March/April 2002
COMPRESSION / Short Takes on Big Subjects
BUSH APPOINTS UHLFELDER
Steven J. Uhlfelder, a Tallahassee lawyer who is on the FSU Board
of Trustees, has been appointed by President George W. Bush to
serve on the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board for
a three-year term. The board makes policy for the Fulbright Program,
an international educational exchange program, and has the final
responsibility for selection of all recipients. Approximately
6,000 grants are awarded yearly.
"It is important now, more than ever, to ensure that our
country's brightest continue to have the opportunity to experience
intercultural education," Uhlfeld-er said.
JOANOS HONORED
Betty Lou Joanos received the 2001 Ross Oglesby Award at Homecoming
in November.
Joanos has been associate director of the FSU Alumni Association
since 1991. She has also been chairwoman of the Homecoming Steering
Commit-tee and liaison with 100 Seminole Clubs around the country.
"Dr. Joanos spends hundreds of hours outside of her regular
work hours and travels literally thousands of miles a year representing
the university," said Joy Beech of the Alumni Association.
Joanos received her doctorate in educational leadership from
FSU in 1985. She received a bachelor's in home economics in 1957
and went on to earn a master's in home economics education from
Florida A&M University in 1976.
FRIENDLIER SECURITY
A landmark of the FSU libraries, more despised by library users
and staff than lack of on-campus parking, disappeared Feb. 1,
and the library promises it will not return.
The security check desk, a Strozier Library fixture for more
than 45 years, was removed to make way for a new system, which
will also be used at Dirac Science Library.
The new system will meet American for Disabilities Act standards.
Another unique feature will be, when necessary, an automated
vocal request for patrons to return to the circulation desk.
"These new exit gates will add to the friendly and courteous
atmosphere we want to cultivate throughout the FSU Libraries,"
said Althea Jenkins, director of University Libraries.
LAZIER NOW AT ASOLO
Gil Lazier, former dean of the FSU School of Theatre, has become
director of the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training in
Sarasota.
As dean of the FSU School of Theatre (1982-99), Lazier led his
school to national prominence and received major awards for teaching
and service.
Lazier has acted professionally and directed dozens of productions,
including musicals, classics and world premieres in New York,
Florida and Russia.
He facilitated the exchange of students and faculty with the
Moscow Art Theatre and School and created the London Theatre
experience, a semester of study for students to work directly
with leading artists and teachers of the British stage.
The FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training is a three-year
graduate program culminating in a Master of Fine Arts degree.
FSU FILMS ON THE WEB
Films made by FSU students can now be played on your computer,
with a free download.
More than 60 of the best films from the School of Motion Picture,
Television and Recording Arts are on the school's Web site (http:
//filmschool.fsu.edu/). The films range from short undergraduate
documentaries to longer high production thesis films.
The school, created in 1989, has placed most of its graduates
in the motion picture industry.
ASKEW HONORED BY JAPAN
Former Florida Gov. Reubin Askew, an eminent scholar at Florida
State, has received the highest honor that Japan gives to non-Japanese
citizens.
His Majesty the Emperor of Japan Akihito named Askew the recipient
of the First Class Order of the Sacred Treasure for his success
at improving economic and trade relations between the United
States and Japan.
As Florida governor from 1971 to 1979, Askew and George Busbee,
governor of Georgia from 1974 to 1982, co-founded the Southeast
United States/Japan Association, which helped lure Japanese industry
and investments to Southeastern states and promote trade between
the two nations.
Japan's approximately $3.8 billion investments in Florida account
for about 11 percent of all foreign investments here.
WILLIAMS MODERNIZED
The $12.4-million renovation of the Williams Building was completed
last year-with DVD players, television feeds and Internet connections
that can be projected on screens.
The building was built in the late 1920s and was later named
for Arthur Williams, an early head of the history department.
Now it houses the English department, the American and Florida
Studies program and the restored Conradi Theater, used by the
theatre department.
Hunt Hawkins, chairman of the English department, has improved
the new courtyard, which now has a cappuccino and latte vendor
and can be used for skits and poetry readings.
BUILDING NAMED FOR KASHA
Florida State has renamed its Molecular Biophysics Building for
Michael Kasha, a biophysicist who founded FSU's Institute of
Molecular Biophysics in 1960 and was its director until 1980.
Kasha, best known for his work on lasers and chemical bonding,
has been called a "controversial freethinker" and "a
giant in his field."
"He was the first Floridian elected to the National Academy
of Sciences, the first Floridian to become an American Academy
of Arts and Sciences fellow and the first Floridian to serve
on the National Science Board," said Ross Ellington, current
director of the institute
CREATIVE WRITING
"Circuits," by FSU doctoral student Caimeen Garrett,
will be one of 15 short stories in the 2003 edition of "Best
New American Voices," an anthology published by Harcourt.
"No writing program has been included in more volumes of
this series than Florida State University," said FSU English
Professor Mark Winegardner, director of the Creative Writing
Program. "The only program to have been honored as many
times as FSU is the Iowa Writers' Workshop, perennially the top-ranked
program in the world."
HELPING DEPRESSED MOTHERS
Many pregnant women and new mothers suffer from depression, and
it can be dangerous.
To help that group of women, Florida State's Center for Early
Intervention and Prevention has a $700,000 grant from the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. The goal is to screen
and refer for treatment all such women in Gadsden County, where
the poverty rate is the highest in the state.
"The tragic event where a chronically depressed mother drowned
her five children should be a wake-up call to health-care providers
across the nation," said Mimi Graham, director of the center.
"We must help identify women who are depressed, particularly
mothers-not only for the benefit of the mom but because babies
can mimic the depressive symptoms of their mothers."
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