December 2012 - January 2013

Around Campus

UNF dedicates COEHS building to civic leaders
By Dan Dundon

When a roomful of well-wishers gathered on the UNF campus recently to thank Tom and Betty Petway for their contributions to education, they may have been unprepared to be thanked instead by the man they had come together to honor.

The gathering acknowledged the Jacksonville couple’s steadfast commitment to early learning literacy and a lifelong dedication to Jacksonville community service. Their contributions will be forever reflected in the new name of the building housing the College of Education and Human Services — now Tom and Betty Petway Hall.

However, Tom Petway reversed those waves of appreciation being directed at himself and his wife and took the time to thank family, friends and business colleagues for giving him the opportunity to succeed.

In a speech rife with personal anecdotes and humor, he recalled when he and Betty were students at Terry Parker High School. He was a football player, and she was a cheerleader with consistently high grades.

“I didn’t study very hard and was voted the most fun,” he said to a chorus of laughter. “I could have been voted to be the least likely to have my name on an education building. Our story is that we had a lot of support along the way.”

Although the Petways downplayed their accomplishments, others were quick to sing their praises.

Bruce Taylor, chair of UNF’s Board of Trustees, summed up the Petways’ contributions by noting the community is “extremely blessed to have Tom and Betty Petway among its prominent citizens.”

“They have conducted their lives as model citizens of the State of Florida and the City of Jacksonville, making positive and lasting impacts on all that they have come in contact with, including the University of North Florida,” Taylor said.

Petway Hall, as it is now known, also houses several other related campus organizations, including the Disability Resource Center (DRC), which has long been a beneficiary of the Petways’ generosity.

Kristine Webb, director of the DRC, said the assistance provided by the Petways has been life-changing to hundreds of UNF students with disabilities.

“They were passionate and supportive throughout the development and building of the Disability Resource Center and they shared their vision of the partnership between the DRC and the College of Education and Human Services,” she said.

Webb said her center is grateful to all donors, “but to those like the Petways who genuinely comprehend and support our dreams, we offer additional gratitude.”

The Petways may be best known for their generous support of the Jacksonville Early Literacy and Learning Initiative. The program has resulted in major changes in literacy education, not only in Jacksonville, but also across the state. Through this commitment, the Florida Institute of Education at UNF has leveraged the Petways’ private investment to generate more than $16 million in grants for early literacy learning.

A prominent area business leader, Tom is president of The Petway Companies and founder, former chairman and CEO of Zurich Insurance Services Inc., a national insurance marketing and administrative services company. He is also the founder and partner of Prudential Network Realty, a locally owned and operated residential real estate franchise, and an original minority partner in the NFL’s 30th franchise, the Jacksonville Jaguars. He served as co-chairman of the organizing group for Super Bowl XXXIX and co-chairman and CEO of the Jacksonville Super Bowl Host Committee.

Betty, co-chair of The Petway Family Foundation, has served on the UNF Foundation Board and is an honorary UNF alumna. She has been involved in many philanthropic initiatives throughout Jacksonville including the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, where she is an honorary board member, the Children’s Home Society and Hope Haven. She was the first woman to chair the capital campaign for Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, where she is also an emeritus member of the board of directors. For her work, she won the Florida Times-Union’s distinguished EVE Award in 1996.

Throughout their extensive community involvement, the Petways have always valued the quality of education.

“I think UNF is a wonderful asset to this community and we’re happy to be part of the success story, it’s a community success story,” Tom said. “We know with the leadership of John Delaney it is becoming an even more prominent part of the community. We are proud to be associated with his dynamic leadership.”

This is the third building to be dedicated on campus within the past few months as part of the UNF’s 40th anniversary celebrations. In October, the University Center was dedicated to former president Adam W. Herbert and UNF Hall was dedicated to civic leaders Ann and David Hicks.
 

Around Campus

Pros vs. Joes pits students against UNF fitness trainers
By Matt Coleman

They weave through cones, dangle from bars until their arms burn and leap as high as they can manage.

