The National Weather Service has issued a severe weather alert and a tornado watch until 9 p.m. today (March 31). Campus building representatives are asked to make sure the faculty, staff and students in buildings are reminded of the building's shelter and evacuation plans. See http://web3.unt.edu/riskman/index.php?section=evacprocmaps

• The National Weather Service issues a tornado watch when weather conditions are right for tornadoes to form.
• A tornado warning is issued when a funnel cloud has been spotted by a trained observer or detected on radar.

When severe weather occurs in the North Texas region, the UNT community can turn to several sources of information - including the UNT web site, official messages from the university, 88.1 KNTU-FM, and NTTV - regarding official severe weather warnings, storm tracking, and building emergency plans.

If severe weather moves into the Denton area, UNT community members should also listen for the city of Denton warning system located on campus or for an Eagle Alert message.

  See more about severe weather and area warning and safety systems at: http://www.unt.edu/newuntfeatures/weatheralert2007possible.htm
 
 

The BBC Symphony Orchestra will record "Timepiece," a composition by Cindy McTee, Regents Professor or music, on April 5. The recording will be broadcast worldwide at a date to be determined on BBC Radio 3 via the airwaves, satellite and the Internet at www.bbc.co.uk/radio3. McTee has taught composition at UNT since 1984.

McTee’s "Timepiece" was commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for its 100th anniversary season and premiered in February 2000 under the direction of Andrew Litton. The DSO also performed the work at New York’s Carnegie Hall. A citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters described the piece as “bold, concise, elegantly crafted and intentionally clear.”

The BBC Symphony Orchestra, the flagship orchestra of the BBC, is committed to the performance and recording of contemporary music. Since its inception in 1930, the orchestra has premiered more than 1,000 works by such composers as Bartók, Britten, Hindemith, Holst, Stravinsky and Shostakovich.

“I feel enormous gratitude toward Andrew Litton for having brought my work to the attention of the BBC. Recordings of orchestral music occur infrequently these days, and so I could not be more pleased,” McTee says. 

Former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, left, currently the chairman of the Hillary Clinton for President Committee, and Dan Bartlett, right, a former counselor to President George W. Bush, will discuss this year's presidential race 8 p.m. April 1 at the Murchison Performing Arts Center.

"Presidential Race Outlook Debate” is this year's Distinguished Lecture Series. Tickets may be reserved at the Union Information Center at 940-565-3805 or the Murchison box office at 940-369-7802.

Tickets are free to UNT students, faculty and staff members with identification, with a maximum of two tickets issued per person. All tickets must be picked up prior to the evening of the lecture. Tickets are $20 for the public. To win a free pair of public tickets, send an e-mail to inhouse@unt.edu by 5 p.m. March 15 with "Debate" in the subject line. Winners will be selected at random from all e-mails received.

Following their debate, McAuliffe and Bartlett will have a brief question-and-answer period.

McAuliffe, a graduate of Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and the Georgetown University Law Center has been chairman of the Democratic National Committee in early 2001.

Bartlett, a native Texan and graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, began his career in 1994 by working on Bush's first successful campaign for governor of Texas.

Whether you have good taste in books or you just like to taste them, whet your appetite at the annual Edible Book Festival.

The festival, part of an international celebration, features treats that pay tribute to literature - or at least the idea of “a book.”

In past years, the event has produced such pun-filled plates as “Fa-Ji-Ta Eternity,” a sizzling ode to James Jones’ novel; “Little Women,” a cake with the word “women” written in small letters; “Cannery Row,” a line of soda cans representing the work by John Steinbeck; “Booklava: Greek Ruin,” baklava made to look like a book with illustrations of Apollo and a sphinx; and “The Great American Novel - Some Assembly Required,” a giant bowl of Alpha Bits cereal. "March of the Penguins," left, was a 2006 entry.

Give new meaning to “cook book” by entering your own treat - or just sample the book-inspired bites - from 2 to 4 p.m. April 1 in the Rare Book Room of the Willis Library. The contest costs $2 to enter or $5 to show up and eat. The event raises funds for the UNT Rare Book and Texana Collections.

Participants will vote for the most creative entry and the best-tasting book. The contest has only two rules: The entries must be mostly edible, and no open flames are allowed. “No Dante’s In-Sterno,” says Edward Hoyenski, assistant curator of the collection.

To enter, contact Hoyenski at 940-565-2769 or Edward.Hoyenski@unt.edu.

“The festival has always been great fun for us and for the participants - a visual and creative delight as well as being quite tasty,” Hoyenski says.

Hoyenski said UNT’s participation in the event, sponsored by the Friends of the Libraries, helps to raise awareness of the Rare Book Room, which houses more than 20,000 items, ranging from a 4,000-year-old clay tablet and historic Texas documents to original war posters and rare miniature books as small as the head of a pin.

“The Rare Book Room is one of UNT’s great treasures,” says Hoyenski. “We house artistic, cultural and historic items that would not otherwise be available to students and researchers in this area, and everyone is welcome to come and enjoy these treasures.”

For images of past entries, including "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" in 2004, right, visit:http://www.library.unt.edu/rarebooks/rare-books-exhibits/edible-books-festival-1/. 

To learn more about the International Edible Book Festival, go to http://www.diffusionadage.com/livremangeable/index.html.

