 points
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turning point of the 2002 West Virginia
University football season. And what a
season it turned out to be!
Before the crowd at Mountaineer
Field could get settled into their seats,
the Terrapins were already winning
28-0 and any chance of a West Virginia
victory was all but eliminated. “We had
that ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ look in our
eyes,” said West Virginia coach Rich
Rodriguez.
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per game and led the team with 18
three-point field goals. Herber scored a
season-high 16 points in West Virginia’s
come-from-behind win over GardnerWebb. Beilein is averaging 4.8 points
per game off the bench and has made 12
of 30 three-point field goal attempts for
a solid 40 percent shooting percentage.
Durisseau-Collins’ 29-to-7 assist- toturnover ratio ranks him among the best
in the conference.
Early in the season, this group
helped West Virginia match its win total
of last year, and the prospects of making
the Big East tournament this year have
dramatically improved.
M a g a z i n e
rushed for more than 5,000 career yards.
Cobourne may have been the anchor
to West Virginia’s offense, but the unit
was also getting a lift from two budding
stars in sophomore quarterback Rasheed
Marshall and junior running back Quincy
Wilson.
That was evident against Syracuse,
which followed WVU’s win at Rutgers.
Marshall ran for two touchdowns
and passed for another and Wilson
added 99 yards and a score to lead West
Virginia to a 34-7 victory. A moral victory
at home against Miami preceded West
Virginia’s Big East stretch run. The key
four-game stretch began at Temple.
WVU cruised to a 46-20 victory over
the Owls and went on to put down Boston
College 24-14.
The snowball that was becoming
the West Virginia Mountaineers rolled
into Blacksburg, Virginia, for a key Big
East contest on November 20. Playing
before a nationally televised audience
on ESPN2, West Virginia used the same
formula that helped it win three in a row:
run the football, play tough defense, and
create turnovers.
It was a tight game, but WVU held
its ground and produced one of the most
memorable goal line stands in school
history.
West Virginia’s 21-18 victory over
Virginia Tech snapped a four-game
Hokie winning streak over the Mountaineers and was the first WVU victory
over a nationally ranked team since 1998.
The win propelled West Virginia
into the national rankings for the first
time since 1998 and set up a seasonending showdown with Pitt for second
place in the conference standings.
A Heinz Field record crowd of
66,731 and an ABC regionally televised
audience were anticipating a classic
eastern football game. The two teams
complied.
M. G. E l l i s
an 18-10 record. Because of those efforts,
she was ranked as the nation’s fifth-best
power forward and the 16th-best overall
junior college player, something that
quickly caught the eye of Coach Mike
Carey and his basketball staff.
Not only has she fit in, but she’s immediately helped the Mountaineers to
the best start in school history.
Heading into the Big East conference play, Carter was third on the team
with an 11.9 points per game average
and ranked sixth in the Big East with 7.8
rebounds per game.
More important than her solid
numbers is the fact that she helped West
Virginia to a perfect 10-0 start.
Carter started playing basketball in
ninth grade at Parkview High after playing volleyball and being a member of the
school’s cheerleading squad.
“I was cheering at both men’s and
women’s games,” she says. “It just took
off from there. I said I could play basketball and one day I went out there and
just did it.”
And in doing that, ever since that
day when she first picked up a basketball,
she has continually cheered on.
By John Antonik
Mike Hardy
all her life. Whether it is on a high school
sideline in Arkansas or on the West Virginia team bus prior to a game, Carter
is the one putting smiles on her teammates’ faces.
The Little Rock, Arkansas, native
played at Arkansas-Fort Smith junior
college where a “me-first attitude” was
ever-present. But Carter is the consummate team player and has taken a
leadership role on this year’s Mountaineer squad with a bright smile on her face.
“The biggest difference between
junior college and Division I is that
everybody wants to be on one accord
here,” the 6-2 forward says. “There’s not
just one person out there that wants to
win like in junior college. Here everyone
wants to win. It’s a team effort in our
case.”
And it was the chance to be a part
of that team concept that brought Carter
from the warm flatlands of Arkansas to
the rugged hills of West Virginia.
“When I came on my visit, it felt like
I was at home,” she says. “Morgantown
Dale Sparks
By Phil Caskey
Instead of faltering like it did a year
ago when it lost eight of 11 games, West
Virginia rededicated itself to playing
winning football. And because of that,
the 2002 Mountaineers turned in one of
the more enjoyable and exciting seasons
in recent memory.
West Virginia’s reclamation effort
got started in earnest at Rutgers—a team
WVU demolished by 73 points a year ago,
making it eager for redemption. Senior
Avon Cobourne became the seventh back
in NCAA history to rush for more than
100 yards against the same team all four
times for his career. He finished the year
with ten 100-yard games and is one of
just ten players in NCAA history to have
W e s t
V i r g i n i a
U n i v e r s i t y
A l u m n i
Joe Mirault, a junior defensive end, celabrates
a stunning victory over Pitt.
West Virginia fell behind early but
didn’t panic and stayed with its game
plan of running the football. The result
was a memorable 24-17 triumph.
“It was a hard-fought, physical football game,” said Rodriguez.
“There were a lot of close ball games
that we’ve been able to get this year that I
think you have to have,” said Rodriguez.
“You have to win some close games to get
a nine-win season.”
Perhaps the most telling statistic
of the 2002 season was West Virginia’s
plus-19 turnover margin that ranked
among the NCAA’s best. “We’ve run
a low-risk offense and we’ve been opportunistic on defense,” said Rodriguez.
The Mountaineers also managed to
avoid the major knockout injuries that
plagued Rodriguez’s first season. That
turned 3-8 into 9-4 and helped WVU go
to a bowl for the first time since 2000.
Even though West Virginia fell to
Virginia in the 2002 Continental Tire
Bowl, the progress made during Coach
Rich Rodriguez’s second season was remarkable and has excited Mountaineer
fans anxious for more in 2003.
M a g a z i n e
S p r i n g
2 0 0 3
39
Book Reviews
The Handywoman Stories
A collection of unique short stories set
in Appalachia, these tales are driven by
characters shaped by
the place they have
lived most of their
lives. They deal with
economic depression, mine and war
deaths, the arrogance of community
leaders, and what
might have been, but was not, a stultifying environment. Their tools are
resourcefulness, steadfast friendship,
and humor.
The stories describe the civil defense
preparations of a small West Virginia
town in World War II, the same town
years later dealing with an influx of hippies, and the return of a woman to her
roots after decades up north.
The title story, “The Handywoman,”
depicts Ruby Louise as a locally famous
woman able to do anything from comforting the dying to making slipcovers. A
friend relates her lifelong friendship with
Ruby Louise, saying “She made things
beautiful and I made them work. We
thought the same about life and about
death, too, how temporary they are.”
“Garnet” tells the quiet, deceptively
simple story of a backwoods girl. A widower trades used tools to a poor family
and gets in return a young girl with bad
teeth, a wonderful work ethic, great
cooking abilities, and a love for children.
She gains respect in the community
through goodness, hard work, and sheer
endurance.
The 20 stories are arranged chronologically and feature warm characters
who return to be seen from different
angles and stages of life.
S p r i n g
2 0 0 3
W e s t
We Are Not Afraid
A Valley Called Canaan: 18852002
by Lenore McComas Coberly
Swallow Press, 2002
40
Class Notes
by Homer Hickam
Health Communications, Inc., 2002
by Edwin Daryl Michael
McClain Printing Co., 2002
The prologue begins with a brief history
and description of the Canaan Valley.
The story describes the natural history
of wetland wildlife that inhabit Canaan
Valley, set against a background of major
events that occurred from 1885 through
2002. Canada
geese, brook trout,
woodcock, wood
frogs, and snapping
turtles are some of
the wildlife featured in this novel
that blends human
history with natural
history.
Chelydra and Chelonia, the main
characters (snapping turtles), are followed in the depths of the Valley through
stages in their lives, which include major
environmental alterations. Logging,
railroads, fires, farming, the Davis power
project, and even a wildlife biologist affect the animals in the area. Although
not all projects had a direct impact on
the turtles, most had an indirect effect.
Aquatic animals were no match for
the log floats in 1888 that tore down beaver dams, quickly flooding their abodes,
and pushing snapping turtles and any
other animal unfortunate enough to be
in the water, downstream toward the
Blackwater River.
These events and others are chronicled and show the effects humans had
on animals, how populations declined
and regenerated themselves, and how
closely intertwined the animals are in
the 36,000 acre ecosystem.
The book provides glimpses into the
author, a professor emeritus of wildlife
management at WVU, who studied the
Canaan Valley through research, surveys,
canoeing, and hiking the area for over 25
years. Pen-and-ink sketches illustrate
many of the events and wildlife featured
in the book.