 

Most gyms offer up a standard assortment of weights and cardio machines, but the University of North Florida’s Student Wellness Complex offers students and staff something much more intense — an opportunity to test themselves against the best.

 

The Health Promotion team in the Student Wellness Complex is offering members of the campus community a chance to test their athleticism against the Dottie Dorion Fitness Center’s dedicated group of fitness trainers in a Pros vs. Joes-themed workout competition.  

 

The program started at the beginning of the semester and tests participants using a battery of fitness challenges, said Ashley Ballard, health education coordinator. Tests include grip strength, a one-mile run, a flex arm hang, vertical jump and an assortment of other exercise circuits.

 

“It answers one simple question — where does the student body line up to the fitness staff in terms of health?” she said.

 

The brains behind the operation is a student staff member, senior community health major Chris Wayant.

 

Wayant said the idea came to him last summer, inspired by the popular sports reality TV show on the Spike Network and his own interests — sports, working out and testing himself to see how he stacks up to the competition. This program takes that competitive nature to another level, allowing students to track themselves and their progress against the dedicated trainers in the Dottie Dorion Fitness Center.

 

“Seeing all the fitness trainers as a freshman and sophomore, it got me inspired to try harder and get to their level,” Wayant said. “This program challenges others to do the same thing and see how they stack up to the pros. If one person who otherwise wouldn’t have worked out gets started on fitness because of the program, then this was a success in my eyes.”

 

Joes who eclipse the pros and place in the top three participants for each individual exercise will have their photo and fitness results enshrined on the leaderboard near the fitness assessment office on the second floor of the Student Wellness Complex. If those top marks remain until the end of semester, the students in first place for each individual exercise receive a commemorative championship T-shirt. Any student who beats a benchmark set by a pro wins a T-shirt acknowledging their accomplishment.

 

More than 520 students have competed this semester, and Wayant and the Health Promotion team plans to evolve the program next year to allow participants to compare themselves to professional athletes.

 

Additionally, a group of 42 UNF Army ROTC students came out to in mid-November to test their mettle on 12 different challenges in the hopes of having their pictures mounted on the leaderboard. A few new top marks were set, but the bulk of the standing records remain in place. Wayant said he hopes other athletic teams and organizations around campus will also accept the challenge and compete in his program.

 

Shelly Purser, director of Health Promotion, said the institution of the program showed tremendous initiative by Wayant.

 

“He's engaging students on a level that makes them want to come back for more,” Purser said. “That's what health and wellness is all about — sustaining a level of activity that you can make into a lifestyle. And he found a way to do that for others and make it fun.”

 

Beyond the positive feelings associated with helping others build a healthy lifestyle, Wayant said he has also gained a sense of pride in seeing his idea take off.

 

“It’s really cool to sit back and watch people get excited about something you were thinking about one day,” he said. “For them, it gives them a kind of framework in the gym, so that if they don't know what to work out that day, they have these options to try out. For me, I get to encourage them and push them to the limit. It’s a great feeling all around.”

 

 

Around Campus

Take Time to See SLOW at MOCA
By Carl Holman

In an era when information is available in a nanosecond, instant gratification is an expectation. It’s through that lens that the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, a cultural resource of the University of North Florida, presents a landmark exhibition, “SLOW: Marking Time in Photography and Film,” that challenges viewers to pause, engage with the art around them and reassess the importance of time in daily life.

Running Jan. 26 to April 7, 2013, the exhibition will feature the works of eight American and European artists whose approaches to this concept complement and challenge one another, as well as the viewer’s perception of photography and the temporal constraints of a work of art. Participating in the exhibition are internationally renowned artists Eve Sussman, Kota Ezawa, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Chris McCaw, Idris Khan, James Nares and David Claerbout.

Curated by MOCA’s Director Marcelle Polednik, “SLOW” focuses on artists and works that engage photography, film and video to explore questions of time and duration. A combination of still photographs, films and video works, the exhibition explores multiple approaches to the topic. Some works animate and extend the temporal boundaries of painting — others open the sealed confines of photography to the flow of time. In addition, photographic works capture an ever-expanding series of gestures and moments — ones that physically and conceptually transform the boundaries of the medium.

