Author: rbogle

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and ARAMARK, the university’s food service provider, are taking steps to reduce the amount of waste that is produced during the Destination ImagiNation Global Finals event on campus this week. ARAMARK plans to serve about 111,000 meals to over 5,400 guests on campus attending the event.

Destination ImagiNation, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides two educational programs for students to learn and experience creativity, teamwork and problem solving. Global Finals is the culminating event of every Destination ImagiNation season. Each year, hundreds of teams gather at the Global Finals to showcase their Challenge solutions, and the atmosphere is always electric. More than 16,000 people attended Global Finals 2009, which took place in late May at UT.

Waste reduction efforts next week include:

• Trayless Dining – Serving approximately 72,800 trayless meals will save approximately 109,200 gallons of water.

• Reusable Dishware and Compostable Dish and Silverware – Using reusable dishware instead of Styrofoam dishware, which was used last year, will divert 23,000 non-compostable pounds of waste from our landfills. For the outside dining events, ARAMARK will be using a cornstarch based compostable dishware and silverware.

• Reusable Condiment Containers will be used saving 1 metric cube of landfill space this week.

• Composting Coffee Grounds – UT Facilities Services and ARAMARK will compost the used coffee grounds from the Starbucks locations on campus.

• UT Biodiesel Production – Vegetable oil is collected from the Volunteer Dining locations on campus and turned into biodiesel fuel by students for use in UT diesel vehicles. The recycled biodiesel reduces harmful emissions, reduces the use of foreign oil and doesn’t waste the cooking oil.

• Aluminum and Plastic – Facilities Services will be assisting with the recycling of aluminum and plastics used during the event in addition to the compostable products.

For more information, contact UT Facilities Services at 974-7780 or ARAMARK at 974-4111.

To protect the health and safety of employees, students and visitors, and to maintain a professional and clean environment in which to study, work, conduct research and visit, pets are not allowed in any buildings owned or leased by the Knoxville campus with a few exceptions.

UT Knoxville recognizes the important role pets play in the lives of many faculty, staff and students. The university also recognizes that some members of our community may have concerns regarding health — especially allergies — as well as safety as it relates to pets in the workplace.

The campus has a new policy relating to animals in the workplace. Please review the policy and help ensure all faculty and staff are made aware of the policy. You can review it at the Office of Budget and Finance website.

Service animals, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, are permissible for use by faculty, staff and students. Faculty or staff who require a service animal should consult with the Office of Equity and Diversity. Service animals, including Human Animal Bond in Tennessee (HABIT) animals, are permitted only when they are working in appropriate locations or as a part of the evaluations process.

Approved research and instructional animals, animals professionally trained for theatrical purposes, those trained for law enforcement or search and rescue activities, animals in official university-approved parades on campus and official university mascots — including opposing teams — are allowed.

The policy only applies to the Knoxville campus. It is not a university-wide fiscal or human resource policy. For more info e-mail [email protected].

From left to right: Wilmer Smith, Lamonya Davis and Wendy Syer.

Sixty-five UT Knoxville-area employees with 25 or more years of service to the university were honored Tuesday, May 18, at a service award luncheon hosted by Interim President Jan Simek, Vice President Joe DiPietro and Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek.

The honorees hold a wide variety of jobs in departments ranging from chemistry to comparative medicine and from development to dining services. Some of those recognized have worked at UT for 40 years or more.

From left to right, Teresa Gilbert, Virginia Yeary and Gilbert's guest.

“The commitment these men and women have shown to UT is commendable, and it is essential to the university’s mission,” Simek said. “Since the university’s people are its greatest asset, the dedication of these faculty and staff is fundamental to the university’s strength.”

Visit the Service Awards website to to view a sampling of stories that showcase some of UT’s long-serving employees: Mary Cruise, Kathy Forrester, Teresa Gilbert and Darrell Hale, all with 30 years of service; and Connie Goff Sharp and Jeannie Underwood, both with 25 years of service.

