Inner Act19

							Jan. 29 2001



                                               Faculty and Staff Newsletter



Regents will receive Manning's recommendation tomorrow
   In a conference call at 1 p.m. tomorrow, Jan. 30, TBR Chancellor Charles Manning will submit his
recommendation for the presidency of Austin Peay State University. The recommendation and vote of the
Regents will be broadcast in Clement Auditorium for those who want to hear the proceedings.

Austin Peay poster plays role in “Cast Away” movie
  Planning to see the box office hit “Cast Away,” starring Tom Hanks? When you go, look closely at the
background in one of the scenes with Helen Hunt and Tom Hanks and you’ll spot a familiar poster: “Selected
Reptiles and Amphibians of Land Between the Lakes,” an educational piece created by the Center of
Excellence for Field Biology.
  It seems some folks from Austin Peay sent the poster to Dreamworks in February 1999, and a couple of
years later it ended up on the big screen.

Turning discoveries into dollars
   Austin Peay is one of five TBR schools given the chance--and $579,000--to turn biotechnological ideas
patented by Oak Ridge National Laboratory into useful, marketable products.
   Success could mean big bucks for the University. Nashville’s Vanderbilt University made $1.5 million last
year.
   According to the Association of University Technology Managers, academic research in the United States
and Canada generated $40 billion and supported 270,000 jobs in 1999. More than 344 companies were
launched by some 3,600 patents, most in the state where the patent originated.
   Tennessee is a bit behind. “We’re just beginning to do this kind of thing,” said program coordinator and
dean of extended and distance education Dr. Stanley Groppel, who was quoted in articles published in “The
Leaf Chronicle” and “The Tennessean.” Groppel, who worked at Murray State 10 years ago, says that
university was already “working hard” on technology transfer more than a decade ago.
   Along with giving the state a technological and economic boost, originators of the program—sponsored
through the National Science Foundation and dubbed “Partnerships for Innovation”—will make learning
more relevant by exposing students to real-world problems. Long term, the benefits could be even more
significant.
   “Some of these ideas may pan out and provide a benefit to society,” noted a Tennessee Tech faculty
member.

Employees of first quarter announced
   Outstanding first-quarter employees have been named in three categories: professional, clerical and
support.
   Brenda Harrison, technical clerk for the Office of University Advancement, received the award in the
clerical category.
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   Sherri Devers, financial aid counselor for the Office of Student Financial Aid, won in the professional
category.
  Charles Moseley, inventory clerk, physical plant, won in the support category.
   These employees are eligible to be named Employee of the Year.


Judy Blain named assistant director of purchasing
   Back in 1977, while in the U.S. Army, Judy Blain was one of the first women to join the ranks of men in basic
training. It should come as no surprise, then, that Blain has taken on one new challenge after another since
her arrival at Austin Peay 11 years ago.
   She was a secretary for seven years. Then in 1997 she was named office manager for the business office. In
1999 she served as interim budget officer, advising the APSU president on budget matters. Last month she was
appointed assistant director of purchasing.
   “It’s a learning process,” she says of her new position. “I’m learning the laws, rules and regulations that
apply to the issuing of contracts between the University, its contractors and consultants.”
   As assistant director of purchasing, Blain is responsible for the accountability of the University’s fixed
assets, such as equipment. With the completion of the new science building and new university center, she
will have her hands full.
   It’s a challenge, but if Blain’s track record is any indication, one she’ll meet successfully. Besides, dealing
with change is one of her specialties. Marriage to a member of the Special Forces, with its frequent
relocations, saw to that.
   In 1987, her husband’s job landed the family in Honolulu, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in
business administration. She excelled as a student worker and was named education transition management
supervisor—a full-time job—while she was still a student.
   At Austin Peay, Blain has twice been named Employee of the Quarter. She was president of APSU’s Staff
Support Council in 1994 and in 1997. She has been chair or co-chair of the Clarksville March of Dimes fund-
raising effort, WalkAmerica, for six years.
   And Blain isn’t finished. She has been accepted into the MBA program at Murray State University and, if she
decides not to go there, may pursue her master’s degree online from Morehead State University.
   This new assistant director thrives on meeting new challenges.