The exhibition includes several video portraits of characters from Sussman’s “89 Seconds at Alcázar,” a 10-minute, continuously flowing single take that meticulously creates the moments directly before and after the events portrayed in Diego Velásquez’s iconic “Las Meninas” from 1656. Polednik originally viewed the piece, hailed as the toast of the Whitney Biennial 2004 and displayed at the nation’s most prestigious art institutions, shortly before joining that museum’s curatorial staff.

“How Sussman created a new temporal context — that “Las Meninas” is a singular frozen moment in a longer narrative — mesmerized me, and it formed some of the intellectual framework for SLOW,” she said. “And, just as it takes time to see the individual works in the exhibition, it also took quite a few years for me to conceptualize and organize it.”

“SLOW” will be MOCA Jacksonville’s signature project for its 2012-13 exhibition cycle. Following “Shared Vision: The Sondra Gilman and Celso-Gonzalez Falla Collection of Photography,” it is also the second in a series of MOCA-curated exhibitions that emphasizes the indelible influence of photography on the art of our time.

For more information about the exhibition and its related activities, visit www.mocajacksonville.org or call MOCA at (904) 366-6911.

 

Briefs

Holiday Happenings

‘Tis the season to be jolly — and there are plenty of festive events happening at UNF (or nearby) to remind us that the holiday season is in full swing. Here are a few you might want to consider as you plan your holiday schedule:

 
 

  

7th Annual Feast of Carols: Jacksonville’s holiday sing-a-long                 

UNF ensembles will be joined by school and community choirs for a musical ringing in of the season. Sing in the holidays with the Clay High School Royal Blues, First Coast High School Concert Choir, Fleming Island High School Desperate Measures, Fletcher Vocal Ensemble, Jacksonville Children's Chorus-Young Men's Chorus, LaVilla Bel Canto Chorus, UNF Chorale, Wolfson High School Singers and members of the UNF Orchestra, directed by Dr. Cara Tasher. Mike Buresh from FOX30/CBS47 will serve as the event MC.

 

Call the box office at (904) 620-2878. Tickets available online here.

 

Date: Saturday, Dec. 1, 

Time: 3 p.m.  

Location: Lazzara Performance Hall

Cost: Adults: $7 in advance, $10 at the door, students free with Osprey 1Card

 

 

UNF Alumni Association’s 21st Annual Holiday Party 

 

This is the one holiday party this season you don't want to miss. The UNF Alumni Association’s 21st Annual Holiday Party will feature great food, music, dancing, door prizes and more.

 

For more information, please contact the Office of Alumni Services at (904) 620-4723 or unf-alum@unf.edu.   

 

Date: Thursday, Dec. 6
Time: 7 to 10 p.m. 

Location: The Casa Marina Hotel 

Cost: Suggested donation of $20 per person

 

UNF women’s basketball hosts holiday tournament                                                           

  

The University of North Florida women’s basketball team will host its annual Hampton Inn Oceanfront Holiday Classic tournament at UNF Arena. The Ospreys will play games against Jacksonville State University and the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. Campbell University will also participate in the event.

 

Date: Friday, Dec. 14 and Saturday, Dec. 15 

Time: 3:30 p.m. 

Location: UNF Arena 

Cost: Adults: $6, Youth/Senior/Military/UNF Staff: $4, UNF Students and children 2 years old and under: Free with Osprey 1Card

 

  

 

 

Get to Know

R. Charlene Davis

Department: Academic Center for Excellence

 

Job title: Academic Adviser

 

What do you do?  

Advise and assist firstand second-year students with their academic plan through their first 60 credit hours.

 

Years at UNF: 6

 

What is your favorite thing about working at UNF?  

Seeing the looks on the faces of new students and knowing I play an active role in plotting their educational path.

 

Tell us about your family.  