The annual International Education Awards Banquet, featuring guest speaker James C. Oberwetter, left, ambassador to Saudi Arabia, will highlight the April 7-14  International Week celebration. The week’s activities also include ethnic food, live entertainment, awards, badminton and kite flying.

The banquet is 7-9 p.m. April 14 in the University Union, Silver Eagle Suite. Reservations must be made by April 4; cost is $10 for students, $25 for adults and $200 per table.

Oberwetter has been U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since January 2004. He previously was senior vice president of governmental and political affairs for Hunt Consolidated, Inc. of Dallas.

Oberwetter was chairman of the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse from 1996-2001 and is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Parent-Teachers Association. Oberwetter is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.

To win a pair of tickets to the banquet, send an e-mail to inhouse@unt.edu with “Banquet” in the subject line by 5 p.m. March 28. The winner will be selected at random from all e-mail responses. 

UNT hosted a delegation of 10 educators and three translators from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2007 as part of a U.S. Department of State sponsored visit. The delegation met with President Gretchen M. Bataille, and attended discussions about the role of public education in the United States and about  religion, culture and politics at America's public universities.

In 2006, UNT honored alumnus Adel A. Al-Jubeir, adviser to the Royal Court of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a distinguished alumnus award  and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. 

Rosa Fonseca, a senior political science major from Haltom City, is the first UNT student to enroll at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, or UAEM, as part of the universities’ exchange program.

Fonseca, a senior political science major from Haltom City, began her studies at UAEM this semester. In December 2007, Oscar Olea-Mejia received a doctorate of philosophy in materials science and engineering from UNT - a first in the partnership of the two universities.   

Fonseca chose to study in Toluca at UAEM (classroom building, left) because of its location in mountains 45 miles west of Mexico City. "Since it is in the middle of the country, I can travel easily in any direction, plus the weather in Toluca was a big incentive. The UAEM political science program has a very good relationship with the one at UNT so I have academic support all the way around," she says.

Fonseca admitted its been an adjustment going to school at UAEM. Even though she regularly visited Mexico, there was a culture shock. "I had to adjust to starting school at 7 in the morning … and to some extent the use of the Socratic method in the classroom," Fonseca says.

Manuel Goel is director of national and international academic cooperation at UAEM.

Orientation sessions for the Staff Classification and Compensation Study for UNT, UNT System and UNT Dallas staff employees are scheduled March 26-28.

All employees are expected to attend one of the 55-minute sessions, which will explain the purpose of the study and provide instructions about how to complete the online Job Analysis Questionnaire.

A classification and compensation study is a management tool used by organizations of all types to identify best practices and market trends in hiring and retention. The study will allow UNT to review employee job classification descriptions and salary range structures.

The study will also help UNT administrators develop a new compensation program and philosophy, revised job descriptions and a new performance evaluation process. No salaries will be reduced and no positions eliminated as a result of the study.

Orientation sessions are scheduled for UNT, UNT System and UNT Dallas employees in locations around the campus. At each session, consultants from Management Advisory Group (www.maginc.org) will explain the purpose of the study and how employees will be involved.

The Job Analysis Questionnaire, to be completed online by each employee after completing orientation, will ask about day-to-day tasks, skills needed to complete those tasks, supervisory responsibilities, education and training.

Study results are expected in Fiscal Year 2009 when findings will be reviewed by President Gretchen M. Bataille, her Cabinet and Advisory Committee members. (See list below.)

Congratulations to these randomly-selected winners in last week’s Fun Fact and InHouse random drawings:

• Don Noska Jr., administrative assistant, Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences; Susan Whitmer, secretary, Technical Services; Robbie Heldman, accountant, Purchasing and Payment Services; and Ashley Howard, secretarial assistant, Department of Radio, Television & Film; all won a pair of tickets for lunch at The Club at Gateway Center.
• Jenne Turner, library specialist, a pair of tickets to the Symphonic Band concert

You can’t win free stuff if you don’t read InHouse, the electronic newsletter that is always online and is regularly updated with news about events and strategic activities at UNT. The formatted version is e-mailed to faculty and staff each week, usually on Wednesdays. Mailing may be delayed a day or two to include significant news.

Be sure to set your GroupWise browser on HTML (top bar>View>HTML) to see the newsletter’s color and photos, then click on headlines, which link to continuous postings. (You also should be able to see the graphics if you are already an Outlook user.)

You’ll find opportunities to win a UNT T-shirt gift pack, free tickets to concerts, sports and other campus activities. Tickets and prizes are generously provided by event sponsors and departments. Winners are randomly selected from all e-mail respondents.

Until last summer, a teacher at a middle school in the Mexican state of Zacatecas could not use a computer unless he snaked an electrical wire from his classroom to a neighboring building.

That changed after UNT students installed a solar panel to power the school's computers and provide electricity to the entire school, one of more than 250 schools in Zacatecas lack electricity. The group - UNT and Mexican students - are pictured with a solar panel.

The UNT student chapter of Future Without Poverty, a nonprofit organization that creates sustainable programs and opportunities in education and enterprise to help communities fight poverty, now hopes to raise money at a fundraiser to bring solar panels to 12 other schools in Zacatecas.

The fundraiser, "Capturing a Better Tomorrow: A Global Agenda," begins at 3 p.m. April 6 in the Music Building, Concert Hall. Featuring dance performances, music and poetry and drama readings, the event will also gather donations for the North Texas Food Bank in Dallas. The suggested admission is $8 or $4 with four non-perishable food items.