V i r g i n i a
U n i v e r s i t y
A l u m n i
I nspired
by the
tragic events of 9-11,
and by requests of
audience members
at his speaking engagements, Homer
Hickam offers advice on how not to
be afraid.
Again writing about Coalwood, West
Virginia, and using its residents and
their experiences as examples (and contributors), Hickam describes the people
of Coalwood as filled with a sense of
purpose and driven by a set of attitudes
about living that made them resilient and
fearless in the face of everyday danger.
Hickam says “we are proud of who we
are, we keep our families together, we
stand up for what we believe, and we
trust in God but rely on ourselves.”
Through his recollections and those
of other Coalwood residents, they relate
their antidote to fear, both real and imagined. Hickam urges you to love yourself
and others, to trust and be trusted, and
to be vigilant but never afraid.
To be unafraid, you must be connected to something larger than yourself,
and it needs to be something good and
fine. But there is something more you
need to do. You need to tell stories and
you need to listen to them, too. Stories
are how you will learn who you are and
become connected to the strength all of
us need to survive and prosper in the
world today.
The folk of Coalwood are a tightknight community, and they care for
one another like a large family might.
The author uses stories so they might be
used as a model for others to live a good
and happy life.
M a g a z i n e
1930
J. Vernon Sacher, BS, Glen Mills, PA, retired
from Allied Chemical in 1970. At 92 years old, he
has 38 great grandchildren and one great-great
grandchild.
1942
Nancy Murphy, BS, ’73 MS, Charleston, WV,
sings in a choir and swims regularly.
1947
Robert S. Jacobson, BS, ’55 JD, Lewisburg,
WV, competed for the first time at the 2002 National Shuffleboard Tournament in the doubles
category. He and his partner played well and
came in fourth.
1948
Robert D. Carroll, BS, ’52 MS, and Emily
Carroll, ’52 MA, Scottsdale, AZ, celebrated their
50th wedding anniversary on August 2, 2002. .
.James R. Kidd, BSJ, ’53 MA, and Barbara
R. Grizzle Kidd, ’57 MA, Winchester, KY,
celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on
December 26, 2001, while at their winter home
at Ft. Myers, FL.
1949
Edgar H. Willard Jr., BS, Winter Haven, FL,
celebrated his 60th wedding anniversary on
October 9, 2002. He received a citation from
the USAF surgeon general for participating in a
20-year study of the effects of Agent Orange on
veterans of the Vietnam War.
1950
Asel P. Hatfield, BS, Harrisville, WV, closed
his medical practice in 1996 and is busy on his
farm. . .Roberta Wildman Hill, AB, ’51 MA,
Winchester, VA, and husband Douglass O. Hill
celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with
their family at Kiawah Island, SC.
1952
Robert L. Skidmore, BA, ’53 MA, Oakton,
VA, published his 12th novel, The Hollow Men
of Capitol Hill.
1953
Gordon R. Thorn, BA, ’55 MA, Morgantown,
WV, was inducted into the WVU Order of Vandalia.
1954
H. Summers Harrison, BS, ’56 BA, Morgantown, WV, is retired after 44 years as a physician.
1956
James T. Hughes, BS, ’58 BS, Ripley, WV,
is retired from the active practice of internal
medicine after 42 years.
1958
Glenn E. Higgins, BS, Lakeland, FL, was
elected to the City Commission in Lakeland, a
city of 100,000 in central Florida.
1960
Jack Bowman, BS, ’63 JD, Morgantown, WV,
is key associate for corporate ethics at Acacia
Business Solutions. . .Sylvester W. Fretwell,
BS, Elkins, WV, is retired and returned to West
Virginia. . .Arnett C. Mace Jr., BS, Athens, GA,
is interim provost at the University of Georgia.
W e s t
. .Catharine Crow Porter, BS, Amherst, MA,
is ombudsperson for the Amherst campus of the
University of Massachusetts.
1961
Ralph W. Judy Jr., BS, and wife Helen Isley
Judy, ’60 BS, New Orleans, LA, recently realized
their lifelong dream of retiring to New Orleans.
1962
William “Bill” Turner, BM, ’66 MM, Platteville, WI, is retired from teaching music.
1963
Sue J. Maisel Carpenito, BS, Vero Beach, FL,
retired after 22 years of supervising and teaching
in the blood banking field of medical technology.
1964
Kenneth A. “Ken” Kissell, BA, Fairfax
Station, VA, is VP for laser and electro-optical
systems for Boeing. . .Coral M. Wurzel, MA,
Clearwater, FL, has seen all 50 states after traveling to Alaska last summer.
1965
Mary Walsh Eskay, BS, Leetonia, OH, is retired after 32 years of teaching in the Columbiana
County schools. . .Mary Turner, BM, Platteville,
WI, is retired from teaching music. . .Susan H.
Vaughan, BA, St. George, ME, is retired from
teaching after 32 years.
1966
William H. McNeil, MS, Lake Worth, FL, is retired from the Palm Beach County school system.
. .Charles G. Toth, BA, Wurzburg, Germany,
is assistant superintendent of the Department
of Defense Dependent Schools in the Wurzburg
district of Bavaria, Germany.
1967
Kitty (Bartholomew) Frazier, BA, ’68 MA,
Cross Lanes, WV, was appointed by Gov. Bob
Wise as one of 11 members of the West Virginia
Women’s Commission.
1968
Marleen C. Burford, BS, Sandy Springs, GA, is
managing partner with High Oak Partners LLC,
a marketing communications consulting group.
1970
Roy E. Brant, MA, ’76 PhD, Saegertown,
PA, is retired. He serves on the Pennsylvania
Transportation Advisory Committee, Crawford
County Airport Authority, and Crawford County
Planning Commission. In the winter, he works as
a ski instructor. . .Thomas P. McKeever, BS,
Warren, PA, is senior VP, operations and administration, with Blair Corporation, a national
catalog and direct marketer of women’s and
men’s apparel and home products. . . Robert
H. McNabb, BA, Houston, TX, is chief executive
officer of Futurestep, the middle management
recruitment arm of Korn/Ferry International. .
.Michael Zylka, MS, Webster Groves, MO, is
a member of the Washington University Physicians Network.
1971
Dana G. Cable, MA, ’72 PhD, Frederick, MD, is
a member of the board of Kiwanis International .
. .Scott Morris, BS, Woodbridge, VA, is director of design and construction for PBDenberry,
V i r g i n i a
U n i v e r s i t y
A l u m n i
Seeking Answers About AIDS
When the AIDS epidemic
first emerged in the early
1980s, no one imagined
that the disease would
claim more than 20 million lives worldwide by
the turn of the century.
Understanding the nature of this ongoing tragedy is one of the great
moral challenges of our
era, and it is one that
David Caron, ’89 M.A.,
is tackling head on.
Caron, who went on from WVU to
receive his Ph.D. in French literature from
the University of California, Irvine, is the
author of AIDS in French Culture: Social Ills,
Literary Cures, published by the University
of Wisconsin Press. The book seeks to
understand why it took France so long
to react to the AIDS crisis, analyzing the
intersections of three discourses—literary,
medical, and political—and tracing the
origin of French attitudes about AIDS
back to nineteenth-century anxieties
about nationhood, masculinity, and
sexuality.
As associate professor of French at
the University of Michigan, Caron continues to ponder these and similarly vexing
cultural issues. “My main areas of interest
are twentieth-century French literature
and culture, gay and lesbian studies, cultural studies, and, more recently, Jewish
studies,” he writes.
Caron plans to continue his exploration of questions of community and
universalism, taking up these and similar
themes in his new book project, The
Contested Ghetto: French Republicanism
and the Politics of Community.
a joint venture of Parsens Brinckerhoff and the
Denberry Design Group, located in Arlington,
VA. . .Mark Royden Winchell, BA, Clemson,
SC, is author of Too Good to Be True: The Life
and Work of Leslie Fiedler, published by the
University of Missouri Press.
1972
Katherine G. Fox, BS, Huntington, WV, is a
drug and alcohol counselor in Portsmouth, OH
. . .Merlin A. Wentworth, MS, Pleasant City,
OH, was elected to the Board of Trustees of the
Ohio Farm Bureau Federation where he serves as
chairman of the government affairs committee.
1973
Joseph D’Aurora, MA, Richmond, VA, is a
lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Chaplain Corps Reserve.
1974
Christine Chisolm, MSW, Flagstaff, AZ, is
behavioral health clinical coordinator at the
Flagstaff Medical Center. . .William R. Lyons,
BSBA, St. Albans, WV, is director of management
information systems with the Children’s Home
Society of West Virginia.