I am the fifth (and only girl) of seven children. I have one son, and one daughter.

 

If you could choose any other career, what would it be and why?  

I’d be a professional singer. I love to sing, and I can carry a pretty good tune!

 

What would you like to do when you retire?  

I’d like to serve on the board of directors for a nonprofit organization

 

What is the best thing you ever won?  

$50 on a $5 scratch-off ticket. Don’t judge me.

 

What band(s)/musician(s) would perform the soundtrack to your life?  

Lyfe Jennings and Jill Scott

 

Who is your favorite fictional character? What makes them your favorite?  

Glenda the Good Witch — even with the power to be bad she chose to do good.

 


If you won the lottery, what would do with the money?  

I’d become a philanthropist.

 

If you were not working at UNF, what would you be doing? 

Either advising at another institution or working as a guidance counselor at a high school in hopes of better preparing high school seniors for the college/university experience.

 

Describe your favorite UNF-related memory? Fall 2009 graduation

 

What is your favorite way to blow an hour? Solving word jumbles

 

If you were asked to paint a picture about anything you wanted, what would you paint? World Peace *smile*

 

What was the best money you ever spent?  

Ten-day cruise of the West Indies aboard the Norwegian Spirit

 

Is there a piece of technology that you just couldn’t live without?  

My smartphone

 

What is the proudest/happiest moment of your life?  

I have two: seeing my son graduate from high school and finding out my daughter will graduate early with only three years of high school.

 

Tell us something that would surprise people to know about you:  

I can’t dance. I was born of the Rhythm-less Nation. 

 

What was the first concert you ever attended, and what was the most recent concert you attended?  

First was Boyz II Men, Brandy and Subway in Gainesville. The last was Anthony Hamilton and Angie Stone in Jacksonville.

   

What person had the greatest impact on your life?  

Constance McCoy — in the course of six months, I gained a different perspective. 

 


What are you most passionate about?  

Leaving a lasting impression on the lives of those with whom I come in contact.

 

Who is the most famous person you ever met? Angela Bassett at the Blockbuster in Fernandina Beach

 

Tell us something about you that even your friends don’t know:  

I was named after my mother.

 

What do you hope to accomplish that you have not done yet?  

I’d like to have all the pages of my passport stamped.

 

Last book read:  

“I, Alex Cross” by James Patterson


 

 

 

Faculty & Staff

Brooks College of Health 

Clinical and Applied Movement Sciences: Drs. Peter Magyari and James Churilla had their peer-reviewed research article, “Association Between Lifting Weights and Metabolic Syndrome among U.S. Adults 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey” published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

 

Nursing: Dr. Cynthia Cummings gave a presentation entitled “Red Cross Health Services Disaster” to a group of nurses and students in the community in November. Discussions included what disaster workers can do, how to set up a shelter, obtain supplies and how to assess and intervene in these situations.

 

A group of four inter-professional team members from the Northeast FL area attended the International ID Week in San Diego this October.  Those members included Dr. Jan Meires, Dr. Patrick Monaghan, Sarah Wheeler, a 2012 UNF MSN graduate and Dr. Mobeen Rathore. They presented a poster on “Declining Trends in Rotavirus Testing and Infections in Northeast Florida in the Post-vaccine Era.”

 

Drs. Irma Ancheta, Cindy Battie and Dr. Tes Tuason published a paper entitled, “A Comparison of Metabolic Syndrome (METS) Risk Factors in Filipino Women and Filipino American Women: A Pilot Study” in Ethnicity & Disease.

 

Public Health: Dr. Tammie M. Johnson and Dr. James Churill, spoke at the 140th American Public Health Association Meeting in San Francisco in October. They gave a presentation about “Measuring diabetes self-management education duration among adults: Results from the 2008 Florida Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.”

  

Dr. Elissa Barr, Dr. Michele J. Moore and Alexandra Howard, published a piece in the American Journal of Sexuality Education titled “A Pilot Project to Increase Parent Comfort Communicating with their Children about Sexual Health.”