The staff at UT Conferences is making last-minute preparations for Destination ImagiNation’s Global Finals event, which runs Tuesday – Friday, May 26 – 29, and will utilize campus residence halls, the Tennessee Recreation Center for Students (TRECS), Thompson-Boling Arena, the Knoxville Convention Center and other venues.

Students will begin arriving on campus Monday, May 24, for event registration at TRECS.

UT Conferences has prepared an Employee Survival Guide to inform UT faculty and staff about the week’s activities. View the Employee Survival Guide here.

Global Finals brings together 16,000 participants from across the U.S. and more than 38 countries for teams to showcase their solutions to Destination ImagiNation’s team challenges.

“We’re thrilled about this year’s Global Finals,” said Chuck Cadle, CEO of Destination ImagiNation. “This is the 10th year we’ve held the event at the University of Tennessee and we can’t thank the UT Conferences staff enough for their help in holding this event.

“Global Finals is the annual culmination of the Destination ImagiNation program, and we’re all very excited to see the many creative ways teams have solved our challenges,” Cadle added.

Past research studies have shown that the Destination ImagiNation event has an annual economic impact of $20 to $25 million on the Knoxville area.

Destination ImagiNation Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides educational programs for students to learn and experience creativity, teamwork and problem solving.

The program is offered primarily in after-school settings, in which students work in teams to solve mind-bending challenges and present their solutions at tournaments.

Teams are tested to think on their feet, work together and devise original solutions that satisfy the requirements of the challenges. Participants gain more than just basic knowledge and skills — they learn to unleash their imaginations and take unique approaches to problem solving.

UT Conferences and the UT Conference Center provide professional meeting management services, conference facilities and dining services to businesses, professional groups and educational meetings for the university as well as for the private sector. For more information call 974-0250.

KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, brings in at least $950.2 million annually in income to the state of Tennessee, and supports 23,055 jobs both inside and outside the university, according to a study released yesterday.

This finding was part of a study done by UT Knoxville’s Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER).

UT economists, led by CBER Director Bill Fox, analyzed data from fiscal year 2008 to estimate the economic impact of the UT System overall as well as the individual impact of the campuses in Knoxville, Martin, Chattanooga, the Health Science Center in Memphis and the Space Institute in Tullahoma.

Including all of its campuses statewide, UT brings in at least $2.5 billion annually in income to the state of Tennessee and supports more than 53,600 jobs. It also generates an estimated $237.6 million in state and local tax revenue.

The economic impact studies focused on direct employment and income data.

According to the CBER study, the $950.2 million income estimate for UT Knoxville includes $727.8 million in payroll spending, $126.6 million in non-payroll spending and $95.9 million in student and visitor spending. The Knoxville campus also generates an estimated $102.4 million in state and local tax revenue each year. Students and visitors attending athletic events on campus spent approximately $226.4 million in FY 2008, accounting for $95.9 million in income and 3,162 jobs. The CBER study notes these figures are likely a conservative estimate of UT’s impact. The study does not quantify the benefits of an educated workforce, research projects or community engagement.

To read more about how all UT campuses impact the state of Tennessee, visit http://www.tennessee.edu/media/releases/051710_income.html.

Estabrook Drive will close and portions of Cumberland Avenue and Neyland Drive on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, campus will be reduced to one lane each way this week.

Construction work on underground electrical and sewer lines will close Estabrook Drive starting today and ending Monday, May 24. One lane eastbound and one lane westbound on Neyland Drive between Lake Loudoun Boulevard and Leinard Lane will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting today and ending Friday, May 21.

Cumberland Avenue between 16th Street and James Agee Street will be reduced to one eastbound lane and one westbound lane starting at 7 a.m. today and will remain closed 24 hours a day Mondays through Thursdays until Thursday, June 17. The lanes will reopen on Fridays and weekends during the construction.

