suMMer 2009 East The Magazine of easT Carolina UniversiTy The New Hands of Medicine vieWfinDer East suMMer 2009 The Magazine of easT Carolina UniversiTy FeAT ures 14 14 The neW hanDs of MeDiCine By Crystal Baity Health care once was delivered by a doctor, a nurse and maybe a pharmacist. Now many other specialists have joined them to deliver care focused not just on saving lives but making life better. 24 24 solving ProBleMs, seTTling in After nearly two years of work, By Steve Tuttle After leading East Carolina through the new fountain in Wright five years of frenetic growth, Chancellor Steve Ballard Circle is again welcoming students and visitors to the considered leaving Greenville. We talk with the chancellor heart of campus. Failing about his record and whether he’ll stay another five years. underground utilities forced the removal of the original MaDaM Mayor fountain dedicated in 1932 to 32 east Carolina’s first president, By Marion Blackburn After 30 years on the faculty and a robert Wright. A time-lapse film lifetime helping others, Pat Dunn starts a new job running chronicling construction of the City Hall. new fountain is available here. 36 36 WhaT an eCU engineer looKs liKe By Steve Row Paul Kauffmann designed a program focused on preparing students for real-world problems. 40 40 TraCK finDs iTs sTriDe By Bethany Bradsher It’s one of the largest sports teams on campus, with more than 90 athletes lining up against some of the top teams in the nation. But track lacks decent fields, so it can’t host home events. Still, records are falling. DePA rTMeNTs froM oUr reaDers . 3 The eCU rePorT . 4 sUMMer arTs CalenDar . 12 PiraTe naTion 44 Class noTes 45 UPon The PasT . 56 40142432 froM The eDiTor Steve Ballard It’s a Saturday night in a banquet room at the Greenville Hilton, and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon brothers are looking a bit stiff in their shirts and ties. You can tell they’re trying hard to impress all us parents gathered for this annual dinner, plus the fraternity has landed a boffo speaker, Chancellor Steve Ballard. The student serving as MC mangles a few lines, but gets nice applause when he recounts how the brothers raised $2,100 this year for charity. He introduces the chancellor, who rises to speak just as whoops and shouts erupt in the adjoining banquet room where some Mary Kay ladies are getting pumped up. Shouting to be heard, Ballard keeps his remarks brief and soon releases the brothers and their parents for the reception to follow. There’s a lot more gray in his hair now than when he arrived as chancellor five years ago, but Steve Ballard otherwise hasn’t changed much. He’s still harping on the same themes he raised at his installation. He still tells the same jokes, such as the lighthearted exchange he provokes every year with Terry Holland about pulling rank so he can play on the baseball team. A Pirate nation rattled by the embarrassing controversies of the Muse administration quickly became comfortable with Ballard’s steady hand, reassured by his consistent approach to running things. But this comfortable sameness was knocked akilter in January when he applied for the top job at Kansas State University. Days later, though, Ballard announced his intent to remain in Greenville. It was then that I called for an interview for the story that begins on page 24. East Carolina is a different place now than when Ballard arrived. Enrollment has exploded nearly 30 percent, the university budget has grown almost 40 percent and total employment to more than 5,000. Thirteen new or remodeled buildings have opened on Main Campus and an unprecedented expansion of the Health Sciences Campus is ongoing. Problems inevitably arose from that rapid growth and the record shows that Ballard solved problems methodically and moved forward. At his first faculty convocation he talked about the importance of finding the right people to “get on the bus” and help him steer East Carolina forward. Now, most of the top administrators and a majority of the deans are Ballard hires. There apparently are no glass ceilings on Ballard’s bus: Among his most visible appointments are three women and the first African-American to head a North Carolina medical school. Even as they give him high marks for effective leadership, many prominent Pirates privately wish Steve Ballard had a higher public profile. He’s been called “the Mike Easley of university chancellors” because he doesn’t show up for every university function. True, Steve Ballard isn’t a polished orator and he doesn’t crave the spotlight. He’s a sensible Midwesterner adjusting to beach music and barbecue. But given where ECU was then and is now, low-profile efficiency feels quite comfortable. suMMer 2009 East The Magazine of easT Carolina UniversiTy Volume 7, Number 4 East is published four times a year by East Carolina University Division of University Advancement 2200 South Charles Blvd. Greenville, NC 27858 h EDITOR steve Tuttle 252-328-2068 / tuttles@ecu edu ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER brent burch PHOTOGRAPHER Forrest Croce COPY EDITOR Jimmy rostar ’94 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Crystal baity, Marion blackburn, bethany bradsher, steve row, spaine stephens CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS rhett butler, Jay Clark, elaine Darby, Cliff Hollis, Jane spooner CLASS NOTES EDITOR Leanne elizabeth smith ’04 ’06 ecuclassnotes@ecu edu ADMINISTRATION Michelle sloan h ASSISTANT VICE CHANCELLOR FOR UNIVERSITY MARKETING Clint bailey East Carolina University is a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina. It is a public doctoral/ research intensive university offering baccalaureate, master’s, specialist and doctoral degrees in the liberal arts, sciences and professional fields, including medicine. Dedicated to the achievement of excellence, responsible stewardship of the public trust and academic freedom, ECU values the contributions of a diverse community, supports shared governance and guarantees equality of opportunity. ©2009 by East Carolina University froM oUr reaDers ANoTHer eCu beAuTy queeN Editor’s note: Here’s an update on the number of East Carolina students chosen as Miss North Carolina or Miss North Carolina USA, a topic that occupied this page in the previous two issues as we debated whether there have been six or seven of them. Well, now there are eight. Kristen Dalton, who was to graduate in May with degrees in psychology and Spanish, was crowned Miss North Carolina USA last November and Miss USA in April. She is a singer and dancer whose mother was Miss North Carolina USA in 1982. The 21-yearold aspiring motivational speaker from Wilmington beat out 50 other beauty queens in a live pageant televised nationally. The title comes with a year’s use of a New York apartment, a public relations team, a two-year scholarship at the New York Film Academy and an undisclosed salary. Dalton will go to the Bahamas in August to compete in the Miss Universe pageant. More oN MoNkeyPox Thanks for publishing the article about my research. It’s always nice to receive such recognition of my work. However, there was an error in the article [that] would probably only be noticed by microbiologists. The article states: “Brody School of Medicine microbiologist Dr. Rachel Roper is attracting national attention, and a major grant, for research that brings doctors a step closer to stopping the spread of monkeypox, a coronavirus that’s a cousin of smallpox.” This is correct except the word in bold, “coronavirus,” should be “poxvirus.” It is true that I work with both. —Rachel L. Roper, Ph.D. Brody Medical Sciences Editor’s note: Alert readers spotted two other errors in the Spring issue. James L. (Jim) Ratledge ’51 wrote from Charleston, S.C., to point out that we had the wrong date in a headline over the Timeline item about John Messick’s last year as president. That was 50 years ago, not 40, and Jim should know because that’s when he was a student here. We also got titles wrong in an Alumni Spotlight about a major scholarship gift from BB&T honoring W. Kendall Chalk ’68 ’71. Ken was BB&T’s chief credit officer, not chief financial officer, as was Henry Williamson ’69 ’72. The text in the online version of the magazine was corrected as soon as we learned of these errors, for which I apologize. read East online at www.ecu.edu/east How do I subscribe? send a check to the eCu Foundation, using the postage-paid reply envelope stuffed in every issue of the magazine . how much is up to you, but we suggest a minimum of $25 . your generosity is appreciated . n 252-328-9550 n www ecu edu/devt n give2ecu@ecu edu Join the Alumni Association and receive a subscription as well as other benefits and services Minimum dues are $35 . n 1-800-eCU-graD n www piratealumni com n alumni@Piratealumni com Join the Pirate Club and get the magazine as well as other benefits appreciated by sports fans Minimum dues are $75 . n 252-328-4540 n www ecupirateclub com n contact@ecupirateclub com Contact us n 252-328-2068 n easteditor@ecu edu n www ecu edu/east Customer service To start or stop a subscription, or to let us know about a change of address, please contact lisa gurkin, gurkinl@ecu edu or 252-328-9561 send letters to the editor to easteditor@ecu edu or 1206 Charles Blvd . Building 198 east Carolina University greenville, n C 27858 send class notes to ecuclassnotes@ecu edu or use the form on page 50 The eCU rePorTThe eCU rePorT bad economy good for tourism? The recession probably won’t hurt and may even help the tourism economy in eastern North Carolina, according to an ECU professor who says the coastal region is increasingly being seen as a more affordable—and closer by—alternative to destinations like Disney World. Speaking at a New Bern conference on sustainable tourism organized by ECU and several community partners, Jim Kleckley, director of ECU’s Bureau of Business Research, said the region appeals to travelers who want to venture away from home, but not as far as in better days. “What is good for us is that gas is down, and because of the economy, we expect to be a big draw for people in other parts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. We have historical sites that they can see with a day’s drive, and our beaches are different than the ones in Myrtle Beach.” Kleckley said national trends indicate that consumers are cutting back on big-ticket items first—cars, appliances—but “they are still going to shopping centers; they are still going out to eat. Maybe not as often, but they are. The discretionary spending is still there.” Kleckley thinks this is the year that eastern North Carolina sees a different kind of tourist: one who has never considered vacationing here. “We’re seeing a shift right now, though we can’t exactly define it,” he said. “But this is the time when a tourist who Jay Clark Dozens of construction management students gave up their spring break to labor on 12-hour shifts helping build a new home for aJamesville family featured on AbC’s Extreme Makeover: Home EditionTVshow.The75to80eCustudentswereamongmorethan1,000 volunteerswhogavetheirtimebuildingthehomeforadecoratedanddisabledGulfWarveteran.Themostimpressivepartofthisis themagnitudeofit,saidJerryLangston,asenioreCustudentinconstructionmanagement.It’snotthefactthatwerebuildingahuge house.It’sthefactthatthereisacoordinatedeffortofpeoplewhoarevolunteeringtheirtimeanddoingwhatshouldbea16to24week project in 106 hours or less.” The Jamesville episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was scheduled to air on AbC in early May. would normally go to Europe isn’t going, or when a family that would normally go to Disney World every year isn’t going. “Instead, for the first time, a person who has never thought about eastern North Carolina is really intrigued by the idea of renting a beach house for a few days and then tooling around the region to see what he can find. We are the alternative to Disney World.” Culture thrives amid recession Even though its financial support from the university is dropping precipitously, East Carolina’s S. Rudolph Alexander Performing Arts Series is in the black and planning another impressive season for next school year. Cost cutting and increased fund-raising have kept the series in decent financial shape, according to Jeffrey Elwell, dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication that manages the program. “We looked more closely at the bottom line for ways to clamp down on spending,” says Elwell, who also serves as the series’ producer, chief financial officer and principal booking negotiator. “We also secured more than $94,000 in grant support from external agencies.”Those moves have about offset declines in subsidies from the university, which come from reallocated funds. During the 2006–07 season, the subsidy was $125,000; the next year it dropped to $100,000, and for the season just ended, it was $75,000. For the new season starting this fall, the university contribution will be just $23,000. Other campus cultural programs are cutting back, though. Tighter budgets are behind the decision by the ECU/Loessin Summer Theatre series to produce only one, instead of the usual two or three, summer stage productions. To make up for that a bit, the one stage production on campus this summer, Big River, a musical adapted from Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, will have more than the usual number of performances—12—during its June 16–27 run. (See the Summer Arts Calendar, page 12.) There may be a silver lining in this gray cloud. “We have found out that the fees have not gone up, because many venues have less money to spend, and if the artists want to perform, they must adjust their fees,” Elwell says. “In some respects, the economy is helping us.” ECU’s premier cultural series is named for S. Rudolph Alexander ’52 ’53, who worked here from 1962 to 1995 as associate dean of student activities and director of student unions. In his first year on the job he booked a string of highbrow performers and acclaimed musical groups as a way to bring some culture to campus. Over the years the series has showcased a number of symphony orchestras, world-class musicians and several opera and Broadway productions. Actress Dame Judith Anderson, comedienne Carol Channing and public radio star Garrison Keillor have appeared here as part of the series. When Alexander retired, management of the series shifted to the Division of Student Life. At the time the program had a surplus of about $200,000. But without Alexander at the helm the series lost focus and patrons; annual operating deficits ate up the surplus. In 2005, supervision of the series shifted to the College of Fine Arts and Communication, where it seems to be thriving. The series patrons’ board remains active in helping plan programs and day to-day management is running smoothly under Michael Crane, the assistant dean who became artistic director and co-producer of the series in January. “We’ve run in the black since we’ve started, and we still bring in world-class artists,” Crane says. Crane says Alexander series programs typically average about 60 percent capacity of Wright Auditorium’s nearly 1,500 seats, although some programs