ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

A.V. HUFF, JR., attended the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation Educational Leadership Program Seminar for Deans in Bradford, Pa., August 2-8.

BIOLOGY

A paper by WADE WORTHEN and DENNIS HANEY titled "Temperature tolerance in three mycophagous Drosophila species: relationships with community structure" was published in the international ecological journal Oikos. VICTORIA TURGEON attended an Associated Colleges of the South Teaching and Learning Workshop at Rollins College in June. Her paper, "Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor (PEDF) promotes the survival and differentiation of developing spinal motor neurons," has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Comparative Neurology.

CHEMISTRY

LAURA WRIGHT attended the Seattle ’99 Scanning Probe Microscopy Conference in June and the Atomic Force Microscopy of Polymers Conference in Santa Barbara, Calif., in August. She presented an invited talk, "A comparison of the Photophysics of Pt(diimine)(alkene) complexes: An example of a research project for undergraduates," at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans August 22. KEENAN DUNGEY also presented a paper at the ACS national meeting on the topic "Environmental effects on the emission behavior of dimesitylplatinum(II) diimine complexes." The paper was co-authored with Wright, NOEL KANE-MAGUIRE and Furman Advantage Fellow Brian Thompson).

COMPUTER SCIENCE

KEVIN TREU and KEN ABERNETHY presented "On-line tools for inquiry-based classroom and distance learning" at the seventh conference on the Teaching of Computing August 26 at the University of Ulster in Jordanstown, Northern Ireland. Treu also co-delivered the inaugural workshop of the new Associated Colleges of the South Technology Center in Georgetown, Texas, June 27-30. The workshop, which involved 16 participants from ACS institutions, was titled "Applications of educational technology in the classroom."

DRAMA

From June 20 to July 31, JAY ONEY participated in the National Endowment for the Humanities summer seminar on "The American Playwright: 1920-1950." Led by Howard Stein, professor emeritus from the Yale School of Drama, the seminar included discussions of some 30 plays of the period as well as a visit to the National Playwrights Conference in Waterford, Conn.

EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

BRANNON ANDERSEN presented a paper titled "Biogeochemistry of trace metals at the Chunky Gal mafic/ultramafic site, North Carolina" at the International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements held in Vienna, Austria, July 11-15. He attended the National Council of Undergraduate Research Annual Councilor’s meeting in Duluth, Minn., June 12-15 as a councilor for the geology division. Andersen co-authored four papers at the Southeastern Section Meeting of the Geological Society of America in Athens, Ga., March 24-25. While on sabbatical, BILL RANSON presented a seminar to the geology department at the Australian National University in Canberra on "Appalachian Orogenesis and the Petrology of Margarite-Corundum Phyllites from South Carolina."

EDUCATION

MICHAEL SVEC’s article "Improving graphing interpretation skills and understanding of motion using microcomputer based laboratories" has been published in the June issue of the Electronic Journal of Science Education. SHIRLEY RITTER presented "Re-Creating Teacher Education" at the International Association of Special Education in Sydney, Australia, in July. She also met with faculty at Flinders University, the University of South Australia and the University of Queensland, all in Australia. Ritter also chaired the executive committee meeting of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children August 6-7 in Reston, Va. She is president of the organization, which is made up of 3,000 individuals in higher education.

FACILITIES SERVICES

BUD LEHN made his theatrical debut July 29-August 14 in the production of "Boots, Beer, Bubble Gum & Loafers" at Greenville’s Centre Stage. He performed several songs by Frank Sinatra.

FINANCIAL AID

FAYE JORDAN received the Wes Dunson Outstanding Service Award from the Southern Association of Student Employment Administrators Conference. The award, which honors the group’s first president, is presented to one SASEA member each year. SASEA is the regional student employment organization, representing 10 southern states.

INSTITUTIONAL PLANNING AND RESEARCH

PHIL WINSTEAD served on an accreditation committee for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) visiting the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Va., August 2-5. He reviewed the Institutional Purpose and Institutional Effectiveness sections of the criteria.

INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION

The following faculty participated in Furman’s first summer international faculty seminar: JOHN BARRINGTON (history), PAULA GABBERT (computer science), CHERYL PATTERSON (EBA), HARLAN PATTON (French), OLOF SORENSEN (art), MARIAN STROBEL (history), ROBIN VISEL (English). The seminar was designed and conducted by BILL LAVERY (International Education/history), and a special grant from The Duke Endowment supported the venture. Lavery also was a member of the Governor’s School for Academics faculty at the College of Charleston this summer, as were DON GORDON (political science) and STEVE O’NEILL (history).

MATHEMATICS

HAMP SHERARD presented the in-service workshop "Activities for Algebraic Thinking" for teachers participating in Greenville County’s Curriculum Leadership Institute July 19 and for the elementary teachers of Richland School District 2 August 10.

MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

GREG CARROLL has been elected to a three-year term on the CASE Communications Commission. He is one of 15 international communications professionals helping to advise the organization on training, definition and seminars for the communications professional.