Work crews will be conducting utility work and sewer system upgrades on the closed lanes.

For more information call (865) 594-7242.

KNOXVILLE — More than 240 students from the College of Engineering officially became graduates of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, as about 2,000 parents, friends and relatives watched them walk across the stage inside Thompson-Boling Arena on May 12.

In his commencement address, Raja Jubran, founder and chief executive officer of Denark Construction Inc., offered five suggestions for a successful future: be a leader; stand up for what you believe in; make the right choices; take care of your family; and take care of your community and give back to it. Jubran also reminded graduates to thank everyone who helped them along the way — parents, community, alumni and faculty.

Jubran earned his civil engineering degree from UT Knoxville in 1981. He has led the management team of Denark, a general contracting and engineering company, since its incorporation in 1985. He is also a former member of the college’s Board of Advisers and the recipient of its 2004 Nathan W. Dougherty Award for outstanding achievements in engineering.

As its top students, the college recognized Zachary Dixon, an aerospace engineering major; Mark May, a chemical engineering major; and Timothy Wentz, a computer engineering major.

Daniel Smith was recognized as the winner of a Society of American Military Engineers Award. This Society Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Award of Merit is a national award given to only 20 ROTC Air Force cadets in the nation by central military service board.

Lt. Col. Michael S. Angle, a professor of aerospace studies at UT Knoxville, officially commissioned seven graduates into the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army. Brittany Arnold, Andrew Jackson, Garrett Karnowski, Sharon King, Christopher Riley, Smith and Benjamin Yeager are now second lieutenants.

Wayne Davis, dean of engineering, led the ceremony’s academic procession which included associate deans, department heads and faculty representatives. Susan Martin, provost and senior vice chancellor, and Brad Fenwick, vice chancellor for research, also attended the ceremony.

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C O N T A C T :

Kim Cowart (865-974-0686, [email protected])

Student Resident Assistants from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, on Saturday will celebrate the dedication of a house they built with their bare hands.

More than 100 UT students contributed more than 800 volunteer hours over the course of five Saturdays in February and March to build the 1,496-square foot house in northwest Knoxville. The home features five bedrooms and two bathrooms.

This is the ninth house built by UT Resident Assistants (RAs), in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity since 1996. The program, called Housing for Housing, is coordinated by the Department of University Housing. Student volunteers are guided through the building process by experienced Habitat for Humanity supervisors. On the first day of building, called “Blitz Day,” students are met by only a slab of concrete and piles of building supplies. By the end of the Blitz Day, walls and trusses were in place, and there was wood on the roof.

“The RAs raise money each fall semester and in the beginning we built a house each year,” said Jerry Adams, associate director of university housing. “Starting in the spring of 2000 we have built a house every other year.”

RAs also are responsible for recruiting other student volunteers.

“We had the RAs sign up first and then get them to sign up residents,” said Rachel Edington, resident director at Humes Hall. “They’re wanting to get involved, they’re asking questions. They’re the ones sending e-mails to me saying ‘Hey are there still spots available? I’d love to help out.’ They make the process a lot easier.”

Edington said it’s not unusual for there to be a waiting list for volunteers, as the project only consists of five work days. And those work days start early.

“To wake up at 7 a.m. to do this, any other time I might not go,” said Robert Melvin, resident assistant at North Carrick Hall. “But I jump up to wake up for this. It’s just a lot of fun. Really makes me feel good to come out in whatever kind of weather it is and help this family out.”

In the featured video, volunteers are sporting “Volunteers Rock the World!” t-shirts. “Volunteers Rock the World!” is part of the Ready for the World Initiative and aims to highlight members of the UT Knoxville family who are lending a hand at home or in communities around the globe. To learn more about “Volunteers Rock the World!” and Ready for the World, visit http://www.utk.edu/readyfortheworld/rock.