M a g a z i n e
S p r i n g
2 0 0 3
41
Class Notes
Class
Class
Notes
Notes
1975
Frederick Dillon, BSBA, St. Albans, WV, is
national VP of the Association for Accounting Administration. . .Larissa M. Toth, BS,
Wurzburg, Germany, is a teacher at Wurzburg
American Middle School.
1976
Linda B. Arnold, BS, Charleston, WV, was
named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst &
Young for West Virginia’s business services sector. . .Steven E. Dietrich, BS, Portland, OR, is
senior VP, chief financial officer, and treasurer
for Crown Pacific Partners, L.P., an integrated
forest products company. . .John C. Hill, BS,
Owensboro, KY, is operating manager of Arclar
Company, with responsibilities for operations at
the Willow Lake underground coal mine. . .Paul
M. Puskar, BSIE, Oakdale, CA, is plant manager
for Hershey Chocolate.
1977
Walter Kent Brown, MS, Fairmont, WV, is an
instructor at Marion County Technical Center
in Farmington, WV. . .Michael Krawic, BFA,
Santa Monica, CA, has guest-starred on Star
Trek: Enterprise and the Lifetime Network’s
Strong Medicine. He also directed Made in
Taiwan, a one-woman show in Los Angeles. .
.Bernadette L. Puzzuole, MA, South Fayette,
PA, is a member of the Pittsburgh law firm
Rothman Gordon, P.C. Also, she is chair of the
Allegheny County Bar Association’s Women
in Law Committee. . . Ellen “Lynn” Woods
Ramey, BM, ’90 MM, Pleasureville, KY, was
awarded the Scottish Rite Foundation Doctoral
Fellowship in K-12 Educational Administration
at the University of Louisville. . .Scott Rotruck,
BA, Morgantown, WV, is president of the Greater
Morgantown Chamber of Commerce.
1978
Ellyne Brice Davis, MA, ’79 MM, Leonardtown, MD, appeared in a production of Joseph
Kesselring’s Arsenic and Old Lace presented at
the College of Southern Maryland, Leonardtown
campus. . .Tim Gardner, BSF, Monrovia, MD,
is owner/president of Gardner Environmental
Services Inc. . .Jay A. Garner, BA, ’79 MPA,
Chattanooga, TN, is executive VP and chief economic development officer of the Chattanooga
Area Chamber of Commerce. . . Joseph M.
Koch, BS, Fresno, CA, is sports copy editor at
The Fresno Bee.
1979
Sam Baisden, BSBA, Glendale, CA, is a marketing consultant for the aviation industry . . .Peggy
Van Zoeren Byram, BS, North Caldwell, NJ,
completed the Danskin Women’s Triathlon. .
.Tom Crow, BS, Apex, NC, is senior project
engineer for the consulting firm Padiar . . .Richard J. Crowley, BS, Minot, ND, is commander
of the 91st Logistics Group at Minot Air Force
Base. . .Mark C. Ferrell, JD, Wheeling, WV, is
executive VP and senior trust officer with Security
National Trust Company . . .James C. Hall,
BS, Franklin, TN, is VP with the CUNA Mutual
Group. . .Kay Brooks Koch, BS, Fresno, CA,
is the news desk copy editor at The Fresno Bee.
. .Thomas J. Leonardi, BSBA, Middletown,
DE, is CEO/president of Bocchi Americas, a
world-wide fresh produce grower and marketing
company based in Philadelphia, PA. . .William
42
S p r i n g
2 0 0 3
W e s t
B. Schneck, MSW, Bloomsburg, PA, is director
of the North Central Secure Treatment Unit in
Danville, PA, a state-run secure care facility for
court adjudicated, juvenile male offenders.
1980
Mark Elko, BS, Massapequa, NY, is manager
of the government and municipal bond sales
desk for JPMorgan Chase in New York City. . .
Mary A. (Mastalerz) Jones, BS, Freeland, MI,
works at Dow Chemical corporate headquarters
in Michigan as a human resources technology
leader with the North American Employee Data
Resource Center. . .Russell E. Pitzer, BS,
Franklin, TN, is an associate with Gresham,
Smith and Partners, headquartered in Nashville,
TN, among the largest architectural and engineering firms in the United States. . .Bernard
P. Twigg, MPA, Glen Dale, WV, is president of
the West Virginia Planning and Development
Association.
1981
Tom Knowles, BSR, Columbia, SC, is director
for landscaping and environmental services with
the University of South Carolina’s Physical Plant
Department. Also, he is president of Taylor &
Knowles Inc., an arboricultural and horticultural consulting firm. . .Paul Mills, BSME,
Germantown, TN, is North American director
of manufacturing for branded products with
Lucite International, based in Memphis, TN. .
.Dana Shears, BS, Cary, NC, is director of sales
for the British-based firm Bespak. . . William
V. Weaver II, MA, Ringgold, GA, is director
of education at the Sylvan Learning Center in
Chattanooga, TN.
1982
Ekpenyong Eyo, BS, BA, Calabar, Nigeria,
is a government director of statistics. . .Joyce
Gensel, BA, ’84 MA, Townsville, NC, earned
a master’s of divinity from Duke University in
May 2002. She is a pastor at Tabernacle United
Methodist Church.
1983
David Michael Gross, BSBA, Honolulu, HI,
is Asia-Pacific region sales program manager
for Motorola. . .Karen Imperatore Kovac,
BS, Washington, PA, is membership concierge at
The Health Club in Southpointe. . .J. Timothy
Martin, BSBA, Fairmont, WV, is a CPA with
Tetrick & Bartlett in Clarksburg. He obtained
his CVA and is a member of AICPA, WVSCPA,
and NACVA. . .Rick Plotz, MS, Geneva, IL, is
VP of human resources for Experian Marketing
Solutions.
1984
David Busatti, BS, Wichita, KS, is chief financial officer of Wesley Medical Center. . . Lyle
Eugene “Gene” Fisher Jr., BS, ’88 MD,
Springfield, IL, is associate professor of pediatric
critical care at Southern Illinois University. Also,
he is director of the pediatric intensive care unit
at St. John’s Hospital. . . Michael Hegarty,
BS, ’85 MS, Salt Lake City, UT, is VP and West
Region transportation director with Michael
Baker Jr. Inc. . .Dianne Vagnozzi Holacek,
BS, Ashburn, VA, works for the supply management department of the U.S. Postal Service. .
.Barbara Ann Navarini-Higgins, BSBA, ’97
MBA, Charleston, WV, is a compensation/risk
analyst with McJunkin Corporation.
1985
John Kevin Diserio, BS, Wellsburg, WV, is
city manager of Follansbee, WV. . .Salvatore
Garofalo, BS, Wrightstown, NJ, is employed
with the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft
Division in Lakehurst, NJ. . .Bill Kaigler, BS,
and Melissa Kaigler, BS, North Huntingdon,
PA, have started their own business, medSage
Technologies, a medical device and services provider for chronically ill patients living at home.
Our $1.5 Trillion Man
Fidelity Investments is the largest mutual fund company in the United
States and one of the world’s largest providers of financial services, with
16 million shareholders. With so much at stake in its success, the firm is
fortunate to have a Mountaineer at its summit: Robert L. Reynolds, ’74
B.S., chief operating officer since 2000.
Reynolds, who lives in Concord, Masachusetts, with his wife, four
children, and dog, studied business administration and finance at WVU,
then started his career as a trust officer for Wheeling Dollar Bank. He stayed
on when Wheeling was bought by NCNB Corp., of Charlotte, North
Carolina, which later merged with Bank of America. Reynolds ran Fidelity’s 401k unit during the 1990s, growing assets under management from
$9 billion to $224 billion, making it the nation’s largest 401k manager.
Son of Bill Reynolds, former mayor of Clarksburg, this executive has
held fast to his West Virginia roots, despite his soaring business success.
He is also a proud WVU alumnus. “Attending West Virginia University
was an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. The University combined the best of all
worlds— challenging academics, a beautiful campus, and a lively social life. In my opinion,
it’s what college should be.”
A fan of golfing, skiing, and fishing for blues and bass, Reynolds is also a former college football referee—making him an especially astute Mountaineer fan.
It is remarkable that Reynolds has time for his hobbies. He has overseen soaring
budget outlays at Fidelity, including new hiring and a 20 percent increase in technology
spending, to $2.3 billion.
In addition to more than 300 Fidelity mutual funds, Fidelity also offers discount
brokerage services, retirement services, estate planning, wealth management, securities
execution and clearance, life insurance, and more. Customer assets total $1.5 trillion,
including managed assets of $859.8 billion and an additional $653.9 billion for which
Fidelity performs record-keeping and other administrative services.
