Author: khintz

Carole Myers, assistant professor in the College of Nursing, sits down with WVLT-TV to discuss some of the politics behind health care reform and how it will affect you.

This News Sentinel story reports on the ALZselftest, which was developed by a team of researchers that includes Dr. John Dougherty, medical director of the Cole Neuroscience Center at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, as well as his son and business partner, Andrew Dougherty. The test screens for possible cognitive problems, such as Alzheimer’s.

In this WATE-TV story, news anchor Lori Tucker talks with Rex Cannon, adjunct research assistant professor of psychology at UT Knoxville, and Dr. John Dougherty with the UT Graduate School of Medicine about an online test that he helped develop which may help with earlier diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease.

KNOXVILLE — The infectious sounds of traditional Japanese Taiko drumming are beating into downtown Knoxville on Wednesday, April 7, with TAO: The Martial Art of Drumming.

The performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. at the Bijou Theatre. Tickets are available to students for $5 with a valid UT ID, $20 for UT faculty and staff, and $25 for the general public. Tickets are available at the University Center Central Ticket Office, Thompson-Boling Arena Ticket Office, online at http://www.knoxvilletickets.com, or by phone at (865) 656-4444. A convenience charge may be added. Tickets are also available at the venue on the evening of the performance.

Parking is available in the State Street, Market Square and Locust Street garages. Parking is free after 6 p.m.

The group’s contemporary costumes and meticulously synchronized choreography with a vibrant, modern twist combine to make an exciting show. With hundreds of sold-out shows and more than a million spectators, TAO has proven that modern entertainment based on the traditional art of Japanese drumming has massive international appeal.

The performers live and train at a compound in the mountains of Japan, reaching the highest level of virtuosity only after years of intensive study. However, the performers each bring nontraditional flair to the group by drawing on their diverse backgrounds as a hard rock musician, a gymnast and a composer.

They offer a young and vibrantly modern take on a traditional art form.

This event is sponsored by the Cultural Attractions Committee.

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C O N T A C T :

Bridget Hardy (865-974-2225, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — From the booming sex trade in Eastern Europe, to online fraud syndicates in Africa, to the drug cartels of Asia and Central America, crime is becoming increasingly organized and globalized.

How can countries better protect citizens seeking the benefits of a globalized world from being exploited? What international actors can effectively fight global organized crime?

Raymond Fisman, the Lambert Family Professor of Social Enterprise and research director of the Social Enterprise Program at Columbia (University) Business School, will be at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, on April 6 to talk about global crime and address some of these questions.

Fisman’s talk, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Great Room of the International House, is part of the Great Decisions Program, coordinated by the Center for International Education and funded by the Ready for the World initiative, which brings speakers from around the country to UT this semester to address our nation’s most pressing foreign policy issues.

Future Great Decisions Program lectures are:

• April 20 — David Michael Lampton, dean of faculty, George and Sadie Hyman Professor, and director of China studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, “U.S.-China Security Relations.” Lampton will speak at 7 p.m. in the Great Room of the International House.
• April 28 — Retired Ambassador Barbara K. Bodine, lecturer in public and international policy, director and scholar in the Nation’s Service Initiative, The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, “The Persian Gulf.” Bodine will speak at 7 p.m. in the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Helping the School of Music at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, never sounded so good.

The school is hosting a spring fundraiser, “Classical Meets Jazz,” at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 10, at Fox Den Country Club. Guests will be treated to an evening of music, fine dining, dancing and an auction, all while benefiting scholarships for music students.

A cocktail reception — with complimentary wine and a cash bar — and silent auction will start the evening, followed by a gourmet dinner and a live auction.

The highlight will be an unprecedented performance by the entire School of Music jazz faculty, including three-time Grammy Award nominee Donald Brown, the internationally renowned jazz pianist, composer and educator.

The program also will feature music from opera theatre students, a student string quartet and student pianist William Crowe, recipient of the prestigious Kline Scholarship, awarded to a truly outstanding freshman artist/scholar.

After dinner and entertainment, the dance floor will open to the sound of the Boling, Brown & Holloway Trio, featuring faculty members Mark Boling, Keith Brown and Rusty Holloway.

Complimentary transportation from Western Plaza to Fox Den will be available.

Tickets for this special black tie optional event are now on sale. Single tickets are $150 per person, Impresario Patron tickets are $200 per person and tables of eight are $1,600. A portion of each ticket price is tax deductible. For more information or to make reservations, call 865-974-8935 or visit http://www.music.utk.edu/cmj/.

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C O N T A C T :

Donna Hundley (865-974-8935, [email protected])

Kristi Hintz (865-974-3993, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — David Gold, a UT Knoxville assistant professor of English, has won the 2010 Outstanding Book Award from the Conference on College Composition and Communication for his recent book, “Rhetoric at the Margins: Revising the History of Writing Instruction in American Colleges, 1873-1947.”