Miguel Juanez, president of the UNT chapter of Future Without Poverty, said the organization hopes to raise $3,000 to purchase batteries and voltage regulators to install each solar panel. The panels are currently being built and refurbished by students in an engineering class at the Denton Independent School District's La Grone Advanced Technology Complex.

The panels will be installed in May by UNT students enrolled in Redirecting Globalization: Mexican Cultures and Civilizations, a three-week summer course that takes students to Zacatecas City and Guadalajara, Mexico, to study sustainable development and complete community service projects. In the past, students have built fish farms and chicken hatcheries, planted peach orchards and installed water harvesting and water pasteurization systems.

Stan Ingman, director of UNT's Center for Public Service and an instructor for the Mexican Cultures and Civilizations course, says he selected solar panel installation as a class project after Mexican government officials, including the minister of education and secretary of energy, identified solar energy as one of the priorities for sustainable development in Zacatecas.

Nominations are due noon March 31 for the Spring 2008 Outstanding Student Worker awards. Winners will receive a trophy and a monetary award. Recipients of this award can be nominated by faculty, staff and students.

The official nomination form is located on the Eagle Network website at the employer log in. Or, to request a form, e-mail Shaun Stoehr, student employment specialist, at shaun@unt.edu. The nomination form must be completed and returned by e-mail no later than noon March 31. Forms will not be accepted through campus mail, in person or fax.

This program recognizes 20 students each academic year (10 students in the fall and 10 students in the spring) for:

• outstanding performance
• productivity
• customer service
• other skills and initiatives that meet the goals of the university

Awards will be presented at the Student Employee Appreciation Party on April 15.

A faculty-staff committee and the Career Center will coordinate, monitor and provide administrative support for the awards process. The Career Center staff does not vote for winners.

Contact: Stoehr at 940-565-2105.

(Editor's note: The Strike Out Breast Cancer game on March 12 raised about $1,800 for the American Cancer Society.)

There's nothing soft about Mean Green softball, especially when it comes to pitching. Pitches thrown by Ashley Lail, Kayla Lawson, left, and Jennifer Smith cross the plate at what speed?  

A. As fast as a golf ball hit off the tee.
B. Like a major league fastball.
C. As fast as a college tennis player’s serve.
D. Like a running cheetah, the fastest land mammal.

The answer is B. College softball pitches are in the 50-70 miles an hour range, which is considered to be about the same as an 80-90 mile an hour major league fastball. The distance from the pitcher’s mound to home plate is 46 feet. So add that relatively short distance to the power of an underhand, windmill motion, plus a variety of tricky spins, rises and drops, and you’re looking at a big yellow blur.

Keep your eye on the ball ... and buy a T-shirt or bid on a jersey to help raise funds to support cancer research at two upcoming games at Lovelace Stadium:

• "Strike Out Breast Cancer,” versus Texas Woman’s University, will be 7 p.m. March 12. Admission is free. Donations and proceeds from T-shirt sales will go to the American Cancer Society.
• "Play for Kay,” a double-header against Northwestern State University, will be 3 and 5 p.m. April 2 in honor of  Athletics employee and cancer survivor Kay Johnson. Admission is free. Donations and proceeds from T-shirt sales will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Bid on a softball jersey or buy a pink and green Strike Out Breast Cancer T-shirt for $15 in the softball offices at the Mean Green Village. E-mail ntsoftball@unt.edu or call 940-369-7822 to order a shirt. Sorry, no online or credit card sales; cash or check only.

Mean Green sports teams are busy this time of year: spring football, softball, tennis, track and field, golf, swimming and diving … but which UNT sports team has the highest national ranking?

A. men’s field hockey
B. The Physics Bowl team
C. The Frisbee Team
D. women’s swimming

The correct answer is C: The officially named UNT Men’s Ultimate Disc Club won a tournament in Springfield, Mo., March 1 by finishing 8-0, which led to a national ranking of 17th. 

 The UNT Men’s Ultimate Disc Club play what is commonly referred to as ultimate frisbee. Disc club members must be a student of UNT and a member of the Ultimate Players Association to play and compete with the team.

“Our team currently consists of 25 members who meet up to three times a week for two hours a day to practice, and also meets two days a week outside of practice to do team conditioning,” says coach and co-captain David Ryan, above, a senior international studies major.  Kevin Richardson, a senior business management major, is also a co-captain.

The Ultimate Players Association, the governing body of all sanctioned events describes the sport this way:

“Combining the non-stop movement and athletic endurance of soccer with the aerial passing skills of football, a game of Ultimate is played by two seven-player squads with a high-tech plastic disc on a field similar to football. The object of the game is to score by catching a pass in the opponent’s end zone ... Ultimate is a transition game in which players move quickly from offense to defense on turnovers that occur with a dropped pass, an interception, a pass out of bounds, or when a player is caught holding the disc for more than ten seconds ... ”

The UNT Men’s Ultimate Disc Club has two important tournaments to advance to national competition, which is May 16-18 in Boulder, Colo.:

• April 12-13 – Texas Sectionals, Austin: More than 20 college teams from Texas will compete for six places. The six advance to regional competition.
• April 26-27 – regional tournament, Baton Rouge, La: teams from Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas compete for one spot in the national tournament. 
 
The word Frisbee dates back to the Frisbie Pie Company in New Haven, Conn. Conventional Frisbee history stays that students threw real pies, pie plates or cookie tins at each other for fun. Today’s plastic Frisbees and Frisbee competition is thought to have originated in California in the 1960s along with other counterculture fads.