V i r g i n i a
U n i v e r s i t y
A l u m n i
M a g a z i n e
. .Marjorie Jane Sims, MA, Grantsville, WV,
is a regional math mentor for the West Virginia
Dept. of Education’s Project MERIT.
1986
William Johnston, PhD, Mount Pleasant, IA,
is president of Iowa Wesleyan College. . .Steven
Lee, MS, Athens, WV, is director of athletics at
Concord College. . .Brad Lusk, BS, Venetia, PA,
is a partner with the accounting firm Sisterson &
Co. LLP. . .Tom Ogle, BA, Jackson, WY, is lead
appraiser with the real estate firm of Hoffman &
Associates, where he specializes in commercial
appraisal.
1987
Amy Cavazos, BM, Falls Church, VA, is a
freelance musician and flute teacher. She performed with the flute quartet Flauto Dolce at
the National Flute Association 2002 convention
in Washington, DC. . .Morgan R. Clevenger,
BSJ, ’96 MBA, Philippi, WV, was named 2002
Outstanding Fundraising Professional by
the West Virginia Chapter of the Association
of Fundraising Professionals. . . Pamela S.
Payne, MS, Nutter Fort, WV, earned a PhD in
health administration from Kennedy-Western
University. . .Heidi Reed, BSNU, Chesterfield,
MO, is a certified registered nurse anesthetist at
St. John’s Mercy Hospital . . .Mary Simons,
BSIE, Bernardsville, NJ, is general manager for
the Northeast Region of GES Exposition Services.
. .Tracy Bigler Starnes, BS, Stow, OH, is a
senior claim service adjuster for Allstate Insurance in Hudson, OH.
1988
Jim H. Bishop, BS, Laguna Hills, CA, is a
residential real estate agent with Prudential California Realty. . .F. Bronwyn Jones, BA, Evans,
GA, is a sales manager for Verizon Wireless in
Augusta, GA. . .Rick McGee, BS, Pittsburgh,
PA, is a partner at the nationally recognized
firm Hilbish McGee Lighting Design and is presently completing numerous high-profile projects
across the country.
1989
an on-line investment publication covering the
biotech industry. . . John C. Forester, BSBA,
Morgantown, WV, is CEO of HealthSouth Mountainview Rehabilitation Hospital. . .David Lilly,
BA, ’93 MS, Charlotte, NC, is a compensation
consultant with Wachovia. . .Michelle Lombardo Martin, BSN, Pittsburgh, PA, is a staff
nurse in the emergency department at UPMC
Presbyterian Hospital. . .John P. Noullet, BA,
’95 MS, Mt. Gretna, PA, completed a 2,169-mile
hike of the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia
to Maine. . .Jane Stone, BS, Waukesha, WI,
moved to Wisconsin with her husband, Edward
Van Every, to expand their computer forensics
business, Digital Intelligence.
1992
Gina Martino Dahlia, BS, Fairmont, WV, is an
adjunct faculty instructor in journalism at WVU.
1993
Mat Currey, BA, South Charleston, WV, is VP
of Currey & Associates, LLC, general manager of
Currey Realty, and owner of Family Home Sales.
. .Paula Dillig, BS, ’94 MA, Munhall, PA, is major gifts officer for Carnegie Mellon University.
. .Dennis W. Malloy Jr., BS, Cortland, OH, is
state field director for Whitetails Unlimited Inc.,
a nonprofit deer conservation organization. He
also serves on many local, state, and national
boards for conservation-related activities. . .Gabriella Blyler Olson, BA, ’97 MD, Tucson,
AZ, is a major in the U.S. Air Force. She is staff
physician at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. .
.Lora Rosenecker Ometz, BS, Manassas, VA,
is a part-time pharmacist at Kaiser Permanente
in Woodbridge, VA. . .Nancy Defibaugh Pyle,
MSN, Bedford, PA, is director of occupational
health at UPMC Bedford Memorial Hospital. .
. Melanie D. Wolfe, BS, ’96 PharmD, Jacksonville Beach, FL, is coordinator of pharmacy
education programs for Mayo Clinic.
1994
Dearl “Jay” Drury, BM, ’00 MM, Morgantown, WV, is adjunct assistant professor in the
WVU Division of Music, assistant director of the
WVU marching band, and director of the basketball pep band. . .Ryan Thomas Flemming, BA,
San Diego, CA, is a special agent with the U.S.
Customs Service. . . Michelle Kerr Lilly, BA,
BS, Charlotte, NC, is a pricing analyst for Progressive Insurance. . . Dan Marino, BS, Montville,
NJ, is cofounder of Drug Delivery Technology, a
pharmaceutical publishing company. . .Angela
L.D. Perry, MD, Greensboro, NC, is a hospitalist at High Point Regional Hospital. . .Jennifer
Dickens Ransbottom, JD, Huntington, WV,
opened Ransbottom Law Office in Huntington,
specializing in family law. . .Kimberly Ridenour, BS, Clermont, FL, is marketing director for
Harper Mechanical. . .Kimberly M. Ruppert,
BS, ’95 MS, Bressler, PA, is a physical therapist
at Florida Hospital.
1995
John F. Brown Jr., BA, Baltimore, MD, is
senior partner and chief operating officer of Express Real Estate Auctions. . .Cynthia Drumm,
BSW, ’00 MSW, Auburn, AL, is a resource center
manager at the United Way of the Chattahoochee
Valley in Columbus, GA. . . Jason D. Harrah,
BA, Foley, AL, is a physician in private practice, specializing in family medicine. . .David
Krakoff, BS, Carnegie, PA, teaches English
at Pine-Richland High School and is the head
basketball coach at West Allegheny High School
in Pittsburgh. . . Dorothy A. Smith-Akubue,
PhD, Lynchburg, VA, is associate professor of history at Lynchburg College in Virginia. . .Sharon
Michelle Spencer, MA, Bellaire, TX, earned an
EdD from the University of Houston and teaches
ESL at a Houston, TX, high school. . . Deborah
R. Weiner, MA, ’02 PhD, Baltimore, MD, is a
research historian with the Jewish Museum of
Maryland.
Send Your News to Class Notes
Elizabeth A. Gilbert, BSBA, ’90 MBA, ’96 JD,
Charleston, WV, is an associate in the business
department of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, practicing in the areas of commercial transactions,
financing, business organizations, and real estate.
. .Craig Rice, BS, Monessen, PA, is a physical
therapist.
West Virginia University Alumni Magazine likes to keep track of alumni news. Have you
changed jobs recently? Gotten married or earned a degree? Send your information
to: Alumni Magazine Class Notes Editor, Erickson Alumni Center, P.O. Box 4269,
Morgantown, WV 26504-4269. E-mail: [email protected].
Fax: (304) 293-4733.
1990
Name_______________________________________________________________________
Natalie Ross Adkins, BS, Omaha, NE, earned
a PhD in marketing from Virginia Tech in 2001.
She is assistant professor of marketing at Creighton University. . .Sherri Bowman Williams,
BS, ’01 MSN, Princeton, WV, is assistant professor of nursing at Bluefield State College.
1991
Randy Bowers, BS, Lutherville, MD, is VP of
campaign management for the Maryland chapter
of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. . .Valerie Brassfield, BS, Baltimore, MD, is a sales
engineer at Shimadzu Scientific Instruments in
Columbia, MD. . .Kim Brooks, BS, Antioch,
CA, earned a JD and passed the California bar
exam in 2001. . .David Colville, BA, San Diego, CA, is coeditor of Biotech Investor Insight,
W e s t
Address_____________________________________________________________________
City_________________________________________________ State______Zip__________
Class Year(s)_________________________Degree(s)________________________________
News_______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Due to space limitations, notes may not appear for several issues.
We do our best to publish all items received.
V i r g i n i a
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Class Notes
Class
Class
Notes
Notes
1996
Colleen M. Hewitt, BA, Piscataway, NJ, is a
human resources manager with Enterprise Marketing Solutions and the Janus Group. . . Darrell
Jones, BS, Loretto, PA, is head women’s golf
coach at Saint Francis University, an NCAA
Division I school. . .Patrick D. Krantz, BS,
New Wilmington, PA, is assistant professor of
education at Westminster College . . .Cristie
Ritz-King, BS, Arnold, MD, earned a master’s
in education from the University of Maryland
College Park. . .Douglas Roberts, MA, Morgantown, WV, is program development and training
manager for PACE TEC. . .Julie M. Talley, BS,
’02 MS, Hammonton, NJ, earned a master’s in
physical therapy from Widener University.