Gold’s book examines how African American, female, and working-class college students were schooled in rhetoric in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The work draws on archival materials to study three types of institutions historically under-represented in disciplinary histories: a black liberal arts college in rural East Texas; a public women’s college; and an independent teacher training school.

Gold writes that each of these schools championed intellectual and pedagogical traditions that differed from the Eastern liberal arts model – a model that often serves as the standard for rhetorical education. By emphasizing community uplift and civic participation, Gold argues for the importance of diverse institutional microhistories and asserts that the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries offer rich lessons for contemporary classroom practice.

Norbert Elliott, head of the book award committee, wrote that Gold’s book provided “a fascinating, nuanced archival study of institutions serving diverse student populations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries” that challenges “powerful historical taxonomies” and redefines rhetorical education.

Gold’s work has also appeared in leading journals in rhetoric and composition studies such as “College English,” “Rhetoric Review,” “MLA Profession” and “College Composition and Communication.” Gold has received several honors and awards for his scholarship, including the John C. Hodges Excellence in Teaching award from UT. He earned the masters and doctorate in English with a concentration on rhetoric and writing from the University of Texas at Austin.

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C O N T A C T:

David Gold (865-974-5401, [email protected])

Chuck Maland (865-974-6927, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — One of the nation’s top authorities in public health will kick off National Public Health Week (NPHW) on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, campus on April 1.

Ron Bialek, executive director and president of the Public Health Foundation (PHF), a national nonprofit organization, will speak about improving public health at 5 p.m. in room 235, Health, Physical Education and Recreation Building, 1914 Andy Holt Ave. The event is free and open to the public.

Paul Erwin, professor and director of UT Knoxville’s Center for Public Health, and June Gorski, professor of public health and health education, worked to bring Bialek to campus.

Bialek has nearly 30 years of experience in public health practice and academia.

Bialek has directed efforts that help to train more than 10,000 public health professionals annually through distance education. He currently is developing a distance learning course on community health assessment training for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He also serves on a variety of government advisory groups.

Before joining PHF, Bialek was on the faculty of The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and served as director of the Johns Hopkins Health Program Alliance. Bialek developed a reputation for efforts to link academic institutions and public health agencies.

Bialek received his Bachelor of Arts in political science and a Master of Public Policy from The Johns Hopkins University.

Held since 1995, NPHW is the first full week of April each year. Communities across the country have celebrated NPHW to recognize the contributions of public health and highlight issues that are important to improving the public’s health. This year’s theme is “A Healthier America: One Community at a Time.”

The American Public Health Association (APHA) serves as the organizer of NPHW and develops a national campaign to educate the public, policymakers and practitioners about issues related to that year’s theme. APHA creates comprehensive planning, organizing and outreach materials that can be used during and after the week to raise awareness.

Visitor parking is available at the University Center parking garage at normal rates. Metered parking spots are along Pat Head Summitt and Volunteer boulevards.

For more information about NPHW, visit http://www.nphw.org.

Bialek’s visit is funded by the UT Knoxville Center for Public Health. Established in 2005, the center’s mission is to help improve the health of Tennesseans through research and teaching. The center works to accomplish that goal by coordinating academic units on campus that research public health initiatives and programs that train public health professionals. For more information about the center, visit http://cph.utk.edu/.

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C O N T A C T :

Kristi Hintz (865-974-3993, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Israeli filmmaker Igal Bursztyn, a visiting professor from Tel Aviv University, will screen and discuss his films Sunday, April 18, and Tuesday, April 20, at the Frank H. McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Bursztyn, UT Knoxville’s 2009-2010 Schusterman Visiting Israel Professor in the Department of Religious Studies, has been teaching and lecturing this year on campus and in Knoxville’s Jewish community, forging ties among constituencies both on and off campus.

“Igal has a mature body of work, with 40 films of various types to his credit, and he is one of the foremost filmmakers in Israel,” said Gilya Schmidt, professor of religious studies and director of the Fern and Manfred Steinfeld Program in Judaic Studies. “This event will give students, faculty, staff and the wider community an opportunity to learn about contemporary Israel through film.”

J. Hoberman, senior film critic for The Village Voice, wrote that Bursztyn is “one of the most philosophical of Israeli directors.” Schmidt agrees, saying that Bursztyn’s films definitely have a philosophical bent to them. “He weaves themes from philosophers such as Maimonides and Spinoza into his stories of daily life in Israel, which is a very interesting approach to filmmaking,” she said.

The two-day presentation, “Films from Israel — Igal Bursztyn Directs,” will take place in the McClung Museum auditorium. All film screenings and discussion sessions are free and open to the public.