  

Drs. Elissa Barr, Michele J. Moore and Tammie Johnson, along with P. Stewart, gave a presentation about “The Relationship Between TV/Computer Use and Sexual Behaviors Among Middle School Students” at the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality Annual Meeting in Tampa.

 

 

  

Coggin College of Business 

  

Economics: Dr.Sharon Cobb was awarded the Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers’ 2012 Excellence in Teaching Award at the Annual Meeting in Asheville. SEDAAG comprises 10 Southeastern states with more than 550 members.

 

College of Arts and Sciences 

  

History: Dr. David Courtwright spoke at a public event sponsored by the LSE Ideas, the in-house think tank of the London School of Economics. Photos and a short recap of the event are online here.

 

Languages, Literatures, Cultures: Dr. Shira Schwam-Baird published “Translation in the Late Fifteenth Century: Octovien de Saint-Gelais’s L’ystoire de Eurialus et Lucresse” in Medieval Perspectives. 

  

Physics: Dr. Nirmal Patel was awarded a Florida Space Grant Consortium (NASA) award for $4,100 for “Measurement of ozone profile in the stratosphere using nanocrystalline sensor arrays payload on a HASP2012 balloon flight.”

 

College of Computing, Engineering & Construction 

 

Construction Management: Drs. Adel El Safty, Mag Malek and Amal EL Safty published their paper, “Construction Safety and Occupational Health Education in Egypt, the EU, and US Firms,” in the Open Journal of Civil Engineering in November.

 

Engineering: Dr. Adel El Safty presented and published three peer reviewed papers: “The CFRP Repair Performance in Pre-cracked Reinforced Concrete Beams,” “Fatigue Testing of Half-Scaled and Full-Scaled AASHTO Type II Bridge Girders Laterally Damaged and Repaired Using CFRP Laminates” and “Full-Scale Flexural and Fatigue Testing of Laterally Damaged AASHTO Type II Bridge Girders Repaired Using Nonpressed CFRP Fabric Laminates” during the 2012 PCI Convention and National Bridge Conference

 

Drs. J. David Lambert, Patrick Welsh, Gerald Merckel, Daniel Cox andMichael Toth filed their patent, “Street Light Monitoring System,” with the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office on behalf of UNF. 

  

Computing: Dr. Ching-Hua Chuan and E. Chew presented and published their paper, “Creating Ground Truth for Audio Key Finding: When the Title Key May Not Be the Key” at the 13th International Conference on Music Information Retrieval in October. Chuan also gave an invited presentation, “Computing and Engineering Approaches to Music Information Retrieval,” at the CCEC Research Colloquium the same month. Chuan was also invited to become a reviewer for the IEEE Transactions on Multimedia.   

  

College of Education and Human Services 

  

Department of leadership, school counseling and sport management: Professor and Associate Provost E. Newton Jackson, Jr. co-authored a manuscript, “Statistical data analysis techniques utilized in the International Journal of Sport Management during its first ten years.”  It is in the upcoming volume and issue of ISJM.

 

At the Professional Recognition Awards Banquet Nov. 2 at the Florida School Association (FSCA) Conference, Dr. Carolyn B. Stone was awarded The Robert D. Myrick Lifetime Achievement Award. Carolyn Stone is the first recipient of this special recognition for her extraordinary contributions to professional school counseling and counselors in the state of Florida. The School Counseling Program had four students who presented at the recent Florida School Counselor Association’ Convention. Kimberly Volz, Erin Monahan, Lisa Coppedge and Sarah Beth Glicksteen each presented a poster session. Sarah Beth Glicksteen co-presented with Dr. Stone on the subject, Sexually Active Students: What School Counselors Need to Know. Also at the recent Florida School Counselor Association Conference, Nov. 1-3, in St. Petersburg, Dr. Rebecca A. Schumacher moderated a panel discussion consisting of five district-level administrators and school counselors pertaining to the job search process for graduate students.