To: UT Knoxville Faculty and Staff
From: Sally J. McMillan, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
Subject: Leading Life of the Mind Discussion Groups

Each fall, first-year students read a common book in the Life of the Mind program. The goal of Life of the Mind is to provide a common experience for freshmen that will help them bond and grow academically, and ultimately improve their chances for success in college. An important part of Life of the Mind is participation in discussion groups led by faculty and staff members during Welcome Week. I invite you to lead a discussion group.

This year students will read a book titled “Mountains Beyond Mountains.” It is Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder’s best-selling biography of Dr. Paul Farmer. Topics include Haiti, health, poverty, science, religion, and more. See a review at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/14/books/a-season-in-hell.html.

We are planning multiple programs related to the book’s themes, including service learning opportunities.

Based on feedback from students and faculty members, we will make a few changes this year that will focus on increased student participation and streamlined processes for discussion leaders. We also will have a “custom version” of the book available for students to purchase at the bookstore. That book will include UT Knoxville and Ready for the World logos and a welcome letter from the chancellor and provost that explains the importance of the Life of the Mind program.

The provost’s office will host sessions for discussion leaders to talk about strategies for engaging freshmen with the book. Leaders also will receive discussion guides and background materials. We are working on developing a Blackboard site that will enable students to submit their Life of the Mind “homework” electronically. This year, we will allow students not only to write essays, but also to submit other creative responses — including drawings, videos, poems, etc. To keep your job manageable, we are working to automate feedback to students so that you don’t have to do any “grading.”

To stress the importance of the Life of the Mind program, we are scheduling discussions at times when there are no conflicts with other Welcome Week activities. Discussion groups will be held from 1-2 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 16, and Tuesday, Aug. 17.

Please join us as we reach out to our first-year students. I think you will enjoy this year’s book, and I ask you to contact Drew Webb at [email protected] to volunteer. Please be sure to indicate what day(s) you prefer. We will deliver the UT version of the book to you when we receive it from the printer.

It’s time to begin submitting your events, activities, speakers and programs to be included in the Ready for the World Passport for the fall semester of the 2010-11 academic year.

Faculty, staff and students are urged to use an electronic form to quickly and easily provide information about events related to the international and intercultural initiative. The form is found at http://www.utk.edu/readyfortheworld/passport/.

For several years, Ready for the World Passports have helped promote campus activities and initiatives. The Passport is a great personal planner that is distributed free to students, faculty and staff. It is often used as a recruitment tool and serves as a valuable record of the extensive programming that supports Ready for the World goals.

In order to produce the Passport in time for spring semester distribution, information about your unit’s spring programs is needed by Friday, July 2. These events might include, but are not limited to, films, lectures, exhibits, campus-wide activities, etc.

Remember that Ready for the World encompasses both international AND intercultural efforts. In addition to wide-ranging intercultural activities across campus, this year’s theme is civility. We are especially interested in any initiatives or activities that are planned that target this theme.

The Passport provides free advertisement for programs, so please take advantage of this opportunity to broadcast information to the campus community and beyond.

Any questions about the Passport, should be addressed to Amy Blakely at [email protected] or (865) 974-5034.

Do your summer plans include more than just soaking up some sun or sleeping till noon? Do you plan to take part in a volunteer project or other community service? “Volunteers Rock the World!” — part of the Ready for the World Initiative — is looking for members of the UT Knoxville family who are lending a hand at home or in communities around the globe. If your summer plans include volunteer work, and you’re willing to share your story, please contact Amy Blakely at [email protected].

Tennessee Athletic Director Mike Hamilton and Head Football Coach Derek Dooley. Photo courtesy of UT Athletics.

This academic year is quickly drawing to a close, which means football season is just around the corner.

This week Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek will host opportunities for faculty, staff and students to meet UT’s new head football coach, Derek Dooley. Faculty are invited from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 28, in the football practice facility in Neyland-Thompson Sports Center at the corner of Lake Loudoun Boulevard and Johnny Majors Drive. Staff and students may meet the coach from 4 to 5 p.m. Attendees should enter the facility through the football museum on Johnny Majors Drive. Refreshments will be served.

