Volume 4 , Number 18
University of Maryland at College Park
Scholars to Discuss
Perestroika
£ » eeking the key to the future
^L success of Perestroika in the
^ Soviet past, a stellar group of
^J Soviet and American intellec-
tuals will meet in Washington, D.C., this
week to discuss Perestroka in a Universi-
ty of Maryland at a College Park-organ-
ized conference.
Seen by organizers as the first inten-
sive examination of the current politics
of Perestroika in a broad historical
framework, the conference will bring
together more than 30 top scholars,
government officials and journalists from
the two countries for meetings Feb.
21-23 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
in Washington. Participants will include
Klara Hallik, a member of the Supreme
Soviet; Yuri Ossipyan, vice president of
the USSR Academy of Sciences; Valery
Makarov, a leading Soviet economist;
Vasily Selunin, a member of the editorial
board of Noiy Mir, Ed Hewett, senior
fellow at the Brookings Institution;
Frederick Starr, president of Oberlin Col-
lege; Sen. Bill Bradley (D-NJ,); and Jack
Smith, Moscow correspondent for CBS
News. College Park faculty members
Clopper Almon (economics), Karen
Dawisha (government and polities) and
George Kent (history) arc also
participating.
"We will be looking at historical
change in the USSR in order to gain a
clear understanding of how the Soviet
Union got to where it is and to deter-
mine how this history affects current
decision making," says Richard Brccht,
professor of Germanic and Slavic
Languages and Literatures and director of
College Park's Office of US-USSR
Academic Joint Ventures.
"The issues currently being debated in
the Soviet Union— privatization of
ownership, the role of the Communist
Party in government and so forth— arc
not new. These debates have been going
on throughout Soviet history, We intend
to look at the pivotal points of change
in Soviet history, examining what the
problems were, what were seen as possi-
ble solutions, what decisions were made
and how these decisions were arrived at.
We're looking back to sec what lessons
can be gained for the future."
The inspiration for a conference focus-
ing on Perestroika came from the Soviet
side, while the opportunity for the event
developed from College Park's long
history of academic contacts with the
Soviet Union, organizers say.
continued on page 3
New Report Summarizes Status of
Changes in Undergraduate Education
M new report by the Office of
/\ Undergraduate Studies details
j^w the status of initiatives to
JL. JL improve undergraduate edu-
cation at College Park that were recom-
mended by the Pease Report in 1988,
"Keeping the Promise: A Status Report
on Undergraduate Education" is the first
report to follow "Promises to Keep: The
College Park Plan for Undergraduate Ed-
ucation," commonly known as the Pease
Report. This document was approved by
the Campus Senate and Board of Regents
in the spring of 1988,
Publication of "Keeping the Promise"
also meets one of the 11 rccommenda
tions in the Pease Report by providing a
status report on the reforms to UMCP's
undergraduate education scheduled to
begin in the fall of 1990.
Mde
Deciphering Mysterious
Stone Monoliths
Art historian will travel to Nigeria.
Focus on
Undagcaduate Education
Outlook Begins
New Series
This week's Outlook features an opin-
ion piece by Dean for Undergraduate
Studies Kathryn Mohrman, as well as a
story announcing a new brochure,
"Keeping the Promise: A Status Report
on Undergraduate Education."
Lots of things are happening to
strengthen undergraduate education these
days, and these articles kick off a series
of stories, planned for Outlook publica-
tion during the spring semester, that will
highlight some interesting people and
look at some new programs being
designed to challenge undergraduate
students in and out of the classroom
environment.
We invite you [oin us as we explore
some facets of the undergraduate educa-
tional experience. Tell us about the good
things that you see happening around
you, but also feel free to express your
opinion on what might be improved, as
well.
The agenda to enhance the
undergraduate education experience can
benefit from your interest, insights and
attention. So, we invite you to join us in
a dialogue on where we are and where
we ought to go to provide an exemplary
undergraduate education to al! of our
students. ■
— Jtaz Hiettert, Editor
"In describing such initiatives in some
detail, this report outlines some of the
reasons why I am so pleased to be a
member of the College Park communi-
ty," says Dean for Undergraduate Studies
Kathryn Mohrman in the preface to the
report. "For every program featured in
this report, for every student and pro-
fessor highlighted, there are many more
who are turning promises into reality."
The status report details the universi-
ty's efforts to improve undergraduate
education in four major areas. The first,
"Ensuring Student Success," focuses on
programs designed to enhance students'
access to academic and social advising.
These programs include the Intensive
Educational Development Program; the
continued on page 3
Reflections of a
Frequent Committee Member
OR You Can Leam Some Interesting Things About College Park If You Listen
Hy Kathryn Mohrman.
Dean of Undergraduate Studies
/n recent weeks, in the
various committee meetings I
have attended, I have un-
covered some intriguing
facts. I want to share nine of them with
you. They tell a good news, bad news
story.
Fact #1: 22 percent of thi§ year's
freshman class earned SAT scores of
1200 or above. Even if you harbor a
certain suspicion about the validity of
SATs, you have to be impressed with
the jump from 15 percent in 1988 to 22
percent in 1989; these data indicate that
our entering students are getting much
better. My fear is that our class offer-
ings are not improving equally fast. One
of the most disturbing comments I heard
this fall came from some of our Ben-
jamin Banneker and Francis Scott Key
Scholars, our brightest undergraduates;
they said that their classes are not dif-
ficult enough. The faculty committees
reviewing submissions for CORE courses
arc taking seriously the charge of the
Pease Report; I challenge departments to
review their other offerings to assure
that they reflect the rising ability of our
entering students. And I hope that ad-
missions will soon be able to attract
transfer students of equally high ability.
Fact #2: 70 percent of the students
who left College Park after two
years were in good academic stan-
ding. The Retention Steering Committee
has been tracking the freshmen who
came to this campus in Fall 1986. Ap-
proximately 400 students did not return
after they completed the sophomore
year, and of those students, 70 percent
had nt) academic action on their records.
Even worse, they had higher SAT scores
than the average for the entire class.
Our traditional retention strategies of
tutoring and remedial programs arc simp-
ly inappropriate for these students. They
aren't dumb— but many of them are
dissatisfied with their experience at Col-
lege Park.
Fact #3= Approximately 30 percent
of our students earn fewer than 1 2
credits their first semester.
continued on page 8
5
The Strength of the Black
Church
Blllingsley studies community outreach
programs.
6
LMng with University
History
DeMarr's Stamp Union office is filled
with mementos
7
Outlook
February 19. 1990
International Affairs to Offer Workshop
on New Europe
The Office ii f International Affairs is conducting a half-day
workshop on "A Totally New Europe: Its Impact on UMCP"
Wednesday, March ", 8:30 a.m. through lunch, in the Founders
Room of the Center for Adult Education. President William E. Kir-
wan will open the workshop by providing his perspective on the
opportunities and challenges confronting the university in its Euro-
pean programs as a result of recent changes. The workshop is open
to all faculty and administrators. For more information call,
454-3008.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Study Looks at Exercise Tiraining to Control
Hypertension in Elderly Blacks
According to the National Center for
Health Statistics, hypertension, or high
blood-pressure, affects more than 20
million Americans, and is especially
prevalent among elderly blacks, with
almost one out of two age 55-64 at risk.
But a new study by Jim Hagberg.
associate professor in the Center on
Aging, may help treat the problcni
Last semester, Hagberg, Veda Ward.
Brad Hatfield, and Stephen Thomas, all
colleagues in the College of Physical
Education. Recreation and Health, began
recruiting 55- 5-year- tiki black males or
females with hypertension for his current
research project, "The Effects of Exercise
Training on Older Black Men and
Women with Hypertension."