 

In October,Drs. Jason W. Lee, Elizabeth Gregg, Kristi Sweeney, Jennifer Kane and E.T. Kian presented “ESPN the Magazine’s Body Issue: The good, the bad, and the sexy” for Sport Marketing Association (SMA) Conference in Orlando. Also presented at the SMA conference was “A tale of two cities…and four universities: Brand building in higher education has been accepted for Sport Marketing” by Drs. Jason W. Lee, Elizabeth Gregg and K. Miloch. Additionally, at the Southern Criminal Justice Association (SCJA) Conference in Atlantic Beach Drs. Jason W. Lee and Kristi Sweeney presented as part of the Athletes and Criminal Activity panel, “Criminal jocks: An NFL case study.”

 

 

Department of exceptional, deaf and interpreter education: 

Dr. Susan Syverud was invited to speak at the Interfaith Coalition for Action, Reconciliation and Empowerment (ICARE) Community Problems Assembly Oct. 30 at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal church in Jacksonville. ICARE is currently tackling four big problems in our community—reducing youth crime, ending homelessness, increasing reading achievement levels, and creating new jobs. Syverud’s testimony on reading was titled “Why not DI?” Syverud presented her past accomplishments as a learning disabilities teacher and her current work as a Professor in Residence at Woodland Acres Elementary in increasing reading achievement levels and preventing reading failures through the use of Direct Instruction.

 

Childhood Education, Literacy, and TESOL: Drs. Gigi David and Elizabeth Fullerton presented “Promoting Preschool Friendships” at the Florida Association for the Education of Young Children conference in Orlando dditionally, Dr. David presented “Exhibiting project-based learning: A collaboration between a local art museum, university education students and elementary students” at the National Association for Education of Young Children in Atlanta.  

Dr. Nile Stanley was a featured author for the 50th Annual Conference of the Florida Reading Association in Orlando. He spoke on “Performance Literacy: Gateway to Meeting the Common Core Reading Standards” and did a signing for his book, “Performance Literacy through Storytelling.”

 

In October, Dr. Stacy Boote presented a Gallery Workshop, “No More Division Monkey Moves: Using Craft Sticks to Support a Conceptual Understanding of Division,” for in-service and pre-service teachers at the 2012 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Regional Conference in Dallas. Also, Boote recently had an article published, titled “Assessing and Understanding Line Graph Interpretations Using a Scoring Rubric of Cited Factors,” in the Journal of Science Teacher Education as an 'Online First' piece by SpringerLink.

 

Office of the Dean: Kelly Turner, a graduate research assistant in the Dean’s Office, presented “Scaffolding the Reading Fluency Development of English Language Learners” at the Florida Reading Association’s Annual Conference in Orlando in October.

 

UNF Faculty Awards 

 

Nominations will be accepted beginning Monday, Jan 7 for the Distinguished Professor Award, Outstanding Faculty Scholarship Awards, Outstanding Faculty Service and thenew Outstanding Faculty Community Engaged Scholarship Awards.  Guidelines for the awards are listed on the Faculty Association website under "Faculty Awards." 

 

Nominations can be submitted one of the three ways —  online nominations submitted through the "Online Forms"; e-mailed to facassn1@unf.edu or handwritten or typed nomination forms delivered to the Faculty Association Office in the Honors Hall, Building 10, room 1120. The deadline is Friday, Jan. 18 at 5 p.m. For more information, contact Cindy Chin at cchin@unf.edu or ext. 2872 or Dr. Gordon Rakita at grakita@unf.edu.