sell out. The series also adds occasional special programs—Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion last season is an example—and has sponsored dinner and discussions with visiting performers. The new fall season continues the tradition of offering a range of entertainment events, with performances by the Oxford Philomusica from the University of Oxford, the Moscow State Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Otero Dance Company, the Chuck Davis African American Dance Ensemble, the St. Lawrence String Quartet plus one of the medal winners in the annual Van Cliburn Piano Competition. Also on the playbill are the a cappella singing group Chanticleer and the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). Elwell and Crane now are turning their attention to the 50th anniversary season in 2012–13. “We’d love to get more household-name attractions, someone like Yo-Yo Ma,” Crane says. —Steve Row Jane spooner The eCU rePorT Cliff hollis Finding history where raleigh lost his head If you’re a big fan of Sir Walter Raleigh or his map-making buddy, Thomas Harriot, then the Tower of London was the place to be when 24 of the world’s leading scholars of the two explorers, including several from East Carolina, gathered there in January. Coordinated by ECU and St. John’s College at the University of Cambridge, the Raleigh Research Circle, as the 24 scholars are known, came to the Tower of London because that’s where Raleigh spent the last 15 years of his life and where he wrote the first volume of Historie of the World in 1614. “We were very fortunate that all of the Raleigh scholars we contacted—whether in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Germany or France—were eager to participate in this new endeavor,” says ECU professor Larry Tise, co-organizer of the conference. “This was probably the largest gathering of Raleigh aficionados…since the day he was beheaded in the Old Palace Yard at Westminster in London on Oct. 29, 1618.” Raleigh’s works were last published as a whole in 1829. After two days of conferences, a consensus emerged that a new analysis of the explorer’s writings and works is needed and could be timed for the 400th anniversary of Historie of the World in 2014. ECU professor Frank Romer, chair of the Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, will serve as general editor of the project. Harriot, for whom the ECU College of Arts and Sciences is named, was Raleigh’s accountant, ship designer and cartographer. When two of Harriot’s trainees returned with Raleigh from his first voyage to the New World in 1584 with two captured natives, Manteo and Wanchese, Harriot attempted to learn the Algonkian language from them, even devising a phonetic alphabet for the language. The next year, the 25-year-old Harriot served as cartographer for Raleigh’s second expedition to Virginia and helped establish a small colony on Roanoke Island in the Pamlico Sound. In 1588 Harriot recounted his experiences and observations in A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia—the first book in English about the New World. It’s getting tough to get into eCu It’s getting harder and harder to get into East Carolina. Higher admission standards adopted by the Board of Trustees last fall are kicking in at the same time as a surge in the number of freshman applications. The roughly 18,500 who applied for the fall compares to 15,664 applicants last year, an 18 percent jump. “It means that admission to ECU has become more competitive,” said director of enrollment management Judi Bailey. “While we have grown in applications, we have not grown in capacity for classrooms or new faculty or additional residence hall space. We are having to admit from the top of the applications.” The projected grade point averages and SAT scores of applicants also are increasing. Last year, the average SAT of students admitted was 1,046. This fall, the average SAT score is projected to be 1,075. The average predicted GPA of admitted freshmen last fall was 2.71; this year, the number is expected to be 2.75. These increases indicate that more students will survive freshman year and remain to graduate, Bailey said, which bodes well for the university’s goal of reducing the number of students who drop out. The university had to lease rooms from local apartment complexes last fall to house 300 students from the largest incoming freshman class in school history, roughly 4,500 students. Officials say it is likely that they will have to do that again this fall. ECU also has moved its acceptance date back to May 1. Until this year, ECU has admitted students all the way up to the first day of class. —Greenville Daily Reflector stadium expansion on hold The plan to enlarge Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and add private suites has not fallen victim to the struggling economy, but the Pirate Club, which is backing the plan financially, definitely has adopted a wait and see attitude. Jimmy Bass, senior associate director of athletics for external operations, said a decision about the stadium fund-raising campaign will be made this summer, after officials gauge Pirate Club gifts in the first half of 2009 and the number of season tickets sold for the fall season. “We’re continuing with planning and design, and depending on the economy, we’ll make a decision in the summer about whether to begin,” Bass says. Fund raising and season tickets serve as a barometer as to whether the expansion plan adopted a year ago should go on as scheduled, with groundbreaking this December. Already, the plan has been scaled back to take out the 24 luxury boxes that were planned above an enclosed east end zone. Without the suites, east end zone seating capacity rises from 4,500 to 7,000, which would push total capacity of the stadium to 54,700. Plans for a second expansion of Dowdy- Ficklen, including a new press box and other work on the south side of the stadium, have been postponed indefinitely, Bass says. The other major capital campaign afoot in the athletics department, the Olympic sports facilities expansion plan, will begin as scheduled in June when construction starts on a new softball stadium. Financed through gifts and an annual student debt service fee, the improvements also include new facilities for the track, soccer and tennis teams. —Bethany Bradsher retired teacher donates $1.5M The late Geraldine “Gerry” Mayo Beveridge ’39, who taught home economics for Carteret County Schools for 40 years, left $1.5 million to East Carolina for scholarships for graduates of four high schools in that area. Beveridge, who died last year, bequeathed $1.5 million to East Carolina establish the scholarship in the name of her husband, Captain David L. Beveridge. The scholarships will be awarded to students from Ocracoke, New Bern, Pamlico and East Carteret high schools. “We are very honored and humbled at ECU to receive this generous award from Mrs. Beveridge,” said Greg Abeyounis, ECU assistant vice chancellor for development. “As The Golden Corral restaurant chain and its Ceo, James Maynard ’65, donated a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen where a new generation of chefs will study. The center in the rivers building will be used by hospitality management and nutrition students and for cooking classes open to the public. Chef instructor Jacueline de Chabert-rios said the new center is a giant improvement from the 1970s-style kitchen the department did have. The Golden Corral Culinary Center features eight cooking stations with convection ovens and gas ranges similar to what students will encounter when they graduate and begin working for resorts and hotels, she said. eCu has the largest hospitality management program in the state and offers three tracks for students: food and beverage, lodging and convention/event planning. 89The eCU rePorTa retired teacher from eastern North Carolina she knew how important education was to this region and believed her alma mater was the best place for deserving students to receive a college education.” Beveridge also made bequests to Carteret Community College. eCu loses a governorEast Carolina has dropped from three to two alumni serving on the UNC Board of Governors. J. Craig Souza ’71 of Raleigh, executive director of the N.C. Health Care Facilities Association, completed a third four- year term on the board and was not eligible for reappointment. There were no ECU alumni among the new Board of Governors members elected this spring by the General Assembly, although current member Phil Dixon ’71 was reelected by the Senate for a second term. The other remaining ECU member of the Board of Governors is Charles Hayes ’71 ’74, executive director of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, whose current term ends in 2011. ECU Board of Trustees Chairman Bob Grecyzn ’73, whose term ends in July, was nominated in the Senate for one of the eight seats that chamber fills on the Board of Governors but he withdrew at the last moment. There were no ECU alumni nominated in the House for the eight seats that chamber fills on the board. Board of Governors member Dudley E. Flood of Raleigh, former executive director of the N.C. Association of School Administrators and a graduate of N.C. A&T, holds a master’s degree from East Carolina. College affiliation is not supposed to be a consideration for election to the 32-member Board of Governors; some of the smaller campuses do not have any alumni currently serving. Graduates of UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State University represent a large majority of the board. Dixon and others say they are concerned more broadly with the fact that only five of the 32 board members live east of I-95. Wachovia gift helps teachersEast Carolina’s Second Century Campaign has raised $130.5 million toward its $200 million goal. Among recent gifts, the Wachovia Foundation donated $75,000 to provide additional funding for Wachovia Partnership East, a program that joins university and community college resources to educate teachers in eastern North Carolina. This contribution supplements Wachovia’s $1.25 million gift in 2004, one of the largest corporate gifts ever to the university. “The Wachovia Partnership East is a natural extension of our commitment to improving education,” said Tim Ballance, Greenville market president and senior vice president, Wachovia Bank. “We believe providing a quality education to all children is one of the most significant issues facing our country. This program takes a unique long- term approach to address this challenge by partnering with area colleges to build a talent pool of teachers for our communities. We are pleased to support Wachovia Partnership East and are excited about the positive impact this program is having in our region.” Wachovia Partnership East eases the logistics of earning a degree for students throughout eastern North Carolina by enabling them to take classes close to their homes. Through 19 community colleges, one private two- year college, one U.S. Air Force Base, and 37 public schools, Wachovia Partnership East provides an education to people who might not have access to a degree program otherwise. Candidates complete the first two years of a four-year degree at one of the partnering community colleges and complete the second half of the program by taking ECU courses through one of the consortia hub sites. “Wachovia Partnership East was designed to impact the teacher shortage in the rural communities of North Carolina,” said Dr. Chris Locklear, on-campus coordinator, Wachovia Partnership East, and assistant director, Enrollment Management. “By recruiting individuals who are rooted in these communities and providing them with access to high-quality degree-completion programs, we are creating a local pool of teachers.” Since the program’s inception in 2002, more than 193 students have earned degrees through Wachovia Partnership East. An additional 29 students will graduate in summer 2009. “Last semester we had three graduates who worked together as paraprofessionals for Clinton City Schools,” said Locklear. “All three were nontraditional students and all three proved that having full-time jobs, being place bound, having financial needs, and fulfilling family responsibilities do not have to be barriers. Through the support of their families, the school system, and each other, they achieved their goal of becoming a classroom teacher.” “We are grateful for the Wachovia Foundation and Wachovia Bank’s support of Wachovia Partnership East,” said Mickey Dowdy, ECU vice chancellor for University Advancement. “The program’s success making professional development and educational opportunities easily accessible is a great example of a successful public-private partnership.” Each contribution, whether large or small, has a direct impact on East Carolina University. Contributions to the Second Century Campaign may be designated for the program, college, school, scholarship or endowment of your choice. For more information about how you can support the Second Century Campaign, please call 252- 328-9550 or visit www.ecu.edu/devt. Cyberknife aids cancer treatmentA new cancer-treatment tool at the Brody School of Medicine attacks tumors with nearly exact precision, making treatments more convenient and comfortable for patients. The CyberKnife, which began operation at the Leo W. Jenkins Cancer Center in February, targets tumors using high doses of radiation from a linear particle accelerator and a robotic arm that delivers the radiation beam to any part of the body from any angle. The CyberKnife System is the world’s first and only robotic radiosurgery system designed to noninvasively treat tumors throughout the body. The CyberKnife is a pain-free, nonsurgical option that causes minimal damage to healthy tissue near a tumor; it also can adapt to movement of the patient or the tumor. Because the machine can adjust to such movements, patients are more comfortable and less confined during the treatments, which can last as little as 30 minutes of actual radiation. Patients can relax and breathe normally during treatments while the CyberKnife uses image guidance software to track and continually adjust treatment. The CyberKnife can also treat benign tumors or other conditions anywhere in the body. “The CyberKnife is critical for several reasons,” said Dr. Ron Allison, professor and chair of radiation oncology at the Brody School of Medicine and director of the cancer center. “First, in a rural population many cancer patients are so far from a radiation oncology clinic that they won’t get treatment. They can’t make the 10–45 visits required due to distance, gas costs and being away from home. For most of these patients, the CyberKnife is able to treat in one to five visits.” The precision with which the CyberKnife targets tumors gives patients new hope for cancer treatment and cure. Some patients even feel less pain from their tumors after a CyberKnife treatment, which indicates that the radiation worked. Depending on his or her treatment plan, a patient may return over several days for more CyberKnife sessions. ECU could potentially perform 500 treatments yearly using the CyberKnife. One of four such systems