Author: primmc

During January’s National Radon Action Month, the U.S. Surgeon General and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urge all Americans to protect their health by testing their homes for radon.

Radon is a natural radioactive gas that you can’t see, smell or taste but could be present at a dangerous level in your home. As the second leading cause of lung cancer deaths in the U.S. and the first leading cause among non-smokers, radon claims more than 20,000 lives annually. If a high radon level is detected in your home, you can take steps to fix it to protect yourself and your family.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is offering a limited amount of free radon test kits to Tennessee citizens. Please mail your request to: Radon Program, 711 R.S. Gass Blvd., Nashville, TN 37216 or email your request to [email protected]. Be sure to include your name, address, city, state and ZIP code.

This story reports on complaints by some about the over-hype of dangers related to H1N1 influenza. UT Knoxville public relations professor Michael Palenchar is quoted discussing the unusual openness by federal health officials in discussing what they knew and what they didn’t know about the pandemic.

This article in Parenting.com quotes UT Knoxville psychology professor Daniela Corbetta discussing babies first learning to use their hands and arms to explore their world.

This Tennessean editorial on promoting teaching as a career refers to the recent UT Center for Business and Economic Research study on the growing teacher gap in Tennessee, and quotes UT economics professor Bill Fox.

This News Sentinel story on the one-year anniversary of the Kingston, Tenn., ash spill quotes Gregory Button, a UT Knoxville anthropologist who studies environmental disasters.

David Kent has been named the new director of the University of Tennessee Bookstore. He takes over for Mike Roos, who retires Dec. 31 after 27 years of service.

Kent is set to start his new position Jan. 1.

Kent has served as associate director of the bookstore for five years, and brings almost eighteen years of experience in retail management.

“We’re pleased to announce David’s selection,” said Jeff Maples, senior associate vice chancellor for finance and administration. “He has consistently demonstrated success in improving customer service, operational efficiency and increased sales at the bookstore, and we look for David to continue doing a great job as director.”

Kent is past president of the Tennessee Association of College Stores, which provides college and university stores a platform to communicate and collaborate to improve best practices among their members. Prior to coming to UT, Kent spent 12 years with the JCPenney Co. Currently a member of the National Association of College Stores’ retailing committee, Kent also serves on UT Knoxville’s retail, hospitality and tourism management board.

We’re all busy during the holiday season, and this can sometimes lead to being a bit careless. There are many ways to make sure you have a safe and happy holiday season.

The UT Police Department urges all faculty and staff to take advantage of the following tips.

1. Be sure doors and windows of your vehicle, office, home, apartment and/or residence halls are locked when you leave even for just a few minutes. Many opportunistic criminals simply look for unlocked doors and windows.

2. Don’t display presents and other valuable items where they can be seen from a window or doorway. Conceal valuables in a trunk or closet area.

3. Be cautious of strangers asking for charitable donations during the holidays. Ask for identification and how the funds will be used. Also, you can ask for a receipt.

4. Avoid carrying large amounts of cash. Use credit/debit cards or checks whenever possible. Consider obtaining traveler’s checks which, unlike cash, can be replaced if lost or stolen.

5. Park vehicles in a well-lit and secured location.

6. Visit ATM’s only at well-lit and populated locations; visit during daylight hours if possible.

7. Always be aware of your surroundings when you’re out and about.

8. If you see someone or something that looks suspicious contact the local police department.

9. Keep children close by at all times and do not let them wander around unsupervised.

10. Have your keys ready when you approach your vehicle. Before entering, check that no one is hiding in the back seat.

11. If waiting for a ride from a friend or public transportation, do so in a well-lit area.

12. Always report a theft to the police.

13. Storing loose change in the console of your vehicle is an open invitation for someone to break your windows.

14. Be extra careful with purses and wallets. They may become targets for crime in crowded shopping areas, at bus stops and on public transportation.

15. Avoid overloading yourself with packages. It is important to have clear visibility and freedom of motion to avoid a mishap.