To RSVP for the event, e-mail [email protected].

Dooley was introduced as Tennessee’s 22nd head football coach on Jan. 15 after serving three seasons as the head coach at Louisiana Tech University, where he also served as athletics director since March 2008. He was the only athletics director also serving as head football coach on the major college level.

Before entering the world of collegiate coaching, Dooley earned his bachelor’s degree in government and foreign affairs from Virginia in 1990, and his law degree from the University of Georgia in 1994. He practiced law at a private law firm in Atlanta for two years before making the move to college football as a graduate assistant at the University of Georgia.

Son of former Georgia coaching legend Vince Dooley, he was a walk-on wide receiver at the University of Virginia before earning a scholarship after his second season and leading the Cavaliers to three bowl appearances and the 1989 ACC championship.

Dooley’s college football career has taken him to Southern Methodist University, Louisiana State University and Louisiana Tech. He also spent two years coaching in the National Football League as tight ends coach for the Miami Dolphins.

To read more about Dooley, click here.

As a college campus, we are called on to find solutions to global problems. It’s a challenge that we each face daily, and I am continually impressed by the innovative thinking that takes place on our campus.

It is with that challenge in mind that I am proud to announce the completion of the first version of the UT Knoxville Climate Action Plan (CAP), and I can think of no better time than on Earth Day to share it with you.

As you know, maintaining and enhancing UT Knoxville’s place as a national leader in campus sustainability is one of the strategic goals for our campus, and this plan is at the heart of that effort.

UT Knoxville is a signatory to the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. The commitment lays the groundwork for our nation’s higher education community to take a leadership role in mitigating human influence on climate in our day-to-day operations, curriculum and research. One step in the commitment is to implement a plan by which the campus will become climate neutral.

To be climate neutral means that, in the process of going about our missions of teaching, research and service, the activities of our campus will either not emit greenhouse gases or will offset the emissions we produce.

The goal of climate neutrality is lofty, and this plan recognizes that fact by dividing the process into a series of progressive steps over the coming decades with a target of total climate neutrality by the year 2061. If that sounds like a long time, it is. The CAP is the definition of a living, breathing document. If we do our job right, the plan will change over time as new technologies become available and the face of our campus evolves.

Our Facilities Services Department has shown strong leadership in working with many others on our campus to draft this plan and by leading many of our sustainability efforts. This goal is not one that any single department can meet alone.

In the next several months, you can expect to hear from staff of facilities services on ways that you and your colleagues can help UT Knoxville become climate neutral. I hope you, your friends and colleagues will take the time to meet with them and talk through the ways you, and your department, can help meet the plan’s benchmarks.

The plan is available online at the Make Orange Green Web site, http://environment.utk.edu. Just click on the “Climate Action Plan” link on the right-hand side of the page. A form is available for you to share your feedback and ideas for future versions of the plan.

Each spring, hundreds of pilgrims from across the country and around the world, descend upon the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to experience and celebrate the remarkable views in what is known as the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage.

In 1951, the year of the first annual pilgrimage, visitors atop Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, could have seen rich green hillsides and a view that stretched for a 100 miles.

Today’s pilgrims can see wooden skeletons jutting out of a landscape that can only be viewed up to about 20 miles.

The Great Smoky Mountains are changing, and not for the better.

That’s because they are under attack by a myriad of forces chipping away at the national treasure’s ethereal beauty.

“The Smokies are one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world and are being negatively impacted by invasive, exotic plants and animals, global warming, pollution and acid rain, just to name a few,” explained Gene Wofford, a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, professor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology and one of the pilgrimage’s leaders.

Hemlock trees are being destroyed by the hemlock woolly adelgids. Beech trees are being lost to beech bark disease. Dogwood anthracnose is decimating the dogwoods. Pine bark beetles are eating away the mountain pine. And the balsam woolly adelgid is slowly, but surely, killing Fraser firs. More than destroying the view, these predators are rendering birds, insects and other animals homeless.