The event begins at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 18, with a welcome by Schmidt and by College of Arts and Sciences Dean Bruce Bursten, followed by Bursztyn introducing and screening his film “Everlasting Joy” (1997). Between refreshment breaks, the films “Letters to Felice” (1993), “Ethics V” (1992) and “Zimzum (The Glow)” (2000) will be screened and discussed.

The event continues at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 20, with a screening and discussion of “Guide for the Perplexed” (2005) and “Out of the Blue (Etzbah Elohim)” (2008).

Bursztyn was born in Manchester, England, and has lived in Israel since 1957. His scholarly works on film include “Face as Battlefield,” “Film, Language and Civil Wars of Culture” and “Intimate Gazes,” which won the 2007 Bahat Prize for the best nonfiction manuscript of the year.

UT Knoxville was one of only 20 American universities chosen to host a visiting professor this academic year through the Schusterman Visiting Israel Professor program. The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) — with support of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation — selects a small number of American universities each year to receive grants to appoint a visitor.

The event, and Bursztyn’s visit, were made possible by AICE, the UT Knoxville College of Arts and Sciences, the department of Religious Studies, the university’s Ready for the World international and intercultural initiative, the Fern and Manfred Steinfeld Program in Judaic Studies, the Karen and Pace Robinson Judaic Studies Enrichment Fund, the Abraham and Rebecca Solomon and Ida Schwartz Distinguished Lecture Fund for Judaic Studies, as well as Heska Amuna Synagogue, the Knoxville Jewish Alliance, Temple Beth El, and individual sponsors from Knoxville’s Jewish community.

For more information on the event, visit http://israelifilm.utk.edu.

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C O N T A C T :

Gilya Schmidt (865-974-2466, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Students in the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, are again producing a unique television news magazine program broadcast on Knoxville’s WBIR-TV each spring. This is the 17th year that UT Knoxville and WBIR have worked together to provide viewers with an inside view of the University of Tennessee.

“UT Today” airs at 1 p.m. on selected Saturdays until June 5. Students in journalism and electronic media professor Sam Swan’s Advanced Television News class produce the program. The students serve as writers, reporters, producers and anchors for the program.

Swan says the class prepares students to work in the real world of television news. “All of our reporters are what we call ‘backpack journalists,’ writing, reporting, shooting and editing their own stories,” Swan said. There are three student producers and 18 student reporters working on the show this semester, he said.

“UT Today” is presented in three segments. In the first segment, students cover news of national and international importance with a UT angle. The second segment has feature stories about faculty, students and other interesting activities at UT. The third segment is sports, with students reporting on a selection of sports stories.

“Many students in the class have gone on to work as reporters and anchors at TV stations here in Knoxville and across the country,” Swan said. Among the local alumni of the program are Beth Haynes, WBIR-TV anchor for “Live at Five at Four,” Heather Haley, news and weather anchor for WVLT-TV, Wes Boling, sports reporter/anchor at WVLT-TV, and Ben Prijatel, a producer at WATE-TV.

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C O N T A C T :

Sam Swan (865-974-5123, [email protected])

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Social workers do a lot for their community. But in these tough times, social work students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, are asking the community for help.

Members of the Bachelor of Science in Social Work Organization (BSSWO) are just shy of their fundraising goal for a student scholarship and are holding a benefit concert this week in hopes of meeting their $2,000 goal.

The concert, Aid for Advocates, begins at 9 p.m. Friday, March 26, at The Hill Bar and Restaurant, 1105 Forest Ave., and features a musical mix of rock, Americana, funk and the blues.

The lineup is:

• Faux Ferocious, a band that is garage-rock in nature and working on its first full-length album.
• Geysers of Phenomenon, a band with a diverse sound that is working on its first album, which will include touches of jazz, blues, hip-hop, rock, indie, electronic, soul and more.
• The Provocative Wonderwafflers, a new band whose music resonates blues-infused funk.

Patrons must be 18 years or older to enter. There will be a $5 cover charge at the door to enter. Money raised will support scholarships in the College of Social Work.

“This is a great opportunity to give back to those who give their all for others,” said Angela Jones, a senior in social work and member of BSSWO who helped organize the benefit concert. “Social workers put forth a passionate effort to contribute to the well-being of our local community and society as a whole. As BSSWO is in need of extra funds right now to meet our scholarship fund goal, it is a prime opportunity for the community to give back to those who give so generously to it and have an enjoyable time in the process.”

For more information about the Aid for Advocates benefit concert, visit the event’s Facebook page.

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C O N T A C T :

Angela Jones, UT social work student ([email protected])

Kristi Hintz, UT Media Relations (865-974-3993, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Thirty-six middle and high school teams from across the state will compete Saturday, March 27, in the Tennessee Science Olympiad State Tournament hosted by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Competitions will be held from 7:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. inside the University Center, Nielsen Physics Building, Neyland Biology Annex, Walters Life Sciences Building, Buehler Hall, Earth and Planetary Science Building, Hesler Biology Building and Estabrook Hall. A closing ceremony where medals and trophies will be awarded will be held at 4:30 p.m. at the Alumni Memorial Building Cox Auditorium.