'Hypertension is ravaging the older
black community," says Hagberg.
"They're almost twice as likely to die
from the effects of high blood pressure
than elderly non-blacks, and black
women are especially at risk" (see
graph).
Hagherg's hypertension study with
elderly blacks grew out of his interest in
exercise training for older adults as a
means of reducing the effects of old age.
"The general hypothesis we've been
studying is whether or not changes in
physiology are a function of aging or less
activity," says Hagberg. who also shares
an appointment with the Gerontology
Research Center at the National Institute
on Aging in Baltimore
"Until about 15 years ago, the literature
in the field was reporting that older
adults couldn't respond to exercise train-
ing, that they lose the ability to respond
to physical challenges," he says.
But Hagberg found this wasn't true.
Starting with older male athletes, such as
marathoners. he conducted studies of
similar athletes who were in their 20s
and could find no physiological
differences.
Outlook
Outlook is the weekly faculty-staff newspaper
serving the College Park campus community.
Reese Cleghom, Acting Vice President for
Institutions Advancement
Roi Hlebert, Oirector of Public Information S Editor
Linda Freeman. Production Editor
Jan Berkley, Brian Busek, John Fritz, Lisa Gregory,
Tom Orwell & Farias Somarral, Staff Writers
Stephen A. Darrou, Design & Coordination
John T. Consoll, Photography Coordinator
Heather Kelly, Viviane Morftr, Chris Paul,
Design 8 Production
A) Danegger & Larry Croose, Contributing
Photography
Letters to the editor, slory suggestions, campus infor-
mation a calendar items are welcome Please submit
all materia! at least three weeks before the Monday of
publication Send it to Ftoz Hiebert. Editor Oufocfc,
2101 Turner Building, through campus mail or to
University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. Our
telephone number Is (301) 454-5335. Our electronic
mail address is outlook@pres.umd.edu.
r i
Jim Hagberg
"The effect of exercise training on
such physiological factors as glucose
metabolism, lipids and cholesterol made
it impossible to distinguish between
athletes who were 50 years apart." says
Hagberg.
He then decided to see if exercise
training could improve the physiological
condition of older non-athletes just start-
ing an exercise program.
"These participants weren't up to the
level of the older athletes," says Hagberg,
"But we had some come very close, We
also discovered that exercise training
reduced high blood pressure in hyperten-
sive adults."
This conclusion led to his current
work with elderly blacks. Despite the
benefits of exercise training for the elder-
ly. Hagberg remains cautious about
claims that exercise training is a fountain
of youth.
"While we may not be able to
: lengthen ,i person's life spun, wc hope to
improve the quality of life, and shorten
the period of disability that many people
experience in later years," says Hagberg.
"Economically, this country is in a health
care crisis, so the less time we spend in
long-term care, the better we'll be." ■
— John Fritz
Grant Development Unit Celebrates
First Anniversary
For the past year, the Grant Develop-
ment Unit of the Office of Research and
Advancement in the Graduate School has
offered assistance in locating federal,
private and corporate funding sources for
research and scholastic activities. How-
ever, faculty members still might not
know about the many kinds of support
for these undertakings, says Anne
Geronimo, the unit's manager.
In an office located on the second
floor of the Lee Building, Geronimo has
instituted a number of programs since
February 15, 1989, to help faculty and
staff members obtain financial backing
beyond state funding.
For instance, the office provides an on-
line computer search system from the
State University of New York that lists
more than 1.000 federal, private and cor-
porate funding sources.
"It can be anything under the sun,"
Geronimo says. Faculty members have
received funding for proposals ranging
from travel expenses to contributions on
an experiment for the proposed space
station."
Geronimo also keeps a computerized
database of faculty research interests in
order to contact individual faculty
members when program opportunities
become available or significant changes
are made.
"That's been one of my most suc-
cessful ventures," she says. About 750
faculty members receive information
through these database searches,
* In addition, the office offers a library
of the most current resource books and
newsletters of foundation and federal in-
formation, and the office issues a month-
ly update of upcoming deadlines for pro-
gram applications.
This year, Geronimo expects to in-
stitute a number of new programs. The
office will provide an on-line version of
the National Institutes of Health Guide to
Grants and Contracts to faculty mem-
bers who wish to receive this informa-
tion electronically,
Faculty also will be able to receive
electronically a list of new program op-
portunities and deadlines each week in
addition to on-campus advising for sub-
mission of proposals and management of
funded projecrs.
Prevalence of Hypertension
i--.* WHtEMEH
• ■•• WHTTE WOMEN
">— • BLOCK MEN
• -■> BLACK WOMEN
1S-24 25-34 JM4 4^54 SW4 55-74
AGE
Data from the Health and Nutrition Examina-
tion Survey, 1971-1974. Source: Advance
Data, Vital & Health Statistics of the National
Center for Hearth Statistics, No. 1, October
18, 1976.
Minteeis Needed For
Exercise Study
Jim Hagberg, associate professor in the
Center on Aging, is looking for more
volunteers for his current research pro-
ject, "The Effects of Exercise Training on
Older Black Men and Women with
Hypertension."
Interested individuals must be seden-
tary at present and free of any disease or
illness other than hypertension In ex-
change, eligible participants will be
supervised in a low or moderately inten-
sive six-month exercise program that
includes a free medical work-up. Call
454-5404 for more information.
"It's sort of a bulletin board idea,"
Geronimo says.
Geronimo also is proposing a one-day
workshop for faculty members who
want to learn how to put together and
submit a grant proposal. Interested facul-
ty can contact Geronimo at 454-3987 or
drop by Room 2126C in the Lee
Building.
Graduate students who want to ex-
plore research grant opportunities can
obtain information through the Graduate
Fellowship Office, Room 2126, Lee
Building. ■
MAES Obtains Research Rights
to Robotic Dairy System
Maryland's Agricultural Experiment Sta-
tion (MAES) has obtained exclusive North
American research and development
rights to a prototype robotic milking
system developed by the Dutch company
Gascoigne- M e I ot te.
Robert Kennedy, MAES director, signed
the letter of intent with Gascoigne-
Melotte on January 15. Gov. William
Donald Schaefer officially signed the
agreement with Martin Olde Monnikhof,
agriculture attache for The Royal Nether-
lands ambassador for trade promotion
and export enhancement, at the annual
Maryland Agricultural Dinner on
February 1.
"This agreement initiates a MAES
program into state-of-the-art robotics
research," says Kennedy. "Although this
equipment is designed to be used in the
dairy industry, the technology-including
software, hardware expert systems and
biosensors— can eventually be used to
benefit other agricultural industries.
"The prototype robotic milking system
is a fully automated milking and feeding
system that can provide immediate milk
production and dairy cow nutritional in-
formation without human intervention."
The prototype robotic milker is ex-
pected to be operational by November 1
at the Clarksville Facility of MAES' Cen-
tral Maryland Research and Education
Center. ■
Doctoral Student Wins Economic
Club Fellowship
Howard F. Rosen, one of the first economics doctoral candidates
of the School of Public Affairs, has won the first Economic Club of
Washington graduate research fellowship. The fellowship, which
carries a cash value of J 1 0,000, was established by the club last
year to support independent research in economics, business,
finance, or international trade. Rosen won the award based on his
proposed dissertation on cyclical versus structural trends in U.S.
trade and employment. He will make a presentation to the club
later this year on his completed work,
Outlook
February 19, 1990
Greer Appointed Chair
of Chemistry Department
Sandra C. Greer, professor of chemistry, recently was appointed chair of the Department of
Chemistry and Biochemistry. Greer, who received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago,
came to the university in 1976 as an associate professor. Much of Greer's research has focused
on the thermodynamic properties of fluids and phase transitions, and in 1978, she received the
Washington Academy of Sciences Scientific Achievement Award. Recently, Greer chaired the
Committee on Undergraduate Women's Education, which submitted the 1988 report, "Making a
Difference for Women," also known as the Greer Report.