1997
Stephanie Arthur-Tannenbaum, BSEL,
Tampa, FL, earned a master’s degree in education technology from Pepperdine University. .
.Arvonda West Foster, MS, Hopwood, PA,
is a licensed psychological counselor in Uniontown, PA. . .Eric Hastings, BFA, Madison, WI,
received the 2002 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award from
the International Sculpture Center. . .James
J. Howard, MS, Baltimore, MD, is senior
industrial hygienist with Constellation Energy
Group. . .Matin Momen, BA, Bridgeport, WV,
earned a JD from Pitt Law School. . .Dollie J.
Newhouse, BA, Florence, SC, is instructor of
English at Francis Marion University. . .Brian
C. Richards, BSBA, Newmarket, NH, is inventory control specialist for Northeast Distribution,
distributor of hearth products to 250 New England retailers. . .David Brian Roby, BA, ’00
MA, Austin, TX, is a Spanish instructor at the
University of Texas at Austin.
1998
John Argyrakis, BS, Jacksonville, FL, is a
director at SunScript Pharmacy Services. . .
Steven Walker Bierer, BS, Greenville, NC,
is assistant director for equipment in the Athletic Department at East Carolina University. .
.Monica Amy Cegelski, BS, Wexford, PA, is
an application support specialist for Fairmont
Supply Company in Canonsburg, PA. She earned
an MS from Robert Morris University in 2000.
. .Dale Davies, MBA, Kernersville, NC, is a
CPA and senior VP and financial control officer
for BB&T. . .Diana Foster, BM, Morgantown,
WV, is a graduate assistant in choral conducting
at WVU. . . Norbert Kurkowski, MS, Wheeling, WV, received his LPC license in July 2002.
. .Crystal (Carr) Maynard, BS, Alachua, FL,
is a pharmacist with Wal-Mart in Gainsville, FL.
. . Scott Maynard, BS, Alachua, FL, earned
an MD from Marshall University in 2002 and
is an anesthesiology resident at the University
of Florida. . .Lisa Nicholson, MS, Columbus,
OH, is leading an effort to create a local chapter
of the WVU Alumni Association in Central Ohio
. . .Anthony T. Securo, MD, Douglas, GA, is
an emergency room physician. . .Jill Sieracki,
BSJ, Brooklyn, NY, is associate editor at Playgirl
magazine.
1999
Ann Ashcom, BS, Hamilton, NJ, earned
a master’s degree in counseling and human
services from the College of New Jersey. . .
44
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W e s t
2001
JD at the DQ
Scott Briscoe likes to work both sides of the street. Literally.
The 31-year-old attorney spends most of his days seeing clients at his busy law office, located on Route 85 in
his hometown of Danville, West Virginia. But you can also
receive his services—at much lower fees—directly across the
street, where he often lends a hand behind the counter at
the Dairy Queen he owns.
“It’s convenient,” he noted. “If they’re super busy, I
can run over and help.”
Combining the snack bar with the West Virginia bar
was never a career goal for Briscoe. In fact, just the opposite
was true.
“I’ve been around the Dairy Queen since I was born,”
he recalled. His grandparents, Gladys and Leonard Ramsey,
bought the restaurant in 1969, when it was located where
his legal offices now are. Drema Ison, Briscoe’s mother, raised
him in a one-room apartment at this location. As a teenager,
he joined his mother, aunts, uncles, and cousins in spending
countless hours making shakes and grilling burgers.
Ison said, “I always wanted something better for
him.” Briscoe was ambitious too. “One of my motivations
in school was that I never wanted to work in the fast food
industry again.”
It was an effective motivation. Briscoe graduated from Scott High School in 1990 and
went on to study journalism at WVU. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1994, he went
straight to law school, receiving his J.D. from WVU in 1997. After leaving Morgantown,
he enjoyed a conventional legal career for several years, working as an associate with the
firm of Shaffer & Shaffer in Charleston and Madison, WV.
“I’m proud of my school,” proclaimed Briscoe. There is no reason to doubt him,
judging by the decor of his office: blue and gold everywhere, from the trash can, clock,
and welcome mat to the stadium photograph, helmets, and footballs.
WVU has reason to be proud of Briscoe in turn. He served on Mountaineer Council
and as a tour guide when he was an undergraduate. He was president of his law school
class for three consecutive years. Today, he is an active member of the WVU Alumni Association’s legendary Boone County chapter, which has raised nearly $100,000 for student
scholarships since 1987 through its annual Pig Roast and other activities.
It was in 2000 that this attorney’s professional life took an unexpected turn. His grandfather had passed away and his grandmother was ready to retire. She decided that he should
carry on the family tradition. Briscoe remembered that, “Nobody else wanted to take it
over, and I couldn’t imagine it not being in our family.” So—after a bit of persuading—he
moved back home, bought the business, and opened his own law office across the street.
Now, Briscoe enjoys the change of pace offered by his restaurant where his mother
still works. He is planning to expand his law practice with a focus on adoption services.
And with both his businesses thriving, he is happy to be right back where he started, on
Route 85 in Danville. “It’s a good time.”
Krissie (Nau) Benson, BS, Wheeling, WV, is
advancement director at Bishop Donahue High
School. . .Michele D. Fleak, MD, Dover, OH,
completed her internal medicine residency at
Ohio State and started a private practice at Union
Hospital in Dover, OH. . .Stephen A. Klautky,
MD, Worcester, MA, completed his three-year
internal medicine residency at the University
of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center. .
.Robin A. Lewis, BS, ’02 MSN, Charleston, WV,
is clinical director of Cabin Creek and Riverside
Health Clinic in Dawes, WV. . .Dale E. Shriver
II, BA, ’00 MA, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, is a consultant
and project manager for Campus Management
Corporation, a software company. . .Stephanie
Fuller Sterling, MA, Greensburg, PA, is a parttime education and human relations instructor
at Westmoreland County Community College. .
. Nathaniel Shawn Swick, BS, Keyser, WV,
earned an MS in exercise science from Appalachian State University.
V i r g i n i a
U n i v e r s i t y
A l u m n i
2000
Holly Balchan, BS, Rutherford, NJ, won the
2002 Wyndham Women on Their Way writing
contest. . .David Brooks, BS, Waynesboro, PA,
is facilities and special events coordinator for the
Washington County, MD, government. . . Diana
Brooks, BS, Boulder, CO, is employed by the
City of Boulder’s Department of Open Space
and Mountain Parks. . .Cynthia Bunner, BS,
Morgantown, WV, earned an MSN from WVU.
. .Carrie Christine Copp, BSBA, Winchester,
VA, works in Reston, VA, for DynCorp, in the
Payroll Liabilities Group. . . Kerry Ann King,
BA, Williamsport, PA, is visiting instructor of
economics at Lycoming College. . .Leah Welsh
Lowe, BA, Guthrie, KY, is clerk for the City of
Guthrie Police Department. . .Drew Ross, BS,
Charleston, WV, is legislative information representative for the West Virginia Legislature. .
.Jeremy Scott Sibert, JD, New Orleans, LA,
is a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. . .Justin
Scott Vargo, BSBA, Oak Hill, WV, is assistant
general manager at Garfield’s restaurant. . .Scott
Zemerick, BS, Morgantown, WV, earned an
MSEE from WVU.
M a g a z i n e
Megan Anglin, BA, Pittsburgh, PA, is a sales
executive for Pitney Bowes.
2002
Melina Sissum, BA, Morgantown, WV, was
named the Don Marsh Scholar in Health Care
Writing by the Robert C. Byrd Health Science
Center and the Perley Isaac Reed School of
Journalism.
Marriages
Shan Anthony, ’99 BA, and Micah Light,
Eleanor, WV, April 20, 2002. . .Ann Ashcom,
’99 BS, and Chris Wilmot, ’98 BM, Hamilton,
NJ, June 28, 2002. . .Gina Barcinas, ’94 BSN,
and Brad Greathouse, ’93 BS, Windham, NH,
June 15, 2002. . .Tiffany Bennett, ’01 BA, ’01
MA, and Jeffrey Huff, ’02 BS, Mount Morris,
PA, July 13, 2002. . .Darcy Berry, ’00 BA, ’02
MA, and R. Bruce Vest Jr., ’99 BSBA, ’00
MPA, Morgantown, WV, June 7, 2002. . . Melissa Bindocci, ’93 BS, and Thomas Jefferson
Powers III, Williamsburg, VA, June 29, 2002. .