Teams will square off in a broad range of scientific disciplines such as environmental design, forensics, remote sensing, meteorology and protein modeling. Competitions include launching rockets carrying raw eggs, constructing airplanes, building vehicles propelled by mousetraps and analyzing crime scene data. More than 100 UT Knoxville faculty and students will serve as coordinators and judges for the 47 events.

“Science Olympiad is a way for high school and middle school students to explore their interest in science through an engaging and fun competition,” said Jeffrey Kovac, director of the tournament and a professor of chemistry. “Hosting the state tournament is an important outreach activity for UT Knoxville. Faculty and students are helping improve science education in the state by providing a high-quality tournament that encourages students to compete and to learn.”

The teams, which include up to 15 students, qualified for the state competition based on performances in regional competitions. Local students from Bearden Middle School, Cedar Springs Home School, Oak Ridge High School and Farragut High School are among the participants.

First place winners at the middle and high school levels will earn trophies, medals and financial support to compete in the 26th annual Science Olympiad National Tournament May 20 – 22 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The 2010 state tournament is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences with support from the UT-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Science Alliance and the College of Engineering.

For more information including a detailed schedule and list of participating schools, please visit http://www.artsci.utk.edu/outreach/Academic_Olympiad.asp. An information desk also will be available inside the University Center’s Brown Lounge.

If you wish to cover the event, Lynn Champion, director of academic outreach and communications for the office of the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, will be on site to coordinate interviews. She can be reached at 865-680-8196.

For descriptions of the events, please visit http://soinc.org/short_event_descriptions.

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C O N T A C T :

Lynn Champion (865-680-8196, [email protected])

Whitney Holmes (865-974-5460, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — The East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists (ETSPJ) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Women’s Coordinating Council (WCC) will host “Women in Journalism” on Thursday, March 25, on the UT campus.

The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Toyota Auditorium in the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy and is free and open to the public.

In honor of Women’s HERstory month, sponsored by the WCC to celebrate the accomplishments of women throughout history, the program will feature local female journalists from print, television and radio who will discuss issues women face in the newsroom, both past and present. Moderator Cynthia Moxley, former newspaper journalist and now head of the Moxley Carmichael public relations firm, will discuss the 2008 presidential coverage of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. The discussion will cover questions on fair media coverage and whether or not gender was an issue in the coverage.

Other panelists include:

• Georgiana Vines, political columnist, Knoxville News Sentinel
• Jean Ash, longtime reporter and anchor, WIVK/WNOX radio
• Jigsha Desai, online editor, Knoxville News Sentinel
• Erin Donovan, reporter, WBIR-TV

ETSPJ also will honor renowned East Tennessee journalist Alberta Brewer posthumously. Brewer joined the United Press in 1943 as one of the early newswomen for that wire service. She served in Georgia, Florida and Nashville before being transferred in 1948 to organize a new bureau for United Press in Knoxville. She was also a part-time instructor for the UT School of Journalism from 1964 to 1974.

Parking is available in the University Center garage. To see a UT campus map, click here.

For more information about the program, visit http://etspj.org.

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C O N T A C T :

Bridget Hardy (865-974-2225, [email protected])

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the UT Libraries will hold a by-invitation-only event to celebrate the acquisition of the libraries’ three millionth volume, “TSVLVKI SQCLVCLV, A Cherokee Spelling Book,” at 5 p.m. Friday, March 26, in the first floor galleria and Lindsay Young Auditorium in Hodges Library, 1015 Volunteer Blvd.

The book was published in Knoxville in 1819, and was written by missionary Daniel Butrick and David Brown, Butrick’s Cherokee student at the Brainerd Mission in Chattanooga, Tenn. It predates the well-known Cherokee syllabary created by Sequoyah.

The UT Libraries had the rare opportunity to obtain this special item, one of only three copies known to exist. The acquisition also marks the three-millionth volume in the libraries’ collections.

The spelling book will be displayed in a glass case in the UT Libraries Special Collections office, close to the galleria.

The UT Libraries passed the one millionth volume milestone in 1970, and the two millionth volume was added in 1994, exactly two hundred years after the inception of the library as part of UT’s forerunner, Blount College. That volume also was a rare Tennessee imprint, an 1841 “Crockett Almanac.”

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C O N T A C T :

Jennifer Beals, UT Libraries Special Collections (865-974-0014, [email protected])

Martha Rudolph, UT Libraries (865-974-4273, [email protected])

Charles Primm, UT Media Relations (865-974-5180, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Stephen Kania, associate professor of comparative medicine at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will deliver this week’s UT Science Forum lecture, “Antibiotic-Resistant Staphylococci: Staying One Step Ahead.” His talk will begin at noon on Friday, March 26, in Thompson-Boling Arena Dining Room C-D.