New Report Examines
Undergraduate Education
continued from page I
Office for Minority Student Education;
the Career Development Center; and
orientation and survival courses for new
students.
The next section, "Challenging Mary-
land's Best Minds," focuses on im-
provements to the academic profile of
students. Examples include the raising of
admissions standards; establishing Francis
Scott Key and Benjamin Banneker
scholarships to provide more merit
scholarships for academically talented
students; changes in the University-
Honors Program; and creation of the
new College Park Seminars for freshmen
and sophomores.
"Celebrating Diversity" includes ex-
amples of initiatives that will support
diversity and expose students to minori-
ty, feminine and non- western perspec-
tives. These include the Curriculum
Transformation Project of the Women's
Studies Program; the Africa in the
Americas initiative in the College of Arts
and Humanities; and a planned new In-
ternational House that will house stu-
dents from different cultures on campus.
Finally, "Expanding Support for Facul-
ty and Teaching" describes such pro-
grams as the Lilly Teaching Fellows Pro-
gram; the Distinguished Scholar-Teacher
Program; Instructional Improvement
Grants; and a new Center for Teaching
Excellence.
According to Susan Koonce, assistant
dean for Undergraduate Studies, the new
status report will be distributed widely
on campus as well as to such groups as
the Governor's Office, the Maryland
Legislature, the Board of Regents, the ad-
ministration and full-time faculty on cam-
pus, high school guidance counselors,
and state community college advisors. ■
—John Fritz
Kirwan Announces Temporary
Freeze on Hiring, Equipment Pur-
chases and Building Renovation
A spending freeze on hiring, equip-
ment purchases, and facility renewal in
sta tc-su p ported p rograms— necess i ta ted
by nearly S5 million in unexpected
health insurance costs— has been put in-
to effect temporarily at College Park,
President William E. Kirwan announced
at the Feb. 12 Campus Senate meeting.
Describing the freeze as a "temporary,
emergency measure," Kirwan said campus
vice presidents arc working on a plan to
alleviate the problem and are expected to
announce the results of their efforts by
March 1.
"We will do everything possible to
remove this restriction at the earliest
possible date," Kirwan said.
Two unexpected costs associated with
health insurance programs surfaced dur-
ing the last four months causing the
shortfall in the campus budget. In
November, the campus was assessed !2.2
million to cover an increase in the sur-
charge for retirees' health insurance.
Recently, campus officials learned that an
increase in health insurance premiums
resulting from the recent Open Enroll-
ment created an additional $2.6 million
in unexpected costs.
While the campus was able to absorb
the first increase without a dramatic ef-
fect on departmental budgets, the second
unanticipated expense forced the freeze,
Kirwan said.
In other action, the Campus Senate:
• Passed a resolution relating to
diversity issues and another regarding the
state's policy on a drug- free workplace.
In a resolution responding to the release
of the report, "Access Is Not Enough,"
the senate reiterated its committment to
diversity at the university. On the issue
of the state's drug-free work place policy,
the senate resolution questioned the
need for a written acceptance of the
policy by state employees.
• Recommended an addition to the
System's new leave-without-pay policy.
The Senate urged the Board of Regents
to add payment of the state subsidy for
health benefits for faculty and stiff
members on leave without pay to the
plan.
• Endorsed plans for two new
graduate degrees— a master of science
degree in conservation biology and a
master of business administration offered
through Shady Grove. ■
—Brian Busek
Conference of Soviet, US. Scholars
to Focus on /tenesfto&a
continued from page I
Last March, John Fuegj, professor of
comparative literature and academic
director of the Visual Press, and Edward
Manukian, projects director of the Office
of US- USSR Academic Joint Ventures,
visited members of the Soviet Academy
of Sciences in connection with a Visual
Press project on the history of climate
and social history. During the trip, Soviet
scholars, referring to an agreement for
academic exchanges between the univer-
sity and the academy, suggested the idea
for a conference on Soviet history in the
West.
With the support of President William
E. Kirwan. Vice President for Academic-
Affairs and Provost J. Robert Dorfman,
Graduate School Dean Jacob Goldhaber,
and Behavioral and Social Sciences Dean
Murray Polakoff. the Office of US- USSR
Academic Joint Ventures worked with
the American Council of Teachers of
Russian in organizing the conference.
Conference sponsors include the
Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the
American Council of Teachers of Rus-
sian, National Chamber Foundation,
Riggs National Bank and the University
of Maryland at College Park.
College Park faculty and students will
enjoy a side benefit from conference. On
Feb. 26, a number of participating Soviet
scholars will visit classes and present lec-
tures at the university. ■
Herrnson Named First William
A. Steiger Congressional Fellow
Paul Herrnson, assistant professor in
the Department of Government and
Politics, has been named the first
William A. Steiger Congressional Fellow
by the American Political Science
Association (APSA).
The fellowship will be awarded each
year to an outstanding political scientist
or journalist through a national
competition.
Fellows will spend 10 months working
closely with members of Congress and
congressional committees as legislative
assistants and attending weekly seminars
and lectures by experts on the political
process.
The fellowship honors the memory of
the late William Steiger, a Republican
who represented the Sixth District of
Wisconsin from 1966 to 1978.
Outijock
February 19, 1990
( Talendar
Richard Rhodes to Speak on Origins
of Atomic History
Richard Rhodes, winner of [he National Book Award for his
history, Tbe Making of tbe Atomic Bomb, will speak on "The
Origins of the Atomic Bomb" for the Graduate School Distin-
guished Lecture, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 3:30 p.m., School of Architec-
ture Auditorium. Rhodes' book chronicled the development of
nuclear weapons from the birth of modern physics in the late 1 9th
century to the first tests of the hydrogen bomb by the United
States and the Soviet Union. Call 454-2843 for more information.
February 19 *o 28
WED
Art Exhibition, featuring works by
the University of Maryland Art
Faculty, through Feb. 24, The Art
Gallery, Art/Sociology Bldg. Call
X2763 for info.
Black Students of Eliicott Com-
munity Eliicott Music Week,
featuring music nightly through
Feb. 23, 4-7 p.m., Eliicott Dining
Hall. Schedule: Feb. 19 Blues: 20
Jazz; 21 Caribbean; 22 Rap; and
23 House & Club night. Call x5605
for info.
Science, Technology and Society
Lecture: "Nuclear Winter: Scientific
Evidence and Policy Implications,"
Alan Robock. 3:30 p.m., 2309
Art/Soc. Bldg. Call x8862 for info.
Computer Science Colloquium:
"A Proposal for Automated Integral
Tables," Richard J. Fateman. U. of
California. Berkeley, 4 p.m., 0111
Classroom Bldg. Call x4244 for
info.
Black Students of Eliicott Com-
munity Rim: "Black by Popular
Demand." discussion to follow,
7:30 p.m., Eliicott 1 Lounge. Call
x5605 for info.
SEE Lecture: "An Evening with
Ken Kesey. author of One Flete
Oter tbe Cuckoos Nest, 8 p.m.,
Grand Ballroom, $5 general admis-
sion, $3 students. Call x4546 for
info •
20
College of Education Conference:
"Multicultural Education and
Mainstrearning Issues." time and
place TBA. Call x529l for info.