  

  

Dateline

Milestone anniversaries 
Congratulations to the following employees who will celebrate a milestone anniversary at UNF in December:

20 years  

Mary Gates, Office Manager, Counseling Center

 

10 years  

Michael Holmes, IT Systems Engineer, Information Technology Services

Carol Murray, Administrative Secretary, Brooks College of Health

Torrell Poole, Custodial Worker, University Housing

Laura Langton, Instructor, College of Education & Human Services

 

Five years 

Karla Calliste-Edgar, Office Manager, Professional Development and Training

Deborah Reed, Assistant Professor, Exceptional, Deaf and Interpreter Education

Carol Woodson, Assistant Professor, Building Construction Management

Welcome 
The following employees were either hired by UNF or were promoted from OPS positions from mid- to late-October:

Latoya Alston, Custodial Worker, Custodial Services

Larissa Bodniowycz, Coordinator, Coggin College of Business

Gene Jones, Custodial Worker, Custodial Services

Jordan Ray, Custodial Worker, Custodial Services

David Seidel, Parking Services Technician, Parking Services

Tammy Spencer, Custodial Worker, Custodial Services

William Taylor, Custodial Worker, Custodial Services

Eric Thomas, Maintenance Mechanic, University Housing

Donatella Schianomoriello, Academic Support Technician, Center For Instruction and Research

Mildred Rhodes, Custodial Worker, Custodial Services

Zully Rivera-Ramos, Mental Health Counselor, Counseling Center

Justin Sipes, Coordinator, Greek Life Fraternity and Sorority Life 

  

Great job 
The following employees were promoted from mid-to late-October.

 

Maria Atilano, Library Services Specialist, Library

Tracey Britton, Library Services Specialist, Library 

Karla Calliste-Edgar, Office Manager, Professional Development and Training

Collin Cassidy, Senior IT Support Technician, User Services

Justin Clark, Coordinator/Team Lead, One Stop Student Services

Felicia George, Associate Director, Human Resources

Rabena Johnson, Procurement Card Coordinator, Controller’s Office

Amara McMann, Coordinator, Art and Design

Jennifer Neidhardt, Associate Director, Human Resources

John Timpe, Director, Center for Student Media

Linda Walton, Associate Director, Human Resources

 

Congratulations to Dr. David Kammerman, coordinator for UNF’s Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships and Honors faculty member, and his wife, Dr. Marcelle Polednik, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, a cultural resource of UNF, on the birth of their first child on Nov. 7. Their son, Beckett Edward, weighed in at 6 lb., 9 oz. Mother, father and son are all doing well.

The Goods

Papaya

Named as the “fruit of the angels” by Christopher Columbus, papaya is a native Central American fruit adopted by Hawaiians. It’s packed with vitamins, minerals and fiber. Dr. Nancy Correa-Matos, a registered dietitian and faculty member in the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics Flagship Program, discusses papaya, a heart-healthy, anti-inflammatory and cancer-fighting fruit. To help you add papaya to your diet, a recipe is provided.

 

Myth: Papaya isn’t nutritious. 

  

Fact: Papaya contains three times more vitamin C than the daily recommendation. It’s a good source of vitamin A, folate, potassium, magnesium and fiber, while also being rich in antioxidants and B vitamins. It’s also low in fat and calories — a half-cup of ripe papaya provides 26 calories and less than 1 gram of fat. The same amount of unripe papaya provides around 40 calories and less than 1 gram of fat. As it ripens, the carbohydrate content is lower, providing even fewer calories per serving.

 

Myth: Papaya is unknown in the United States. 

  

Fact: Although papaya is native to Mexico and Central America, it was introduced to Hawaii in the last century. Since then, Hawaii has been the leading producer of the small-sized papaya, called theCarica Papaya Linn species, which is widely available in the United States throughout the year. Papaya plants can’t survive in cold weather, strong winds, shade or flooding, so that’s why it’s considered solely a tropical plant. In the U.S., the “papain” content in the seeds is used as a meat tenderizer and as an ingredient in chewing gums.

 

Myth: It’s recommended to eat only the pulp. 

 

Fact: The pulp and the seed are both good sources of nutrients, while the ripe pulp is rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. The seeds have a spicy taste and can be easily substituted for black pepper. The seeds contain compounds that have been shown to prevent and inhibit cancer development, destroy viruses and bacteria as well as reduce inflammation.

 

Myth: Papaya can cause allergic reactions. 