.Kathryn L. Britton, ’00 BS, and Benjamin
A. McGinnis, ’01 BS, Stonewood, WV, July 28,
2001. . .Rebecca Marie Britvec, ’01 BSFC,
and John Lee Kisner Jr., Morgantown, WV,
December 1, 2001. . .Scott Brokmeyer, ’93 BS,
and Robin Teter, Martinsburg, WV, October 5,
2002. . .Kenneth Brown, ’94 BA, ’96 MSW,
and Sandra Johnson, Jamaica, NY, August 17,
2002. . .Molly J. Brown, ’99 BS, and Christopher Scott, Charleston, WV, June 15, 2002.
. .Kelly Byrd, ’97 BS, ’01 MS, and Ronald
A. Beckner, ’99 BS, Morgantown, WV, July
13, 2002. . .Crystal Carr, ’98 BS, and Scott
Maynard, ’98 BS, Alachua, FL, May 18, 2002. .
.Paulette Ann Coleman, ’95 BA, ’96 MS, and
W. Dana Hutchinson, ’94 BS, South Riding,
VA, May 2002. . .Darby Lynn Cook, ’93 BSFR,
and Harry Edward McDowell Jr., Cheat Lake,
WV, July 20, 2002. . .Amanda Craft, ’01 BS,
and Phil Mullens, Morgantown, WV, August 24,
2002. . .Joseph Michael Dinneen, ’97 BS,
and Kimberly Kohler, Marlton, NJ, October 5,
2001. . .Steven Patrick Gergely, ’01 BSLA,
and Mary Colleen White, Lancaster, PA, June 22,
2002. . .Laura Grimm, ’96 BA, and Edward
“J.R.” Hiser Jr., BS ’97, Bowie, MD, December 7, 2002. . .Jennifer Harper, ’02 BSBA,
and Kenny Richards, North Myrtle Beach, SC,
September 14, 2002. . .Erika Ravin Hart, ’01
BSAG, and Paul Michael McCrobie, Morgantown,
WV, March 21, 2002. . .Edward Hawkins, ’70
BA, ’74 DDS, and Bobbie White, Morgantown,
WV, August 3, 2002. . .Amy Hayes, ’96 JD, and
John Clark, ’92 BS, Philadelphia, PA, September 14, 2002. . . Jessica Dawn Humbertson,
’99 BSW, and Michael James Simpson, Wana,
WV, August 17, 2002. . .Christina Lee Hyre,
’02 BA, and Michael Todd Nestor, Elkins,
WV, August 3, 2002. . .Lori Klein, ’96 BA, and
Ed Brennan, Bryn Mawr, PA, June 9, 2002. .
.Deanna Lakios, ’97 BSBA, and Jason Gallagher, ’98 BSBA, Wheeling, WV, September
15, 2001. . . Sara Lazenby, ’01 BA, ’02 MPT,
and John Michael “Moose” Lester, ’97 BS,
Bluefield, WV, July 13, 2002. . .Carla Rashelle
Lemley, ’00 BS, and Aaron Dale Wilson,
’00 BSF, Daybrook, WV, July 20, 2002. . .Jennifer Lipscomb, ’01 BA, ’02 MOT, and Ralph
Lambert, ’02 MS, Grafton, WV, October 12,
W e s t
2002. . .Julie Long, ’94 BS, ’94 BA, ’98 MPT,
and Philippe Toret, Morgantown, WV, June 22,
2002. . .Stephen Macko, ’93 BS, and Jennifer
Hibbard, Saratoga Springs, NY, June 8, 2002. .
.Amanda Mansberger, BSN ’96, and Craig
Street, BSBA ’96, MPA ’98, Arthurdale, WV,
October 20, 2001. . . Misty Marra, ’95 BA, and
Todd Williamson, Huntington, WV, August 2,
2002. . .Laura Lynn Mayfield, ’97 MA, and Jason Michael Mazza, ’97 BA, Morgantown, WV,
July 13, 2002. . .Michelle Lee Mayhan, ’01
BSN, and Jeffrey Lynn Anderson II, Kingwood,
WV, July 20, 2002. . .Angela J. Merbedone,
’98 BSED, and Jeffrey L. Arnett, ’99 JD, Morgantown, WV, May 25, 2002. . .Debra L. Miker,
’85 BS, ’90 MA, and Ronald D. Cline, Westover,
WV, June 23, 2001 . . .Dawn Mitter, ’94 BA,
and Terry C. Frazier, ’94 BA, Clarksburg,
MD, May 18, 2002. . .Krissie Nau, ’99 BS, and
Michael Benson, Wheeling, WV, June 8, 2002.
. .Nicole Newhouse, ’96 BA, and Paul Alan
Zeitlin, Somerset, PA, July 13, 2002. . .Andrea
Riel, ’01 BSBA, and Scott Shirey, Mineral Wells,
WV, June 15, 2002. . .Beth Ann Rogers, ’00 BS,
and Jacob Anthony Galik, Westover, WV, June
8, 2002. . .Michael Alan Rogers, ’96 BA, and
Staci Everetts, Mount Wolf, PA, April 10, 2001 .
. .Renee Dawn Scragg, ’97 BS, and Perry W.
Fugate, South Charleston, WV, September 22,
2001. . .Valerie Shaheen, ’98 BS, ’99 PhD,
and Jason Dunigan, ’97 BA, Charleston, WV,
October 12, 2002. . .Stacie Lynn Sine, ’96
BSBA, and Andrew Scott Holland, Charleston,
SC, May 18, 2002. . .Daniel Clay Smith, ’96
BS, and Jennifer Faux, Allston, MA, May 2002 . .
.Jeremy Terry, ’01 BSBA, and Chrissy Dawson,
Morgantown, WV, July 3, 2002. . . Talia Ann
Toffolo, ’01 BSBA, and John M. Conover, ’01
BSBA, Akron, OH, September 14, 2002. . .Linda
Turner, ’01 BS, and Miguel Sanchez, ’00 BS,
’00 MS, Erie, PA, July 27, 2002. . .Aundrea
Lynn Yost, ’01 BA, and Casey Shane Kelley,
’01 BS, Morgantown, WV, August 3, 2002. .
.Edward L. Yost, ’94 MS, and Lauren Delaney,
Port Orange, FL, June 29, 2002. . .Rachel Elisabeth Young, ’99 BA, and Benjamin Douglas
Maatman, Morgantown, WV, July 21, 2001. .
.Leah Hope White, ’99 BSBA, ’00 MS, and
Richard Allen Atkins, Morgantown, WV, April
27, 2002. . .Lea M. Wolfe, ’00 BA, and Bryan
M. Sickles, Morgantown, WV, April 13, 2002. .
.Terica Wolfe, ’02 BS, and Clint Springer, ’99
BA, Morgantown, WV, June 6, 2001. . .Tharon
Wright, ’97 BA, and Sean McGinnis, ’99 BA,
Morgantown, WV, April 6, 2002.
Births
Ryan Nathaniel to Natalie Ross Adkins, ’90
BS, and Randall “Randy” E. Adkins, Omaha,
NE. . .Andrew Frederick to Kevin Atkinson,
BSBA ’93, and Melissa Atkinson, Pittsburgh, PA.
. .William and Joseph to Ralph Baird, ’88 BS,
and Carole Baird, Fairfax, VA. . .Jason Preston to
Matthew D. Brady, ’97 BA, and Dina Chakalos
Brady, Bristow, VA. . .Owen Keith to Kelly (Carolan) Brewer, ’93 BS, and O. Keith Brewer,
Eldersburg, MD. . .Madalyn Marie to Tracy
Comer, ’89 BSPH, and Matthew Comer,
’88 BSPH, Barboursville, WV. . .Sarah Lynne to
Kelley Haught Cunningham, ’89 BSBA, ’93
JD, and Matt Cunningham, Buckhannon, WV. .
.Kendal Faith Donnelly to Shelly Evans Donnelly, ’93 BA, and Brian Donnelly, Indianapolis,
V i r g i n i a
U n i v e r s i t y
A l u m n i
IN. . .Ava Catherine to Kathy Goins ’92 BA, ’94
MA, and Leath Mills, ’94 MA, Baltimore, MD. .
.William (Liam) to Jennifer (Hall) Gray, ’93
BS, and Bill Gray, ’91 BS, Westminster, CO. .
.Kiley Marie to Brandie (Westfall) Haney, ’97
BS, and Kiley Haney, ’98 BS, Fort Drum, NY.
. . Jordan Elizabeth to Currie A. Hinz, ’98 BS,
and Brian P. Hinz, ’97 BS, Ellicott City, MD. .