Mattel Inc., an international toy manufacturing company, owns the patent for Frisbees. Most of today’s Frisbees, more commonly called a disc by ultimate players, are made by two major companies, Patagonia  and VC Ultimate.

To win a UNT T-shirt gift pack, send an email to inhouse@unt.edu  with “Ultimate Disc” in the subject line by 5 p.m. March 28. Winners are randomly selected from all e-mail responses.  

UNT alumnus Dean Lindsay, left, a professional business and motivational speaker, will speak at a free networking night  sponsored by the North Texas Exes Alumni Association and the UNT Career Center at 6 p.m. April 22 in the Alumni Center, Suite 170, at the Gateway Center.

Lindsay, founder of The Progress Agents, a workshop company and consulting firm for sales, customer service and workplace performance, is a cum laude graduate of UNT. He received a bachelor’s degree in radio-television and film in 1991. He is a member of the executive advisory board for COBA’s Department of Marketing and Logistics. Lindsay also has been a host of NTTV's NT Scene.

Contact: Rob McKinney at 940-565-3162 or alumni@unt.edu

The campus will get a face-lift during the sixth annual UNT Beautification Day March 29.

Volunteers should meet at 8:30 a.m. in Parking Lot 9 (near Avenue C and West Mulberry Street). The first 200 volunteers to arrive will receive a free UNT Beautification Day T-shirt.

From 9 a.m. to noon, President Gretchen M. Bataille will join faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members to do a variety of beautification projects on campus, such as prepping flowerbeds, pulling weeds from flowerbeds, putting down mulch, painting and picking up litter.

A free lunch of grilled burgers, hot dogs, chips and drinks will be available following the event in the University Union portico.

UNT Beautification Day will continue as scheduled in light rain but will be canceled in heavy rain and/or thunderstorms. There is no rain date scheduled. Volunteers are encouraged to bring gloves, hats and sunglasses and wear closed-toe shoes and long pants.

To learn more or sign up to volunteer, contact the Volunteer Center at 940-565-3021.

To win a free Beautification Day T-shirt, send an e-mail to inhouse@unt.edu with "Dirt" in the subject line by 5 p.m. March 27. The winner will be selected at random from all e-mails received. The winner must pick up the shirt on March 28 before 5 p.m. 

Cynthia Mohr, associate professor and design chair in the College of Visual Arts and Design, is one of 20 academics from across the nation who received a fellowship with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Japan Studies Institute.

The three-week fellowship in June at San Diego State University will provide resources to educators who want to incorporate Japanese studies into their curriculum. Aimed at those who have no experience in Japanese studies, the program will cover such topics as Japanese civilization, history, language, business and education.

“It is critical that we take every opportunity available to increase the ability of faculty to expose students to the global environment where they will encounter attitudes, cultural beliefs and business methods that will differ from their own,” Mohr says.

Mohr has led several spring break trips to Europe and study abroad courses in Italy, France and the United Kingdom.

Mohr will create an elective class for interior design students in which she plans to use her personal awareness of the effect of cultural differences to improve the quality of their design and working relationships.

“In a world that is being constantly reshaped by images, dynamic media and visual communications, this experience can help me to create opportunities for students from disciplines across the university to collaboratively explore and define their own cultural awareness,” Mohr says.

Other participating faculty members at the institute include scholars, artists, journalists, government officials and representatives from the Japanese community.

Mohr is certified as a professional designer by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification and is also the regional chair for the Interior Design Educators Council. She has more than 30 years of teaching experience and taught in Oregon, Kansas and Tennessee before joining the UNT in the fall of 2003.

Mohr also helped establish the first formal student and faculty exchange for  with Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee in Scotland. 
 

Mary-Alice Waters, president of Pathfinder Press and editor of “Our History is Still Being Written: The Story of Three Chinese-Cuban Generals in the Cuban Revolution,” will discuss her book at 5 p.m. April 16 in Physics Building, Room 102. The event is free and open to the public. (Cover photo, left.)

Ignacio López-Calvo, associate professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, will introduce the Chinese presence in Cuba from its inception.   

Waters, a socialist journalist and activist in the United States, became involved in Trotskyist politics at a young age and joined the Socialist Workers Party in the 1960s. She became editor of the party’s youth paper, Young Socialist, and the national secretary of the Young Socialist Alliance.

In the early 1980s, Waters and others in the party’s leadership began to reject the theory of Trotskyism and Permanent Revolution in favor of building ties with the Cuban Communist Party and Sandinista National Liberation Front. 

March 20, 2008

President Gretchen M. Bataille has announced that all UNT offices, except for certain essential service personnel, will close at 1 p.m. March 21. This closure is possible because classes will not be disrupted, allowing an opportunity to recognize the hard work and dedication of UNT's staff members.

The UNT Dallas also will close at 1 p.m.

The Willis Libary will remain open until 3 p.m. The Pohl Recreation Center will remain open until 8 p.m.

University personnel identified as essential must be present at their work places, unless otherwise notified by their supervisors. Essential employees who are required or permitted to work will earn compensatory time in an amount equal to the hours they work.

Employees who have already completed a 40-hour work week should be granted four hours of compensatory time off. For regular staff employed at less than full-time, the compensatory hours earned should be prorated.