  

Fact: If a person is allergic to latex, avocados or bananas, it’s possible to have a cross reaction with ripe papaya. In this case, it’s recommended to consume well-cooked papaya. This way, the chitinases, compounds that are related to allergic reactions when consuming these products, will be totally destroyed during cooking. Candied papayas are good alternatives to cooked papaya, and they are safe for people with these types of allergies.

 

Myth:Papaya is only good for healthy vision. 

 

Fact: Papaya provides overall health benefits. Scientific investigations have shown that papaya provides benefits against cardiovascular diseases due to its healthy-fat content, its LDL cholesterol-lowering effects and acts as a vasodilator and antioxidant. Also, it has antimicrobial and antibacterial effects. It has been used as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Additionally, papaya has been used in home remedies as an antimicrobial for the reduction of inflammation in sports injuries and the prevention of staph infections. In some regions, papaya has been used to treat parasitic infections. The fiber and oil content of papaya can also alleviate constipation.

 

Recipe                                                                   

  

Healthy papaya smoothie 

  

Recipe from Eating Well for a Healthy Heart Cookbook (2008).

 

Servings: 2 servings, 1 1/4 cups each

 

Ingredients: 

1 papaya, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped (1 1/4 cups)

3/4 cup bottled fruit nectar, such as papaya, mango or peach

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, preferably superfine

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

5 ice cubes

 

Procedure: 

Combine all ingredients in a blender; cover and blend until the desired consistency. Pour into a glass and serve immediately.

 

Nutritional Content (per serving): 

Calories 176

Total fat 1 g

Carbohydrate 42 g

Protein 3 g

Dietary fiber 2 g

Potassium 365 mg

 

The Goods is a monthly column about food myths and facts by faculty members in the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics Flagship Program and runs in The Florida Times-Union’s “Taste” section. Have a question about papaya? Contact Dr. Correa-Matos at ncorrea@unf.edu.  

Briefs

Healthy Osprey: The ABCs of Holiday Eating

The ABCs of Holiday Eating 

 

Have you heard the old adage that people gain 10 pounds during the holidays? Actually, the average holiday weight gain is between one and five pounds. The good news is that with a little forethought, you can avoid any holiday weight gain.

 

Follow these simple ABCs and have a holiday that allows you to enjoy eating your favorite foods while keeping your health — and waistline — in mind.

 

A = Assess your hunger. Use a hunger scale to determine if you are eating because you are hungry or for other reasons. Before you eat, give yourself a number on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 means you are starving and 10 means you are “thanksgiving stuffed.” If you give yourself a 3, you are physically hungry and it’s a good time to eat. When you reach a 6-7, it’s a good time to stop eating.

 

B = Balance your plate. Include all the food groups of protein, grains, vegetables, fruit and dairy on your plate. If you miss a food group at one meal, include it as a snack or at the next meal. Balance also applies to the size of your meal. Take portions that will satisfy your hunger, not overstuff your stomach. Using this strategy, you can still enjoy your favorite holiday foods and treats.

 

C = Cardio. Add exercise that increases your heart rate to burn off extra calories. Exercise can be broken into small chunks of time. Take a brisk walk after lunch, dance in the kitchen with your family and play some flag football before dinner and you’ve hit your goal while enjoying your holiday break.

 

For more information, call (904) 620-1570 to meet with the Health Promotion wellness dietitian. This article was written by Alexandra Lewis, MS, RD, LD/N, a Wellness Dietitian in the Department of Health Promotion.

 

 

Healthy Osprey is designed to provide solid advice on how to become more healthy at work and at home. Shelly Purser, director of Health Promotion, and Mike Kennedy, assistant director of Health Promotion, will write a different article each month that will focus on some aspect of health and wellness. Healthy Osprey is a collaboration of students, faculty and staff working together to foster a University community that embraces the development of a healthy body, mind and spirit. The purpose of the Healthy Osprey initiative is to assess and respond to the needs of the UNF community to create and maintain a healthy environment, which will enhance the holistic student experience. For more information, contact Shelly Purser at spurser@unf.edu.