The UT Science Forum is a weekly event where leading science researchers share their discoveries and discuss the frontiers of their fields in a way that the general public can understand.

UT Science Forum programs are free and open to the public. Attendees are welcome to bring their lunches or purchase lunch at the Café at the Arena.

Kania’s research examines the transfer of resistance between different populations of bacteria and explores regional differences in methicillin, a type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

“Resistance to antibiotics among staphylococci affecting dogs has increased rapidly in the past 10 years,” Kania said. “Methicillin resistance is associated with resistance to many different types of antibiotics. We are particularly interested in knowing how antibiotic resistance is transferred and if there is a risk of transfer between staphylococci on pets and owners.”

Resistance to methicillin can result in several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. By exploring this topic, Kania will discuss how this affects human livelihood with relation to their pets.

The UT Science Forum is sponsored by the UT Office of Research. Upcoming presentations include:

• April 2: No meeting.
• April 9: Bob Hatcher, professor and distinguished scientist of earth and planetary sciences, presents “Evidence for a 25,000-Year History of Earthquake Activity in Eastern Tennessee.”
• April 16: Soren Sorensen, professor and head of physics and astronomy, presents “The End of the Universe.”
• April 23: Forbes Walker, associate professor of biosystems engineering & soil science, presents “Developing Conservation Agriculture Systems in Africa.”
• April 30: Suzanne Lenhart, professor of mathematics, presents “The Power of Optimal Control: From Confining Rabies to Improving CPR.”

For questions about the UT Science Forum, contact Mark Littmann, [email protected] or 974-8156, or Mike Clark, [email protected] or 974-6006.

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C O N T A C T :

Bridget Hardy (865-974-2225, [email protected])

The School of Art lost a valued friend and colleague, Professor Michael Brakke, who died Sunday, March 21.

Brakke came to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1981. He was an outstanding teacher who was profoundly dedicated to his undergraduate and graduate students.

Before coming to UT, he taught at Oakland University in Michigan, the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Illinois-Chicago Circle Campus.

During his time in Chicago, he received much professional recognition for his innovative artwork that expanded the boundaries of painting through the use of photography, video and the computer as a new interactive way of developing images, surface and space. He used this important component in his teaching here, which added breadth to the entire curriculum, according to his colleagues of the school.

Brakke was instrumental in the development of a very successful Artist-in-Residence Program for UT Knoxville that over the past 25 years has brought nearly 75 professional artists to the School of Art to teach, lecture and exhibit. Due to his diligence, caring and expertise, this program continues to thrive and have an enormous impact on the painting and drawing program and the school.

Brakke received his M.F.A. from Yale University. Throughout his career he received numerous research grants from UT Knoxville, the University of Illinois, and Oakland University. In 1985-86 he received a National Endowment for the Arts, Visual Artists Fellowship Grant.

His work has been exhibited at numerous galleries and museums including the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; The High Museum of Art Atlanta; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. His work has been the subject of reviews in publications including Art Forum, The New Art Examiner, Arts Magazine, Art News, and Art in America.

His most recent work used materials ranging from cast polyester resin to computer modified or generated images output as Iris prints which have been included in group shows at the Bill Maynes Gallery, New York, and were the subject of a solo exhibition at the College of Santa Fe.

During last month’s Faculty Appreciation Week, one student shared his thoughts about Brakke, which were published in a related story in the Knoxville News Sentinel.

“Sometimes I think you have a third eye,” wrote the student, who signed his name JF. “Your perception is beyond belief when it comes to painting, as well as the artists themselves. You have an intimate understanding of the innermost workings of the critique.”

Read more about Brakke or view his work, visit http://art.utk.edu/painting_drawing/faculty/faculty.html.

The School of Art will plan a special memorial service for Brakke. Details will be announced as they are determined.

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Note: Images are samples of Brakke’s artwork.

KNOXVILLE — Haiti relief efforts are happening across the United States. However, two courageous high school seniors are crossing the U.S. for Haiti relief.

Memphis University School seniors Cort Gatliff and Christian Kauffman are bike riding from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean to raise money for clean water in Haiti. Their project is called The Water Cycle.

Gatliff, who will be a freshman at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in the fall, already was a dedicated cyclist before this project began.

“Biking is something that I have always loved,” Gatliff said. “My dad got me into mountain biking when I was a little kid and, over the past few years, I became an avid road biker. I had heard about people doing coast-to-coast bike rides before, and since I love adventures and challenges, it seemed like something that I’d enjoy doing. It became a realistic goal once I realized that I could combine my love for cycling and helping others into one project.”