16. While shopping online, order only through secure and trusted Web sites.

17. Guard your online passwords and do not share them with family members or friends.

18. Have your vehicle thoroughly checked, including fluid levels and tires, before traveling out of town.

19. If you do travel for the holidays, consider utilizing light timers in your home.

20. Always be sure to have alternative transportation lined up for yourself and your friends after holiday parties.

Remember to be a good friend and neighbor this holiday season: Be a VOLunteer. Share these tips with others in your family and neighborhood.

For additional information, please contact the UT Police Department at 865.974.3114.

More than 80 employees, including interim president Jan Simek, were recognized this week for their years of dedicated service to the University of Tennessee. Staff and faculty from UT Knoxville, the UT system and the Institute of Agriculture received their awards at a special luncheon Tuesday afternoon.

Interim President Jan Simek, Chancellor Jimmy Cheek and Vice President for Agriculture Joe DiPietro were on hand to congratulate the recipients and recognize their contributions to the university.

“Folks like you make the university what it is,” Simek said. He remarked that many of the people at the university 25 years or more, including himself, have been through difficult financial times before.

“The institution goes forward because of people like you … This is the best the university has ever been. We have the best students, the best faculty and the best staff. It takes commitment from all three groups, especially by faculty and staff.”

Simek was recognized for his 25 years as a faculty member and administrator. He was surprised with his award from a former student, Jay Franklin, associate professor of anthropology at East Tennessee State University. “I have known Jan throughout his time at UT. He has had a profound effect on me,” Franklin said. He commented on Simek’s leadership roles within the university saying, “He always leaves things better than he finds them.”

To learn more about some of the employees recognized this week, visit http://www.tennessee.edu/system/events/service_awards/index.html.

On Wednesday, Feb. 3, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) will retire “nomad,” the university’s longtime wireless network. In order to continue to access the Internet through UT’s wireless network, you will need to move to one of the new wireless networks, “ut-open” or “ut-wpa2.”

Starting on Tuesday, Jan. 5, OIT will begin reminding wireless Internet users of the upcoming change. On that day, if you are still using the “nomad” network, you will need to open a web browser in order to get connected. At that time, you will be directed to an information page about the wireless changes before continuing to your browser’s homepage.

For more information about these networks and for assistance in connecting to them, visit the OIT Help Desk Knowledge Base, http://oit.utk.edu/helpdesk/kb, or contact the Help Desk at 974-9900.

The UT Bookstore is holding its Holiday Sale through Thursday, Dec. 24, at all bookstore locations except the Technology Center, with 20 percent off UT apparel, prints, jewelry and sale merchandise. Non-textbooks will be included in the sale with some exceptions. All UT Bookstore proceeds benefit the university. For more info call 974-1040.

The University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service has announced the establishment of the Jim and Marie Murphy Endowed Scholarship for Graduate Studies. The scholarship was recently funded at the minimum required amount—$25,000—through the generous support of the Murphys, the County Officials Association of Tennessee (COAT), other county associations and many other individual donors.

Having served for several years as the executive director of COAT, Marie Murphy felt the need to create an opportunity to help relatives of that organization and the UT County Technical Advisory Service (CTAS) achieve their educational dreams.

“Jim and I both received our doctorate of jurisprudence degrees from UT, and knowing that there is not enough done for graduate students financially, we want to help others who are seeking to better themselves with an advanced degree,” she said. “We are glad we could establish this scholarship to help our COAT and CTAS family.”

Jim Murphy serves as the vice chair for The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees. He is an attorney with the law firm of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, LLP.

The scholarship will assist students seeking graduate degrees from UT for many years to come.

“We are very grateful for the Murphys’ interest in helping others achieve their educational goals,” said Dr. Mary Jinks, vice president of public service. “I am confident that future recipients of their scholarship will be grateful as well.”