Zoology Lecture: "Evolution of
Cooperation in Red-Cockaded
Woodpeckers," Jeff Walters, N,C.
State, noon, 1208 Zoo/Psych. Bldg.
Call x3201 for info.
Black Students of Eliicott Com-
munity, BSD. Nyumburu & SUPC
Panel Discussion: "Historical
Perspective of Black Student
Leadership at UMCP," 7 p.m.,
Stamp Union Atrium. Call x5605
for info.
Black History Month Lecture:
"Race and the American Legal
Process: Where have We Been
and Where Are We Going?" The
Honorable A. Leon Higginbotham,
Jr., Chief Judge, United States
Court of Appeals for the Third Cir-
cuit Court in Philadelphia. 7 p.m.,
2203 Art/Soc. Bldg. Call x5665 for
info.
Cambridge Community Black
History Jeopardy Game, 7:30
p.m., place TBA. Call x5605 tor
info.
University of Maryland Wind
Ensemble Concert, featuring
selections by Sweelinck, Hanson,
Grainger, Husa and others for
various wind and percussion in-
struments, 8 p.m., Memorial
Chapel. Call x6803 for info.
Hoff Theater Movie: "The Right
Stuff," Call x4987for into,*
French Department Lecture:
"From Novel to Rim, Caribbean
Style: Palcy Interprets Zobel," Keith
Warner, George Mason U., 10
a.m., 2120 Jimenez Hall. Call
x5605 for info.
Cognitive Studies Lecture: "Is
Reasoning Logical," Herbert A.
Simon, Carnegie Melton U., 11
a.m., Auditorium, Center of Adult
Education. Call x8346 for info.
Counseling Center Research &
Development Meeting: "This
Month's In-Basket," William L.
Thomas, 11:30 a.m.-l p.m., 0106
Shoemaker Bldg. Call x2937 tor
info.
International Agriculture & Life
Sciences Lecture: "Information,
Education and Development,"
Elaine McCreary, U. of Guelph,
Ontario, Canada, noon, 0115
Symons Hall. Call x4933 for info.
Men's Lacrosse Scrimmage vs.
Delaware, 3 p.m,, Lacrosse Field
Call X4328 for info.
College of Journalism Black
History Month Panel Discussion,
featuring William McP hatter,
Howard U. and Allegra Bennett.
Tbe Washington rimes, other
participants TBA, 7 p.m., Stamp
Union Atrium. Call x2228 for info.
Guameri String Quartet Open
Rehearsal, 7 p.m.. Tawes Recital
Hall. Call x6669 for info.
Hillel Panel Discussion: "Jewish
Life on Campus: Where Do We
Go From Here," featuring students
and staff. 7:15-8:30 p.m.. Jewish
Student Center. Call 422-6200 for
info.
Women's Basketball: Maryland vs.
Virginia, 7:30 p.m, Cole Field
House. Call x2123 for info"
Cambridge Community Arts
Event, featuring a tribute to Blacks
in the arts, 8 p.m., Denton Dining
Hall. Call x5605 for info.
Campus Club Meeting: "What's
Going On at the College Park
Campus," featuring Lauren R.
Brown and Marcus Franda, 8 p.m.,
Carriage House, Rossborough Inn.
Call 864-1927 for info.
Office of Graduate Minority Af-
fairs Meeting: "Considering
Graduate School," time and place
TBA. Call X8838 for info.
Hoff Theater Movie: "The Right
Stuff." Call x4987 for into.*
22
HU
Art Department Minorities &
Women Lecture: painter Luis Cruz
Azaceta will discuss his work.
12:30 p.m., Art/Sociology Bldg. Call
X0344/5 for into.
Writers Here and Now Poetry
Reading, featuring Seam us
Heaney reading from his works,
3:00 p.m., place TBA. Call x2511
for info. ,
Meteorology Seminar: "Local In-
stability, Storm Tracks, and Low-
Frequency Variability," M, Cai, 3:30
p.m., 2114 Computer & Space
Sciences Bldg. Call x2708 for info.
Counseling Center Student Ad-
visory Board Open House, tor
Black students, 3-7 p.m., Counsel-
ing Center. Call x5605 for info.
Reliability Engineering Seminar:
"What is Total Quality Manage-
ment?" Gerard Hoffmann, Office of
Asst. Secretary ot the Navy,
5:15-6:15 p.m., 2115 Chemical &
Nuclear Engineering Bldg. Calf
x1941 for info.
Men's Basketball: Maryland vs,
UMBC, 7:30 p.m., Cole Field
House. Call x2123 for info.'
Maryland Graduate String Quartet
Concert, featuring the Orpheus,
Chagall and Lenaro Quartets per-
forming Brahms' String Quartet Op.
Grand Ballroom. Call X5605 for
info.
Men's Lacrosse Scrimmage vs.
Penn State, 3 p.m., Lacrosse
Reld. Call x4328 for info.
University Theatre: "The Cruci-
ble," 8 p.m., see Feb. 22 for
details.
University Community Concerts:
Cleveland Quartet III, featuring
Schubert's String Quartet in C
Minor, D. 703. Welcher's String
Quartet No. 1 (1987) and Dvorak's
American Quartet, 8 p.m., Center
of Adult Education, $16 standard
admission, $13.50 seniors and
students. Call x6534 for info.*
Hoff Theater Movie: "Look Who's
Talking" and "Eraserhead." Call
x4987 for info.'
The Cleveland Quartet will perform Sat., Feb. 24, 8 p.m., Center of Adult
Education
67 No. 3 in B-Flat Major and
Schubert's String Quartets A Minor
Op. 29 and G Minor D.173. 8
p.m.. Tawes Recital Hall. Call
X6669 tor info.
University Theatre: "The Cruci-
ble," by Arthur Miller, 8 p.m.,
Tawes Theatre, $7 standard admis-
sion, $5.50 seniors and students,
production runs today-Feb. 24. Call
x2201 for info."
Hoff Theater Movie: "Look Who's
Talking." Call X4987 for info.'
23
Music Lecture: "The Relation Be-
tween Volume and Range in Ba-
roque Singing," 3 p.m., 2102
Tawes. Call x6669 tor info.
University Theatre: "The Cruci-
ble," 8 p.m., see Feb. 22 for
details
BSU Unity Party, time TBA,
Grand Ballroom, Call x3582 for
info.
Hoff Theater Movie: "Look Who's
Talking" and "Eraserhead." Call
X4987 for info,*
SAT
NAACP Fashion Show, time TBA,
25 oa
Wanderlust Travelogue Film:
"The Real Worlds of Hawaii and
Tahiti," by Rick Howard, 3 p.m. to-
day, 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, Hoff
Theater, $5 general public. $4
faculty, staff, alumni & seniors, $2
students. Call x4987 for info."
Hoff Theater Movie: "Look Who's
Talking." Call x4987 for info.*
26*™
College of Engineering Black
History Month Lecture: "Meeting
the Technological Challenges of
the 1990s," Horace L. Russell,
U.S. Air Force, noon, 1202
Engineering Classroom Bldg. Call
x6347 for info.
Computer Science Colloquium:
"New Directions in Testing."
Richard J, Lipton, Princeton U,,
4 p.m., 0111 Classroom Bldg. Call
x4244 for info.
Space Science Seminar: Title
TBA, Qian Wu, 4:30 p.m., 1113
Computer/Space Sciences Bldg.
Call x3136 for info.
Panhellenic Council Debate,
featuring Mark Mathabane, author
of Kaffir Boy and Stuart Pringle,
13th generation Afrikaner, 7:30
p.m., place TBA. Call x5605 for
info.
