To read Selby's address go to: www.wvu.edu/administration/selby_may162004.htm

There's No Time Like the Present
Not all students graduating at this years' ceremony entered college right after high school. Several graduates took advantage of WVU's Regent's BA program or completed their degree online. The Regent's BA, or RBA, provides a general university education without the requirements of a major. RBA students, who are often adults and already in the workforce, can take courses to earn credit hours or submit written portfolios documenting college-level knowledge and experience obtained outside the classroom. Faculty evaluate the portfolios. Here are three such graduates.

Bob Maiolo
Almost 60 years after leaving school to run the business his father started, Bob Maiolo has a diploma from WVU.

Maiolo ran Morgan's on Spruce Street for more than 40 years. "The one thing I always wanted was a college degree, and it has finally worked out," the 78-year-old said.

After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Maiolo returned home in 1946 and enrolled at WVU with his sights set on a law career. His plans changed in 1949 when his father died, and Maiolo withdrew from school to take over Morgan's, his father's store. He and his wife, Helen, ran the Spruce Street store until 1991.

Maiolo was still shy some credit hours when Monongalia County Clerk Michael Oliverio contacted community leaders, asking them to join him in submitting letters documenting Maiolo's community service.

"The letters validating Maiolo's service to the community were used in obtaining portfolio credit, which completed his degree requirements," said Ann Paterson, director of the RBA program.
"Mr. Maiolo's story shows that life is a continuing education and that you are never too old to get a college degree," Paterson said.

Dremea Hill
David Hill, '74 BS, spent four months doing the necessary work to get his wife, Dremea, a special gift for her 50th birthday—a college diploma.

He surprised Dremea on her birthday with a cap, gown, and letter notifying her she had fulfilled the requirements for an RBA degree.

"I couldn't have received a better gift," she said. "The best part is being able to graduate with my older son."

After getting married and starting a family, Dremea's college education was sidelined. While Dremea had not given any further thought to completing her degree, her husband had.

He mentioned it to WVU admissions counselors during a pizza party sponsored by the WVU Alumni Association's Boone County Chapter, of which he is president. They suggested he look into the RBA program.

Dremea said it was priceless participating in commencement and sharing the day with her older son, a School of Dentistry graduate. The Hill's younger son, also a dentistry student, is expected to follow in their footsteps in 2007.

Robin Lizama Palacios
Robin Lizama Palacios is a special education teacher on the tiny island of Saipan, around 100 miles from Guam in the western Pacific Ocean. She needed a graduate degree to upgrade her teachers' certification, and because she was so busy, the idea of earning a degree online was sounding better and better. She soon learned just where to turn in cyberspace, courtesy of two colleagues who told her about WVU.

"They had also gotten distance degrees from there," Robin said. "They told me about it. I knew of West Virginia, because my grandfather is from Pennsylvania, but I didn't know anything about WVU. It really worked out well."

It took her three years to earn her master's degree in early childhood intervention via her computer, which was tapped into real-time, streaming Web transmissions from WVU's Allen Hall.

New Mountaineer Mascot Chosen
The musket has been passed.

WVU junior Derek Fincham was named the next Mountaineer mascot. He will take on the job held by Trey Hinrichs the past two years.

Voted the most school spirited in high school, Fincham, a religious studies major, has donned the coonskin cap before. This year, he served as backup to Hinrichs and appeared as the mascot at more than a dozen WVU events.

A West Virginia native, Fincham grew up in Petersburg and has always been proud to be a Mountaineer.

For as long as he can remember, Fincham has had Mountaineer spirit. Both of his parents, as well as his sister, are WVU alumni. He can still remember his first Mountaineer game as a WVU student.

"I woke up at 9:45, he recalled. Of course, I put on my blue and gold shirt before heading out the door. I rode the PRT over to my sister's apartment where my parents had already arrived. I entered the apartment to the sweet smell of tailgate food, and after listening to a little pregame radio broadcast, we left for the exciting walk to Mountaineer Field. We got there early enough to watch the pregame warm-up and to snag good seats in the student section."

As the new mascot, Fincham will carry on one of the most beloved of all West Virginia athletic traditions. The Mountaineer first appeared at WVU sporting events in the late 1920s and is a member of the student body chosen by the Mountain Honorary for outstanding enthusiasm, character, community service, and academics.

