Around Campus
Index:
- Freak out with the freshmen- Conference participants learn lessons from Virginia Tech shooting
- Friends honor colleague with race effort
- Nutrition TLO reaches into community
Freak out with the freshmen
Here’s something new that may freak out freshmen arriving on campus in fall 2008. There will be a mandatory summer reading assignment – before classes even begin.
The required reading will be “Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything” by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Academic Affairs plans to give every incoming freshman a copy with instructions to read it and be prepared to discuss it during the Week of Welcome in August.
The summer assignment is part of a new program called UNF Reads, which includes activities and events that organizers hope will create a learning community on campus.
In addition to the incoming freshmen, about 25 faculty and staff members of the UNF Book Club plan to read “Freakonomics” to become part of a campus-wide discussion of the book. The Book Club, begun in 2005, is open to all faculty and staff. Members generally read and discuss about five books a year.
About 60 resident assistants also will read “Freakonomics” so they can lead freshmen through discussions of the book in the residence halls during orientation week.
All freshman composition professors plan to incorporate “Freakonomics” into their lesson plans for the upcoming year, and faculty from other disciplines also have expressed interest in doing so.
The goal, according to Dr. Marnie Jones, associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, is to create a common reading experience for all freshmen as well as help “make students more intentional about what’s involved in active reading of an argument-based text.”
UNF’s General Education Council selected the book from suggestions submitted by approximately 50 faculty and staff. Jones said they chose the book because “we thought it would really interest them, that they would actually like to read it.”
The book, which sold more than three million copies and spent two years on The New York Times best-seller list, uses economics to explore the hidden side of such diverse subjects as why the crime rate dropped in the 1990s, why drug dealers live with their mothers and whether real estate agents really work for the best interests of their clients.
Authors Levitt and Dubner suggest that asking the right questions and drawing conclusions can help solve everyday mysteries and even disprove commonly held beliefs.
Dr. David Jaffee, assistant vice president of undergraduate studies, said the council “made an argument for the value of this particular book.” He said it crosses so many disciplines that it can be used in a variety of classes.
The summer reading program also is tied to UNF’s reaccredidation process. Jones said the General Education Assessment Task Force was concerned that students find it challenging to read and analyze a complex text.
“We hope by using this book, by having the discussions that will take place in the residence halls, we’ll be organized on helping students make that transition from high school level reading to college reading,” she said.
And what better transition could freshmen make than to arrive on campus prepared to discuss their summer reading assignment.
Conference participants learn lessons from Virginia Tech shooting
This month marks the one-year anniversary of the day Virginia Tech student Seung Hui Cho went on a campus shooting spree, killing 27 students and five professors, wounding 17 others and in the end, taking his own life as well. The shootings were over in a few hours, but the effects of Cho’s actions are lasting.
The Virginia Tech killings left people wondering how a mass shooting could take place at a college where measures had been taken to ensure campus safety. Administrators, campus police, employees and students at universities nationwide immediately began asking “Is our campus safe?”
That question is still being asked today, which is why UNF’s Institute of Police Technology and Management hosted a course last month to address campus safety. The course, Mass Shooting at Virginia Tech: Lessons Learned and Panel Recommendations, delved into the details of the Virginia Tech shootings. Nearly 130 police officers, college administrators and others interested in campus safety, including members of UNF’s Crisis Management Team, attended the one-day conference in the University Center.
Two members of the Virginia Tech Review Panel presented the panel’s key findings at the UNF course, including the background on Virginia Tech’s environment and pre-incident security, as well as a rundown of events before, during and after the shootings. The seminar also focused on Cho’s life history, problems he faced at Virginia Tech, the failure of administrators, health care personnel and faculty to “connect the dots,” and the tragedy’s aftermath.
Because of its broad scope, the seminar attracted not only police officers, but also administrators, counselors and others concerned about campus safety. “This part [the psychological exploration] appealed more to administrators who were interested in the psychology behind Cho’s actions and what could have been done to prevent the shootings,” IPTM Director Bob Jacob said.