For more information on how you can contribute to the scholarship or to create a similar opportunity to assist others, contact IPS Development Director Paul Bowman at (865) 974-6587 or [email protected].

Officials from the University of Tennessee Police Department recently joined fellow law officers from the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and the Tennessee Highway Patrol and representatives from the Governor’s Highway Safety Council in support of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)’s “Tie On One for Safety” campaign.

Law officers received red MADD ribbons to tie around their rear-view mirrors. The ribbons are a visible sign to all motorists that police agencies are committed to encouraging motorists to drive safe, sober and buckled up.

To learn more about the “Tie On One for Safety” program, visit the MADD Web site.

This story from WATE-TV featured the UT Knoxville Fall 2009 commencement ceremony. The story reported that many graduates are choosing to go to graduate school rather than face a tough job market.

UT economist and national Internet taxation expert Bill Fox comments in this AP story on Hawaiian lawmakers considering a hike in their general excise tax, the state’s version of a sales tax.

UT Knoxville psychology professor Deborah Rhatigan has died of colon cancer at age 40. Rhatigan, an award winning teacher and mentor, continued to work tirelessly for the university and for her students throughout her heroic battle with cancer.

Psychology department head James Lawler noted that Rhatigan “was an extraordinary woman and her long struggle with cancer is an inspiration to us all. She will be greatly missed.”

Rhatigan received her doctorate in clinical psychology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2002. She completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Boston VA Healthcare System National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in 2004.

From 2005 to 2006, Rhatigan served as an assistant professor at the University of Houston, Downtown. From 2006 to 2007, she was a UT Knoxville Visiting Scholar, and was hired as a tenure-track assistant professor in the psychology department in 2007.

Rhatigan’s research focused on examining risk factors and resiliency among battered women. She was particularly interested in developing and refining interventions aimed at reducing the risk for abuse. She studied risk factors for abuse, such as substance abuse and other psychological problems, and protective factors, such as self confidence and the ways in which family and friends provide support. This work has the potential to transform the way in which battered women receive treatment.

“Deb cared deeply about her graduate students and their training,” said Deborah Welsh, director of the department’s clinical psychology program. “She was enormously loved and respected by everyone who knew her. She provided an example of how to live a rich and meaningful life, even while enduring the hardships of cancer and its treatment.”

Survivors include Rhatigan’s husband, UT Knoxville psychology professor Todd Moore, and their 5 year-old daughter, Anna.

Click here to read the News Sentinel obituary.

Press “play” to listen to the report or click here to download the file

Fall 2009 Commencement Report Transcript

Runtime: 2:06

ANNOUNCER: Our world has big problems, and we need intelligent, educated people to solve them. That was the message shared by Thom Mason, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, to students and their families at the Fall Commencement Ceremony at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. More than a thousand undergraduates and graduates participated in the ceremony, held Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mason said times might be difficult, but having a college degree can make all the difference.

MASON: Some of you are headed to graduate school, others to new jobs and still others to military service. And I expect that some of you are still looking for jobs in a very tough economic climate. But history shows that your education provides you with an overwhelming advantage.

ANNOUNCER: Mason said that history shows that hard times often spur individuals to invest in education, which pays tremendous dividends.

MASON: In 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the first Sputnik satellite, the United States responded with a massive investment in science, technology and education. The return on that investment includes the personal computer with its graphical user interface, global positioning systems or GPS, the laser printer, the cell phone, and a lot of other electronic gadgets that we use every day that underpin our economy. Today, we need a new set of skilled workers to tackle the challenge of transforming our energy system.

ANNOUNCER: Mason went on to detail a global energy problem, where development and population growth are causing increased energy demands. Mason encouraged graduates in all disciplines to work toward a solution to this problem.

MASON: Whatever you choose to do, I suggest that you look for challenging problems to solve. Work that demands your best effort is a great deal more rewarding than something that is trivial or easy.