The Mountaineer's duties extend beyond athletics. He is expected to appear at community and alumni events to promote Mountaineer spirit statewide.

U92 Launches Live Stream
WVU's campus radio station, U92, can now be heard live from anywhere in the world. The station recently launched a new Web site (http://www.wvu.edu/~u92) complete with live streaming audio.

"I know it's made many out-of-town listeners very happy. I've heard from a lot of people and alumni who said they'd missed us," said Kim Harrison, general manager.

The new site design was based on input from WVU alumni and U92 listeners, she added, and includes a campus calendar, concert listings, and playlist information.

Martin New VP for Institutional Advancement, Curry Accepts Delaware Post
Christine M. Martin, dean of the WVU Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism, was appointed vice president for Institutional Advancement effective April 1. Martin replaces Carolyn Curry, who served as executive officer for communications and later as vice president, since 1996.

Curry, a 1975 WVU graduate, relocated to Delaware to take the position of vice president for development and university relations at Delaware State University.

Martin oversees the University's imaging, branding, advocacy, integrated marketing, and recruitment marketing efforts. As WVU's chief communications and marketing officer, she guides Institutional Advancement's news, television productions, Web, editing, graphics, printing, and event management units, as well as the Visitors Resource Center and the Mountaineer Parents Club.

Associate Professor Maryanne Reed is serving as acting dean of the School of Journalism. She formerly chaired the Broadcast News Program and teaches broadcast news.

Former Student Government VP Now President
Jordan Workman and D.J. Casto won the 2004 Student Government Association elections. Workman, a junior double major in political science and economics from Madison, was elected Student Government Association president. Casto, a junior accounting major from Clarksburg, is SGA's new vice president.

As the previous vice president and a former member of the Board of Governors, Workman brings several years of student leadership experience to the SGA.

Throughout his college career, Workman has been involved on campus—whether as a member of the WVU men's crew team, Phi Sigma Kappa, or Mountainlair Advisory Board.

Casto has served on the Board of Governors as well as being active in the Italian American Organization, Gamma Beta Phi, Neuman Club at St. John's Parish, and Pi Kappa Alpha.

New Italian Studies Minor
WVU students can now continue their study of Italian beyond the traditional language courses with the creation of an Italian studies minor.

The minor is designed to teach students about the culture and history of Italy and Italian Americans, and may eventually lead to opportunities for students to teach Italian in the public schools in West Virginia. The Italian studies minor now qualifies University faculty to submit proposals for federal grants dedicated to the teaching of less- commonly taught languages in the nation's public schools.

The new minor is an interdisciplinary initiative managed by the Department of Foreign Languages in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, with additional course support from the department of history and the art history unit of the College of Creative Arts.

Italian studies minors will be expected to complete coursework focusing on not only the Italian language, but the rich heritage of literature, art history, civilization, history of the Italian peninsula, and Italians abroad.

New Criminology and Investigations Major
A major in criminology and investigation is the latest program added to support WVU's Forensic Science Initiative. It will be available to students in fall 2004.

Offered through the Division of Sociology and Anthropology in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, the criminology and investigations major will focus on the social side and human dynamics of crime.

The major has two primary concentrations. The criminology focus provides an understanding of society's ever-changing definitions of conformity and deviance, the social foundations of law, the operation of the criminal justice system, and urgent problems such as juvenile delinquency, corporate crime, hate crime, terrorism, and organized crime.

The investigations focus examines both the formal and informal processes that affect an investigation, including the collection and presentation of evidence, the social relations that shape the fate of criminal and civil cases, and how forensic experts and attorneys negotiate the often conflicting demands of science and legal advocacy in the course of jointly investigating, evaluating, and preparing legal cases.

Social Justice Advocate Receives MLK Achievement Award
Ann Chester, a longtime WVU educator and social justice advocate, received the 2004 Martin Luther King Achievement Award from WVU's Center for Black Culture and Research during the center's 19th annual Unity Breakfast honoring the slain civil rights leader.

While King has been gone for nearly 40 years now, Chester said his message of hope and opportunity remains very much alive—and just as vital as ever. Since 1994, Chester has given hope—and a college experience—to thousands of West Virginia youngsters who might otherwise have been swept under society's rug.