Tokyo International Music
Ensemble, "New Tradition," Toshi
Ichiyanagi, director, featuring works
by Cage, Takemitsu, Sawai, Ishii,
Kanno, Hosokawa and a world
premiere by Toshi Ichiyanagi, 7:30
p.m., Tawes Recital Hall. Call
x6669 for info.*
Registration Ends, tor doubles
badminton. Call X3124 for info.
Zoology Lecture: "Implications of
Streamfiow Variability and Predic-
tability for Stream Biota," LeRoy
Poff, noon, 1208 Zoo/Psych, Bldg.
Call x3201 for info,
French Department & Swiss Em-
bassy Lecture: "Sur les traces du
promeneur solitaire: Vagabondage
litteraire autour de Geneve,"
Maurice Davier, 2nd Secretary,
Swiss Embassy, Washington, 2
p.m., Language House Multipur-
pose Room. Call X4303 for info.
Art Department Minorities &
Women Lecture: sculptor Ursala
Von flydingsvard will discuss her
work. 3:00 p.m., Art/Sociology
Bldg. Call x0344/5 for info.
Graduate School Distinguished
Lecture: "Origins of the Atomic
Bomb," Richard Rhodes, writer
specializing in nuclear energy, 3:30
p.m., 0204 School of Architecture
Auditorium. Call x2843 for info.
Physics Colloquium: "Phase
Transitions in Josephson Junction
Arrays," Christopher Lobb, 4 p.m.,
1410 Physics Bldg, Call X3512 for
info
University Theatre: "The Singular
Life of Albert Nobbs," by Simone
Benmussa. translated by Barbara
Wright, 8 p.m., Rudolph E.
Pugliese Theatre, $7 standard ad-
mission, $5.50 seniors and
students, production runs today-
March 4 and 6-1 1 . Call x2201 for
info.*
Hoff Theater Movie: "Raging
Bull." Call x4987 for info.'
28
Counseling Center Research &
Development Meeting: "Problem
Solving as an Assessment Tool."
Bonnie McClellan, Catholic U„
noon, 0106 Shoemaker Bldg. Call
x2937 for info.
International Coffee Hour, 3-4:30
p.m.. 0205 Jimenez Hall. Call
x4925 for info.
Men's Basketball: Maryland vs.
N.C, State, 7:30 p.m.. Cole Field
House. Call x2123 for info.
University Theatre: "The Singular
Life of Albert Nobbs," 8 p.m., see
Feb. 27 tor details.
Hoff Theater Movie: "Raging
Bull." Call x4987for info.*
M.
(mission charge for tbis
All others are free.
Calendar Information may be
sent to John Fritz, 2101 Turner
Laboratory or (via electronic
mail) to jlfritz@pres.umd.edu.
Lecturer Looks at Formal Logic and
Human Thinking
Herbert A. Simon, Richard King Mellon University Professor of
Computer Science and Psychology at Carnegie-Mellon University,
will address the question, "Is Reasoning Logical?" Wednesday, Feb.
2!, 11 a.m., Center of Adult Education Auditorium. Simon, who
received the Nobel Prize in economics in 1978 and the National
Medal of Science in 1 986, is the second speaker in a new series of
distinguished lectures sponsored by the Campus Committee on
Cognitive Studies, the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies and
the Office of Graduate Studies and Research. Call 454-1808 for
more information.
OUIDOCK
February 19, 1990
***>
ARTS AT MARYLAND
Eyo Will Journey to Nigeria to
Uncover Origin of Mysterious Stones
On the Cross River State of
western Nigeria more than
300 stone monoliths arc scat-
tered throughout dense bush.
As tall as six feet and weighing as
much as half a ton, the stones stand in
29 sites within an area covering 350
square miles. Carved into human figures
and covered with sacred writing and
icons, they are unlike any other art ob-
jects found elsewhere in Africa.
Ekpo Eyo
Yet despite their bulk and intriguing
imagery, virtually nothing is known
about them. Even as distinguished an
expert as Ekpo Eyo, professor of art
history and former director-general of
the Nigerian Commission for Museums
and Monuments, can't say authoritatively
when they were created, who built
them, or why they were built
This summer and fall, with support
from American and French foundations
and the university, Eyo will travel to the
Cross River State to try to unravel the
mystery of the monoliths.
"These are remarkable objects; there
is nothing like them anywhere else in
Africa," Eyo says. "If objects like this ap-
peared somewhere in Europe, we would
have volumes and volumes written about
them. It is important to learn their story
before the stones are moved or
destroyed."
Pursuing the project will demand from
Eyo an unusual blend of skills that in-
cludes proficient backwoodsmanship and
an intimate knowledge of Cross River
State secret societies, in addition to
expertise in art history and archaeology.
His backwoods skills will be put to
the test in reaching the stones. Many of
the monoliths are nestled in heavy bush
that Eyo will have to clear in order to
evaluate the stones' relationships to each
other.
The art historian's knowledge of secret
societies is crucial in researching his cur-
rent theory about the origin of the
stones. Based on markings that appear
on the stones, he thinks they were used
in the rituals of secret societies in the
region. Being a native of the region
himself as well as a member of a group
related to the societies he suspects built
the stones, he can approach this line of
inquiry through resources unavailable to
outsiders.
In more conventional areas of his
research, Eyo will strive to date the
stones. Sketchy historical data from the
legion suggests that the stones were built
in the 16th century. However, prelim-
inary radio -carbon tests place the date
within three centuries of the birth of
Christ. If more detailed studies support
the earlier date, the result would have
significant implications for the study of
African art, according to Eyo.
"We would need a series of mutually
consistent tests to confirm this date (280
International Harmony
The Tokyo International music ensemble, "New Tradition," conducted by world renowned com-
poser and pianist, Toshi Ichiyanagi, will perform a concert on Monday Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. in
Tawes Recital Hall. Blending eighth-century imperial court instruments with the shakuhachi, the
koto and modem western instruments, the 16-member ensemble will perform works by John
Cage, Tom Takemltsu, Tadao Sawai, Maki Ishii, Yoshihiro Kan no and Toshio Hosokawa. A
highlight of the concert will be the world premiere of a composition by conductor Ichiyanagi,
who has won such honors as the Elizabeth Coolidge Prize, the Serge Koussevitzky Prize and the
Nakajima Prize. Tickets are $3 for students, $5 tor senior citizens and $7 for general admission.
The concert Is sponsored by the Department of Music and the Committee of East Asian Studies.
For further information, call 454-6669.
AD). If they went back that far, the
chronology of the art history of western
Africa would have to be revised," Eyo
says.
While skeptical of the dating informa-
tion at this point, Eyo anticipates that his
theory about the stones being created by
a secret society will be confirmed.
The stones contain sign-writing known
as nsibidi, that were used by the secret
Ngbe, the group regulated the political,
economic, social and judicial life of the
local people. Membership in such
societies is often determined by birth,
and, coincidentally, Eyo is a member of
a related group.
In addition to his familiarity with the
iconography and inner works of such
groups, Eyo's status will afford him an
A Cross River stone monolith photographed
by Philip Allison in the mid-1960s
unusual amount of receptivity among the
heirs of those who built the stones.
Sponsors of Eyo's trip include the
French Dapper Foundation and the cam-
pus Research Center for the Arts and
Humanities. ■
— Brian Busek
Marriage of Toy-Maker and
Television Gave Birth to He-Man
/n the early 1980s, along the
fuzzy line that separates car-
toon characters from cor-
porate creatures, a fellow
named Hc-Man conquered new ground,
according to Norma Pecora, assistant
professor of radio, television and film.