MODERN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES

PAT PECOY attended the Associated Colleges of the South Technology and Course Design Workshop at Birmingham-Southern College August 4-7, where she presented "Taking the technical out of technology." SHUSUKE YAGI presented lectures and demonstrations of videoconferencing at Toyo Gakuen University, Japan, June 14-18.

MUSIC

JOHN BECKFORD taught percussion at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities for the last time this summer. Beckford has taught in the Governor’s School since its inception 18 years ago. MARK BRITT performed at the 1999 International Trombone Festival in June at SUNY-Potsdam. He also performed as a member of the William Cramer Memorial Trombone Choir at Graham (N.C.) High School August 5. Britt’s article, "Brass trio repertoire," appeared in the April issue of the Instrumentalist Magazine. The article was written jointly with colleagues from the University of Texas-Arlington and Valdosta State University. BINGHAM VICK, JR., who is beginning his 30th year as director of the Furman Singers, hosted the Singers Biennial Reunion at the Herring Music Pavilion August 6-8. More than 160 Singers alumni returned for a weekend of rehearsing and fellowship before singing at the Sunday morning service at Greenville’s First Baptist Church. ROBERT CHESEBRO attended the International Clarinet Society meeting in Ostend, Belgium, July 5-11. GAYLE CHESEBRO conducted the musical "My Fair Lady" at the Greenville Little Theater in June. Britt, Robert Chesebro, CLIFF LEAMAN (saxophone), GARY MALVERN (trumpet) and DEREK PARSONS (piano) all performed as soloists for the Furman Lakeside Concerts this summer under the direction of LES HICKEN. Leaman, Malvern and Chesebro also performed in the orchestra for the musical production "Chicago" at Greenville’s Peace Center for the Performing Arts August 17-22. THOMAS JOINER served for the 20th summer on the artist-faculty of the Brevard Music Center, where he holds the Dr. & Mrs. William J. Pendergrast, Sr., Artist Chair. He conducted five concerts of the Transylvania Symphony Orchestra and performed with the Brevard Music Festival Orchestra as concertmaster. ANNA JOINER served for the 13th summer on the artist-faculty of the Brevard Music Center where she taught viola, performed with the Brevard Music Festival Orchestra, supervised 18 teaching assistants and coordinated faculty coaching for 50 faculty. DANIEL KOPPELMAN attended a weeklong workshop on computer music applications of real-time digital signal processing at the Buffalo campus of the State University of New York in June.

PHILOSOPHY

TOM BUFORD chaired a session and presented a paper, "Primary Institutions," at the fifth International Forum on Persons at St. John’s College (Santa Fe, N.M.) August 3-7. He also attended the fifth International Conference on Philosophy in Practice at Wadham College of Oxford University (England) July 27-30 to hear Mason Marshall, a rising senior at Furman, present his paper, "Toward Philosophical Counseling for ‘Mild Autistics’."

PHYSICS

A paper by WILLIAM BAKER has been included in the six-volume Cornelius Lanczos Collected Published Papers with Commentaries, which has been published by the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and Department of Physics at North Carolina State University. The paper was published in cooperation with the Eotvos Physical Society (Hungary), the Swiss Academy of Sciences and the Swiss National Science Foundation.

PLANNED GIVING

On August 19, the Planned Giving staff hosted a meeting of the board of directors of Leave a Legacy of the Upstate. This group will sponsor a media program to educate the public about the benefits of including charitable donations as part of an estate plan. On August 31, ROLAND BAREFOOT and BETSY MOSELEY attended a meeting of the South Carolina Planned Giving Council in Columbia. The topics covered included "The lead trust as a planning tool" and "The non-financial considerations in gift planning."

POLITICAL SCIENCE

BRENT NELSEN presented a paper in Berlin titled "The great divide: Catholics, Protestants and the Founding of the European Community" at the New Europe at the Crossroads Conference July 4-8. ELIZABETH SMITH participated in a National Science Foundation Conference titled "Multidisciplinary pathways to children’s learning, development and transitions to adulthood" at Indiana University August 8-10, where she presented a paper titled "Social Capital and the Political Socialization of Youth." Smith also attended the annual scientific meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology July 18-21 in Amsterdam, where she presented the paper "Youth voluntary association participation and political attitudes: A quasi-experimental causal analysis." TY TESSITORE directed a conference titled "Religion and Politics: Sophocles and Plato" in Aspen, Colo., August 19-22. He participated in a seminar on "Liberty and leadership" in Santa Fe, N.M., July 21-25.

PRESIDENT’S OFFICE

DAVID SHI published a book review in the Christian Science Monitor, presented Phi Beta Kappa addresses at Davidson and Wofford colleges, and gave sermons at First Baptist Church of Greenville and at Hendersonville (N.C.) Unitarian Church.

PSYCHOLOGY

JOHN BATSON’s article "Augmentation of taste conditioning by a preconditioned odor" was published in the July issue of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes.

SOCIOLOGY

DAN COVER presented "Sociology timeline: A genealogy of the founders of scientific Sociology" at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Chicago, Ill., August 7.

STUDENT SERVICES

HARRY SHUCKER attended the Southeastern Region Meeting for Chief Student Affairs Officers at St. Simons Island, Ga., in June.