Geographic Information Center manager to take part in NASA conference
   Austin Peay’s Geographic Information Center’s manager, Bob Brundage, has been asked by NASA, the
Tennessee Geographic Information Council and the National States Geographic Information Council to
represent Tennessee at the Southeast Regional State, Local, Tribal Government Workshop.
   The conference is to help NASA determine how its programs can better support Geographic Information
Systems at the local level.
   APSU’s GIS Center is a grant project designed to bring GIS technology to Clarksville and Montgomery
County government. The GIS Center has been in existence for two years and has been recognized on the state
level for its application of GIS technology to city/county government.
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Roy Acuff Chair of Excellence announced
   Fiction writer and essayist David H. Bradley has been appointed to the Acuff Chair of Excellence in the
Creative Arts.
   Bradley is teaching an undergraduate literature course, “Civil Rights and Literature,” and conducts a fiction-
writing workshop for undergraduates and graduate students. He will deliver a lecture, “The Function of
Lynching in Contemporary America: To Make Them Stand in Fear,” Feb. 8 in the African American Cultural
Center and a fiction reading at 8 p.m. April 10 in the Gentry Auditorium.
   Bradley also will participate in the annual symposium honoring the late Joseph Asanbe and will be
responsible for inviting other writers to the campus through the Visiting Writers Series.
   Bradley earned a bachelor’s degree in creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania in 1972 and a
master’s degree in United States Studies at the University of London in 1974.
   A professor of English at Temple University from 1976 to 1997, Bradley has been a visiting professor at many
universities, among them the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Colgate University, the College of William
and Mary and the University of Nottingham.
   He has given readings and lectures throughout the United States and in Japan, Korea, Pakistan, the United
Kingdom, South Africa and Australia.
   He is the author of two novels, “South Street” (1975) and “The Chaneysville Incident” (1981), which was
awarded the 1982 PEN/Faulkner Prize and an Academy Award from the American Academy and Institute of
Arts and Letters.
   His non-fiction has appeared in the “Philadelphia Inquirer” magazine, “Esquire,” “Redbook,” “The New York
Times,” “The Los Angeles Times,” “The New Yorker,” “The Nation” and elsewhere.
   Bradley also has written several screenplays, a collection of short stories, “Raystown,” and co-edited “The
Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America” (1998).
   A recipient of fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the national Endowment for
the Arts, he is completing a non-fiction book, “The Bondage Hypothesis: Meditations on Race, History and
America,” and a novel, “The Book of Wisdom.”


Area media take close look at APSU tornado recovery efforts
   “The Leaf Chronicle” and WSMV-Channel 4 took a look at post-tornado rebuilding efforts in Clarksville and
on the Austin Peay campus this week, while Channel 43, Hopkinsville, and Channel 17, Nashville, interviewed
Dr. Wayne Chester, professor of biology.
   Chester chaired the on-campus effort, called Operation Green, to bring the campus landscape back.
   Lauded projects included the renovation of Archwood, the complete interior redesign of Clement Hall,
repairs to Harvill and Harned halls and the new cupola on the Browning Building.
   Repairs of tornado-induced damage to the Marks, music-mass communication, McCord, Claxton, Sexton,
Trahern and McReynolds buildings also was noted in an article in the “Leaf Chronicle.”


Blue-collar scholars come together to form “Working Class Academics”
   First-generation college students who become first-generation faculty members. Children of teachers who
become university teachers. They can find the hallowed halls of academia a bit intimidating if they’ve had a
“bowling alley” upbringing.
   Observing the discomfort of her fellow working-class colleagues, sociologist Barbara J. Peters, of
Southhampton College of Long Island University, decided to form a support group. The result: Working Class
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Academics, an Internet forum with about 200 members who meet in cyberspace to vent and to advise one
another.
  The group also holds annual conferences. The sixth is in Houston this spring, where members present
papers, “hold erudite conversations, then head for local diner for the keynote banquet.”
  For more information on Working Class Academics, log onto to www.phoenix.liu.edu/- bpeters/WCA.htm.