Since the age of radio, corporate
toy makers and producers of children's
entertainment had borrowed ideas from
each other. From radio programs that
sparked demand for Lone Ranger masks
to dolls that became GI Joe television
warriors, children's fantasy heroes were
often crossbred as toys and characters.
But when He-Man rumbled onto
children's television in 1983, he was
one-of-a-kind, the first creature to be
born simultaneously as toy and
character. His midwife, not coincidentaJ-
ly, was the Mattel toy company The
corporation developed He-Man both as a
toy and a cartoon and orchestrated his
television and store shelf debuts.
He-Man did not come into the world
alone. Pecora, an expert on children's
television and its economics, says. Aux-
iliary characters from the program were
quickly molded into plastic themselves.
And He-Man's triumph in the market-
place led other toy companies to
copycat the concept with such characters
as the Thundercats.
But while He-Man proved a titan from
a marketing standpoint, creatively he was
something of a loser, according to Pecora.
The idea of marketing a toy character
through a television series had long been
appealing to toy makers. Pecora says.
The addition of half-hour programs to
conventional advertising campaigns
enhanced the visibility and appeal of a
character, she says. Moreover, by exer-
cising creative control over the content
of a program, a toy maker can ensure
the show's character will translate well
Into plastic.
In addition, the toy company keeps a
larger share of the profits generated from
a character of its own invention. When
tov-makers buy rights to characters devel-
oped by other producers, they must pay
royalty fees.
As early as the mid-1960s, Mattel pur-
sued the idea of cartoon/toy creations,
developing a television series to piggy-
back the introduction of its Hot Wheels.
"That plan wasn't successful," Pecora
says. "In that period the FCC was much
firmer in policing children's programs.
By the early 1980s, deregulation, along
with a general need in the television in-
dustry for more programming, created a
more supportive environment for this
kind of show."
In viewing corporate-driven cartoom
as a creative enterprise, Pecora identifies
a number of common characteristics—
none of which flatter Hc-Man 's makers
as Walt Disney's heir.
An emphasis on keeping production
costs at a minimum leads to cheap
animation, she says. Because successful
cartoon characters can be marketed on
everything from lunch boxes to bed-
sheets, the characters are designed to
reproduce well in many different media.
The shows are usually populated with
many identifiable characters in order to
generate as many different toys as
possible.
Although lucrative, Hc-Man and his
cohorts have not overwhelmed chil-
dren's television, Pecora says. Fantasy
characters developed through more tradi-
tional methods, and with greater atten-
tion to creative qualities, remain
predominant. However, He-Man and
company have captured a secure and
profitable niche in the children's enter-
tainment market, she says. ■
—Brian Bttsek
5
QWTWOK
February 19, 1990
U.S. Court of Appeals Justice to Speak for
Black History Month
The Honorable A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.. Chief Justice, U.S, Court
of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, will speak on
"Race and the American Legal Process: Where Have We Been and
Where Are We Going? 7 ' Tuesday. Feb. 20, 7 p.m., 2203 Art/Soc.
Bldg, Higginbotham was appointed to the circuit by jimmy Carter
in 1977, receiving the American Bar Association's highest rating of
"exceptionally well qualified" by unanimous vote. He is the author
of more than 40 scholarly articles and the book In the Matter of
Color: Race and the American Legal Process: Tf)e Colonial Period.
Call Jeanettc Murphy at 454-5665 for more information.
CLOSE VP
Studying Outreach Programs of
African-American Churches
What does a church do when
the community around it
is crumbling, is being
destroyed by drug abuse, the
breakdown of the family, poverty, or
AIDS? Many churches are taking action,
reaching out to their communities
through various programs and with vary-
ing degrees of success.
In an effort to see what some Black
churches around the country are doing
to help their troubled communities, the
Department of Family and Community
Development's Family Research Center is
launching the largest-ever. nationwide
study of community outreach programs
operated by African-American churches.
When the study is completed in June
1991, the community outreach programs
of 1,500 Black churches will have been
identified and described.
"Families are in trouble all over this
country." says Andrew Billingsley, prin-
cipal investigator of the project and chair
of the Department of Family and Com-
munity Development. "Our project is
looking at what Black churches are do-
ing to help these families and the com-
munities in which they live. We are
focusing on programs that serve not
only church members, but the population
as a whole."
According to Billingsley. the Black
church in America is among the oldest,
strongest, and most influential institu-
tions in the experience of the African -
American people.
"The church is the mast powerful
independent institution in the Black
community," Billingsley says. "It served
in the early days in the struggle against
slavery and has served to bring about
civil rights. It has always been a place
where African-Americans had power,
where they can speak, where they are
somebody — God's children.
"Today, most African-Americans live
in cities and one-third are poor. The
churches are focusing on ways to im-
prove the lives of people in their com-
munities whether or not they are
members of the church.
"We are looking into why outreach
programs are started, how they are
operated, and the types of programs
offered. Obviously, churches cannot
cure poverty or drug abuse, but there is
much they are doing to help solve these
problems, and what we learn about
them can help other churches and org-
anizations to start their own programs or
improve current ones."
According to Billingsley, "'O percent of
all African-Americans are church mem-
bers. He says the Black church is par-
ticularly strong in cities, and, because of
problems facing the communities there,
Black churches are making strong efforts
to encourage young people to return to
their pews.
According to Cleopatra Howard
Caldwell, study director for the Black
Church Family Project, the investigation
will be conducted in two phases and
will look at the roles of ministers, vol-
unteers, women, advanced planning,
community support, church funding, and
political climate on the development and
success of the programs.
The first phase of the study involves a
telephone survey of 1 ,500 randomly
selected Black churches throughout the
country. According to Caldwell, the
researchers are currently compiling a list
■
Andrew Billingsley and Cleopatra Howard Caldwell
from which a nationally representative
sample of Black churches will be drawn
across the spectrum of denominations. It
will be the most comprehensive record
of Black churches in the United States,
she says.
The researchers also are developing a
questionnaire that will gather information
on the histories, structures and charac-
teristics of the churches with a focus on
the nature of the outreach programs
offered.
The second phase of the project will
look at a selected sample of 100 Black
churches that operate "exemplary"
family-support programs,
"In-depth face-to-face interviews will
be conducted with representatives from
each phase-two church including the
senior minister, coordinators of the
outreach programs, and program par-
ticipants," Caldwell says. Direct observa-
tions also will he made of outreach pro-
grams in action.
"We believe that this two-phased
study of family-support programs will be
extremely useful to other churches in-
terested in initiating or expanding such
programs in the future," Caldwell says.
According to Billingsley, the study is
patterned after a six-month pilot study
conducted in 1988 by the Family
Research Center. The pilot study was
funded by the Ford Foundation and the
main study is funded by the Ford Foun-
dation and the Lilly Endowment.
The pilot study involved a survey of
social-service outreach programs con-
ducted by 71 Black churches represen-
ting 14 denominations in the eastern
United States.
"We looked at the nature and extent
of the programs, the manner in which
they were financed and supported and at
the population groups they served," Bill-
ingsley says.
The outreach projects targeted chil-
dren and youth programs (40 percent),
adult and family support programs (35
percent), support for the elderly (13 per-
cent), and community development ac-
tivities (12 percent).
The 71 churches in the pilot study
represented large urban areas, small cities
and rural areas in the north and south.
"We found that most of the churches
have socia! service programs that meet
the needs of people from the cradle to
the grave," Billingsley says, I
—f-etriss Stmiarmi
Randolph Tracks Development of Black Infants
Suzanne M. Randolph
r hough many studies have
been conducted on the
developmental abilities of
African- American children,
few researchers have focused their
efforts on Black infants.