Gatliff and Kaufmann are biking across America to raise money for Living Water International, an organization that will use the funds raised to build clean water wells in Haiti. The monthlong bike ride began March 4 and will conclude on April 4. The pair are traveling along Route 66; they started in Santa Monica, Calif., and will end in Savannah, Ga.

“Along with raising money, we are just trying to create awareness about the water

crisis,” Gatliff said. “It is something that kills millions of people a year — one child dies every 15 seconds because they don’t have access to clean water — but we hardly ever hear about it.”

Currently, their goal is $50,000 and they have raised more than $32,000. With the 30-day time constraint, Gatliff and Kauffman are forced to push themselves to ride between five and seven hours a day.

“The ride itself is pretty tough,” Gatliff said. “Since we only have 30 days to complete this journey, we don’t really have any rest days. We have to ride no matter what the weather and no matter how we are feeling. It’s a ton of fun though. Not many people get to see our beautiful country coast-to-coast at 15 mph. It’s a great experience.”

Many important sponsors have been instrumental in helping the boys make the trip a reality. Hammer Nutrition gave them nutritional supplements. The Peddler Bike Shop in Memphis tuned their bikes before the trip and gave them discounts on gear. Also, SportLegs, an organization that makes a supplement that helps keep your legs fresh, gave Gatliff and Kauffman enough of their product to last the entire trip.

Along the way, various hotels have offered free lodging to the cyclists.

“It actually does happen a lot — almost every night,” Gatliff said. “We’ll call a hotel and tell them what we’re doing and how any discounts or free rooms will help give water to the people of Haiti, and for the most part, all the hotels we have stayed with have been incredibly helpful. It’s amazing how eager people are to help out. It’s been a huge blessing.”

Gatliff and Kauffman had to coordinate with their high school to get approval to do this project. The boys brought a proposal to their headmaster, and he was immediately on board. Their teachers worked with them ahead of time to formulate a plan so the boys wouldn’t fall behind.

“Memphis University School does a great job of instilling a sense of leadership and service in all of its students, so the school was very excited and ready to help us in any way they could,” Gatliff said.

“We usually do our homework in the hotel at night,” he said. “We don’t have a ton to do, but we still have to do it. It’s usually pretty tough to find the motivation after riding 100 miles, but we know that our school has been incredibly generous in letting us miss school for our project, so we don’t mind doing it.”

Their parents are very supportive of the ride as well. They take turns driving the “support car” that follows the boys.

“We are also incredibly blessed to have parents who would let us attempt this journey to begin with,” Gatliff said. “Our friends think this whole project is kind of crazy, but pretty cool. Everyone in Memphis, including Mayor A.C. Wharton Jr., have been really encouraging. When the riding gets tough, it makes it a little easier to know that you have an entire city supporting what you’re doing.”

Kauffman plans to attend the University of Alabama to study business management, and Gatliff plans to study journalism at UT.

“I had heard a lot of good things about UT and knew a lot of people there, but I had never visited,” Gatliff said. “When I came to visit, everyone was incredibly nice and I loved the campus. I decided that it would be a great fit for me. It just seems like there are so many opportunities for me at UT, so I am very excited.”

Kauffman and Gatliff have created a Web site, Facebook page and Twitter feed to update the world on their progress. The boys will ride through Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday, March 25, with Mayor Wharton.

For more information about The Water Cycle or to get daily updates about the ride, visit their Web site.

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C O N T A C T :

Bridget Hardy (865-974-2225, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — More than a dozen golden retrievers have found a second chance at life and love, thanks to two students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Carol Newsom and Erica Eads both volunteer with the Tennessee Valley Golden Retriever Rescue (TVGRR), which helps displaced and discarded golden retrievers find good homes.

Eads, a third-year veterinary student, has been fostering dogs for TVGRR since the fall semester. She is now fostering Ben, a rambunctious canine that loves to climb fences.

“He came to me with hookworms, tapeworms and heartworms,” Eads said. “But now, his intestinal worms are gone and he’s filling out nicely. He’s done well with his house training and he can sit, stay and come. He’s also become more outgoing. He’s really made improvements by leaps and bounds.”

Newsom, who already has a degree in animal science, is at UT to become a medical laboratory technologist. Newsom was one of the founding members of the TVGRR group in 1997 and is still active in fostering golden retrievers.

“I can only foster one dog at a time, but I’ve probably had about 12 to 15,” Newsom said. “I usually take care of the seniors. It’s a lot of work.”

Newsom said her favorite dog was a 12-year-old named Sport. Newsom adopted him because his previous owner had passed away.

“He was a great dog,” Newsom said. “He was a retired service dog. He followed me around and could go to work with me at the Fountain City Animal Hospital. We became very close.”

TVGRR accepts golden retrievers from all sorts of backgrounds, Newsom said. They help manage shelter overload, accept unwanted dogs or give the dogs a home if an owner can’t afford a pet anymore. The group also makes sure the dogs it takes in are microchipped and vaccinated.