Finley Graves named dean of the College of Business Administration

 It is my great pleasure to announce that O. Finley Graves, after excellent service in an interim capacity, will assume the position of Dean of the College of Business Administration effective April 1.

I would like to thank Warren Burggren, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, for his leadership role in chairing the Search Committee, as well as all the search committee members, for an outstanding job. I hope all our administrator searches can yield such excellent results.

Sincerely,
Wendy K. Wilkins
Provost

More about Graves
Graves will be responsible for the college's academic, fiscal, and personnel matters and will represent the college to external constituencies.

Graves has served as interim dean since August, replacing Kathleen Cooper, who stepped down from the deanship to pursue her interests in national economic and energy policy issues. Graves arrived at UNT in 2002 as a professor of accounting and chairman of the accounting department. In January 2007, Graves became the college's associate dean for academic affairs.

Graves has served on numerous committees, including the committee to plan a new Business Leadership Complex at UNT, which he currently chairs. He served as advisor to the UNT Chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants from 2002 to 2007. Graves received the Council of Business Students Faculty of the Year Award in 2006.

"Finley is an accomplished and respected academic and practitioner in the business world and he has led our College of Business Administration with great ability and vision during his tenure as interim and as an associate dean and department chair," says Provost Wendy K. Wilkins. "I look forward to what the college will accomplish in the future under his guidance and know that our students today and in the future will receive the best business education available by choosing to study at UNT."

The College of Business Administration is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International.

"It is an exciting time to become dean of the College of Business at UNT," Graves says. "Our new administration's various efforts to enhance the academic experience at UNT, the prospect of a new business leadership building, and the fast pace of change in business education today all offer great opportunities for the college. I am especially grateful for the confidence the administration, faculty and staff have shown in me, and I look forward to serving them."

Previous appointments
Graves previously was professor and head of the Department of Accounting at Kansas State University, professor of accounting at the University of Mississippi and visiting professor of accounting at the University of Newcastle in Australia. He also was a faculty member at the University of Alabama, where he served as chair of the Department of German and Russian.

Graves is a certified public accountant licensed in Mississippi. He was a staff accountant with Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) before launching his teaching career.

Teaching awards and academic background
At Ole Miss he was twice named the School of Accountancy's Outstanding Teacher and Outstanding Researcher. Also at Ole Miss, he received the campus-wide Burlington Northern Foundation Faculty Achievement Award for Outstanding Teaching and Scholarship.

Graves is a member of Beta Alpha Psi, Tau Alpha Chi, Phi Kappa Phi, Beta Gamma Sigma, Delta Sigma Pi, Pi Delta Phi, and Delta Phi Alpha honorary societies; and he has been a Germanistic Society of America/Fulbright Scholar at the University of Freiburg in Breisgau, Germany.

He earned a doctorate in 1985 and a master's degree in accounting in 1979, both at the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa. Earlier, he earned a doctorate in Germanic languages and literatures from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master’s degree in modern German literature from Rice University and a bachelor's degree in modern languages from the University of Mississippi.

While living in Moscow in the 1990s, filmmaker Hanna Polak, right, met two homeless children as she walked through a railway station. She bought them food, and they invited her to come back in the evening. When Polak returned with some friends, about 70 homeless children rushed out to meet them.

She launched the Active Child Aid Foundation to provide food, clothes, education and medical assistance for these children. Polak also created a documentary film to draw attention to their plight and raise funds for the foundation. The result, "The Children of Leningradsky," was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 for Documentary Short Subject. 

Polak will be at two free screenings of "The Children of Leningradsky”:
• 2-6 p.m. April 1, in the International Documentary class taught by Tania Khalaf, lecturer, in Radio, Television, Film and Performing Arts Building, Room 184.
• 6 p.m. April 3, also in Room 184.
• Contact Khalaf at 940-565-2551 or khalaf@unt.edu

Polak began work on "The Children of Leningradsky" (scene, left) after she entered The Cinematography School of Moscow in 2002. Authorities then estimated that some 30,000 children were living on the streets and railway stations of Moscow. Her film concentrates on a dozen or so children living in the Moscow train station Leningradsky, and follows the life of these children as they plan their days around the best begging hours.

The film, which has been shown on Home Box Office in the United States, led to Russian authorities stepping up their efforts to reduce homelessness in Moscow. In addition to its Academy Award nomination, the film received the 2005 Documentary Achievement Award from the International Documentary Association and the Gracie Allen Award from the American Women in Radio & Television, and was nominated to the American Library Association's Notable Videos for Adults list.

Bertha M. Roddey, left, professor at the University of North Carolina at Lancaster, founder of the National Council of Black Studies and 20th national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. will be keynote speaker at the Women of Color Conference 2008. 

 The conference will be held from 8:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. March 28 in the University Union, Silver Eagle Suite. Tickets are $50 for students, $90 for on-campus attendees and $150 for off-campus attendees. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. at the UNT Multicultural Center, University Union, Level 2, Suite 216.

Call 940-565-3424, see www.unt.edu/edo/multicultural.htm.

Presented by the UNT Multicultural Center and Women’s Center, the 9th annual conference will include morning and afternoon breakout sessions featuring a variety of speakers and topics, as well as a networking luncheon.