Air pollution damages trees’ fighting chance for survival by weakening them and making them vulnerable to attack. It is also to blame for limiting the scenic views of the mountains.

Scientists trace the air pollution to small particles produced mostly by the burning of coal. Because the particles reflect and scatter light, visitors see a whitish haze rather than views of distant mountains. The National Park Service is involved in a number of projects aimed at improving air quality. Through these efforts, the park service has been able to identify types and sources of air pollution impacting the Smokies and use this information to help inform legislators and promote initiatives to improve air quality.

However, increasing demand for electricity in the East and Midwest continues to threaten air quality. Coal-burning power plants are major polluters, and a rise in electricity demand has sparked proposals for more of these plants. Park scientists say the primary way to improve the views of the Smokies is for people to conserve energy.

And organizers of the pilgrimage hope that, along with fond memories and beautiful pictures, participants take with them the lesson that their daily decisions, such as turning on the lights or leaving the car running, directly affect the health of the Smokies.

“People who come to the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage see the impacts and learn about the causes,” said Ed Clebsch, a professor in UT Knoxville’s department of ecology and evolutionary biology and one of the pilgrimage’s leaders. “When they go home, will what they saw here today affect what they do tomorrow? I don’t know but I sure hope so.”

Since the pilgrimage’s inception, UT has been instrumental in organizing the event which is a five-day celebration with 115 leaders and more than 150 programs, featuring natural history walks, motorcades, photographic tours, art classes and indoor seminars. In fact, all the leaders have ties to UT.

In addition to educating the public about the threats to the Smokies, the university is also helping battle one of its predators, the hemlock woolly beetle. Technicians at UT’s Agricultural Campus are incubating tiny beetles that live to eat the hemlock woolly beetle. Park scientists are hopeful this tactic can save the park’s hemlock trees.

Registration for this year’s pilgrimage, which will be April 21 through 25, is now open at http://www.springwildflowerpilgrimage.org.

Along with outdoor programs and tours, the W.L. Mills Conference Center — the event’s registration site in Gatlinburg– will feature art exhibitions, merchants and related activities. Tickets are $75 per person for two or more days. Single-day tickets are available for $40. Student tickets are $10 and must be verified with a student ID.

The Wildflower Pilgrimage is a joint venture of the UT Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, the City of Gatlinburg Department of Tourism, the Friends of the Smoky Mountains National Park, the Gatlinburg Garden Club, the Great Smoky Mountains Association, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.

For more information, call (865) 436-7318, Ext. 222, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or visit http://www.springwildflowerpilgrimage.org. Lodging information is also available on the site.

The recently completed Faculty Senate elections will bring change for the 2010-11 academic year.

Joan Heminway, from the College of Law, will become the new president of the Faculty Senate. Heminway will be succeeded in her previous post as president-elect by Vince Anfara, from the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences.

The Knoxville campus’ newly-elected representative to the University of Tennessee Faculty Council will be India Lane, from the College of Veterinary Medicine. Lane will succeed Beauvais Lyons, from the School of Art, whose term on the council is expiring. The council is made up of representatives from all UT campuses and meets several times throughout the year with the UT president and the vice president for academic affairs and student success.

Stay tuned to the Faculty Senate website for news and information, including an updated list of newly-elected college/division senators, which will be posted in July.

KNOXVILLE – Nine alumni and graduate students from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, are recipients of the 2010 National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship. The NSF awards are given to students based on their potential as young scientists and for intellectual merit and broader impact. The fellowships are used to further their research.

The 2010 NSF recipients are:

• Jose Alfaro, a UT Knoxville graduate in engineering, is a graduate student at Clemson University.

• Bryon Aragam, who studied mathematical sciences at UT Knoxville, is a graduate student in applications of mathematics at the University of California – Los Angeles.