Anyone who wants to adopt a dog must fill out an application and agree to a veterinary background check on their past pet ownership.

“We try to match up a golden with an appropriate owner,” Newsom said. “For instance, if a family has children, we have to make sure the dog will interact with them well. Or, if someone is in a wheelchair, they need a more self-sufficient dog.”

Although TVGRR has many devoted volunteers, they are always looking for more people to help out.

“We always need volunteers for all kinds of activities,” Newsom said. “Not everyone fosters dogs. There are all kinds of activities and events that students can get involved with.”

TVGRR hosts an Adopt-A-Thon every first and third Saturday of the month. This event allows people from the community to visit a specific location where they can adopt a golden retriever.

Both Eads and Newsom are enthusiastic about the great things TVGRR is doing in the community and in their own lives.

“It’s a fantastic organization, and it’s really been fulfilling and challenging to be able to befriend and help these dogs,” Eads said.

For more information about TVGRR, visit their Web site. Also, check out a video from Erica Eads playing fetch with Ben on the Ready for the World Facebook page.

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C O N T A C T :

Bridget Hardy (865-974-2225, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE – “Poverty and Health Care,” is the theme of a mini-summit to be held on March 31 at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. It is the second of three mini-summits looking at various aspects of poverty to be held this spring on campus.

Ready for the World, UT’s international and intercultural initiatives, has devoted this academic year to “Our World in Need” with a particular emphasis on the issue of poverty.

The semester’s first mini-summit — “Baldwin Lee, James Agee and Walker Evans: Photography, Poverty, Politics in the South and Abroad” — was held in February; a mini-summit on “Poverty, Energy and the Environment” is being planned for April.

The “Poverty and Health Care” mini-summit is being sponsored by Ready for the World.

The summit will include a juried art exhibit that’s open to the UT community. Students and staff are invited to submit their paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, films/videos, mixed media and installations for the exhibit that will be on display at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy March 31-April 2. The exhibit will kick off with a reception on March 31.

The theme of this exhibition is health care and/or poverty, and it is meant to provide a visual representation of these issues through art and creative dialogues.

To enter, submit any number of works to the Baker Center, Room 208, no later than 5 p.m. on March 26. All work must be framed or otherwise ready for display.

Artists will be notified of acceptance on the evening of March 29, and those artists must be available to set up their display at 2 p.m. on March 30.

Ten $100 awards will be given to the most outstanding works, as determined by the faculty jurors.

Here’s the schedule for the March 31 summit, which will be held in the Toyota Auditorium at the Baker Center, 1640 Cumberland Ave. All events are free and open to the public.

9 a.m. — Graduate Student Research Showcase. Moderated by Don Bruce, associate professor of economics and faculty of the UT Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER), the panel will feature Woods Nash, a doctoral student in philosophy, presenting “Expanding John Rawls’ Theory of Justice to Encompass Severely Impaired Persons”; Landon Bevier, doctoral student in sociology, presenting “Predicting Opinions on Child-Care Funding: Environmental, Experiential and Ideological Indicators”; and Bruno Wichmann and Melanie Cozad, doctoral students in economics, presenting, “Efficiency of Health Care Delivery Systems: Effects of Health Insurance Coverage.”

10:45 a.m. — Faculty Research Showcase. Moderated by David Patterson, professor in the UT College of Social Work, the showcase will feature Yingkui Li, assistant professor of geography, presenting “Spatial Disparity of Healthcare Access in Missouri”; Denise Bates, assistant professor in nutrition, presenting “Meeting the Needs of Burundian Refugees in the United States”; De Ann Pendry, lecturer in anthropology, presenting “Poverty, Race and Type II Diabetes: Untangling the Assumptions Embedded in Medical Statistics”; and Stan Bowie, associate professor of social work, presenting “The Public Health System in Haiti: A Mixed Method and Exploratory Study of Hospitals and Health Care Clinics.”

12:15 p.m. — Lunch break. Participants are on their own for lunch.

1:30 p.m. — Local Nonprofits Forum. Moderated by Paul Erwin, professor and director of the UT Center for Public Health, this forum will feature representatives of local nonprofit health care organizations and focus on health care service delivery, and service gaps, to those in or near poverty in the Knoxville area. Participants will include Dr. Dennis Freeman, CEO of Cherokee Health Systems; Linda Cole, certified nurse midwife with Lisa Ross Birth and Women’s Center; Melissa Knight, executive director of Interfaith Health Clinic; and Dr. Martha Buchanan, health officer of Knox County Health Department.