Suzanne M. Randolph, however, has
increased knowledge in this area with a
U.S. Public Health Service-funded study
involving 100 Black infants and their
mothers. Randolph, an assistant professor
in the Department of Family and Com-
munity Development, worked with Pearl
L Rosser, a Silver Spring pediatrician in
private practice.
Randolphs chapter on the study,
"Black American Infants: The Howard
University Normative Study," appears in
the recently published book, Cultural
Context of Infancy.
"For some time now, research on
Black infants has been assumed to be
I culture-free, outside the direct influence
| of specific environmental and cultural
q shaping," Randolph says. "But our study
** represents a focus which suggests that
the development of Black infants is in-
fluenced by the caregiving environment
from a cultural viewpoint."
In Randolph's investigation, Black
mother-infant pairs were followed from
two days after birth to age three. The
infants were given periodic assessments
of health and mental and motor develop-
ment. And mothers were questioned and
observed regarding their .perceptions of
their infants, expectations for normal
development, and confidence in care-
giving roles.
Sixty of the infants were full-term
healthy children, 20 were horn pre-
maturely with no medical problems, and
20 were born prematurely with
respiratory problems.
"All of the mothers in our study had
prenatal care, and there were no pro-
blems during delivery," Randolph says.
Because the children had received prop-
er care, they represented a normative
sample of full-term and premature Black
infants, she says,
"By following them over three years,
we were able to see what changes oc-
curred in their mental development,
physical health, motor development, and
school readiness," Randolph says.
Though infants performed similarly as
a group two days after birth, Randolph
says there were notable individual dif-
ferences in behavior at one month of
age.
"Some infants who had shown an
ability to quiet themselves at two days
with a hand-to-mouth activity similar to
thumb-sucking, showed a diminished
ability to do this at one month," Ran-
dolph says. She found that some parents
had discouraged this activity because
they perceived it as undesirable thumb-
sucking.
Randolph also found that at six
months, some prematurely born infants
continued to have a poor health status.
At one year, prematurely born infants
showed developmental delays in motor
development.
Also according to Randolph's findings,
mothers tended to raise girls differently
than boys. "Mothers seemed to expect
girls to develop faster than boys in their
self-help skills, such as holding a spoon
with which to feed themselves," she
says,
"We are now better able to under-
stand normative patterns of Black in-
fants' development and their mothers'
parenting styles," Randolph says.
"This should lead to the development
of more effective intervention measures
for infants at ' risk of poor health and
developmental outcome, such as the
pre-term group." ■
—Fariss Satnarrai
Qutiook
February 19, 1990
Taff Fund Provides Research Loans
The College of Business and Management has established a
revolving loan fund, using part of the income generated from
the endowment set up by Professor Emeritus and Mrs. Charles
A. Taff, other business school faculty and alumni when Taff
retired three years ago. The fund grants loans of up to S2.500
per student to assist doctoral students in the business school
with their research costs. Rita Lohtia, a Ph.D. candidate in
marketing, is the first recipient of the fund. She is working on
an extensive survey study as part of her dissertation in industrial
marketing. "There are a number of hidden costs involved in
researching, writing and publishing a dissertation," Taff says.
"This fund will help defray those costs at a time when a
student— even if he or she may have an assistantship— is par-
ticularly strapped for money."
COLLEGE PARK PEOPLE
University History Surrounds Fred DeMarr
A t first glance, Fred DeMarr's
/ | office in the Stamp Student
JT| ! Union looks like a curiosity
.JL JL shop.
Oil portraits of past university pre-
sidents hang beside a monstrous
photograph of a bull. A piece of china
commemorating Queen Elizabeth's cor-
onation stands among souvenir beer
mugs from Germany. Tacked over an in-
terior doorway, assembled like a coat-of-
arms, are two pieces of scorched metal
and a chunk of charred wood.
But once DeMarr recounts the history
of the hull, or describes the genesis of
the burnt rubble, the objects seem as
valuable as museum pieces. A guided
tour of DeMarr's cluttered office offers as
memorable a history of the University of
Maryland as can be found this side of
George Callcott's book on the subject.
The collection has been gathered dur-
ing an association with the College Park
campus that dates back to J 945,
DeMarr's freshman year as a student of
government and politics. Its caretaker is
a history buff of the highest order. He
was a board member of the Prince
George's County Historical Society
1971-89, and the society's Frederick S.
DeMarr Library in Marietta is named after
him.
In DeMarr's office every object, no
matter how odd, illustrates a piece of the
1 34- year history of the College Park
campus,
Burnt Offerings
For anyone with a memory so short as
to have forgotten the 1982 fire in the
Colony Ballroom of the Stamp Student
Union, DeMarr keeps pieces of rubble
from the gutted room, There are two
metal pieces from the ballroom's lost
chandelier and a timber taken from what
had been the room's door.
A large part of DeMarr's collection
focuses on the union, where he has
worked as coordinator of public func-
tions since 1971. His job with the union
is his third stint at College Park. After
graduating from the university in 1949,
he taught overseas for three years with
University College programs before
returning to College Park to work for
four years as assistant dean of students.
In I960, he left the university to become
dean of students at C.W. Post College
and worked at New York State colleges
for 10 years before returning to take his
current post.
The Bull
The poster-sized photograph of the
bull found its way to DeMarr's office
some years ago when Room 1 1 28 in the
union was renovated. The meeting
room, known for many years as the Bull
Room, had been the home of the
photograph since 1954, the year the
union was built. The photograph was
donated by a student who had been
practicing his photographic skills on his
father's prize bulls.
Many of the photographs and portraits
in DeMarr's office have a similar back-
ground DeMarr adopted them, when,
for one reason or another, an owner was
ready to put them into either mothballs
or the trash.
More often than not, years after
DeMarr has taken in an historical waif,
somebody is suddenly interested in it-
even the bull.
"Three or four years ago a young
woman poked her head into my office
and said she wanted to see the bull,"
DeMarr says. ' 'I told her 1 never had
anybody ask me that before and she
said, 'I heard that if 1 came up here, 1
could see a picture of rav grandaddv's
bull.'"
The Queen's Day
DeMarr's memento of Queen Elizabeth
dates back to her 1953 coronation, but
his memory of her settles on an autumn
afternoon in !957. That's the day, as a
guest of the campus, Her Royal Highness
watched Maryland whip North Carolina
in a football game at Byrd Stadium,
"I should remember the score of that
game," he says apologetically. "I know it
was a two or three touchdown span."
As if to compensate for fumbling the
exact score, DeMarr adds other details
about the game.
"There was poetic justice in Mary-
land's win. Jim Tat urn was coaching
North Carolina, after having left here to
coach there. We weren't winning nearly
as much as when Tatum had been
here— but we beat him that day."
Nothing New Under the Sun
Whenever a seemingly new-fangled
idea circulates around College Park,
DeMarr's office is a place to check how
new it really is. Currently in vogue is the
idea of moving Spring Commencement
ceremonies outside onto McKeldin Mall.
DeMarr has a photograph of the 1 950
Commencement— an event held on a
sunny morning on McKeldin Mall. The
ceremony took place during a time
period when commencement was a well-
traveled event.
Traditionally, commencement had
been held at Ritchie Coliseum for all
graduating seniors from the entire Univer-
sity of Maryland. By the late 1940s,
however, the event had outgrown the
Coliseum.
For several years commencement was
held in the Fifth Regiment Armory in
Baltimore. (DeMarr received his diploma
there at the 1949 commencement.) In
1950, the event returned to College Park
for the outdoor ceremony.