• Emily Austin is a graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology at UT Knoxville.

• Michelle Russell is a graduate student in psychology at UT Knoxville.

• Daniel Sale, UT Knoxville graduate in mechanical engineering, will be a graduate student at the University of Washington next year.

• Todd Schoborg is a graduate student in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology at UT Knoxville.

• Michael Vaughn, a UT Knoxville graduate in biochemistry and molecular and cellular engineering, is now a graduate student in chemistry and biochemistry at Arizona State University.

The NSF’s fellowship program aims to help ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the U.S. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees.

NSF fellows are anticipated to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching and innovations in science and engineering. These individuals are crucial to maintaining and advancing the nation’s technological infrastructure and national security as well as contributing to the economic well-being of society at large.

Past fellows include numerous Nobel Prize winners, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Google founder Sergey Brin and “Freakonomics” co-author Steven Levitt.

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C O N T A C T:

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

“Would it be feasible to promote some sort of a spring flower jubilee?”

It was that simple question, posed 60 years ago, that birthed an event that now attracts people from all over the country and the world to the Great Smoky Mountains every year for the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage, being held this year April 21 through 25.

The question was asked in January 1951 by Bart Leiper, general manager of Gatlinburg’s Chamber of Commerce, to Samuel Meyer, who headed what was then the botany department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Since then, UT Knoxville has been inextricably linked to the pilgrimage. In 1951, UT Knoxville botanists Fred Norris and Royal Shanks worked with Arthur Stupka from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to organize the first pilgrimage. Ten leaders with links to UT Knoxville led the inaugural tours. Today, all the leaders still have UT Knoxville roots, as do many of the pilgrims.

“From the beginning, the botany and, now, the ecology and evolutionary biology departments, have been an integral part in directing this event to its current 152 programs over five days with 115 leaders,” said Ken McFarland, lecturer in UT Knoxville’s ecology and evolutionary biology department and chairman of the pilgrimage organizing committee. “Over the past 59 years, many of the hike leaders have been UT Knoxville faculty and their graduate students, and the graduate students of these graduate students.”

McFarland says leaders keep coming back year after year because they love doing it and they have such a good time.

One of those leaders is Gene Wofford, a professor in UT Knoxville’s department of ecology and evolutionary biology, who views the pilgrimage as not just a fun event but a duty of the university.

“I have always enjoyed it since my first pilgrimage in 1963 as an undergraduate student,” Wofford said. “I enjoy learning from others and visiting with fellow biologists. I also consider it to be a significant opportunity for the general public and a responsibility of UT Knoxville to provide high-quality outreach in addition to teaching and research.”

Indeed, the founders’ initial intention was to promote the incredible diversity of the spring flora in the region in a fun way, but education became an integral component due to the vast amount of knowledge shared by UT Knoxville leaders on everything from wildflowers to spiders to wild hogs to bats.

This year, one of those leaders will be UT Interim President Jan Simek, whose talk, “Prehistoric Art in Tennessee,” will explore how prehistoric people in this area decorated their landscape with religious symbols both above and below the ground. Simek will speak at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 23, at the W.L. Mills Conference Center in Gatlinburg.

Along with outdoor programs and tours, the W.L. Mills Conference Center — the event’s registration site in Gatlinburg — will feature art exhibitions, merchants and related activities. Tickets are $75 per person for two or more days. Single-day tickets are available for $40. Student tickets are $10 and must be verified with a student ID.

Online registration is now open at http://www.springwildflowerpilgrimage.org.

The Wildflower Pilgrimage is a joint venture of the UT Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, the City of Gatlinburg Department of Tourism, the Friends of the Smoky Mountains National Park, the Gatlinburg Garden Club, the Great Smoky Mountains Association, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.

For more information, call (865) 436-7318, Ext. 222, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or visit http://www.springwildflowerpilgrimage.org. Lodging information is also available on the site.

