FEBRUARY/MARCH 2001
FSU CELEBRATES 150 YEARS
COMPLETE STORY
Music and song, skywriters and fireworks. Students, alumni,
faculty and staff crowding into Westcott Plaza. Mayors, sheriffs,
volunteers in period costumes re-enacting the significant events
of Florida State University's storied past. Fraternities and
sororities hosting exhibit booths. State senators and representatives.
Deans and dignitaries. Alumni and friends. They were all there
on January 24, 2001, to celebrate the university's 150th Birthday.
And a grand affair it was. History and human harmony mingled
to create an ambience of honor and pride on a sunny and mild
afternoon around the famous Westcott Fountain.
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Mowlam
FSU LECTURER BECOMES A HERO FOR IRISH PEACE
COMPLETE STORY
Great Britain's political weekly, The New Statesman, calls a one-time FSU lecturer - Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam - the most popular member of the ruling Labour Party, and the most popular political figure among the British public.
The New York Times' Warren Hoge reported two years ago that the popularity of "the famously unceremonious and outspoken Ms. Mowlam exceeds even that of Tony Blair ... the most popular Prime Minister in British history."
PIONEERS IN SPORTS AND THE FUN OF LEARNING
COMPLETE STORY
Lucy McDaniel
COMPLETE STORY
Howard Tibbals
Smith
FSU STUDENT BECAME A POPULAR LEADER IN FLORIDA
COMPLETE STORY
Veteran Florida politico and FSU graduate Jim Smith is a familiar figure around Tallahassee and across the Sunshine State.
But that wasn't always the case. In the late 1950s, long before he held two Cabinet posts (attorney general and secretary of state), Smith was a frightened FSU freshman, and he didn't know a soul.
"I didn't know anyone - not a single person," he says today in an almost incredulous tone. "It was a scary thought."
Although he was a Jacksonville native, Smith's formative years had been spent in Libya and Spain, where his father worked construction projects. By the time he returned to the United States for college, he had lost contact with most of his childhood friends.
Obado
MUSIC GRAD TEACHES
COMPLETE STORY
From the back side of the football field you can hear the final revelry - trumpets tooting, cymbals clashing and percussion pounding.
Thursday's band practice has ended. Students carrying instruments of various sizes and shapes strut across the field to greet their parents. Suddenly, from the back of the pack, a well-groomed young man emerges. He's the only one not carrying an instrument. He talks to students and waves to parents.
Meet Phil Obado, South Fork High School's new band teacher.
Ward
ARCHAEOLOGIST EXAMINES ANCIENT VESSELS
COMPLETE STORY
Cheryl Ward, an FSU nautical archaeologist, is examining several
of the world's most important ancient ships.
One is an almost intact 1,500-year-old wooden ship in the Black
Sea. Another is a huge ship that sank in the Red Sea off the
coast of Egypt 230 years ago. And another international attention-getter
is one of the oldest planked boats in the world - a 75-foot-long
boat discovered in Egypt as part of a funerary burial.
Ward is the principal investigator of four ancient shipwrecks discovered in Septem-ber in the Black Sea as part of a project led by Robert Ballard - the explorer who located the Titanic.
The National Geographic Society, which is sponsoring the Black Sea project, announced the discoveries in a news conference Nov. 2.
Weidner
LAW SCHOOL TOP RANKED
COMPLETE STORY
The FSU College of Law's administrative law faculty has been
rated among the nation's top eight "most outstanding"
in a recent ranking of American law schools.
The Education Quality Rankings al-so place the FSU law faculty's
scholarly productivity and impact among the nation's top 20 state
law schools in a number of categories.
Abele
FSU EXPERIENCING TREMENDOUS GROWTH
COMPLETE STORY
The changes at Florida State in the last three years are having
a tremendous impact - more than in 1947, when the university
exploded with growth, according to FSU Provost Larry Abele.
And Abele says the growth is more than economic, although the
money figures are astonishing.
Florida State is spending $400 million this year, including
$100 million of federal money supporting research.
That doesn't include what students and their parents spend.
And it doesn't include the 500 new members of the faculty who will be hired in the next five years to take care of a bigger, better qualified student body.
Turman
GRAD EXPLORES TITANIC FOR ARTIFACTS
COMPLETE STORY
Few have ventured among the lost souls and precious artifacts of the sunken Titanic. But Florida State graduate Michelle Turman has been there, and she went with a little bit of FSU in her hand and her heart.
As a member of the RMS Ti-tanic expedition, Turman carried an FSU-imprinted Styrofoam cup 12,545 feet down to the sunken wreckage.
"I thought wouldn't it be great if FSU was the first collegiate team to be part of the Titanic," Turman said.
THESE CHEERLEADERS STILL A TEAM
COMPLETE STORY
The love story of FSU grads Jon (pronounced Yon) and Barbra
Crum-packer starts with cheering.
"A fraternity brother dragged me out of bed one morning,"
Jon remembers. "He said, 'There are some DGs (Delta Gamma
sorority members) trying out for the cheerleading squad.' I thought
it was a good way to meet girls."
The pair dropped by the early practice, and Jon put his high-school gymnastic skills to use doing aerial stunts. His flying and flipping caught the attention of Barbra Atwood, a freshman from Lake City.
HOPING TO BE AN ACTOR, GRAD FINDS HIMSELF WRITING SCRIPTS
COMPLETE STORIES
When Steven Sears was a student in FSU's School of Theatre, he met a successful television professional and FSU grad, Chip Chalmers, director of shows like "Melrose Place," "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."
"Chip said if I was ever in L.A. to give him a call," Sears said. "I went and sat on the set of 'MASH,' where he was working. It was a great experience that I'll never forget. He didn't even have time to talk to me, but just being around the excitement made me want to be a part of the business."
OBITUARIES
COMPLETE STORIES
Dr. James H. Gapinsky
Dianne Parmer Smith