in North Carolina, ECU’s CyberKnife also can be used as an educational tool for physicians, medical students and radiation therapists. The technology for the CyberKnife was conceived in 1990 by Dr. John Adler of Stanford University, and is sold by Accuray of Sunnyvale, Calif. —Spaine Stephens Cliff hollisThe average salary for an East Carolina professor rose to $96,700 this academic year from $94,900 last year, an increase of less than 2 percent, according to the annual survey conducted by the American Association of University Professors. That is the lowest average pay for professors among the five doctoral institutions in the UNC system. The national average salary for professors at doctoral institutions this year is $118,400, an increase of 3.4 percent over last year, the association said in its annual report. Faculty members additionally receive, on average, insurance and other job benefits worth nearly $22,000. The association said it collected the salary and benefit information in the fall of 2008, before the recession forced many universities to consider layoffs, furloughs and other cuts impacting faculty members’ incomes. The average salary of ECU associate professors this year was $76,200; it was $67,300 for assistant professors and $57,000 for instructors. Over the past six years, the AAUP’s surveys have shown that the growth in average faculty salaries has barely exceeded inflation or failed to keep pace. Professors’ pay rises 2 percentProfessor salaries CreePUPwardSchool 2003–04 2007–08 2008–09 Changeeast Carolina$ 79,700 $ 94,900$ 96,70021.3% n C state90,900 110,800114,30025 7% UnC Chapel hill106,300138,500142,70034 2% UnC Charlotte84,000 105,000109,80030 7% UnC greensboro81,400 103,200109,30034 3% Source: American Association of University Professors9The eCU rePorTa retired teacher from eastern North Carolina she knew how important education was to this region and believed her alma mater was the best place for deserving students to receive a college education.” Beveridge also made bequests to Carteret Community College. eCu loses a governorEast Carolina has dropped from three to two alumni serving on the UNC Board of Governors. J. Craig Souza ’71 of Raleigh, executive director of the N.C. Health Care Facilities Association, completed a third four- year term on the board and was not eligible for reappointment. There were no ECU alumni among the new Board of Governors members elected this spring by the General Assembly, although current member Phil Dixon ’71 was reelected by the Senate for a second term. The other remaining ECU member of the Board of Governors is Charles Hayes ’71 ’74, executive director of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, whose current term ends in 2011. ECU Board of Trustees Chairman Bob Grecyzn ’73, whose term ends in July, was nominated in the Senate for one of the eight seats that chamber fills on the Board of Governors but he withdrew at the last moment. There were no ECU alumni nominated in the House for the eight seats that chamber fills on the board. Board of Governors member Dudley E. Flood of Raleigh, former executive director of the N.C. Association of School Administrators and a graduate of N.C. A&T, holds a master’s degree from East Carolina. College affiliation is not supposed to be a consideration for election to the 32-member Board of Governors; some of the smaller campuses do not have any alumni currently serving. Graduates of UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State University represent a large majority of the board. Dixon and others say they are concerned more broadly with the fact that only five of the 32 board members live east of I-95. Wachovia gift helps teachersEast Carolina’s Second Century Campaign has raised $130.5 million toward its $200 million goal. Among recent gifts, the Wachovia Foundation donated $75,000 to provide additional funding for Wachovia Partnership East, a program that joins university and community college resources to educate teachers in eastern North Carolina. This contribution supplements Wachovia’s $1.25 million gift in 2004, one of the largest corporate gifts ever to the university. “The Wachovia Partnership East is a natural extension of our commitment to improving education,” said Tim Ballance, Greenville market president and senior vice president, Wachovia Bank. “We believe providing a quality education to all children is one of the most significant issues facing our country. This program takes a unique long- term approach to address this challenge by partnering with area colleges to build a talent pool of teachers for our communities. We are pleased to support Wachovia Partnership East and are excited about the positive impact this program is having in our region.” Wachovia Partnership East eases the logistics of earning a degree for students throughout eastern North Carolina by enabling them to take classes close to their homes. Through 19 community colleges, one private two- year college, one U.S. Air Force Base, and 37 public schools, Wachovia Partnership East provides an education to people who might not have access to a degree program otherwise. Candidates complete the first two years of a four-year degree at one of the partnering community colleges and complete the second half of the program by taking ECU courses through one of the consortia hub sites. “Wachovia Partnership East was designed to impact the teacher shortage in the rural communities of North Carolina,” said Dr. Chris Locklear, on-campus coordinator, Wachovia Partnership East, and assistant director, Enrollment Management. “By recruiting individuals who are rooted in these communities and providing them with access to high-quality degree-completion programs, we are creating a local pool of teachers.” Since the program’s inception in 2002, more than 193 students have earned degrees through Wachovia Partnership East. An additional 29 students will graduate in summer 2009. “Last semester we had three graduates who worked together as paraprofessionals for Clinton City Schools,” said Locklear. “All three were nontraditional students and all three proved that having full-time jobs, being place bound, having financial needs, and fulfilling family responsibilities do not have to be barriers. Through the support of their families, the school system, and each other, they achieved their goal of becoming a classroom teacher.” “We are grateful for the Wachovia Foundation and Wachovia Bank’s support of Wachovia Partnership East,” said Mickey Dowdy, ECU vice chancellor for University Advancement. “The program’s success making professional development and educational opportunities easily accessible is a great example of a successful public-private partnership.” Each contribution, whether large or small, has a direct impact on East Carolina University. Contributions to the Second Century Campaign may be designated for the program, college, school, scholarship or endowment of your choice. For more information about how you can support the Second Century Campaign, please call 252- 328-9550 or visit www.ecu.edu/devt. Cyberknife aids cancer treatmentA new cancer-treatment tool at the Brody School of Medicine attacks tumors with nearly exact precision, making treatments more convenient and comfortable for patients. The CyberKnife, which began operation at the Leo W. Jenkins Cancer Center in February, targets tumors using high doses of radiation from a linear particle accelerator and a robotic arm that delivers the radiation beam to any part of the body from any angle. The CyberKnife System is the world’s first and only robotic radiosurgery system designed to noninvasively treat tumors throughout the body. The CyberKnife is a pain-free, nonsurgical option that causes minimal damage to healthy tissue near a tumor; it also can adapt to movement of the patient or the tumor. Because the machine can adjust to such movements, patients are more comfortable and less confined during the treatments, which can last as little as 30 minutes of actual radiation. Patients can relax and breathe normally during treatments while the CyberKnife uses image guidance software to track and continually adjust treatment. The CyberKnife can also treat benign tumors or other conditions anywhere in the body. “The CyberKnife is critical for several reasons,” said Dr. Ron Allison, professor and chair of radiation oncology at the Brody School of Medicine and director of the cancer center. “First, in a rural population many cancer patients are so far from a radiation oncology clinic that they won’t get treatment. They can’t make the 10–45 visits required due to distance, gas costs and being away from home. For most of these patients, the CyberKnife is able to treat in one to five visits.” The precision with which the CyberKnife targets tumors gives patients new hope for cancer treatment and cure. Some patients even feel less pain from their tumors after a CyberKnife treatment, which indicates that the radiation worked. Depending on his or her treatment plan, a patient may return over several days for more CyberKnife sessions. ECU could potentially perform 500 treatments yearly using the CyberKnife. One of four such systems in North Carolina, ECU’s CyberKnife also can be used as an educational tool for physicians, medical students and radiation therapists. The technology for the CyberKnife was conceived in 1990 by Dr. John Adler of Stanford University, and is sold by Accuray of Sunnyvale, Calif. —Spaine Stephens Cliff hollisThe average salary for an East Carolina professor rose to $96,700 this academic year from $94,900 last year, an increase of less than 2 percent, according to the annual survey conducted by the American Association of University Professors. That is the lowest average pay for professors among the five doctoral institutions in the UNC system. The national average salary for professors at doctoral institutions this year is $118,400, an increase of 3.4 percent over last year, the association said in its annual report. Faculty members additionally receive, on average, insurance and other job benefits worth nearly $22,000. The association said it collected the salary and benefit information in the fall of 2008, before the recession forced many universities to consider layoffs, furloughs and other cuts impacting faculty members’ incomes. The average salary of ECU associate professors this year was $76,200; it was $67,300 for assistant professors and $57,000 for instructors. Over the past six years, the AAUP’s surveys have shown that the growth in average faculty salaries has barely exceeded inflation or failed to keep pace. Professors’ pay rises 2 percentProfessor salaries CreePUPwardSchool 2003–04 2007–08 2008–09 Changeeast Carolina$ 79,700 $ 94,900$ 96,70021.3% n C state90,900 110,800114,30025 7% UnC Chapel hill106,300138,500142,70034 2% UnC Charlotte84,000 105,000109,80030 7% UnC greensboro81,400 103,200109,30034 3% Source: American Association of University Professors The eCU rePorT old films decay, history is lost More than 1,000 reels of black and white film shot at campus events in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s are slowly but surely disintegrating in the Joyner Library archives. Most are movies of mundane activities but some are truly surprising, such as the one showing Edward R. Murrow as the 1963 commencement speaker. And as each aging spool of film becomes brittle, cracks and decays, University Archivist and Records Manager Kacy Guill knows a little bit of ECU history is lost. “We have just stacks and stacks of these old reels of mostly 16 millimeter film and all of them will decay beyond any use unless we preserve them chemically and then digitize them so they can be opened to academic research,” Guill says. The only film that has been preserved that way, she adds, is the one of the 1970 Marshall football game shot from the press booth. It was a gift from the studio that produced the movie We Are Marshall about the tragic plane crash following the game. The studio used brief segments from the film in the movie and returned a preserved, digitized copy. In the stacks are an early 1960s instructional film for drivers ed teachers, movies of homecoming parades, and countless football games and other sports events. A good many show Leo Jenkins bestowing awards, accepting donations and glad-handing visiting dignitaries. Other boxes contain reels of educational shows produced by East Carolina in the early days of using television for distance education. With no money budgeted to pay for the preservation work, Guill is applying for state and federal grants. “This isn’t terribly expensive. I would guess that it would take $1,000 or less per film,” she says. Step one of the preservation process is simply to remove the film from the metal spools and substitute plastic ones. Metal spools rust over time and the iron oxide degrades the film. Step two is bathing the film in a special chemical that makes it pliable and preserves the images. Finally, the film is fed into a computer to digitize each frame. “We have a little of everything here,” says Guill as she gestures toward row upon row of boxes stored in the University Archives stacks on the third floor of Joyner Library. “This is a window into the past, and all of it is slowly but surely decaying.” 80 80 eAsT CAroLINA TIMeLINe yeArs AGo 60yeArs AGo kacy Guill budget ax about to fall East Carolina is preparing for an additional 7 percent cut in state funding for the fiscal year beginning July 1, a loss of roughly $25 million that would trim operating budgets throughout the campus and eliminate 137 jobs, including 73 faculty members. The university had managed to avoid layoffs when, at the direction of UNC President Erskine Bowles, it trimmed spending by $20.6 million in the current fiscal year as the recession took hold, but officials said that job losses now are all but inevitable because salaries are 80 percent of the budget. In budget planning documents ECU submitted to the Board of Governors, achieving a 7 percent cut in spending would require eliminating 119 positions on Main Campus, including 63 faculty positions; and 28 positions on the Health Sciences Campus, including 10 faculty positions. Among the staff positions eyed for elimination are jobs in housekeeping, landscaping, accounting, administrative support and environmental health and training. Also on the chopping block are a few top administrative posts, including a position in the dean of students’ office. The plan envisions the loss of 23 graduate assistants with a corresponding decrease of 46 lab sections. 