. Jordan Marie to Terri (Weimer) Howes, ’85
BS, ’89 MS, and Tony Howes, ’89 BS, Morgantown, WV. . .Luke Anthony to Kirk Jackson,
’95 BS, and Jill Jackson, Erie, PA. . . Sarah
Jean to Robert E. James III, ’88 BSME, ’91
MSME, ’96 PhD, and Mandy Jean James, Fairmont, WV. . .Jordan Louise Jackson to Felecia
Jordan-Jackson, ’86 MA, ’89 EDD, and Dale
Jackson, ’90 BSPE, Tallahassee, FL. . .Robert
Thomas to Brian Kaputa, ’93 BS, and Beth
Kaputa, Exeter, NH . . .Charles “Charlie” Maxwell to Kathy (Loftin) Kerzak, ’92 MM, and
Charles Kerzak, ’91 BM, ’93 MM, Morgantown,
WV. . . Lauren to Brenda Kuhn, ’95 BSFR, and
George Kuhn, ’93 BSIE, ’95 BSJR, Woodbridge,
VA. . .Turner Joseph to Tracey Lawrence, ’96
PhD, and Robert Brent Lawrence, ’93 BS,
Point Marion, PA. . .Justin Alexander to Crystal Dawn Lindsey, ’99 BA, ’02 MA, and Mike
Adkins, Rivesville, WV. . . Grace Elizabeth to
Suzanne Cusick Luikart, ’98 BRBA, ’00 BA,
’01 MPT, and Christopher M. Luikart, West Newton, PA. . .Shauna Brooke to Karen (Springer)
Mahoney, ’94 BA, and John Mahoney, ’93 BS,
Boyds, MD. . .Emily Agnes to Dan Marino, ’94
BS, and Danielle Marino, Montville, NJ. . .Aleah
Taylor to Lori Meek, ’95 BS, and Jeff Meek,
’92 BS, Cranberry Twp., PA. . .Austin Curtis and
Brooke Rebecca to April Morris Mitchell, ’98
BS, and Brian Mitchell, Lost Creek, WV. . .Louis
William to Kent Muscaro, ’88 BSBA, and Kelly
K. Muscaro, Orlando, FL. . .Parker Christian
to Gabriella Blyler Olson, ’93 BA, ’97 MD,
and Jeff Olson, ’93 BA, ’97 MA, Tucson, AZ.
. .Rachel Anne to Lora Rosenecker Ometz,
’93 BA, and David Ometz, Manssas, VA. . .Elliott
Robert to Robyn Kirtley Pochettino, ’85 BS,
and Michael Pochettino, ’85 BS, Laurel, MD.
. .Noah to Ellen Lycan Rasnake, ’99 BS, and
Rob Rasnake, ’98 MA, Lexington, KY. . .Katherine Elizabeth to Julie Pfeiffer Shepard, ’98
BA, and Nick Shepard, Alexandria, VA. . .Justin
Michael to Kristi (Witzke) Turley, ’94 BS,
and Brian Turley, ’94 BS, Phoenixville, PA. .
. Ava Janine Turner to Lynda Tranchitella
Turner, ’92 BS, and Andrew Turner, ’92 JD,
Davidsonville, MD. . .Kayden Ann to Charity
(Clark) Upton, ’97 BS, and Thomas Upton,
’96 BS, Charleston, WV.
AlumniDeaths
Deaths
Alumni
Jeffrey William Adams, ’76 BS, Hilton Head
Island, SC, June 10, 2002.
Benjamin V. Blagg II, ’42 BA, Sarasota, FL,
July 31, 2002.
Paul D. Bolyard Sr., ’59 MS, Denton, MD,
September 30, 2002.
Louis H. Bordok, ’51 MA, Barstow, CA, April
5, 2002.
William J. Bozett Jr., ’47 BS, Logan, OH,
May 25, 2002.
Irene Burdette, ’65 MA, Indianapolis, IN,
July 20, 2002.
Pauline Nicholson Camp, ’31 AB, ’36 MA,
Morgantown, WV, August 5, 2002.
M a g a z i n e
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Great Aspirations
Class Notes
Franco L. Cernero, ’67 BA, Bloomington, IL,
September 20, 2002.
Katharine M. Church, ’24 BS, Keyser, WV,
September 10, 2002.
John O. “Bud” Collins Jr., ’52 BS, Kingwood,
WV, August 16, 2002.
Harold A. Core, ’42 BS, Morgantown, WV,
August 10, 2002.
Elvin Davenport, ’54 MS, Columbus, OH,
July 2, 2002.
Marvin E. Dodson III, ’98 MA, ’99 PhD, Conway, AK, August 26, 2002.
Nora Atwell Eckhardt-Robbins, ’69 MA,
Port Saint Lucie, FL, August 5, 2002.
Mary‑Jane Baker English, ’36 AB, Morgantown, October 24, 2002.
Harold Ray Fetty, ’27 BS, Morgantown, WV,
July 16, 2002.
Martin A. Gallagher, ’60 BSBA, Morgantown,
WV, August 16, 2002.
Helen S. Garrison, ’49 MA, Wellsburg, WV,
September 21, 2002.
Julia Gruver, ’83 JD, Lafayette, LA, September
2, 2002.
Kathryn Virginia Hartley, ’38 BS, ’51 MS,
Aiken, SC, September 1, 2002.
Olivia Kendrick Hastie, ’39 BS, Deer River,
MN, September 17, 2002.
Burhyl Tilman Henry, ’24 BS, Parkersburg,
WV, September 16, 2002.
Louis S. Hurst, ’56 BS, Ashland, OH, May
11, 2002.
R. Patrick Johnson, ’94 BS, Morgantown, WV,
September 8, 2002.
Joyce F. (Stump) Judy, ’74 BSMT, Petersburg,
WV, March 25, 2002.
Evelyn R. Kaufman, ’32 AB, Akron, OH,
November 2001.
Charles William Kidd, ’37 AB, Lancaster, PA,
April 21, 2002.
Betty Bord Klebe, ’38 AB, Easton, PA, May
8, 1999.
Howard C. Klebe, ’38 AB, ’40 JD, Easton, PA,
June 6, 2002.
K. Kiki Konstantinos, ’52 BS, ’55 MS, Medford, NJ, October 2002.
C. Arch Logue, ’45 BS, Morgantown, WV, July
11, 2002.
Marjorie Annon Marstiler, ’41 AB, Clarksburg, WV, August 14, 2002.
Glenn C. Miller, ’69 MS, Gainesville, FL, May
2002.
Mildred Popvich Miller, ’50 BS, Pittsburgh,
PA, January 12, 2002.
John G. Mirides, ’48 BS, ’50 MA, Canton, OH,
July 19, 2002.
Carl Ralph Morris, ’48 AB, Parkersburg, WV,
August 4, 2002.
Juanita Meadows Peregoy, ’62 BA, Charleston, WV, September 20, 2002.
Connie L. (Harr) Peterson, ’50 BS, Sun City,
AZ, July 26, 2002.
Louis Prete, ’51 BS, Lancaster, SC, August 11,
2002.
Robert Quigley, ’57 MA, Wheeling, WV, August
28, 2002.
Mary Lenora Rehe, ’55 MA, Morgantown, WV,
October 9, 2002.
Lynden E. Reynolds Jr., ’41 BS, Pataskala,
OH, August 8, 2002.
Margaret Ruff Shaffer, ’35 BS, Atlanta, GA,
September 12, 2002.
46
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Jo Ann Sharrar, ’59 AB, Akron, OH, July 29,
2002.
John Robert Spears, ’68 BS, ’69 MA, ’75 PhD,
Morgantown, WV, July 25, 2002.
Marjorie W. Stenger, ’43 AB, Pensacola, FL,
August 28, 2002.
Thomas C. Stewart, ’78 JD, Morgantown, WV,
August 14, 2002.
Ruth Chalfant Strosnider, ’40 MA, Blacksville, WV, July 1, 2002.
Charles Tackis, ’57 BS, Fort Lauderdale, FL,
May 3, 2002.
Jerry R. Teter Jr., ’90 BSBA, Bruceton Mills,
WV, September 30, 2002.
Brentz Franklin “Ben” Thompson, ’47 BS,
Dunedin, FL, June 25, 2002.
James Holland Ware, ’53 JD, Philippi, WV,
September 2, 2002.
Julia Eckert Warrick, ’35 AB, Sherman Oaks,
CA, March 18, 2002.
Troy Waybright Jr., ’55 MA, Coshocton, OH,
April 8, 2002.
Blake Andrew Weaver, ’50 BS, Coolville, OH,
July 17, 2002.
Nancy Lee Sims Webb, ’53 BS, Raleigh, NC,
March 9, 1998.
Charles N. Wimer, ’48 MA, Keyser, WV, December 29, 2001.
Michael H. “Mike” Young, ’74 BS, Cumming,
GA, January 25, 2002.