ANNOUNCER: Oak Ridge National Laboratory director Thom Mason. A slideshow of photos and the archived Web cast of the commencement ceremony can be found at our Web site, www.utk.edu/commencement. Charles Primm reporting.

Colleagues,

I want to thank everyone who participated in this year’s Campus Chest Campaign. Even in these challenging economic times, we exceeded our goal because of the generosity of our faculty and staff.

I am proud to announce that we raised $584,199 this year, or 102 percent of our campaign goal.

You and your colleagues saw the need to help the less fortunate among us and responded to that need with an outpouring of generosity. Your enthusiastic support of programs designed to meet the community’s need is just another example of UT’s ongoing dedication to improving the lives of its students, employees, neighbors and friends in Knoxville and throughout the state of Tennessee.

Many of you made one-time donations, and many others made a commitment to a “fair share” contribution equivalent to one hour’s pay per month. You gave to the United Way of Greater Knoxville, the United Way in your own community, to Community Shares and to their member agencies and other social service and health agencies. Your donations enable these agencies to help many thousands of your fellow East Tennesseans in their time of need.

I want to especially thank campaign chair Jeff Chapman of the McClung Museum, vice chair Brian Browning of Finance and Administration, and the staff of Brian’s office, for their hard work and dedication during the campaign.

My personal thanks once again for your committed support of the UT Campus Chest.

KNOXVILLE — On December 11, the University of Tennessee Extension launches a second online learning portal geared to the professional development of its state-wide workforce.

UT Extension Online Learning (extOL) is a group of Web sites that deliver online professional development offerings and in-demand Extension programming that has traditionally been delivered at county meetings and in-services throughout the state. The launch of the extOL Workforce Learning Web site caps off a series of training events related to e-learning scheduled throughout the week of Dec. 7-11 (officially proclaimed Employee Learning Week in the state of Tennessee by Governor Bredesen through the efforts of the Nashville chapter of the American Society for Training and Development).

Richard Karel, Instructional Technology Specialist for UT Extension Online Learning, said Extension has come up with some innovative ways to deliver the same valuable programming to Tennesseans, and the workforce that makes up UT and TSU Cooperative Extension Service, in order to remain effective in their mission.

“UT Extension has already certified 49 private applicators in the Pesticide Safety Education Program through online delivery via extOL, seeing an average gain of twenty-three percentile points in test scores,” Karel said. “Now, UT Extension is focusing on the optimal performance of our workforce with the soon-to-be launch of our professional development online learning portal—which will be ‘powered by’ the knowledge transfer of Tennessee Extension professionals.”

Tim Cross, dean of UT Extension, says that he is pleased to announce that Extension is nearing the official launch of the extOL Workforce Learning site—a web site that will serve the purpose of sharing knowledge with colleagues around the state. “For Extension, many opportunities exist to expand our abilities to reach our audiences and support our own training needs through online courses and tutorials.”

Karel asserts that, while there are many challenges ahead in the Moodle implementation, “Our LMS Implementation Committee was able to target specific training needs for UT Extension and our clientele, and this will ensure productivity and cost-savings by generating the intellectual capital required for each employee to meet compliance guidelines and achieve excellence in all areas of their employment.”

The first extOL Web site went online in October of this year. The extOL Certifications site was a campus-wide effort, requiring many departments to collaborate within Extension and without. “I’m very impressed with the way this came together—from the Treasurer’s Office to the Office of Information Technology—to achieve the launch of the fee-based certifications site,” said Karel. “LMS companies have resorted to telling about the dangers of finding the right partner for implementation in their own advertising, so to have ours go so well is quite a testament to UT, Extension and our service providers.”

For more information on extOL, visit http://extol.tennessee.edu.

A recent story in USA Today explores the differences between one-time and serial infidelity highlighted by the Tiger Woods incident. Kristina Gordon, a UT Knoxville associate professor of psychology who researches infidelity issues in marriage, says serial cheating may stem from a sense of entitlement coupled with insecurity.

Read the USA Today story here.