40 40 yeArs AGo Reducing faculty will result in larger classes, particularly for freshmen and sophomores. The cuts also will impact staffing for student recruitment, administrative and technology support for the faculty, and academic advising. The School of Nursing would have to cut the number of students seeking undergraduate and graduate degrees by 15 percent, according to information ECU submitted to the Board of Governors. The medical school clinic would have to reduce its operating hours. The book budget for the Laupus Library would be cut nearly in half. The plan also anticipates sharply reduced funding, or possibly even the elimination, of two centers on campus, the Institute for Coastal Science and Policy and the Center for Security Studies and Research. Degree programs serving just a few students may well be eliminated. ECU has had a hiring freeze for months now; spending on travel and other nonessentials has been eliminated. Bowles is asking legislators not to cut the university budget by more than 5 percent and that all of it be taken from nonrecurring funds. He also wants each campus to be given wide latitude in implementing the cuts. Bowles said that a 7 percent cut would force the elimination of 1,600 jobs at the 16 UNC campuses. The gleam fades Campus catches football fever student transit begins herbert e . austin, the first Construction of east Carolina’s an activist student faculty member hired by first real football venue, government association leads President robert Wright College stadium, begins in an effort to start a campus and his right-hand man for the summer of 1949 and the bus system, and persuades 20 years, dies in 1929 at age 2,000-seat facility hosts its students in a referendum to 63 . a popular professor, he first home game that fall, a direct $1 50 of their activity was head of the science 24-0 victory over the Cherry fees to pay for it . in March Department and coached Point Marines . leo Jenkins 1969, two rented buses start the girls’ basketball team is inaugurated at College cruising campus and nearby for many years . he famously stadium in May 1960 in what shopping areas from 7:30 a m . inspired students to follow was then the biggest crowd to 4 p m . one route swings their dreams by reading in school history . located just around the main campus to Tennyson’s “Merlin and the north of where the Brewster Minges Coliseum and through gleam,” always stressing the Building now stands, College the boys’ dorms; the other poem’s last stanza, “follow the gleam ” it became an anthem read at stadium is used just 13 route runs through the main graduation exercises from the 1920s to the early 1940s . Upon austin’s seasons, replaced by the much campus and the girls’ dorms . death, the administration building is named for him; “old austin,” as larger ficklen stadium in 1962 . The buses are so popular that it became known, was demolished in 1968 . a third one is soon added . 30 30 yeArs AGo The budget that Gov. Beverly Perdue submitted to the General Assembly does include an increase of $4 million for East Carolina to offset the losses sustained by the medical school practice plan in providing indigent care. Last year, East Carolina provided more than $9.5 million worth of medical care to patients who could not pay. State appropriations account for 35 percent of East Carolina’s budget, or about $268 million last fiscal year. Student tuition and fees account for 16 percent of revenue and those will be going up again this fall. Tuition for in-state students will rise 1.9 percent, or $71, an increase that comes on the heels of a 2.8 percent increase last year. That’s less than the average 3.9 percent increase authorized for the 16 UNC campuses. The student athletics fee will go up $15 to $496, the health services fee will rise $10 to $230 but the student activity fee will remain the same at $593. ECU also raised the cost of graduate school in the College of Business by $720 a year, to $4,795 a semester, and the Brody School of Medicine by $1,000 a year, to $8,213 a semester. Tuition for out-of-state undergraduates will rise 2.8 percent to $13,325 a semester. Medical school tuition for new out-of-state students will be $33,203 a semester. brody rises four years after the legislature appropriated $43 million for a new medical school building at east Carolina and two years after the first med students enrolled, construction begins in March 1979 on a nine-story building adjacent to Pitt County Memorial hospital . it opens in mid-1982 . gifts from the Brody family help the fledgling med school grow, support that eventually reaches $22 million by 2000 when it’s renamed the Brody school of Medicine . At the ribbon-cutting for the Brody Medical Sciences Building are, left to right, John Howell, Sammy Brody, Leo Brody, Gov. Jim Hunt, President Leo Jenkins and William Laupus. Images courtesy University Archives 2009 SUMMERARTS CALENDAR AdaptedfromthenovelbyMarkTwainBookbyWilliamHauptmann LyricsbyRogerMillerMusicbyRogerMiller rhett Butler, courtesy The Daily Reflector kNIGHTs oF THe bLACk FLAG if you find yourself in raleigh this summer and have a free hour, be sure to drop by the n C . Museum of history and take in “Knights of the Black flag,” an impressive exhibit that contrasts the brutal realities of the violent life that Pirates lived with romanticized images of swashbuckling adventurers prevalent in popular culture . interactive displays trace pirating all the way back to ancient egypt but the more impressive items are from the classical age of pirating in the late 1700s when stede Bonnet, anne Bonny, Mary read and the most famous pirate of all—Blackbeard—prowled the north Carolina coast . The exhibit boasts the largest collection of artifacts ever displayed from the shipwreck believed to be Blackbeard’s flagship, the Queen anne’s revenge . Most of these items were recovered over the last five years by east Carolina researchers and preserved at the Queen anne’s revenge Conservation lab on the West research Campus . The preservation effort is a joint project by eCU and the n C . Department of Cultural resources . hundreds of artifacts, including cannons, a ship’s bell and gold dust, are on display from the Queen anne’s revenge, which ran aground in Beaufort inlet in 1718 and was discovered in 1996 . videos accompanying the exhibit show underwater archaeologists at the shipwreck site working to conserve one of the largest pirate ships ever to sail the spanish Main . also on display are items discovered in the ruins of Blackbeard’s purported house in Bath . legends surround another compelling artifact in the exhibit: the alleged skull of Blackbeard, which is on loan from the Peabody essex Museum in salem, Mass . The exhibit allows young visitors to step inside a pirate’s life, to handle pirate weapons, to capture ships and try on pirate clothes . They can watch for pirates from the crow’s nest, defend their ship from a pirate attack, and experience firsthand what it was like to be a pirate . The history Museum exhibit essentially is the traveling road show version of one mounted by the n C . Maritime Museum in Beaufort . Behind both exhibits is Mike Carraway Bfa ’78, who is the Maritime Museum’s exhibit designer and an expert on all things Blackbeard . The exhibit will be on view through the end of the year . The history Museum, located on Jones street in downtown raleigh . is open Monday through saturday, 9:00 a m –5:00 p m , and sundays from noon–5:00 p m . admission is $5, $4 for seniors; children are free . —Steve Tuttle June16–27,2009McGinnisTheatreECUCampus,Greenville,NC Big RivER roLLs INTo ToWN a tighter budget is having an impact on some of east Carolina’s summer performing arts programs . The main example: the eCU/ loessin summer Theatre series will produce only one play, Big River, a musical adapted from Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. With music and lyrics by the late roger Miller, Big River is a Tony award-winning retelling of the story of huck finn and the runaway slave Jim as they raft along the Mississippi river . Miller’s score combines elements of country music, jazz and gospel styling . The production, scheduled June 16–27, marks a return to the familiar setting of Mcginnis Theatre, now that renovation work on the fly system, sound system and exterior landscaping to the art Deco building have been completed . summer Theatre staged three plays in the Turnage Theater in Washington last year while the renovations to Mcginnis proceded . Big River will run for 12 performances, which is more than the usual summer play, with 8 p m . shows on all dates except June 21 and June 22 (dark) . Two shows will be staged June 20 and June 27 at 2 p m . and 8 p m . —Steve Row LeT’s Go To CAMP! summer is the time for camps of all kinds on campus . While most are for teenagers, some attract people of all ages, like the annual summer guitar workshop . go to the school of Music’s web site, www ecu edu/music, for more information about: drama Camp eCU’s annual summer drama camp, which runs this year from July 27–aug . 1, is open to young people ages 7–10, 11–13 and 14–18 . Participants receive training in beginning acting and performance techniques a “final share” day on the last saturday allows participants to show off their work to family and friends . The camp offers half-day and full-day programs . Guitar workshop running from July 11–14, the annual summer guitar workshop is open to students of all levels who want to improve their skills on the classical guitar . nationally and internationally known concert artists and teachers make up the faculty, and many also perform in recital . Band Camp The June 14–19 band camp is an annual program designed for musicians in grades six through 12 . Participants have opportunities for instruction in full concert band, small ensemble and solo performing . The camp also provides special coaching in jazz performance techniques . Choral Conducting institute The institute, set for June 21–26, is a weeklong program for those interested in developing their skills as artists, musicians and choral leaders . Participants attend seminars and master classes on conducting and take part in ensemble singing . The institute has a paid resident choir; participants also are exposed to great choral literature that can be used in local programs . The institute coincides with the eCU summer Choral Camp, which attracts seventh-grade through 12th-grade singers . instruction focuses on vocal skills, music reading and aural perception of music . The session concludes with a concert with the Choral Conducting institute . suzuki institute The suzuki Method is taught at this institute, which is scheduled in several segments between July 3 and July 11 . an “every Child Can” session is scheduled July 3; the teacher development courses for violin Unit 1 and advanced chamber music institute will take place July 4–11 . The student institute is scheduled July 5–10 . The New Hands of Medicine health care used to be delivered by three people— a doctor, a nurse and a pharmacist . now many other specialists have joined the team to deliver care focused not just on saving lives but making life better . By Crystal Baity and Marion BlaCkBUrn research shows that The last place have imagined herself was in the Miriam Lilja could older adults who stay active avoid future falls. emergency room The therapists at Pitt County treating Liljia are Memorial Hospital. among the many new Yes, she’s 90 but hands of medicine Lilja is a slim and supplementing athletic woman who traditional caregivers takes water aerobics like doctors and classes with others nurses. These half her age. She graduates of the practices Tai Chi College of Allied for balance and Health Sciences strength. Still, there (CAHS) are in she was under the high demand in fluorescent lights today’s health of an examination care system that is room, waiting to dominated by aging be stitched up after baby boomers who falling at her Bethel expect to maintain home. their lifestyles. For many older Physical therapists, adults, falls like occupational Lilja’s start a cycle therapists and of decline that physician assistants robs them of their are the most independence piece plentiful of these by piece as their activities become more and more limited. Statistics show that when someone falls twice in six months—a hip fracture, a head injury— and they are left unchecked, it’s almost certain they will fall again. One in three Americans 65 and older suffer a fall each year. Five percent fracture a hip, and while nine out of 10 will survive, half will never regain the mobility they had. Many go from living independently to assisted living. And they’re the lucky ones. Falls are the leading cause of accidental death in older adults. Every 18 seconds, an older adult is treated in a hospital for a fall, and every 35 minutes someone dies as a result of such injuries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hopefully, Lilja will escape that fate. She’s enrolled in a new falls prevention clinic at East Carolina University where faculty and students in the College of Allied Health Sciences are helping seniors remain independent, recover more quickly, avoid long hospital stays and possibly side step the high cost of long-term care. Thanks to innovative programs like this one, what was once seen as an inevitable part of getting older is now seen as a treatable condition. In the past Lilja probably would have been told to slow down and rest; now she’s looking forward to more exercise classes because new providers. Others are less well known because they work behind the scenes in labs—the clinical lab scientists, the health information and health services management specialists, rehabilitation specialists, and others who treat speech disorders. Through them, medicine is bringing solutions to once devastating impediments, enabling people of all ages to confront illness, injury, aging, disability and even addiction. Allied health professionals work in some unexpected fields—such as using animals to help autistic children learn to relate to their world. Whatever their specific title, all CAHS graduates strive to do one thing: improve a person’s quality of life. Cliff hollis If health care once meant saving a life, today’s allied health professions aim to make sure that life is a good one. Expanding the mission of health care is central to allied health professions, making programs like ECU’s even more important. “Because of the nature of health problems today, especially with older people who have chronic conditions, it takes a team of professionals from different areas to provide this level of care,” says Thomas Elwood, executive director of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professionals in Washington, D.C., of which CAHS is a member. “As health care becomes more complex it’s necessary for people to have more advanced levels of education,” he adds. ECU graduates more members of that team than any school in North Carolina, and the 42-year-old program continues growing by leaps and bounds. More than half of all occupational therapists, a third of all physical therapists and a quarter of all physician assistants practicing in North Carolina trained at East Carolina. CAHS is advancing programs such as the clinical doctorate in physical therapy, the first degree of its kind in the state. The college also offers a doctorate in communication sciences and disorders, as well as a doctorate in rehabilitation counseling and administration. These pioneering programs place ECU among the leading players in training professionals for a new health model. “A college like ours is a collective,” says Dean Stephen Thomas. “We bring together smaller but significant health professions under one roof.” Allied health care professionals now outnumber both nurses and doctors. Of the roughly 319,000 health care jobs in North Carolina today, 36 percent are allied health professionals. The field is growing rapidly and creating thousands of new jobs. “There will be a critical shortage of allied health professionals to meet the growing aging population,”Thomas says. Addressing this demand for such specialists requires “colleges that are extremely diverse,”Thomas Suffering a stroke or traumatic brain injury often leaves patients with hand movements can be jerky or off target. To learn how to overcome that, occupational therapy graduate students conducted studies in the CAHS motion analysis lab by placing markers on a patient’s hand. As the patient squeezes the ball, special cameras capture the movements and feed them into a computer for analysis. The study helped identify standardized tests that clinics can use to accurately measure a person’s ability to feel, touch or lift objects following an injury. The Magazine of easT Carolina UniversiTyTheNew HandsofMedicinesuMMer 2009About the cover ALLIED HEALTH ACCOUNTS FOR MORE THAN ONE THIRD OF ALL N.C. HEALTH CARE JOBS (TOTAL HEALTH CARE JOBS = 318,630) ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONS, 36% NURSE AIDES, ORDERLIES, ATTENDANTS, 28% REGISTERED NURSES, 23% LICENSED PRACTICAL NURSES, 5% PHYSICIANS, 5% OTHER, 3% Note: “Other” includes chiropractors, dentists, optometrists, and pharmacists. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics (2006). www.bls.gov/oes/ eCu LeADs THe sTATe IN ProDuCING MosT IN-DeMAND ALLIeD HeALTH ProFessIoNs* SChool oT PT PA dUke University MediCal Center 130 40 east Carolina University 383 500 54 elon University 106 lenoir-rhyne ColleGe 91 Methodist ColleGe 23 UnC ChaPel hill 184 536 wake forest University 76 western Carolina University 137 winston-saleM state University 88 137 total GradUates of n.C. sChools 746 1546 193 total PraCtiCinG in n.C. 967 4,223 3,054 PerCent of all n.C. Grads who GradUated froM eCU 51.2% 32.3% 28.0% PerCent of all PraCtitioners who GradUated froM eCU 39.6% 11.8% 1.8% *Data for occupational therapists, physical therapists and physician assistants source: sheps Center for health services research, UnC Chapel hill . includes data through 10/31/07 adds. “But if you put all the groups together, they deal holistically with the individual.” service, engagement, research CAHS students believe in community service. Faculty and supervised graduate students in communication sciences and disorders, the largest CAHS department, provide diagnostics and therapy to more than 3,000 children and adults each year in ECU’s speech language and hearing clinic. They also provide balance assessments, and evaluation and fittings for the SpeechEasy anti-stuttering device, invented by faculty Joseph Kalinowski, Michael Rastatter and Andrew Stuart. Physical therapy students provide services in combination with ECU Physicians, the Brody School of Medicine’s Child Healthy Weight Project, and gait and balance assessment for BSOM and Pitt County Memorial Hospital. Project Working Recovery, developed and operated by rehabilitation studies, helps unemployed or underemployed recovering substance abusers find meaningful work as a means to sustain sobriety. “Students are learning in-house first, under close supervision, to make sure clients and patients receive the best services,”Thomas explains. “Every lab you go into here is a simulation. Every room has to look like what exists in a hospital or clinic. When our students go to work, employers are not expecting to train these students but hone the skills they already have.” Research is directed at solving real-life problems from reading disorders to improved function following a stroke to the challenges of older drivers. “The college is truly representative of ECU’s commitment to community service. The faculty, staff and students are engaged in service activities throughout eastern North Carolina and provide health care services that are vital to the health and well being of our citizens,” says Phyllis Horns, vice chancellor for health sciences. Outreach and engagement are put to practice in the Tillery Wellness Project, where students and occupational therapy faculty are immersed in addressing health disparities in the small northeastern North Carolina town. In conjunction with BSOM’s family medicine department, CAHS’s occupational therapy and physical therapy departments developed a falls risk screening clinic. It’s there that older adults like Lilja who’ve been treated for fall-related injuries are referred for assessment. CAHS sponsors the annual Jean Mills Health Symposium focused on rural, underserved and minority populations. Several CAHS faculty are conducting National Institutes of Health-funded research, while others are nationally known experts in their fields. The rehabilitation counseling graduate program is consistently ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report; the communication sciences and disorders department is ranked in the top 10 in a national study of faculty scholarly productivity. The beginning East Carolina launched what then was known as the Life Sciences and Community Health Institute in 1967, about the same time it began exploring founding a medical school to serve a region severely lacking health care providers. In less than a year the name changed to the School of Allied Health Professions and Medical Education Center. Dr. Edwin Monroe, a Greenville physician, became the first dean. The school’s first degrees were in medical technology and social welfare. The first students graduated in 1973, and today there are more than 350 program alumni. ECU received approval in 1969 to develop programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy and medical record science. Monroe recruited George Hamilton to begin the physical therapy department with the mission of serving the community through physical therapy programs in hospitals and clinics throughout the region. Hamilton, who retired in 1995, remembers those early days: “So many places had no services at all.” The baccalaureate program began with five students, grew to 12 in the first 10 years and now graduates 30 a year, having moved from a master’s to doctoral degree. Today, there are about 150 physical therapists and 40 physical therapy assistants in Pitt County alone, Hamilton points out. In 1972, rehabilitation counseling and speech language pathology transferred from “one of the most respected deans on campus” Former and present deans edwin Monroe and stephen Thomas Dr. Stephen Thomas’ pitch to students considering a health care career is direct and simple. His straightforward approach is just one of the many qualities admired by those who work with him and who have known him for years. “You don’t have to go into medicine or nursing to have a great career in health care,” says Thomas, dean of the College of Allied Health Sciences. Thomas often explains to prospective students what allied health is by listing its varied job titles—physical therapist to speech language pathologist to health information administrator. Some have patient contact, some don’t, but all are in demand. “There are a lot of things you can do. There isn’t a profession that doesn’t have a shortage.” Thomas has steered the college through record enrollment, the addition of master’s and doctoral programs, budget cuts, university leadership changes, the construction and move to a new building on the Health Sciences Campus and re-designation from school to college. “Steve Thomas is an incredibly capable administrator who has the knowledge, experience and personal style needed for this challenging leadership role. His college is a large, complex and diverse academic unit with programs that address critical health care workforce shortages,” says Dr. Phyllis Horns, vice chancellor for health sciences and former longtime dean of the College of Nursing. “He has managed the growing demands for more graduates with skill and a sustained commitment to quality education and clinical competency. He is certainly one of the most respected deans on this campus and among his peers in allied health science schools across the country.” Thomas came to ECU in 1980 as the third faculty member in the rehabilitation studies department with then department chair and professor emeritus Dr. Shel Downes and current department chair Dr. Paul Alston. Thomas was recruited to start and direct the vocational evaluation master’s degree program. Vocational evaluators assist individuals who are disabled or disadvantaged to identify appropriate education, training, jobs and career paths in order to improve overall quality of health. “We were extremely lucky to attract him when he was finishing his doctorate,” Alston says. “It’s really been a great match for the university and for Steve.” Dr. Edwin Monroe, a physician and the first dean of allied health sciences, says Thomas is a good listener who “has been around here long enough to have a sense of what’s important to this region, and he is a leader.”They first met serving on a local vocational center board. “I was impressed then not only with his youth and height but his quick grasp of problems and working toward solutions,” Monroe adds. Before ECU, Thomas held academic, research and administrative positions with the University of Arizona in Tucson, the University of Wisconsin- Stout in Menomonie and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. A Texas native, Thomas earned his doctoral and master’s degree in rehabilitation from the University of Arizona and his bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. Thomas was well-known in vocational evaluation and assessment before he became dean. He helped establish a national certification process for vocational evaluators and work adjustment professionals, and served on the commission created to oversee it. His monograph for vocational evaluators on how to write reports is still cited today. “When we provide services, we must document those services, and he wrote about how to do that. It’s so old he talks about dictation. The technology may be outdated, but the basic premise and content is still current,” says Dr. Steven R. Sligar, who joined ECU as assistant professor and director of graduate programs in vocational evaluation after Thomas was appointed interim dean in 2001. They first met in the 1970s when both worked in Texas. Dr. Tom Bacon, program director for NC Area Health Education Centers, has worked with Thomas both in his role as dean and on several statewide initiatives with the NC Council on Allied Health. Thomas is vice chair of the council. “He has collaborated with other universities and agencies to bring greater awareness statewide to the vital role that the allied health fields have in improving the health of North Carolinians,” Bacon said. “He brings an important state and national perspective in articulating the allied health workforce needs we have as a state.” Thomas has served as president of state and national rehabilitation associations and chair of his national professional certification commission. He serves on the board of the Eastern Area Health Education Center, the ECU Medical & Health Sciences Foundation, and the N.C. Agromedicine Institute. He is a member of the N.C. Institute of Medicine, and secretary of the Southern Association of Allied Health Deans in Academic Health Centers. Part of Thomas’ administrative philosophy is to give his faculty and staff the resources and support they need to do their job. Then he steps back and lets them do it. “I think it makes a real difference, and recognizes and respects what they do,”Thomas says. “I have absolutely the greatest faculty and staff.” —Crystal Baity the School of Education to allied health. The expanding division needed more space, a need filled when it moved to the Carol G. Belk Building that summer. Dr. Ronald Thiele, a pediatrician in Nashville, Tenn., was recruited as dean in January 1972 and served 19 years. Monroe became vice chancellor for health affairs, which included allied health sciences, nursing and the new medical school. Thiele was instrumental in creating a biostatistics and epidemiology program. Social welfare, later named social work, became a separate school in 1983. Environmental health would move to the School of Industry and Technology in 1999. “It was a fun time and all done with awfully good people,”Thiele recalls. “The people are the important thing. You can do anything with good people.” Thiele’s successor, Harold Jones, joined the school as the third dean in 1992, and began work to raise awareness of allied health sciences on campus and in the community. During his tenure, enrollment grew 70 percent, the number of programs increased, the first doctoral-level program in communication sciences and disorders in the state was approved, the first state university physician assistant department began and the state’s first distance education-based programs in allied health were offered. Today, about one in six students entering ECU declares allied health as their major. Soon, the Belk Building couldn’t hold all the new programs, an overcrowding solved by the 2000 statewide higher education bond referendum. In 2006 ECU opened a new four-story health sciences building that brought all allied health departments under one roof for the first time in 20 years. The additional classrooms, labs and research space have again helped spur record enrollment under Thomas, who was appointed interim dean when Jones left in 2001 and permanent dean in 2003. Today’s students CAHS now has eight departments, 794 students and 110 faculty and staff and is one of the fastest growing, most complex and diverse on campus. Enrollment is up 71 percent since 2001. About 60 percent of students entering the college last fall were at the master’s and doctoral levels. Allied health received more than 1,300 applications last fall for undergraduate and graduate school, and admitted 322 students. Twenty-four percent of all those applicants were CAHS undergraduates. For Greg Antal of Taylorsville, the combination of a public university, a new facility and the opportunity to do research in a state-of-the-art lab sealed his decision to attend ECU’s highly demanding three-year doctoral program in physical therapy. He attends classes four to six hours weekdays all year round. He leaves campus for 32 weeks in clinical rotations interspersed within the curriculum, says Dr. Walter L. Jenkins, associate professor and associate chair of physical therapy. “A large percentage of what we do is laboratory-based teaching,” Jenkins adds. “Eventually students will get paid to put their hands on people, to examine them and treat them.” The new Health Sciences Building gives Physical Therapy, which had been in a mobile unit, two large teaching labs and three research labs. “We are no longer encumbered by our facilities. Our facilities now enhance our ability to teach and we are able to do the research necessary to keep us on top of our profession,” Jenkins said. Every student is involved in research, as it has been since the program began. Being able to engage students is a point of pride among faculty. “The faculty has a genuine concern for us to achieve, and to be well-rounded physical therapists,” says Antal, 