3:30 p.m. — Lessons from 15 Years of TennCare. Moderated by Bill Fox, professor of economics and CBER director, the symposium panelists will include Darin Gordon, deputy commissioner of finance and administration for the Bureau of TennCare; Carole Myers, assistant professor in UT College of Nursing; and Keith Goodwin, president and CEO of East Tennessee Children’s Hospital.

5:30 p.m. — Art exhibition prizes awarded.

5:30 p.m. — Keynote Address by U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper. In addition to being a congressman, Cooper is an adjunct professor, teaching health care policy to MBA and Executive MBA students at Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University. He was invited to President Barack Obama’s health care summit in February. Cooper, who calls himself a “Blue Dog Democrat,” has long fought to improve the U.S. health care system, but advocates “pay-as-you-go” budgeting for Congress.

6:30 p.m. — Closing reception.

All day — Juried art exhibit in the Baker Center rotunda. Entries from staff and students, using any media, will be displayed and prizes will be announced at the end of the day.

C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, [email protected]@utk.edu)

KNOXVILLE – Sarah Moore Greene, the 100-year-old civil rights leader and beloved Knox County educator, is one of the seven educators who will be honored on March 25 when they are inducted into the Educators Hall of Honor, housed in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

The ceremony, which is open to the public, begins at 6 p.m. at the UT Visitor’s Center, on Neyland Drive, near Kingston Pike.

The Hall of Honor is a place to acknowledge the work of professionals who already have established themselves in the education field. The hall is open to any professional in the United States, and members have come from throughout Tennessee and the nation. Those honored have been teachers from elementary school to the college ranks.

The new group of honorees includes:

• Edward Counts, now deceased, who was a professor in UT’s College of Education, Health and Human Sciences. He taught courses in multimedia, digital animation and instructional design. He also was an independent filmmaker whose animated shorts have aired on Showtime, the Movie Channel and PBS. His deep appreciation for the storytelling traditions of Appalachia and his respect for folklore came across in many of his films, which included the children’s films “Joey Learns to Fly” and “Schlafe, Mein Prinzchen,” an animated version of a traditional German lullaby, “Everybody Likes Stories,” a ldocumentary film about Kentucky folktales.
• Ella Day, now deceased, who was a professor and department head in UT’s College of Home Economics. In the 1920s and 1930s, she helped transform the college’s nursery into a year-round school, the forerunner of what is now the college’s Early Learning Center.
• Greene, who turned 100 in February, was the daughter of an emancipated slave who grew up in poverty in rural East Tennessee. Greene started her own kindergarten in the 1940s and was an educator for many years. She was elected to the Knox County School Board in 1969. Sarah Moore Greene Elementary School in east Knoxville is named in her honor.
• Cheryl Kershaw, clinical assistant professor and coordinator of school-based experiences in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences.
• Marilyn Liberman, a member of the Board of Visitors and retired fifth grade teacher at Mount Olive Elementary School in Knoxville. Liberman was a district finalist for the 2003 state Teacher of the Year award.
• Ward Sybouts, who died in September 2009, was professor emeritus of educational administration at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He was known for his contributions to the construction of a knowledge base about distance education and systems planning in Nebraska and throughout the United States. He was the father of Dulcie Peccolo, director of student services in the College of Education, Health and Human Services.
• Mary Elizabeth Spencer Venable, who died in 2003, a preschool teacher. She was the mother of Knoxville News Sentinel columnist Sam Venable, and he wrote this about her in a 2008 column: “She taught university classes at one point in her long career. But her most rewarding vocational years were the ones spent setting up and running kindergarten programs. She helped implement Head Start, putting untold thousands of boys and girls from low-income families on the path to learning.”
• In addition to being a means of honoring great educators, the Hall of Honor also benefits students training to be teachers.

Nominations are made with contribution of at least $1,000. For a contribution of $25,000 or more, a separate scholarship endowment fund will be established in the honoree’s or donor’s name.

To learn more about the Educators Hall of Honor, see http://cehhs.utk.edu/AlumniTest/hall_of_honor.html.

Donations to the college — including those made for the Educators Hall of Honor — also count toward the $1 million challenge made by an anonymous donor to raise money to provide financial assistance to students enrolled in UT’s teacher internship program.

The donor, a longtime supporter of the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, has offered to give $1 million in memory of the late J. Clayton Arnold if the college can collect at least $1 million in contributions from other supporters.

The J. Clayton Arnold Challenge is based upon the inspiration of a man whose desire was “investing in the human race.” Arnold, a rural mail carrier in Williamson County, began providing financial assistance to students studying to be teachers in 1965. While Arnold only earned a $60-per-month salary and never attended college, he was a smart man who made investments throughout his 95 years. These investments allowed him to give UT Knoxville its first $1 million gift.

“By making a charitable gift to the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, you are not only helping to meet the J. Clayton Arnold Challenge, but also making an investment in future educators whose impact will last beyond a lifetime,” said Bob Rider, dean of the college.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, [email protected])