Jacob said he’s pleased with the number of non-police personnel from UNF who took part in the training. This, he said, points to the fact that people at UNF are doing everything they can to learn from the past and prepare for the future.
Dr. Michael Hallett, chair of UNF’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, said the seminar pointed out several opportunities Virginia Tech officials missed for intervention with Cho. “It highlights for me the importance of reaching out to and identifying young people who may be suffering from social isolation and uncertainty on campus,” he said. “As a result of the seminar, I will strive to be all the more open to student visits outside of class and during office hours as well as be more vigilant about making referrals to outside resources, such as the Counseling Center.”
“A lot of us were concerned about police response [at Virginia Tech] and when we heard how the police response actually occurred, it kind of opened our eyes up to the need for good, strong, quick, immediate response,” University Police Department Chief Mark Foxworth said. “There’s always been a controversy about their notification system and how they took too much time to notify the campus, but we began to understand why they took so long and how it could have been done better.”
One move UNF is making to keep faculty, staff and students informed in the event of an emergency is to partner with the city of Jacksonville on a campus alert system called “Code Red.” This Web-based system with five servers across the country allows the University to quickly communicate information to faculty, staff and students via telephone. When an emergency occurs, UNF’s Crisis Management Team will activate the system to send a recorded phone message to thousands of phone numbers in a matter of seconds.
Another preventative measure recently announced by the Crisis Management Team is the creation of Student Affairs’ SOS (Supporting Our Students) Team, comprised of faculty and staff whose role is to identify and intervene in situations involving students who may exhibit behaviors of concern.
Foxworth, who required his command staff to attend the workshop, said UNF and the UPD had earlier made some changes in response to learning more about what happened at Virginia Tech, including formalizing the process of detecting students who may pose a threat to the campus community.
“In the last six months we created the SOS Team that comes together and looks at students who hit our radar screen,” he said. “The team then comes up with suggestions on how to help them and decides what’s best for the university community. A lot of time these students are discovered through police interaction, housing interaction and faculty interaction.”
Media Relations Assistant Director Joanna Norris was one of several UNF Crisis Management Team members to attend the Virginia Tech seminar, which she described as eye opening.
“The seminar really delved into the psychological aspects involved in the shooting at Virginia Tech and it really illustrated how the ball was dropped when it came to getting help for Cho,” Norris said. “There apparently were red flags everywhere, and Virginia Tech even had a care team that, in hindsight, could have done more to prevent the situation that ended up happening.”
UNF Vice President and Chief of Staff Tom Serwatka knows firsthand the devastation that results from campus shootings, having worked on two campuses where shootings have occurred.
“At both of these campuses where [the shootings] happened, I was able over time to shove the events back in my mind,” he said while addressing the conference participants. “I know from reading the newspaper headlines today that we can no longer do that. We have to be paying attention to this particular topic at all times. It has to occur in the president’s office, it has to occur in law enforcement, it has to occur with the faculty in the classroom. We’re all partners in this, trying to make our campuses if not perfectly safe, then safer than they are right now.”
Friends honor colleague with race effort
With cheering spectators lining the streets on a warm February morning, cancer survivor Kathy Klein and her walking buddy Mary Tappmeyer had one overriding thought as they participated in the 26.2 with Donna – National Breast Cancer Marathon.
“We just kept wondering how we could get some of these people to come out to our games,” said Klein, UNF’s senior associate athletics director. Tappmeyer is the women’s basketball coach. “People were cheering everywhere,” Klein said. “While it was truly a race for many, for many others it was a giant pep rally and happening. There were signs and music and people of all ages cheering you on – incredible support. The organizers and volunteers did a fantastic job.”
Tappmeyer and Nancy Miller, assistant basketball coach and recruiting coordinator, participated in the marathon in Klein’s honor. Tappmeyer walked a half-marathon, and Miller ran the same distance. Klein, Tappmeyer and Miller have been friends for more than 10 years.