24. “The faculty is very approachable. They have an open door policy. I know they want us to succeed and they care about our success.” Antal is studying fall prevention and fall risk assessment in the elderly population and multisensory integration with Dr. Leslie Allison, assistant professor of physical therapy. “It’s a huge research area because so much of our health care money goes to fall-related injuries,” Antal says. “If someone breaks a hip, often that’s the beginning of a gradual decline. That’s why we’re looking at preventing these falls from happening. We want to give them appropriate prevention and balance training so they don’t incur a fall.” When Antal graduates next May, he plans to work in an outpatient clinic somewhere in North Carolina in orthopedic and neurological rehabilitation. “There is more a demand than we can supply. I don’t know what the job market is going to do, but we’re still going to be in need,” he says. Another profession with dramatic workforce shortages is clinical laboratory science, the smallest department in CAHS. “Most people don’t know that 70 percent of diagnosis and treatment decisions are made by medical lab tests,” says Dr. Richard Bamberg, department chair. “You don’t just put a sample in a machine and push a button. You have to have someone to tell if it’s accurate, valid and reliable results.” The shortages are so extreme that medical technologists are beginning to see offers of sign-on bonuses, relocation and tuition assistance, incentives typically seen in nursing, Bamberg says. “Nationally all the clinical laboratory science programs together are producing half of the number of vacancies,” he adds. Novice Hoskins is a rising senior and registered nurse who first became interested in clinical laboratory science working as a phlebotomist. She will graduate in 2010, with an eye to medical school one day. Evaluating a blood cell count for infection or identifying a microorganism is some of the behind-the-scenes work that a medical technologist does. “People don’t know how that works. When I tell people I’m going into clinical lab science, they say, you already know how to do it (because she’s a nurse). It’s frustrating. The profession I’m going into now, you actually perform the test, not just collect the specimen. I’m performing the tests that I use as a nurse to take care of my patients.” The department now offers a five-year degree curriculum with biology. Students study biology three years, then transition to clinical laboratory science for their final two years and earn a double degree. “This is particularly good for pre-med majors,” Bamberg says. Many CAHS alumni have enjoyed stellar careers. Goldsboro native Jason Ezzelle graduated with a degree in clinical laboratory science in 1997. He took an entry-level position at PPD, a Wilmington-based contract research organization, monitoring clinical research sites and collecting data as part of research study protocols. He introduced the idea of monitoring labs, which quickly took off as a new service line for the company. Before long, he was traveling 75 percent of his time, often to developing nations inspecting labs. “It’s been an incredibly rewarding career,” says Ezzelle, now PPD’s senior project manager in the global laboratory services group. “We do regional workshop training for labs worldwide. It touches thousands of clinical laboratory scientists.” Katina Eley was one of 20 students in ECU’s first class of physician assistant studies. After graduating in 1999, she went back home to Ahoskie to practice in obstetrics and gynecology. “I chose to go back to Ahoskie because I wanted to give back to my community,” Eley says. “It brings me joy to know that I have helped someone, whether it is practicing preventive medicine or helping to cure a problem presented to me.” Challenges and responses As the population ages, allied health professionals will continue playing a significant role in health care delivery, especially in rural areas. “There are not enough doctors to take care of everybody, and not everybody needs a doctor,”Thiele says. Growth in the college will level off only “because we are filling the building,”Thomas jokes. CAHS also is challenged to find enough clinical training sites for students, a prerequisite to graduation for most degrees. The college already works with more than 700 clinical centers, mainly in North Carolina but also in other states. Distance education is growing to offer coursework to as many students off campus as possible. CAHS is also considering an allied health dental program as part of ECU’s new School of Dentistry. Communication sciences and disorders is beginning a new project with the Wounded Warrior battalion at Camp Lejeune to assess and manage soldiers with balance disorders. The department also has begun an aphasia support group for people who have trouble communicating because of stroke or brain injury. In health services and information management, a new graduate certificate is being offered and a master’s degree is being planned in health informatics, a burgeoning field in the electronic management of health care data. Occupational therapy graduate students Cara Wiseman and Scott Cormier are conducting trials in the motion analysis lab on the effect of mental practice. In one exercise, subjects are asked to think about building a pyramid with cups before they actually build it. Then they are asked to build it multiple times. “It’s similar to shooting a free throw,”Wiseman explains. “You think about it before you do it. Then you do it.” Investigators are looking at the implications that this concept of mental practice has for different age groups and for people who have suffered strokes or brain injuries, and those with no injuries. “We are already seeing improvement with the older age group,” said Cormier, who hopes to work with injured veterans after graduation. No doubt research will play an important role in the future of innovative programs in the allied health sciences—and the improved quality of life for generations to come. “Being an aging baby boomer myself,” Thomas says. “I have a vested interest in the thorough preparation of our graduates that all of us will someday rely on to provide excellent care and extend our quality of life.” East After leading East Carolina through five years of frenetic growth and change, Steve Ballard considered leaving Greenville but then decided ECU still ‘is the best fit for me.’ The feeling seems mutual. Solving problems, settling in Jay Clark By steve tUttle W W right Auditorium was packed for the 2004 fall faculty convocation because everyone wanted to hear what East Carolina’s new chancellor would say about the recent upheavals on campus. His predecessor, William Muse, had resigned under a cloud following two critical internal audits, and the provost had been reassigned over concerns about his hiring practices. When Steve Ballard came to the podium he addressed the controversy much the same way he fielded grounders on his college baseball team: never back up. “It is our responsibility to earn the public trust and to keep that trust,” Ballard said. “There is nothing more valuable to our long-term growth than to be known as an institution that can be trusted and that openly acknowledges and corrects its mistakes.” THe bALLArD bouNCe PhotoGraPhy By forrest CroCe Five years later, the Muse controversies have faded and East Carolina obviously has regained the public trust, as evidenced by the huge investments the state is making here for new classroom buildings, the School of Dentistry, the Heart Institute, the Family Medicine Center and other expensive projects. The public perception of ECU these days more often is defined by its acknowledged successes in easing the shortage of classroom teachers and health care providers, attacking obesity and other health disparities, promoting economic development in the East and widening college access through distance education. Even the football team is winning again. How did East Carolina get from there to here in five short years? According to observers we consulted, it’s because Ballard, 60, followed through on a promise he made Comparing where things stood when Steve Ballard arrived as chancellor with today. Budget, in millions endowment, in millions athletic budget, in millions research grants and contracts, in millions Total enrollment Distance education students Minority enrollment average saT score of incoming freshmen faculty Undergraduate degrees offered graduate degrees offered Total employment 2004–05 2008–09 $ 447 $ 625 $ 66 $ 95 $ 17 6 $ 24 8 $ 33 1 $ 44 6 22,767 27,677 3,197 6,142 18 5% 19 6% 1,044 1,025 1,463 2,279 105 104 91 97 4,397 5,253 Source: University figures as of beginning of fall semester for years cited except for endowment, which is as of the end of the respective fiscal years. bALLArD’s buDGeT PrIorITIes Increase, since 2004, in amounts earmarked for: new faculty positions and support required by enrollment growth improved administrative infrastructure, notably iT and financial services Create contingency fund greater support for Brody school of Medicine emphasis on graduate research, economic development activities strengthen University advancement and Marketing improve student business services, financial aid, admissions, advising enhance campus safety, more police, better lighting living Wage initiative to raise salaries for lowest-paid staff to $25,000 $ 40 7 million $ 4 0 million $ 3 0 million $ 2 8 million $ 1 9 million $ 1 5 million $ 900,000 $ 800,000 $ 700,000 to the faculty that day: “We must get the right people on the bus and then make sure those people are working together—with each other, certainly with the faculty and with our community and constituents.” In one of his first meetings with the Board of Trustees, Ballard identified 10 leadership positions he intended to fill with his own team. Today, a number of top administrators and most the deans are people Ballard hired, occasionally after easing someone out of the job who didn’t meet his standards. His personnel decisions have been proactive and decisive, such as when—just a few months on the job—he aborted a national search for a new athletic director and brought in Terry Holland. Most of the people Ballard put “on the bus” came from outside ECU but he turned to two campus veterans—both women—to sit up front and help steer. He moved Marilyn Sheerer from dean of education to provost and Phyllis Horns ’69 from dean of nursing to vice chancellor for health sciences. Also taking a seat up front was another woman, Deirdre Mageean, whom he brought in as vice chancellor for research and graduate studies. Most recently, he hired Paul Cunningham as the first African-American dean of a North Carolina medical school. The planning and funding for the campus construction boom fueled by $190 million in state higher education bonds already was in place when he arrived, but Ballard oversaw the projects and brought them home on time and budget. East Carolina became the fastest-growing campus in the UNC system and will start the fall semester with more than 28,000 students, an increase of about 6,000 students in five years. A typical comment one hears about Ballard is that he is a top-notch administrator and a nimble fixer of the myriad problems that inevitably crop up in an enterprise of over 5,000 employees. Observers give him credit for hiring good people, giving them a mission and then turning them loose to accomplish specific goals. He constantly stresses teamwork, as you might expect a former athlete would do. The only criticism one hears is that he isn’t as visible in the Greenville community and in state leadership circles as many would like. The trustees made a friendly suggestion that he join a local civic club. But those who wish Ballard enjoyed a higher profile say they feel that way only because they see him as the most effective representative of the university. “He’s our thousand-watt bulb,” one prominent Pirate said. “We want him to shine.”This could partly be cultural: Ballard’s Midwestern reserve adjusting to life in a beach music and barbecue town. Ballard caused some consternation in late January when he applied for the open chancellor position at Kansas State University. Some officials said they only learned about it by reading the paper. As quickly as his name popped up in connection with the K State job, however, it dropped out when Ballard withdrew from consideration after traveling there for the interview. He announced that he continued to believe ECU “is the right fit for me.” He says in the interview for this story that he intends to stay another five years. He would be 65 then. “I think we are very fortunate to have attracted Steve Ballard to East Carolina,” said trustees Chairman Bob Greczyn. “I hope and expect that we will be able to keep him for the rest of his career.” Ballard previously was provost at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. He spent his childhood in Galesburg, Ill., attended the University of Arizona and graduated there with distinction in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in history. As shortstop and captain of the Arizona baseball team, he earned three varsity letters and played in the College World Series his senior year. Ballard’s longest tenure in academia was at the University of Oklahoma, where he spent 13 years on the faculty, served two terms on the Norman City Council and did a stint as mayor pro tem. The following is a condensed version of an interview conducted in his office. the guidepost by which we do resource next thing you know you have two faculty q: east Carolina will admit fewer freshmen this fall than it did last year as the university allocation. I don’t think we’ve fully stopped members teaching two students. Now, if you implements higher admission standards. For accelerating. Having said that, yes, we have are a great piano program, that’s appropriate; many people in eastern North Carolina, east to step back a little bit and take account that’s how you produce Van Cliburn medal Carolina has always represented an open door. Is that door closing a bit? of budget scenarios. We’ve already lost $15 winners. But that may not be the case in million this year; it could easily get to $20 [most other disciplines]. Those are exactly A: No, I don’t think the door is closing. million. Worst-case scenarios have maybe the kind of questions we have to ask. I think we think about who to let in the as much as $50 to $60 million lost over a door a little bit differently. The freshman Let me hasten to add that it’s not just three-year period. We will have to do some class we will have for the fall of ’09 will academic programs [under review]. We led things differently, but I view it as a focusing be the second biggest freshman class ever, the state in responding to President Bowles’ effort and a prioritizing effort and not a second biggest to last year’s. But we learned efficiency initiative. We cut out administrative stoppage in what we said we would do or something very valuable last year. We learned duplication, we consolidated things, we [deviating from] our mission. that when you have 4,500 freshmen, and centralized things. [Assistant Vice Chancellor] a record number of transfers and a record Steve Duncan’s analysis is we saved over $13 q: by about any yardstick you use, q. In the time you’ve been here, east Carolina Board of Trustees really stepped up at some q. What categories or functions have you number of distance education students, then million over the last three years, almost all east Carolina has grown and changed has enjoyed the best funding from the cut so far? you’d better be careful that you can serve key places. I want to single out two. David of it on the administrative side. If we can do tremendously in the five years you’ve General Assembly it has received in decades. them all. And we had some areas frankly been here—nearly 6,000 more students, even as the recession began last year the Brody was tireless in his support of the A: We’re at a period right now when we’re business better in any area, we will. several new buildings on campus, the new legislature recommitted $107 million for the Family Medicine Center, which resulted in making one-time reductions, which means where we were not serving those students school of Dentistry. What do you think best Family Medicine Center and the school of well enough. They weren’t in the academic almost $40 million last year. David Redwine you have to stop spending when you get to characterizes these changes? Dentistry. What has happened to increase the q: you were in the news in January when areas as much as in the student service area, legislature’s willingness to fund east Carolina ’72 was absolutely critical at many stages. 