When the Cole Field house was com-
pleted in 1955, commencement again
had an indoor home at College Park.
The Citation
In 1985, Prince George's County
executive Parris Glendening honored
DeMarr with a proclamation on the
289th anniversary of the founding of
Prince George's County.
"Whereas, Fred DeMarr is the consum-
mate historian— he is able to breathe life
into textbook references to people, pla-
ces and times, illustrating his total
Fred DeMarr in his office at Stamp Student Union
awareness that things past are prologue;
and
"Whereas, it is a worthwhile trip to
Freds library to witness his total recall
of where information is that you might
seek... and
"Whereas, this man's dedication to the
promotion of history includes spending
many hours handling tloods of requests
for authentic data on the county's
history...
Dillards Establish Fund for
Outstanding Economics
Students
Dudley Dillard, professor emeritus and
former Economics Department Chair
who served the university for 45 years,
and his wife, Louisa, have created a
fund, currently totalling 145,000, to
establish graduate fellowships and
undergraduate awards for outstanding
students in economics.
Maryland Project for
Women and Politics
Receives $25,000
The Maryland Project for Women and
Politics recently received $25,000 from
the Noxell Foundation Inc.
The Noxell Foundation will donate a
total of 8500,000 to the University of
Mary-land system over the next five
years.
Peter P. Lejins Research
Award Established
A research award has been established
in honor of Peter P. Lejins, founding
director of the Institute of Criminal
"I, Parris Glendening... do hereby com-
mend Fred DeMarr...for his lifelong
devotion and dedication to Prince
George's County."
With some minor alterations, the same
proclamation applies to DeMarr's service
to the University of Marvland at College
Park. ■
— Brian Busek
Justice and Criminology.
Lejins' work has influenced the correc-
tions and criminal justice fields for more
than 50 years.
The award will be presented annually
to a corrections professional whose
research has made significant contribu-
tions to the field.
The first recipient of the Lejins Award
is Lorraine T. Fowler, director of Re-
search and Information Management at
the South Carolina Department of Cor-
rections.
Bridwell to Speak at
NAWDAC Conference
Dr. Margaret Bridwell, director of the
Student Health Center, will he a major
speaker at the 1990 Conference of the
National Association for Women Deans,
Administrators and Counselors. The con-
ference will be held March 2 1 -24 in
Nashville, Tenn. Bridwell will discuss the
"Societal Puzzle of AIDS" and encourage
people to gain knowledge of the
disease's challenges to the world.
OcmooK
February 19, 1990
Mohrman Reflects on the Teaching of Undergraduates
Kathryn Mohrman
continued from page I
At this rate, it will take them at least
ten semesters to earn 120 credits and a
baccalaureate degree.
Of course, some students with family
and work responsibilities have a carefully
developed plan for part-time study. But
with the average registration at only 14
credits, too many of our undergraduates
are not taking a full academic load at the
beginning of the semester.
We have also discovered that earning
fewer than 12 credits a semester during
the freshman year is one of the best
predictors of dropping out. No wonder
our record is around 50 percent for
graduation within four years— much
lower than most of our peers.
Fact H-. In the fall semester, 285
students in the residence halls
earned a 4.0 GPA. The comparable
number last spring was I !5. Things are a
lot better than the comic strip "Hetlicott
Hall" would lead you to believe.
But there is also substantial room for
progress. President Kirwan has called for
improvements in the academic environ-
ment in the residence halls, with a set of
recommendations coming forth this
spring. If we are serious about making
College Park a stronger academic com-
munity, we need to improve the lives of
our students beyond the classroom
walls.
Fact #5: Every year hundreds of
undergraduates seek to work with
faculty on research. In the last 12
months, we have awarded 43 Senior
Summer Scholarships and 60
Undergraduate Apprenticeships— but the
number of applicants was three times the
number of awards.
Our students want to take part in the
discovery of new knowledge that is the
hallmark of a research university. Can
we find other ways in the classroom,
not just special scholarships, to share the
excitement of research and scholarship
with our undergraduates?
Fact #6: As of the first day of
classes this fall, nearly 10,000
names appeared on the waitlist for
classes. Even though all but 2,000 of
those students received their requested
courses by the end of schedule adjust-
ment, we have a serious problem of
course availability at College Park.
This fact remains even when you dis-
count a certain percentage for students
who don't want to take classes at 8 a.m.,
or won't come to campus on Fridays, or
didn't register properly the first time.
In some departments the crunch is so
bad that students routinely spend more
than four years to graduate because they
can't get required courses. The campus
is giving high priority to attacking these
problems with more resources, for
otherwise the Pease Report and the
Enhancement Plan cannot be realized.
But it won't be easy— these problems
developed over a number of years and
they cannot be solved overnight.
Fact #7: Only half the faculty and
students on this campus feel that
undergraduate teaching is good or
excellent at College Park. As part of
the Pease implementation process, ap-
proximately S{)\) undergraduates and 525
faculty responded last spring to surveys
about teaching. In addition to their low
overall estimate of teaching quality,
respondents noted that the "culture of
the campus" does not support
undergraduate teaching, and that the
morale of professors whose special
strength is teaching is poor because of
few rewards.
Among the reforms most highly en-
dorsed by faculty in the same survey:
Count teaching more heavily toward
merit raises (95% said this step would be
helpful]; count teaching more heavily
toward tenure and promotion (92.4%
agreed); and allow tenured faculty to
rotate between teaching or research ac-
cording to their interests and to be
rewarded accordingly (88% agreed).
Fact #8: The competition for FY90
course improvement funds
generated more than Sl.l million
worth of proposals— for only
$ 1 30,000 in grants. Professors on this
campus want to be good teachers, and
they respond enthusiastically to oppor-
tunities to do so. The faculty selection
committee was frustrated in having to
turn down fine proposals for im-
provements in undergraduate courses.
And the S 1 30,000 was a five-fold in-
crease in funding over the previous
year's allocation
One of the goals of the Pease Report
is the development of an effective
Center for Teaching Excellence which
will, among other activities, provide
substantial support to help new faculty
become good teachers and to encourage
good teachers to become even better.
Fact #9= In the next two decades,
the nation will need an estimated
half a million new professors. At
College Park, approximately one-third of
the faculty will retire before the year
2010. In the recent past it was con-
sidered irresponsible to encourage
undergraduates to pursue the academic
life; now it is essential.
We have an obligation to make a
lasting contribution to our disciplines by-
attracting our best students to the life of
the mind that we as faculty have en-
joyed. Serious attention to teaching will
assure that the best undergraduates today
will become the chemists and historians
and philosophers of tomorrow,
These nine facts tell a good news, bad
news story. More students and faculty
are giving attention to undergraduate
issues than ever before, but we still have
a long way to go before we reach the
goals of the Pease Report and the
Enhancement Plan. I challenge you to
help turn the next article in Outlook into
a list of nine new facts that indicate
achievement at College Park. ■
language Majors Will I
a New Eye on the Sky
Undergraduates IMrtg in the Language House will have direct access soon to television pro-
grams In Russian, Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese. A 7.3-meter dish antenna has been
erected near the North Intramural Playing Fields off Paint Branch Dirve. When completely in-
stalled and wired, the downlink will be able to receive international television broadcasts beamed
via satellite from the Soviet Union, Latin America, Canada and Italy, and a news feed in
Japanese from New York City to Tokyo. International TV programming received by the $100,000
dish will be available to other buildings tied into the campus cable television system as well as
to the St. Mary's Hall language dorm.
8 I