Klein was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time in 1998. That cancer is in remission after a yearlong series of treatments, which included surgery, chemotherapy, a stem-cell transplant and radiation therapy. The second time was in 2003, when she was diagnosed with cancer in her other breast and underwent surgery. Klein said she is currently “cancer-free.”
All proceeds from the registration fees and other funds raised for the 26.2 with Donna – National Breast Cancer Marathon will go for breast cancer research and to help women living with cancer. This was the first 26.2 with Donna – National Breast Cancer Marathon. Donna refers to Donna Deegan, a local First Coast News TV anchor who has battled and is currently battling a recurrence of breast cancer.
For Tappmeyer, walking in the half-marathon brought back memories of another friend. “My best friend from Missouri, who introduced me to my husband, died of cancer when she was 36,” she said. “She was originally diagnosed six months before my wedding and died a year-and-a-half later.” Tappmeyer wore a pink rectangular sticker, which read: “Kathy who survived and Sherry who tried.”
More than 7,000 runners and walkers took part in the event. Nearly $1 million was raised.
Klein was moved by her friends’ gesture. “To say it touched my heart is an understatement. Mary and Nancy are very dear friends in addition to being colleagues in the Athletics Department,” she said. ”Both were instrumental in helping with my treatment over nine years ago. They saw me at my worst and played a big part in helping me get through it successfully. I will never forget that.”
Miller wore a sticker saying she was walking for her grandmother, also a breast-cancer survivor, and Klein.
“Kathy is very much an inspiration to me,” Miller said. “’Tough’ does not begin to describe Kathy and the mentality she used to get through that extremely difficult period in her life and become a survivor.”
Nutrition TLO reaches into community
Dr. Sally Weerts, director of the Undergraduate Nutrition Program, and four of her students don’t have to travel to some exotic foreign locale to participate in a Transformational Learning Opportunity. All they have to do is drive over the Dames Point Bridge to the Northside.
Weerts and the students are doing research for a study called Engaging Students in Nutrition Research to Benefit the Community. The study is a continuation of a 2006 pilot study by Weerts titled “Pass the Fruits and Vegetables.” It seeks to validate the findings of the pilot study.
The 2006 study involved 21 low-income African-American women who lived on the Northside. The women were from 18 to 44 years old and clients of The Magnolia Project, a federal Healthy Start program that addresses racial disparities in maternal and child health. They were divided into an experimental group and a control group.
Weerts said low-income African-American women are disproportionately affected by obesity, due in part to too much high-fat, high-calorie food and not enough fruits and vegetables.
For the pilot study, Weerts and the Magnolia team, including a health educator, provided monthly counseling about healthy food habits and $40 gift cards to Publix. Women in the experimental group were instructed to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, while the women in the control group used their gift cards to purchase groceries without instructions on what to buy.
The result was a mean weight loss of more than six pounds by the women in the experimental group over three months. “I’ve been interested in hunger all my life,” Weerts said. “In 2005, I asked myself what is the most important ingredient in Americans’ diet that poor people don’t eat, and it’s fruits and vegetables.”
Four undergraduate students are working with Weerts on this community study, which is in its beginning stages. They are Glorianne Adams, Rachel Hochwald, Jaimi Metz and Gira Patel.
“This project seems very exciting. In the long run, this will certainly help reduce obesity and thus reduce a number of diseases related to obesity,” said Patel, a junior majoring in nutrition and dietetics. “I think this study will improve the lives of many. Dr Weerts is very inspiring, very lively, full of enthusiasm and has a profound knowledge about her subject. She has involved a group of individuals to work for a good cause.”
Weerts sees a number of benefits for the students participating in the study, which is being funded by the UNF Foundation. The students can share the findings with other nutrition program students, UNF’s Nutrition Club and the dietetics profession through presentations before professional groups and peer-reviewed publications. That’s in addition to learning about the role of sound dietetics practice and research.
“The main goal of this project is to design research and undergraduate teams that apply our knowledge of nutrition and dietetics to serve the community,” Weerts said. “Students are energizing me. They are tireless in their pursuit of the steps in the scientific method and amazing to watch.”