Morning breakout sessions include:

• “Identity Theft,” Deputy Leslie Willingham, Denton County Sheriff's Department
• “Body Image,” Andrea Breedlove, manager, Torrid Department Store, Highland Village
• “What Women Want ... Financially,” Leesa Cattley, senior associate of Saunders & Associates Financial Management

Afternoon breakout sessions include:

• “Marketing Yourself,” UNT alumnus Kristi Young, college recruiting manager for Technisource
• “Four Dimensional Health,” Admerle Hoskins, president and CEO, Functional Assessment Services, Corporate and Personal Wellness and author of "4 Dimensional Health."
• “Politics,” Linnie McAdams, Denton League of Professional Women Voters

Born in Seneca, S.C., Roddey began her career as a classroom teacher. She later served as principal and was the first African American administrator in North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district. Roddey developed and oversaw the implementation of the system’s first open education program.

The School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management has had that name since 1995, although much of its course work has been part of UNT since the university’s early days. What were the school’s previous names?

A. School of Home Cooking and Gardening
B. School of Human Resources Management
C. Department of Domestic Science
D. School of Home Economics

The correct answers are B and D. The School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management was originally the School of Home Economics, and then had a brief existence as the School of Human Resources Management.

A fundraising dinner for scholarship funds for the school will be at 6:30 p.m. March 31 at The Club at Gateway Center. Tickets are $30 per person and a portion of the price is tax deductible. Reservations are requested by March 21. Business attire/coat and tie; call 940-565-4144, e-mail gatewayclub@unt.edu  or go to http://www.smhm.unt.edu/theclub/.

The first three courses will be prepared by Chef Watson Baldwin, left, and students in the Restaurant Operations II course. Students in Restaurant Operations I will be servers. The menu features, yum:

• roasted veal consommé with quenelles
• cornmeal encrusted soft-shell crab with citrus slaw and avocado aioli
• pan roasted supreme of chicken with white bean ragout and baby vegetables
• dessert by Liz Barbato, executive pastry chef, Restaurant Bijoux, Dallas

Hospitality management grew from the discipline of home economics, first identified in 1842 when Catharine Beecher published “Treatise on Domestic Economy.” Mrs. Beecher identified the management of kitchen, home and servants as a profession.

Today’s merchandising and hospitality majors study furnishing and fashion merchandising, electronic merchandising, and food preparation and restaurant management. Many are assisted by scholarships funded by the March 31 dinner: Richard F. Tas Endowed Scholarship, J.T. Whitaker Endowed Scholarship, Lea R. Dopson Endowed Scholarship, Alicia Hawkins Endowed Scholarship, Suzanne LaBrecque Endowed Scholarship, Johnny Sue Reynolds Endowed Scholarship, Ellen Flottman Endowed Scholarship and the 21st Century Hospitality Fund Endowment.

To win a pair of tickets for a free lunch at The Club at Gateway Center, send an e-mail to inhouse@unt.edu  with “Home Economics” in the subject line by 5 p.m. March 21. Winners will be selected at random from all responses.

To learn more about the evolution of home economics, see “Rethinking Home Economics: Women and the History of a Profession,” edited by Sarah Stage and Virginia B.Vincenti. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997. It is available in the Willis Library: http://iii.library.unt.edu/record=b2041715

The campus received more than six inches of snow March 6-7, thanks to a rare spring storm that blew through North Texas. It won’t be long until the weather is back to normal – hot. When are we likely to experience a 100 degree day?

A. April 15
B. May 5
C. July 1
D. August 15

The correct answer is C: Weather service records show that the first 100 degree day of summer usually dawns on July 1. The earliest first triple digit day was March 9, 1911. So only 97 years ago, we could have been sweating in un-air conditioned classrooms, rather than building snowpersons and making snow angels on campus. The university closed at 2 p.m. March 6 and all day March 7, due to the inclement weather.

Go to http://www.unt.edu/newuntfeatures/weatherphotos.htm to see photos of the March 6-7 snow storm on campus and the fun it inspired. 

As the saying goes, if you don’t like the weather in Texas, wait a few minutes and it will change. The forecast for today (March 12) is sunshine with a high temperature of 78 degrees. We can expect slightly lower temperatures later in the week, but it’s probably safe to say that spring is here. Probably. Spring officially begins in the northern hemisphere March 21, when the sun is exactly above the equator and the day and night are of equal length. 

To win a UNT T-shirt gift pack, perfect attire for a warm spring day, send an e-mail to inhouse@unt.edu with “Snow” in the subject line. The winner will be selected at random from all e-mail responses. 
 

Awards were presented to outstanding employees and departments at the President’s Staff Sack Lunch March 6, a couple of hours before UNT closed due to a snowstorm. See more information. (Photos by Mike Woodruff)

Outstanding Department: Annual Giving, Office of Development; manager Meg Weber, with plaque

Outstanding Department: College of Arts and Sciences, Dean's Office, Student Advising; manager Rick Dwinnell, seventh from right

Outstanding Department: Student Accounting; manager Kayle Godinez with plaque

Awards were presented to outstanding employees and departments at the President’s Staff Sack Lunch March 6.

Awards were presented to:
Outstanding Employees, from left: 

•  Anissa Breaux-Schropp, compliance officer, Office of Compliance
•  Karen DeVinney, managing editor, UNT Press 
•  Charlie Brien, information systems manager, Facilities 
•  Sabrina Gilbreath, administrative services officer, Department of Chemistry 
 
Outstanding Departments, from left:

• College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Office for Undergraduate and Student Advising; manager Rick Dwinnell
• Student Accounting and University Cashiering Services; manager Kayle Godinez
• Annual Giving section, Office of Development; manager Meg Weber

Brien was cited for his implementation of new software used by Facilities Management, Risk Management and the system facilities office. Gilbreath’s work with department purchasing and clerical activities was lauded, along with her volunteer efforts at Homecoming. DeVinney’s publishing management skill earned her award, and Breaux-Schropp’s work as acting compliance officer and with the Staff Council were noted.