94–93 percent of what the legislature has you applied for but then withdrew from the A: I think the growth really reflects that projects, and how much of the credit for that open chancellor position at kansas state certainly in financial aid. There was not one time that I called David promised. We haven’t cut programs this year should go to your team? university. Why did you apply and why did we have said that we’re going to do some [Redwine] and said, ‘We need some help, can but we have stopped spending on almost you withdraw? We never want to lose that special spirit things very well and we’re going to put our A. I think this authenticity question really is you go with me to see the speaker or see the everything that is discretionary. When things at ECU where students tell us day after resources where our commitments are, and A: I’m tempted to use the Alex Rodriguez the starting point. We told people we would appropriations chair,’ that he wasn’t there. turn around we can immediately go back to day that when they come here they find we’re going to make a difference. The other excuse that I was young, naïve and stupid. [I do some things and not others, and that we those activities. The real crunch comes in the something that’s very special. We don’t want People don’t see the amount of tireless effort half of that is that our growth reflects a real would do them well and make a contribution next biennium if the legislature says your applied for the job] for two reasons: I have to grow so fast that we lose that special authenticity about who we are and what we by our internal team to do all the things great respect for that university and knew to North Carolina and we would increase base budget goes from $260 million in state feeling. Our door will stay open. Next year necessary to take advantage of the support have to do, especially authenticity related that contribution. We were able to convince a lot about it; and, secondly, it had some dollars to maybe $225 or less money than we will be over 28,000, which will be the to how we serve the 29 counties of eastern we had. In many cases they had to put locational advantage for both my family and people that this was the case. So when we said that, then we have to stop doing some things. biggest number of total students we’ve ever North Carolina. I feel really great about that. we wanted a dental school, people listened to together hundreds and hundreds of pages We have been preparing for that all year; we my wife’s family [who are Midwesterners]. had. I don’t think we can possibly grow as of documentation in order to get the $100 Every now and then I think it’s good to us. That’s always hard for a university. have a campus-wide task force and I think When I got here there were too many fast as we have over the last three or four million we now have for the Dental School. take a look out there and see what’s going people who were willing to discount East When I first came here people said, ‘How it’s quite likely that in three years we will years or we will start to lose that ability to It was always on time, always responsive to on. That institution is the nation’s oldest be doing fewer things at ECU but we won’t Carolina University and I honestly believe make a difference for students. I think we soon are you going to start a law school, the General Administration’s requests. Every land grant, which is consistent with my own sacrifice the priorities we have established. that nobody is discounting us now. We may are we going to have an engineering school vote of the Board of Governors was always will see more and more students who may values of outreach, engagement and making never be seen as the kind of institution that like N.C State?’ And all those things are unanimous. Those things don’t happen not come to us as freshmen but may come sure the resources of a public university serve Chapel Hill is. Frankly that’s never been our legitimate questions but they are not ECU, by accident. We were able to address the q. someone once said you should never to us through the community colleges as waste a good crisis. Is this crisis an a state and a region. goal and never should be our goal. But for sophomores and juniors. they’re not the major contribution we can questions and convince people that we knew opportunity for you to prune some ongoing what we say we’re going to do, the reputation academic initiatives? There appeared to be a great fit. But what make, at least in my view. Some people what we were doing. I think the internal that we’ve gained for authenticity is real I found when I went there, I really believe q: At the same time that east Carolina has disagree with me on that. And I think it had team of a couple dozen people made a huge A. Yes, there certainly could be, and Provost important to our future. that ECU is a much better fit for me than been raising its admission standards, it a lot to do with how we are perceived in the difference. Marilyn Sheerer and Vice Chancellor Phyllis also has gained recognition for academic Kansas State. And I actually think ECU has bigger political circles. initiatives and research. The amount Horns have been looking at those for even more opportunities to make a difference q: other than a little more gray hair, how of research dollars flowing into eCu is q: Now we’re in a recession and you’re months now. Some programs that may no have you changed in the past five years? The money we have received, we are struggling to cut spending by 7 percent for our society even though we’re not a land up significantly. Is it your goal for east longer be attractive to students because the Carolina to be recognized by the Carnegie very proud of because it reflects a new this year and you’re preparing a plan for grant [because] we have the same values here. A: I feel like I understand the contributions Foundation as a research-intensive appreciation of East Carolina. We have had another 7 percent cut next fiscal year. As an jobs have changed or the need has changed I think that for the kind of things I can university, the same category as Carolina of this institution better than when I took the administrator, how difficult is it to suddenly tremendous support from [UNC President] will have to be consolidated or eliminated. and state? have to take your foot off the gas and hit make a difference in, this is a better place for job by a long shot. I certainly understand the Erskine Bowles, [Senate President Pro Tem] the brake? ways that a public university can really make a What happens in universities is, majors Nancy and me. I think it was a legitimate A: Those kinds of goals have never been my Marc Basnight and [House Speaker] Joe and concentrations and programs get put exercise, but when we got back in town we difference, and that’s important. I think I am A: In some ways we’re not taking our goals, and Vice Chancellor Mageean may Hackney. We would not have a dental school a little more balanced in my life and how I foot off the gas. We’re continuing to fund in place and new ones eventually overtake realized this is where we want to be. shoot me when she reads this, because it’s her today if it were not for Erskine Bowles. Our think about how I can make a difference. our strategic priorities. They will remain them, but the old ones stay there and the job to grow our profile and grow our status 28 29 and grow our external dollars. And she could well achieve Carnegie research-intensive status [for ECU], but I don’t think that’s the most important thing for us to do. If we get there because we’re doing other things right, that’s fine and we’ll all recognize that as just another recognition of what we’re doing. But I think it’s so much more important that we address the dental crisis in the rural areas in this state, and that’s not something the Carnegie Institution could ever factor into how they characterize institutions. Being successful in that kind of service in addressing one of the biggest needs in this state is 100 times more important than what Carnegie may or may not say about what category we’re in. I would much rather be seen as having the best research capabilities in health disparities in the nation than I would to get to a certain level of the Carnegie. If we get to that level because we’re great in health disparities research, or heart disease research or metabolic research, I’m all for it but I don’t think it’s the first goal we set. I think the first goal is what research areas make the most difference for the things that we say are important to ECU. q: What type of working relationship have you developed with your trustees, with the uNC General Administration and other chancellors in the system? A: I think I have a great relationship with [Board of Trustees] Chairman Bob Greczyn and Vice Chairman David Brody. I’ve really enjoyed over my five years great relationships with our board and that’s hard to do because there are so many tensions in a major public university and so many different ways of thinking about our future that there’s no one answer, and you’re always looking for a balance. [Last fall] we had some significant disagreements about how much of the rising cost of education our students should pay. And not every board member agreed with me on that but I think every board member agreed we had to find a compromise on that. I’m very happy with our compromise. Not everybody thought it was the right compromise but we worked very hard to get there. q: If you’re still here five years from now how do you think east Carolina will be different than it is today? A: Let me start by saying I hope to be here in five years. I think it’s the right place for 30 me. My hope is that in five years or in the not too distant future that we’re essentially the same university in terms of our soul, of how we view ourselves as a service and regional transformation institution. What I really hope is that we are recognized for a better model, a new model of public universities where all universities aren’t chasing the same kind of status, like Carnegie status or the top 10 in U.S. News & World Report, to get away from those kinds of generic models of what a university is and realize that every university has to have a distinctive contribution to the state we’re in, given who we are and what we do best. In five years I hope we are recognized as the best service university in the nation and I think we already are very close. q: How do you deal with stress from your job; what do you do to relax? A: The best thing I do is recognize that you can’t be in this office every day. You have to get away from it sometimes. I usually get away with my family and my dogs and try to make sure that I don’t do this 24-7-364. I think that’s dysfunctional. This year we will have a big Ballard family reunion out in the West and that will be fun. Spring break we’ll get over to the coast and walk on the beach a few days. I’ve learned the hard way that you have to physically take yourself out because if I’m in this office or the residence, you don’t get away, your head is still in it every minute of every day. q: How many hours a week do you work? A: I’ve never counted it because I thought I would be scared. You know, most days are 8 to 10 to 11 hour workdays and many weekends, especially this time of year, are filled with events and meetings and executive committee meetings of foundations, meeting people, having dinners with important politicians. I do try to take Sundays off, but I’m not always successful in that. 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View Virtual Tours of the Newly Completed Homes in Prestwick at www.Ironwood-Realty.com Ironwood realty, Inc the exclusIve representatIve for Ironwood development, Inc Homes Now Available! • Proud Member of Pirates Supporting Pirates! 200 Golf Club Wynd, Greenville, NC 27834 • 252.752.4653 / 800.343.4766 View Our Website at www.ironwood-realty.com After 30 years on the faculty and a lifetime helping others, Pat Dunn starts a new job leading City Hall. By Marion BlaCkBUrn PhotoGraPhy By forrest CroCe It’s Friday afternoon and Greenville Mayor Pat Dunn ’58 is offering a guest buttered pecans, baked Southern style. Above her hangs an Australian boomerang and a handmade canoe paddle from the Amazon. In her foyer resides a Soviet-era sailor’s hat and belt, complete with vintage hammerand- sickle buckle. It’s a fascinating collection that manages to look right at home in her traditional living room, much the same way Dunn brought a global perspective to her health education classes at East Carolina. Today, after more than 30 years on the health education faculty, Dunn has opened a new chapter in her life as the city’s highest elected official. In her first term she is grappling with divisive issues and some of the rockiest times in a generation. “We have to recognize that Greenville is like everywhere else, and we’re all being affected by the downturn in the economy,” she says. “These are tough times to make a living, tough times to be in public office.” As mayor she brings a dignified air to city business, keeping order during even the most tense city council meetings, when a firm landing of her gavel is enough to quiet a room. Yet she’s also known for a sense of humor, and her friendly smile warms up ceremonies and ribbon-cuttings. She’s also an animal lover, with a dog named T.J.