Ralph E. Nelson, former director of International Programs, Terra Alta, WV, October 18.
Jurgen E. Schlunk, professor of German in
the Department of Foreign Languages of the
College of Arts and Sciences, Morgantown, WV,
July 23, 2002.
Faculty and Staff Deaths
Martha Howard, former English professor, assistant dean in the College of Arts and Sciences,
and first director of the WVU Honors Program,
Syracuse, NY, October 8, 2002.
West Virginia University Press
Clash of Loyalties: A Border
County in the Civil War
by John W. Shaffer
Hardcover $40.00 ISBN 0-937058-73-4
The wounds of the Civil War cut most
bitterly in the border states, that strip of America
from Maryland to Kansas, where conflicting
loyalties and traditions ripped apart communities,
institutions, and families.
Barbour County, in the mountainous Northwest
of (West) Virginia, is a telling microcosm of the
deep divisions which both caused the war and
were caused by it. For example:
• Nearly half of the military-age men in the county served in the armed forces, almost perfectly
divided between the Union and the Confederacy.
• After West Virginia split with Virginia to rejoin the Union, Confederate soldiers from the
regions could not safely visit their homes on furlough, or even send letters to their families.
• The county’s two leading political figures, Samuel Woods and Spencer Dayton, became
leaders of the fight for and against secession, dissolved their close personal friendship, and
never spoke to one another again.
V i r g i n i a
Ask for this book at your local store. If they don’t have it, call or fax your order
and mention code AMS03 to receive free regular shipping.
West Virginia University Press • PO Box 6295, Morgantown, WV 26506
(304)293-8400 • fax (304)293-5380 • www.wvupress.com
U n i v e r s i t y
A l u m n i
M a g a z i n e
A Jazzman’s Journey
By Christy Day
H
is journey from childhood to unconventional jazz phenomenon
weaves through the heart of West Virginia University. John Blake grew up
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, loving
music. He learned to play the piano at
the age of six and was introduced to the
violin when he was eight years old. Eventually he would leave the cityscape of
Philly, upon his high school graduation,
for the hills of Morgantown, West Virginia. “I was introduced to the jazz violin
at WVU in the 1960s,” Blake explained,
“and it changed my life.” Anchored in
a solid classical music tradition, Blake
began to experiment and do what very
few violinists were doing then or now;
play jazz. He earned a bachelor of music
from WVU in 1969.
His mentor and advisor Dr. Phil
Faini, professor emeritus, College of
Creative Arts, played a significant part
in Blake’s musical development. “He
understood jazz and encouraged me to
explore it. He was visionary. Dr. Faini
had traveled to African countries like
Tanzania and Uganda and brought back
musical instruments. He had also studied
and learned a lot about the rhythms and
music of those cultures. He was someone
who was not afraid to step away from
the norm to explore genres that were
not all that popular,” explained Blake. It
was through the guidance of Faini that
Blake’s study of Beethoven and Brahms
was melodically transformed into the
syncopated and improvised world of
Miles Davis and Billy Taylor.
As a professional musician, Blake
joined the ranks of the downbeat elite.
He spent a significant part of the 1970s
playing with the legendary crossover
jazz musician Grover Washington Jr.,
the Billy Taylor Trio, and the McCoy
Tyner Trio. He would go on to perform
with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Each
W e s t
stint allowed him to carefully fine tune
his abilities, leaving audiences and critics
indelibly impressed. His career has also
afforded him the opportunity to perform
with jazz greats Dianne Reeves, Bobby
McFarrin, and others.
In the mid-1980s Blake made a
decision to step out on his own as a
bandleader and composer, releasing five
recordings on the Gramavision label. A
sixth was later released on the Sunnyside
label. Blake is currently in the studio
working on a new release that will feature
his original composition, A Tribute to
Heroes, a song dedicated to his mother,
who died last year.
Blake returned to Morgantown
for a special performance during Black
Alumni Weekend last October. “I can
honestly say that I feel like I’ve come
back home,” Blake told the audience.
“This has been such tremendous experience for me. I can’t say enough,” Blake
continued. His time at WVU not only
influenced him musically, but it also had
V i r g i n i a
U n i v e r s i t y
A l u m n i
a profound impact on him personally.
“President Kennedy and his brother had
been assassinated, Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. was also, and there were brewing issues of the Vietnam War and civil
rights. I will tell you that what I learned
there has really shaped me in a number
of ways,” he said. As a student, Blake was
among the founders of the Black Unity
Organization and was intrigued by issues
facing African students. “I guess I knew
that all of us at the University were a
part of a family, and that we had to be
concerned about everyone’s well-being.”
That belief has certainly carried over
into other aspects of John Blake Jr.’s life.
He not only serves as a musician, author,
and composer, but also as a teacher and
lecturer. When he is not touring, you may
find Blake at one of 200 workshops and
performances he does each year in Philadelphia public schools. “I try to find a way
to engage students because for many of
them this may be the only exposure they
have to jazz and the arts,” Blake said. He
doesn’t believe in missing opportunities
to touch lives and tries to makes the most
of his time in the classroom. He serves as
a faculty member at the University of the
Arts in Philadelphia and at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, and
he has been a guest lecturer at Berklee
School of Music in Boston.
While his art takes him on an ongoing journey, John Blake Jr.’s heart
remains perfectly centered. He loves his
music, he loves his community, and he
wants to make sure both have the opportunity to meet.
M a g a z i n e
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47
expressions
Rosalie Gaziano,
B.A. ’58, is National
Mother of the Year.
National Mother’s
View
By Rosalie Gaziano
O n a recent flight from my home
my own childhood, the lives and times
And now the
in Charleston, West Virginia, to New
of their grandparents—now with their
greatest joy they
York, I was seated across the aisle from
children. They give me meaning beyond
express is that they
a very bright and attractive young lady.
myself.
treasure their fam-
When she turned her head to nod and
As for the sacrifices: for some, the
ily experiences. With their wives, they
smile at me, her eyes were shining with
thought of being a parent is both ap-
share new families and they continue
a joy I had not seen in a while and I real-
pealing and frightening. Will they miss
the sacrifices and balance that it takes
ized there was an infant snuggled under
something either way? For others, the
in this generation to live fully. There
her chic black coat.
call is ancient and holy. By name I have
are now eight grandchildren. The bal-
called you, Isaiah has told us, and the call
ance is always tough—as it was for me.
to parenthood is holy ground.
But balance is what makes life rich, not
As we talked, she confided “My
whole world has changed, with this
infant. I just want to protect her, but
As for myself, all I could answer was
where will it take me? And what of the
that the fruits of the love of my life—a
Traveling around the United States
opportunities I am leaving? I just left a
husband and five sons—have broadened,
as the National Mother, I am often asked
role in A Chorus Line.”
widened, and kept me in a balance that
yet one more question: “Is bringing up
only family could do. That is not to say
children in West Virginia rewarding?”
“It will take you further than you can
ever imagine.” I answered.
there have no sacrifices or struggles.
egocentric or myopic.
I can honestly say West Virginia is
“I think God gave us children to en-
There have been the goals redi-
a caring place to watch children become
large our lives,” I said. “You are now on a
rected, paths changed or not taken, and
responsible adults. All five of our sons
journey that will make you a richer, fuller
books written later than I had hoped,
were nurtured in this environment, and
human being, one that demonstrates
but the directions that we have taken as
all of them, as well as my husband and I,
that the greatest gift one can be given is
a team have been amazing.
attended WVU. West Virginia is not only
life. You have been given a new life that
The family has allowed us life’s
a place that respects family but provides
purpose: to love. The children have intro-
possibilities for learning of the highest
My children opened the world to
duced me to worlds I would never have
sort, as the faculty encouraged Truman
me in new and wonderful ways. As I
known. There has been a Rhodes scholar
and Rhodes scholars, and the professions
once taught them to pray, to read, and
who took us all to Oxford, two Truman
of medicine and law. There is a saying
to study, they now share the world of
scholars, and a trip to Washington to
that “mothers help God bless America,”
technology, philosophy, and health fit-
witness an award by the president of the
and I would add WVU helps God bless
ness. Together we live the rhythms and
United States. There is a son who took
America with spirit!
rituals of the year with new excitement
us to Bavaria to a fairy tale wedding and
and continuity. The children have made
one who invited us to Chicago where he
me understand and appreciate diversity,
is creating a fitness video. Among the five
both theirs and their friends. They have
sons are four physicians and a nationally
helped me link the past to the future—
known lawyer.
will change you and the world.”
48
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V i r g i n i a
U n i v e r s i t y
A l u m n i
M a g a z i n e

Establishing Human Identity By Kathy Deweese A Treasure

Transcription

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