That's the year Chester, an assistant vice president at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, founded the Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA).

Every summer, around 800 West Virginia junior high and high school students meet on the WVU campus to simply engage in learning. Sessions are taught by WVU faculty and public school teachers, and a HSTA kid might spend a typical day doing a little gene-splicing in the morning followed by DNA analysis in the afternoon.

"This is serious science," said Chester, a botanist by training. "But that doesn't mean they can't have fun doing it."

Director of WVU Entrepreneurship Center Named
Russell S. Sobel, associate professor of economics, has been appointed director of the WVU Entrepreneurship Center.

Sobel has served as interim director of the center since October 2002.

Located in the College of Business and Economics, the Entrepreneurship Center was established in 2002 by the joint efforts of the College of Business and Economics, the Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Consumer Sciences, Extension Service, and Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development.

Students' Dream Takes Flight
Exactly 100 years after the Wright Brothers made history at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, a group of 20 WVU mechanical and aerospace engineering students relived that immortal flight at the First Flight Centennial Celebration sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA).

A group called the Wright Experience was commissioned by the EAA to construct and fly an exact reproduction of the Wright 1903 Flyer aircraft at 10:35 a.m. on December 17, 2003, the centennial anniversary, at Kitty Hawk.

Assistant professor Wade Huebsch and professor John Kuhlman from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering accompanied the WVU group—mostly undergraduate and a few graduate aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering majors—to North Carolina, where the new flyer attempted to take flight before the tens-of-thousands on hand.

The original powered glider weighed in at just over 600 pounds including its 179-pound, 12 horsepower engine and had a wingspan of 40 feet and four inches. To ensure the authenticity of the 1903 Wright Flyer reproduction, the Ford Motor Company provided technological expertise for the engine and many other groups helped with various other aspects of the development of the aircraft.

"All of the students, Dr. Huebsch, and I were all very excited to be able to witness this once-in-a-lifetime event. We are grateful to the EAA for helping us to be able to attend. Even though the winds and rain prevented a successful reenactment flight on December 17, we were quite proud to help the EAA to operate displays in their pavilion for the Monday through Wednesday the week of the reenactment," said Kuhlman.

The student group volunteered to help operate EAA's Wright Flyer flight simulators, loaded children into Wright Flyer pedal cars, described technical displays to the public, and helped to provide crowd control for media events each day they were there.

WVU Dairy Plant Defunct
A dip in the temperatures January 14 didn't keep devoted fans of WVU ice cream from dipping into their favorite dairy treat one final time.

After a half-century of scoops, WVU's Davis College Dairy Plant has served up its last gallon of the homemade frozen treat.

Gary Strohlein, a Monongalia County paramedic, was among the dozens of devoted connoisseurs waiting in line for his favorite flavor. He said he's been coming to the plant for years to satisfy his sweet tooth. He walked out with banana and mint chocolate chip.

For WVU junior Marcus Shaffer, cinnamon apple was his choice. Tina Clarke, an accountant in Extension Service, also came out. "When I heard about it closing, I thought it was a sad thing. We've been coming here for 20 years," said Clarke, holding her buckets of chocolate and strawberry.

The dairy opened its doors for the final time at 12:30 p.m. Half an hour later, butter pecan was sold out and by 1:30 p.m., the plant had almost sold out.

"I just wish we had more ice cream to go around," said Paul Smith, retired assistant professor of animal science. "I remember when we had a dipping station and ice cream was a nickel a scoop. We lost money, but it was a popular item. That's back when we were still processing milk."

The Davis College announced it was ending ice cream production because of financial difficulties.

"The equipment we use and our facilities date back to the 1950s and 1960s," said Paul Lewis, director of the Davis College's Division of Animal and Veterinary Sciences. "Upgrading them is cost-prohibitive at this point; we can't make that kind of capital investment in light of other demands on our resources."

Compounding the problem is the plant's limited ability to set up a retail distribution system for the ice cream.

WVU ice cream does have a number of devoted fans, and Lewis understands the decision will be disappointing for regular customers. He noted that there is the possibility of resuming ice cream at a later date if sufficient funding can be obtained.

First Women's Studies Major Graduates
Just six months after WVU established a new undergraduate degree in women's studies, Jamie Lynn Baxter was the first to graduate from the program.