The honored departments were cited for their customer service and their hard work. See more photos.

Soaring Eagle Awards, presented for customer service, and Star Performers, recognized for innovation, also were announced. Read a complete list of winners on the Human Resources web site.

President Gretchen M. Bataille also answered questions about salary studies, merit raises, tuition increase, environmental awareness and spring break. A transcript of the question-and-answer session will be online before semester’s end. Past Q-and-A session transcripts also are online.

The next President’s Staff Sack Lunch is scheduled in July. 

No, it's not Spiderman. Or an invasion. Or a UNT facilities maintenance group. It's a camera crew from Denton TV.

The crew is scheduled to be on the roof of Kerr Hall at 3 p.m. today  (March 11) to film the campus for promotional information about Denton. The camera crew's schedule is subject to change.

UNT was the only U.S. site for an  international indigenous youth environmental conference March 6 in Gateway Center. The U.S. portion of the Second International Indigenous Youth Conference on the Environment and Culture, below, included 22 Native American student participants from the Kiowa, Wichita, Apache, Comanche, Osage, Lakota, Kialegee and Navajo tribes The videoconference also included students from Russia, Malaysia and Uganda.The topic was global climate change and efforts within the native peoples' communities to deal with the problem. The group also performed Native American dances, left, toured classrooms and were feted at a dinner. (Photos by Jonathan Reynolds) 

David Itkin will lead the Symphony Orchestra as guest conductor in a performance with pianist Adam Wodnicki, right, professor of music, as soloist.

The concert is 8 p.m. March 12 in Winspear Performance Hall of the Murchison Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $7 for the general public; $5 for senior citizens, non-UNT students, UNT faculty and staff, groups of 10 or more; and free for UNT students with ID. For tickets, call the Murchison box office at 940-369-7802 or www.thempac.com.

The orchestra will perform:
• Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture
• Chopin's Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra in F minor, Op. 21, featuring Wodnicki
• Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, Op. 100.

Itkin is in his first season as music director and conductor of the Las Vegas Philharmonic, third season as conductor of the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra and 15th year as conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

Itkin is one of several guest directors who have been invited to conduct the UNT Symphony Orchestra as a candidate for the position of orchestral director, as conductor Anshel Brusilow plans to retire at the end of the 2007-08 concert season. Other guest directors have included Emily Freeman Brown, music director and conductor of the Bowling Green Philharmonia and Opera Theater at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and Gary Lewis, director of orchestral activities and music director of the Opera Theater Program in the Texas Tech University School of Music.

Brusilow, whose UNT career has spanned 35 years, conducts his final concert with the UNT Symphony Orchestra on April 23.

Wodnicki has performed and taught in Europe, South America and Asia. He is a three-time prizewinner of the Annual Chopin Society National Piano Competition in Warsaw and the recipient of three prizes at the Eighth Festival of Polish Pianists. Learn more about Wodnicki at http://www.music.unt.edu/bio/wodnicki.shtml.

UNT at Denton and UNT Dallas will close classes, libraries and offices at 2 p.m. today (March 6) due to inclement weather. Web CT classes and online testing will continue as scheduled.

Please sign up for Eagle Alert to be sure your phone number is included. Eagle Alert messages sent to your phone or pager will keep the campus community aware of further weather delays. Also, please check http://www.unt.edu and watch and listen to your local media outlets for additional information. 

The UNT Shuttle Service will continue to operate until 2:30 p.m. today. 

Go to http://inhouse.unt.edu/index.cfm?commentID=2276 to learn about Eagle Alert and how to sign up for messages.

Keep up with further developments about today's weather by going to  http://www.unt.edu.  

The Universities Center at Dallas and the UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth, however, make their own closure decisions and are not included in this closure announcement.

(Editor's Note: Native Americans participating in the Youth Conference on the Environment and Culture will perform traditional dances at 11 a.m. March 6 in the University Union, courtyard. Faculty, staff and students are invited to attend.)

UNT will serve as the only U.S. site for an international indigenous youth environmental videoconference.

The U.S. portion of the Second International Indigenous Youth Conference on the Environment and Culture will be March 6 with initial video activities beginning at 6:45 a.m. in Gateway Center, Room 049.

This is the first step of a new collaboration between UNT and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on environmental issues and indigenous peoples. Sam Atkinson, left, professor of biological sciences, is a co-organizer of the conference

The videoconference, which is being conducted with generous support from the U.S. State Department, also will include students from Baskiria, Russia; Kuching, Malaysia; and Kampala, Uganda. It will focus on global climate change and efforts within the native peoples' communities to deal with the problem. The conference also will look at ways indigenous cultures affect and shape environmental protection in their communities.

"UNT has long been a respected academic leader in addressing environmental issues through research and outreach education," says President Gretchen M. Bataille. "This new partnership with the EPA provides us with an opportunity to expand our outreach to the international community, which will strengthen the work we already do with many global partners while also opening our doors to even more Native American students."