KNOXVILLE – Putting on a musical at a professional theater on a college campus takes many months of hard work and dedication from students, faculty, staff and professional actors.

The Clarence Brown Theatre (CBT), located next to the Humanities Building and Hess Hall on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, campus, is finishing up its 2010 season with the hit musical “Man of La Mancha.” The show opens on April 16 with a performance at 7:30 p.m. followed by a reception featuring Spanish-style cuisine for patrons, actors and technical staff.

With 50 costumes, a cast of 34 professional, undergraduate and graduate actors, and a 16-piece orchestra, intense preparation is vital before the curtain goes up.

“It’s a collaborative effort,” director Paul Barnes said. “This is probably the largest production I’ve directed at the Clarence Brown, but this is a very professional organization from top to bottom.”

This is Barnes’ fifth production for CBT. While preparing for the show, a lot of time went toward researching the Spanish Inquisition, which is the backdrop for the five-time Tony Award-winning play.

Cristin Downs, a contract employee stage managing the show, is in charge of coordinating all of the technical aspects. CBT is a rarity because it is a professional theater on a university campus. This allows professionals working in theater to work side by side with students and faculty.

“I make sure everyone has what they need to do their job,” Downs said. “I’m the communication hub. I go to the shops every week to visit one on one to make sure we’re all on the same page. I’m sort of a psychic and a psychologist at the same time.”

All of the various technical elements, which include scenery, sound, lighting and props, must work together for a cohesive end product. The goal of everyone working with the production is to put on a great show that leaves the audience wanting more.

Ted Kitterman, a freshman theater major playing Juan, says working on this show has changed how he views professional theater, and he hopes patrons will feel the same.

“It’s just a good time,” Kitterman said. “You go to the movies and see famous people on TV, but you don’t get that sense of real life happening right before your eyes. It’s just a beautiful story that gets told like nothing else I’ve ever seen.”

The featured video details more behind-the-scenes work on of “Man of La Mancha.” Tickets for the show and 2010-11 season tickets are on sale now in the CBT Box Office. For more information, call the box office at 974-5161 or visit www.clarencebrowntheatre.com.

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C O N T A C T :

Robin Conklin (865-974-2497, [email protected])

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

KNOXVILLE – Soren Sorensen, professor and head of the physics department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will deliver this week’s UT Science Forum lecture, “The End of the Universe.” His talk will begin at noon on Friday, April 16, 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.

Sorensen’s talk examines how the universe ages and will present scenarios that may happen at the end of the universe. Sorensen said he hopes to inspire discussion for anyone who wants to know more about the world around them.

“Based on the science we know today, we can try to make some qualified estimates for what would be a reasonable scenario for the end of the universe,” Sorensen said. “I cannot say one thing is exactly what will happen. I am trying to extrapolate way, way out into the future to see what happens eventually to all the suns, the stars, the galaxies and all the materials we see around us.”

In the featured video, Sorensen details more on his Science Forum discussion.

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

• April 23: Forbes Walker, associate professor of biosystems engineering and 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])

Last week a sculpture commissioned by the Dogwood Arts Festival and created by two UT Knoxville students was vandalized beyond repair. A $1,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the vandalism, which took place in James Agee Park in Fort Sanders.

The sculpture was created over a six-month period by students Seth Collins and Zac Benson. Collins and Benson received a $1,000 grant for materials to create the sculpture, which was part of a class learning project in which students submitted proposals for public art projects to be installed for the Dogwood Arts Festival. Collins and Benson’s project was selected and commissioned.

Last week, Knoxville City Councilman Nick Pavis, offered a $500 reward for information leading to those responsible for the incident. On Monday, that amount was matched by local businessman David Shiflett. Pavis represents South Knoxville and Fort Sanderson the City Council. Shiflett is a partner in Parker Shiflett and Co.

If you have information regarding the vandalism, contact the Knoxville Police Department at 215-7000.