The 22-year-old from Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania, represents a growing number of students specializing in women's and minority issues. She said growing up in the Pittsburgh suburbs influenced her decision.

Baxter was already a minor in women's studies when the new major was approved in June. She graduated with a double major in women's studies and political science. She would like to someday lobby for women's rights on Capitol Hill.

Beyond Trading Spaces
WVU's program in interior design has received a six-year reaccreditation from the Foundation for Interior Design Education and Research (FIDER). Housed in WVU's Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Consumer Sciences, it is the only accredited interior design program in West Virginia.

Faculty in the program view the reaccreditation as an endorsement of their holistic and hands-on approach to the profession of interior design.

"Philosophically, we're very much concerned with interactive and experiential student learning," said assistant professor Cindy Beacham. "We're always trying to expand the education beyond the campus, connecting students with working designers. All of our faculty members have extensive professional experience in the interior design industry, and we're constantly building bridges between our students and interior design professionals."

A relatively new component of the program is the study abroad requirement. Juniors in interior design choose an approved program in another country and study for a semester. Initially developed through a cooperative agreement with universities in Canada and Mexico, the program has since taken students to Italy, England, and Sweden.

As a result of the reaccreditation, the Davis College is renovating studio space for the Interior Design Program in the Agricultural Sciences Annex on WVU's Evansdale Campus. This will give the program three adjacent studio spaces, reinforcing collaborative learning and providing upgraded facilities.

WVU Selects Most Loyals
Three of WVU's most faithful Mountaineers were honored as Most Loyals as part of the annual Mountaineer Week activities.

The 2003 honorees were Edward Handy Maier of Charleston, Most Loyal West Virginian; Dr. Frank Stevens of Bridgeport, Most Loyal Faculty Mountaineer; and Margaret Lopez of Morgantown, Most Loyal Staff Mountaineer. The trio was honored at halftime of the November 15 WVU-Pitt game.

The awards are given by the WVU Student Foundation Board of Managers, which organizes the Mountaineer Week celebration. The Most Loyal West Virginian award has been presented since 1974, while the Most Loyal Faculty and Staff Mountaineer awards were created in 1994.

Nellis Steps Down as Eberly College Dean
M. Duane Nellis, dean of WVU's Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, will soon leave the post he has held for the past seven years to be Kansas State University's chief academic officer.

As Kansas State's provost, Nellis will over see nine academic colleges, the libraries, graduate school, and the Division of Continuing Education, among other offices. He will begin July 1.

As dean, Dr. Nellis led WVU's largest and most diverse academic unit, with 16 departments and divisions, 16 centers and institutes, and more than 50 academic programs from certificates to doctoral degrees.

He oversaw the planning and construction of WVU's new $50 million Life Sciences Building, which houses the nationally ranked psychology and biology departments, and led efforts to create new majors in women's studies, forensic science, and criminology and investigative science.

Former Dean Rudolph Almasy will return on an interim basis until a replacement is named.

Kudos

Documentary Wins National Award, Nominated for Emmy
A Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism faculty- and student-produced documentary chronicling the lives of five cancer patients has won an Award of Excellence in the documentary category of the 2004 Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Festival of Media Arts.

The documentary project was also nominated for a Midwestern Regional Emmy.

Associate Professor and Acting Dean Maryanne Reed coproduced the film and directed the project, which produced Cancer Stories: Lessons in Love, Loss, and Hope. The one-hour documentary aired on West Virginia Public Broadcasting stations.

A book written by students and edited by Assistant Professor John Temple will be published in fall 2004.

Student Earns USA Today Mention
A senior chemistry major from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, Aaron Peoples spends school nights taking what he's learned and teaching it to others at WVU's Chemistry Learning Center.

His hard work and determination have paid off. Peoples is headed to graduate school next year, and he has received honorable mention on USA Today's 2004 All-USA College Academic Team.

A graduate of Canon-McMillan High School, Peoples is an honors student with a keen interest in science. But it wasn't until his freshman year at WVU that he decided he wanted to study chemistry full-time.

Now Peoples, who once dreamed of a career in forensics, would like to either teach chemistry or work in the pharmaceutical industry instead of cracking crimes.

 Summer 2004 Contents

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