SEPTEMBER 2001

COMPRESSION - SHORT TAKES ON BIG SUBJECTS

Ancient artifacts

FSU underwater archaeologists have discovered a projectile point in the Gulf of Mexico that-at 12,000 calendar years old- may be the oldest artifact discovered anywhere on the underwater continental shelf.
"It's not that unusual to find a point like this on land, but to find it on the continental shelf is precedent setting," said anthropology Professor Michael Faught, director of the university's underwater archaeology summer field school.
Students and archaeologists made the discovery in July while excavating the ancient river channel of the modern Aucilla River. The team has found hundreds of other artifacts, such as spear points and knives, 5,000 to 10,000 calendar years old.

Student humanitarian

Monique King, a child development major, is FSU's 2001 President's Undergraduate Hu-manitarian of the Year.
The award honors campus volunteers who commit their time to service, make an impact on the community and develop service programs or policies.
King will represent FSU in competition for the Swearer National Humanitarian Award.
She was a nominee of the College of Human Sciences.
In December 2000, King received a B.S. degree with a major in Family and Child Sciences.

Fiction prize

A short story written by an FSU Pulitzer Prize-winning English professor was part of an entry that won an important honor in the magazine industry.
Eppes Professor Robert Olen Butler was given the National Magazine Award for Fiction for his short story "Fair Warning," with writers Rebecca Lee and Stacey Richter for their short stories, and Francis Ford Coppola's magazine, Zoetrope: All Story, which published all three. The annual award goes to three stories and the magazine they appeared in.
"The story began as a commission from Francis Ford Coppola," Butler said. "He wanted to have a story in his magazine about a female auctioneer after he saw Sharon Stone serve as an auctioneer one night at a charity auction."
Butler's story is the basis of Butler's new novel of the same name that will be published by Grove Press early next year.
Butler said the magazine competed against established magazines-The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, GQ and Esquire-that have won the award before.

Hunkiest husband

Frank Flynn is a 1983 grad of Florida State, a corporate sales rep for WFSU-TV/FM and the Florida State Times, an athlete and one of this year's 35 "hunkiest husbands in America."
He was nominated by his wife, Paige Flynn, and selected for the honor by Redbook Magazine. He and the 34 others are shown in the August issue of the magazine.
"I wrote an essay about how great he is," his wife said. "He should have won. I'm guessing a lot of the guys in there had a story like his."
Well, maybe.
Flynn, 41, has restored himself as a runner, water skier and mountain biker after a devastating motorcycle accident that crushed his heels in February.
After three months in a wheelchair and physical therapy, he limped, then ran and then raced, coming back as competitive as ever.

Sheriff is humane

Ken Jenne, sheriff of Broward County and a graduate of the FSU law school, was named Humanitarian of the Year by Nova Southeastern University.
The award, given by Nova's Center for Psychological Studies, recognizes outstanding contributions to human welfare.
Jenne's 4,500-member department has a $337-million budget.
The Broward Sheriff's Office has begun conducting child protective investigations for the state and now manages the Pretrial Release Program, formerly administered by Broward County.
Jenne's son, Evan, is pursuing a graduate degree in public policy at Florida State.

Gator or Nole?

One Florida State fan was a little surprised-but not unhappy-to hear that he had been appointed to the board of directors of the University of Florida.
Informed by a letter from the Florida secretary of state, Manny Fernandez, who writes contracts for the Hillsborough County Water Department, said he thought he could do a good job for the Gators "as long as they don't mind me wearing garnet and gold all the time."
"I've been an FSU booster since I was a kid," Fernandez, a graduate of the University of South Florida, told the Tampa Tribune. "I love the Noles."
He thought the governor might be looking for some balance for the UF board.
"I'm a Democrat, and in fact I have some fairly liberal leanings," he told the Tribune in late July. "I play in a band. It's called Shout, and we're over in Tarpon Springs this weekend."
But, as it turned out, the Noles fan wasn't the right Manny Fernandez.
"There is a Manny Fernandez who is chairman of Gartner Group, which is an international technology consulting firm," the Nole Fernandez found out. "And I noticed that that Manny Fernandez is a Gator alumnus who has been a big booster for years."
That's the Manny Fernandez who is the new UF trustee.

FSU called hot and trendy

A survey of high-school counselors landed Florida State in the top five ranking of "hot and trendy" schools being recommended for college-bound high school students.
High school counselors were surveyed for the "Kaplan/ Newsweek College Catalog 2002" released in July.
They cited "fun in the sun, amazing football and unlimited classes" at Florida State.
Others in the top five are New York University, Stanford, Ari-zona State and Duke.
The counselors also put FSU on the list for best value for the tuition dollar.

Wake-up call

FSU Headlines and other university-related programming on Sunshine Network starts 30 minutes sooner now. Beginning this month, FSU's Saturday time slot is slated for 7:30 a.m.
The time slots remain the same on Thursday (4:30 p.m.) and Friday (7:30 a.m.)

Emerging scholar

Melissa Gross, an assistant professor of information studies at Florida State, has been recognized as an "emerging scholar" by the American Association of University Women.
The annual award notes exceptional early accomplishments of an untenured woman scholar who shows promise of future distinction.
Gross, who came to FSU in 1999, was chosen for achievements in library and information studies, teaching and commitment to women's issues.
Her research focuses on how children seek information when they are given an assignment. She also studies the context used to provide sensitive information, such as about HIV and AIDS, to children and young adults.

Meteorology for girls

A group of FSU researchers has a National Science Foundation grant to make meteorology more attractive to middle school girls.
The researchers are installing weather gathering stations in 18 schools in Dade County.
"The goal is to involve middle school girls and science teachers in real science," said Alejandro Gallard, an associate professor of curriculum and instruction at FSU. He is the lead researcher.
Gallard-with Paul Ruscher, an associate professor of meteorology, and Maya Hernandez, a graduate student-will help middle school teachers improve their earth science curricula. They'll also teach teachers better ways to engage girls in science.
"When you look at science as a discipline, there is a huge drop-off in physical and earth science in terms of women not pursuing careers in these areas," Ruscher said.

Writing for TV

FSU School of Theatre alumnus and Academy Award winner Alan Ball has created a new television drama on HBO. Ball, who won an Oscar for writing the screenplay for 2000's Best Picture, "American Beauty," is the creator and executive producer of "6 Feet Under."

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