Local motion
   Get a free preview of Austin Peay’s step, kickboxing, cardio and yoga classes at the “Fat Burnin’ Jam” to be
held in the Red Barn aerobics room Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 4:45 p.m. Price of admission: a willingness to sweat.

Match with Tennessee State to air on TV-43
  The Govs match with Tennessee Tech, scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 27 at the Dunn Center, will air on
Hopkinsville’s TV-43. The Lady Govs game will start at 5:30 p.m. For tickets call 7761 or log on to
www.apsu.edu/athletics.

Wildlife Resources Agency offers bird presentation
   A slide presentation entitled "The Birds of the Galapagos Islands" will be presented Feb. 1 at 7:30 PM in
Room 102 of the McCord Building. The presentation will be given by the always-entertaining Polly Rooker
of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and is sponsored by Clarksville's Warioto Audubon Chapter. The
event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served in the lobby after the program.

African American art students exhibit artwork
An art installation titled "Emerging Artists: Work by APSU African American Art Students" will be on display in
the Felix G. Woodward Library from Feb. 1 through Feb. 28. A reception for the jurored event will be held
Sunday, Feb. 4, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Amos P. Kennedy will act as juror.

Electronic newsletter for Austin Peay faculty & staff wins CASE award
   Austin Peay State University is a leader among universities using the Internet to communicate with faculty
and staff, according to the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the national
association for higher education communication and marketing.
   “InnerAction,” an electronic and interactive newsletter for APSU faculty and staff, received a Special Merit
Award in the CASE 2000 Competition in the category “Electronic Newsletters and Tabloids.”
   Among entries submitted by both public and private colleges and universities, "InnerAction" ranked No. 3 in
the Southeast district along with Elon, a church-affiliated college in North Carolina, and the Business School of
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
   The Grand Award went to Erskine College in South Carolina, while Duke University and Rollins College in
Florida received Awards of Excellence.
   Among these top award-winners, only APSU and UNC-Chapel Hill are public institutions of higher learning.
   “InnerAction,” was launched in September 2000 after a biweekly, hard-copy newsletter was discontinued
due to production costs and lack of timeliness of news.
   Primary goals of “InnerAction” are to offer accurate, timely, succinct information to campus and faculty;
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provide a consistent venue for announcements of interest to them; share their accomplishments, help them
cope with the inconvenience of relocations due to two major construction projects and provide a way for
faculty and staff to ask questions, post announcements and suggest information for inclusion—all
accomplished at no cost.
   Graphic designer Charlotte Carlin submitted "InnerAction" to CASE. In her documentation, Carlin wrote,
“Establishing credibility, establishing mechanisms for dialogue among employees and between administrators
and employees, tapping into a wide variety of employee interests and utilizing technology that is convenient
for the audience to use were critical strategies for …implementing ‘InnerAction.’”
   Distributed weekly with "special editions" as needed, "InnerAction is produced by the Office of Public
Relations, Publications and Marketing. Writers are marketing manager, Debbie Denton, who also serves as
editor, Ken West, assistant director, and Dennie Burke, director. Carlin, who designed the masthead, and
Laquita Maxwell, Web designer, disseminate "InnerAction" using push-technology .

Campus Quiz
   The year 1943 saw an event that brought many more men to the campus. What was it?
   Answer: President Claxton contracted with the U.S. Navy for the college to give academic training to young
men enlisted in the Naval Cadet Training Program. The first contingents were young men from the Southeast,
whom the girls began dating immediately. The second group would come from New England, and the girls
vowed they “would not date Yankees.” The men arrived on campus on Thursday, and by Friday evening, only
one girl in the dormitory had resisted the request for a date with the young men. Source: “The First Fifty Years
of Austin Peay State University,” by Charles M. Waters