Twenty-two Native American student participants from the Kiowa, Wichita, Apache, Comanche, Osage, Lakota, Kialegee and Navajo tribes - will arrive March 5. They will be welcomed by students from the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at a dinner at the Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building. The group also will see "Here Comes the Sun," a presentation at the UNT planetarium, and storytelling led by a Kiowa tribal leader.

"It is vitally important for native peoples to be able to discuss the environmental issues facing their communities," Atkinson says. "This videoconference will build bridges and hopefully lead to solutions to some of the most complex environmental problems faced worldwide."

After the video portion of the conference, the student participants will tour the UNT campus with Eagle Ambassadors and meet with faculty members. The visit concludes with a luncheon at the University Union, where a group of the students will perform a traditional dance.

The second annual Emerald Ball raised funds to support the Emerald Eagle Scholars program, which welcomed its first students in Fall 2007.The program, which President Gretchen M. Bataille launched with funds raised during her April 2007 inauguration celebration, is designed to help Texas' academically talented undergraduates with high financial need get the best chance to receive a college education. The ball raised about $200,000, which brought the program's endowment to more than $500,000. The March 1 gala featured western swing band Asleep at the Wheel. For more information, contact Karan Huggins in the Division of Advancement, 940-563687 or visit www.unt.edu/emeraldball/index.htm.

At left: Bataille with Antoinette Muldrow, an Emerald Eagle Scholar. Below right, UNT Foundation board chair R.L. Crawford, Bataille, UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson, UNT System Regent chair  Gayle Strange. Below left, festivities in the University Union. (Photos by Jonathan Reynolds.)

Faculty members are asked to participate in an online survey that will help determine “overarching objectives” to be met by the UNT core curriculum.

The survey is based on discussions of core curriculum objectives identified at two January forums, says Celia Williamson, deputy provost and dean of undergraduate studies. Faculty who attended the forums were asked to discuss objectives; the survey will ask them to consider the importance of each. Faculty must use a Faculty EUID to log in and access the survey: https://ntranet.unt.edu:2550/Support/CoreSurvey/default.aspx

Deadline to respond is March 14.

Faculty and staff may also add to the core curriculum wiki site at http://untcoretaskforce.pbwiki.com/ (no password is needed). A wiki is an online resource that lets users edit, add and comment about the wiki’s contents.

To learn more about the core curriculum revitalization effort, go to http://inhouse.unt.edu/index.cfm?commentID=2521.

• Lecture on water quality is at noon Jan. 19 in the EESAT Building, Room 222
• Symphony performs Beethoven’s Ninth at 6 p.m. Dec. 20 in the Murchison Performing Arts Center
• Mean Green volleyball tournament starts at 10 a.m. Jan. 3 in the Coliseum

• Retirement party for Sally Goodworker at 3 p.m. Oct. 23 in the Gateway Center Ballroom (event is not intended for attendance by the whole campus community or the public)
• Cast your ballots in the upcoming Staff Council election (item is not date sensitive and does not affect the whole campus community or the public)
• State Employee Charitable Campaign kicks off next week item is not date sensitive and does not affect the whole campus community or the public)

UNT is proud to recognize the following individuals for their years of service. Award packets should be arriving soon to each recipient’s department.

For more information about the service recognition program, please contact Kristina Randolph at 940-565-4363. Here are employees who reached an employment milestone in March:

20 years of service
Brent Marco Jones, associate Director, Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science
Susan Farrar, library specialist, Martin Libraries
Mark E. Packer, assistant director, University Union Administration

15 years of service
Diane Sheryl, library associate, Davis Libraries
Mignon L. Wendover, administrative assistant, College of Music

10 years of service
Sue A. Hursey, grant accountant, research services
Dorn Spencer Leftwich, assistant coach, Athletics
Cynthia M. Oliver, administrative assistant, University Libraries
James Strawn, computer systems manager, College of Arts and Sciences
Swati Tripathy, research scientist, Biology
Terri E. Yip, administrative assistant, Dance and Theatre 

Five  years of service
Gary W. Deloach, assistant coach, Athletics
Vicki L. Epting, university information operator, Computing and Information Technology Center
Darien Arvetta Moore, recruitment specialist, System Center at Dallas
Robert S. Nagy, administrative assistant, Radio, Television and Film
Staci D. Sprabary, certified pharmacy technician, Health and Wellness Center
Robert Victor Torrey, student services coordinator, Toulouse School of Graduate Studies 

Six students enrolled in the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science received a second-place, outstanding assistive technology design award at the National Engineering Design Challenge. The students won $1,500 for second place and also received a best presentation award.

The competition asks high school students to design assistive technology devices to help persons with disabilities in the workplace. The competition is sponsored by the Junior Engineering Technical Society, or JETS, a national organization that educates and prepares young people for engineering and technology careers.

The six TAMS students were Irene Cai of Arlington; Vicki Crosson and Ravi Naik, both of San Antonio; Ade Esho of Grand Prairie; Matthew Manske of Fort Worth and Vijay Ram of Plano. All are members of the TAMS chapter of JETS.

With a $116 budget and some donated materials, the students designed an ergonomic spool assembly system, left, an adjustable table to be used by workers in wheelchairs at Fort Worth’s EXPANCO, Inc. EXPANCO, Inc. provides packaging and assembly and shredding and secured document destruction to clients. EXPANCO's workforce is comprised of adults with physical and/or mental disabilities, many of which are referred to the company by Mental Health Mental Retardation of Tarrant County.