—as in Thomas Jefferson. Her experience reaching across cultures allows her to see issues from many sides, a critical skill in her role. “You don’t work in isolation as mayor,” she says. “You try to build support, coalitions and consensus on issues.” A major project she is working on is the planned intermodal transportation center downtown, connecting several forms of public transportation in the heart of Greenville and near the ECU campus. Her biggest public challenge so far may be helping guide the city to shore during the national economic slump, though she believes Greenville is in good shape to weather the recession. “It is an exciting city to be in, even in tough economic times,” she says. “People here are really interested in making things happen. The School of Dentistry is on go, and the Family Medicine Center is, too. We’re seeing construction in Greenville and Pitt County. Greenville will continue to grow.” seeing eCu change Dunn grew up in rural Wake County and arrived at East Carolina in 1954 when the campus and its athletic facilities ended at 10th Street and enrollment was less than 3,000. She entered graduate school at the University of Tennessee, receiving a master’s in physical education there in 1959. After receiving another master’s in guidance and counseling from UNC Chapel Hill in 1965, she completed her education with a Ph.D. in health education from Ohio State University in 1972. She had joined the East Carolina faculty a year earlier. By the time she retired in 2005, the campus had sprouted the Health Sciences Campus and enrollment had surged past 28,000, with athletic teams competing in a national conference. Her original program in health and physical education had evolved into today’s College of Health and Human Performance (CHHP), a research, education and service center. The college now houses the departments of Health Education and Promotion, Exercise and Sport Science and Recreation and Leisure Studies, with degree programs at all levels, including a Ph.D. in bioenergetics. The city, too, has changed and if the typical Greenville resident once lived on or near a tobacco farm, that’s not true today—the city is the state’s 12th-largest municipality. Myriad nationalities, faiths and backgrounds come and go among the city’s population of roughly 76,000 and Dunn has spent a lifetime reaching out to them. She previously coordinated international studies at CHHP, and today still works with students from abroad, quietly adding to her distinguished record as an active volunteer with many organizations. She was serving on the board of the Pitt County chapter of Habitat For Humanity when she entered politics in 2001 in a successful bid for a city council seat. She served three terms on the council before running for mayor in 2007. She succeeded Don Parrott ’65, who did not seek another term. She ran for mayor on a crowded ballot with five other candidates, and still polled 49 percent of the vote. She found her way into politics the same way she found teaching: She enjoys people and believes in service. Her parents were community-oriented folks who used compassion and reason in decision making; she learned from a young age to think about political issues with an eye for humanity. “My parents cared about others, for the underdog,” she remembers. “My father was always reading about and talking about politics. Rarely did we have discussions that weren’t about politics, and at 18, there was no question that I would register to vote. I’ve been voting ever since.” While health issues are very personal, they are often based in a larger political and religious culture that also influences food choices, male-female relationship patterns, birth, marriage and death customs. Because of these connections, she developed and taught the course, “Political, Social and Cultural Aspects of Health and Disease.” During the semester, students visited distinctive cultural settings such as a synagogue or mosque to enlarge their understanding. ‘Love thy neighbor’ Mayor Dunn takes personal inspiration from the New Testament commandment to love your neighbor. Reaching out to others, she says, “is something my parents did, and it’s a part of my faith. It’s our responsibility.” As evidence of her conviction, she has nearly 30 years’ experience as a volunteer or board member for a long list of organizations. She is active in the missions council of her church and has taught Sunday school for more than 30 years. With Habitat for Humanity she has been especially active, volunteering with projects around the world—Korea, Romania, Hungary and Uganda, among others. Here in the United States she has worked in Vermont, Alaska and at an Indian reservation in South Dakota. She also takes part in Friendship Force, welcoming international guests into her home and visiting them in theirs. Her family visits have taken her to Russia, Slovakia, South Africa and El Salvador. Academically, she has been very active internationally as well, making presentations about AIDS at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Helsinki. Through the years, she’s had plenty of unusual experiences, but she manages to stay unruffled—even when finding herself unexpectedly in a Buddhist temple in South Korea, or on an unplanned detour while driving in Australia. Arriving in bustling (and unfamiliar) Sao Paulo, Brazil—not quite sure where her hotel was—she once asked a helpful nun to hail a cab for her. When she’s not taking international students grocery shopping, attending official events or presiding over city business, Dunn continues to enjoy the outdoors and is a fan of hiking and canoeing. She swims indoors regularly. Her long-time friend and research collaborator, Ione Ryan, describes Dunn as loyal, attentive and compassionate. She’s not surprised to see her friend in such a key leadership role; from the start, she’s held a strong commitment to public service. “When she first came to Greenville on faculty, she promised she would take part in the community,” says Ryan, a professor emerita in the Counseling Center. “She wasn’t going to stay aloof; she was going to contribute and participate. She has certainly lived up to that promise.” East Dunn about everything for more than 50 years Pat Dunn has volunteered with and led a number of community organizations in greenville and Pitt County, a level of commitment that has garnered considerable honors and recognition . here’s a list: CoMMuNITy LIFe n habitat for humanity Pitt County chapter, volunteer, board member and former president n state chapter of sTrive (dedicated to helping individuals find employment), director and chair n Pitt County Coalition to Prevent Teenage Pregnancy, director n Pitt County Community Penalties for the Third Judicial District, advisory board n Pitt County Council on aging, board of directors, secretary, vice chair and chair n league of Women voters of greenville, first vice president, president and local government observer n releaf (promotes trees in greenville), director and advisory board n eastern nC Council on substance abuse n immanuel Baptist Church, sunday school teacher since 1977 n host for international students at eCU HoNors n habitat for humanity’s Charles v . horne Jr . award n Martin luther King Jr . leadership award, given by the Black Ministers Conference n Community service award from Pitt County Concerned Citizens for Justice n Best-irons humanitarian award from the City of greenville n outstanding service— College of health and human Performance n Women of Distinction award (eCU office of academic outreach) n eCU health and human Performance leader award n Citizen of the year, Civitan Club n Pitt County Council on aging, service award froMThe ClassrooM36froMThe ClassrooM36 What an ECU engineer looks like Paul Kauffmann designed a program that focuses on helping students see real-world applications in what they’re learning Compared to other engineering schools, eCU students take about twice as many lab courses “because we believe in an applications-based curriculum ” As with so many other academic endeavors at East Carolina University, the question about the engineering program is not so much “Why are you offering this?” as it is “Why didn’t you do this 25 years ago?” Engineering, which admitted its first students in 2004, is graduating only its second class in May. But for Department of Engineering Chair Paul Kauffmann, getting to this point has taken his whole life. East Carolina’s engineering program, which had 22 graduates this year, is tiny compared to, say, N.C. State University, which is the state’s largest and had 420. But ECU’s program is unique because its vision is different. Kauffmann, who came here in 2003 to help get the program started, and his colleagues did not set out to reinvent the wheel; they were interested in turning out engineers who could quickly make a positive impact because of the breadth of their expertise and skills in the modern workplace. By steve row Instead of offering the traditional concentrations of civil, electrical, mechanical or chemical engineering, the ECU program, which is housed within the College of Technology and Computer Science, focuses on slightly more exotic fields such as biomedical and bioprocess engineering, systems engineering and engineering management. ECU considers its department a general engineering program, one of about three dozen in the U.S. ECU’s engineering program offers concentrations in biomedical engineering and bioprocess engineering, specialties that fit in with a region still heavily dependent on agriculture but one that is also served by a top-level medical school and hospital. Engineering processes and systems can help develop better ways to process food and pharmaceutical products, as well as advance medical research and treatment with the latest technology and equipment. ECU’s program also takes a different approach to academics. Rather than learn only the history of engineering or basic engineering theory in the first semester, for example, students take an engineering graphics course. During their second semester, freshman engineering students split into teams build auto-guided robotic vehicles that can negotiate a maze, sense a flame and extinguish it. Dr. Jason Yao, an assistant professor, calls this course the “Pirate Challenge,” and said it represents “a unique introduction to engineering” taught by the ECU faculty members and not graduate students. Students design and build a three-wheeled vehicle with sensors, guided not by a remote-control device but programmed through circuitry. The ECU approach to teaching engineering is practical and applications-based, which means more of a hands-on way of learning. Theory is taught, but helping students the railroad ” in Puzzling the Reader: Riddles in Nineteenth- Century British Literature,hecimovich tells us that the victorians created rebuses, acrostics and other word puzzles for entertainment in the evenings arebus is a puzzle composed of words or syllables that appear in the form of pictures, creating a kind of literary charade hecimovich points out the important role of riddles in the interlocking courtship games of the times in Austen’s Emma,he reminds us that slow-witted harriet smith is gathering riddles for a booklet included in the submissions gathered by emma Woodhouse, who loves the word plays, are bits and the railroad ” in Puzzling the Reader: Riddles in Nineteenth- Century British Literature,hecimovich tells us that the victorians created rebuses, acrostics and other word puzzles for entertainment in the evenings arebus is a puzzle composed of words or syllables that appear in the form of pictures, creating a kind of literary charade hecimovich points out the important role of riddles in the interlocking courtship games of the times in Austen’s Emma,he reminds us that slow-witted harriet smith is gathering riddles for a booklet included in the submissions gathered by emma Woodhouse, who loves the word plays, are bits and books by FACuLTy froM The ClassrooM see real-world applications of different types of engineering is what matters. The ECU approach, unlike that in many other schools, teaches students about materials, circuits, thermodynamics and engineering graphics early in the curriculum, Kauffmann says, and “we have about twice as many lab experiences [than more traditional engineering programs], because we believe in an applications-based curriculum.” From seminary to a slide rule Kauffmann brings a wealth of real-world engineering experience to ECU, although he did not enter college planning to be an engineer. As a youngster growing up in Richmond, he played with Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs and Erector sets, but he started out as a philosophy major at St. Charles College in Baltimore, heading toward seminary. Then he transferred to Virginia Tech and switched to engineering. “It was time for a 180-degree switch. I had enough New Testament, Greek and Latin, so I thought about engineering,” he said. He chose electrical engineering, in part, because his mother had predicted that “computers might become a big thing.” He also had worked one summer as a millwright’s helper, a manufacturing-related job “that had way too much dust.” After graduating from Virginia Tech in 1971 with a degree in electrical engineering, he began a career in Philip Morris USA’s Virginia and Kentucky operations. He earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Tech in 1976. He rose to plant manager of the York Engineering Center near Williamsburg, where he worked from 1984 to ’89; and director of machine design engineering in Richmond from 1989 to ’92. Kauffmann then left the corporate world to become associate professor and acting chairman of the Division of Business, Engineering and Technology at Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, Va., where he stayed for five years. After earning his doctorate in industrial engineering from Penn State in 1997, he went to Old Dominion and became chairman of the Department of Engineering Technology in 2001. His research has received grants from the NASA Langley Research Center, Green Virginia Ethanol Project and, more recently, the National Science Foundation, a $1.4 million grant to develop more application- based teaching of biomechanics and robotics in rural schools’ math and science classes. setting goals, aiming high Kauffmann says he has several goals for ECU’s engineering program but the primary one is making sure his students survive freshman year. “We’d like to get freshmen to their junior year,” he says, adding that the program has about a 50 percent retention rate, similar to most other university engineering programs. “We want to get students to live and work together in Jones Hall, in what we call an ‘engineering learning community,’ to help build and establish a sense of camaraderie. A freshman ‘survival’ course, Engineering 1000, is going to help develop complementary study skills.” What Kauffmann and his colleagues underestimated in getting the program started is the fact that many incoming students aren’t as prepared for the rigors and discipline of an engineering program as perhaps they should be. Kauffmann says shortcomings in math and science are evident, although Yao points out that in the four short years since ECU’s program started, engineering students’ “competence, interest level and attitude all are getting stronger.” Kauffmann foresees a time when the ECU engineering program will number about 700 students, and he thinks advanced degrees are likely, such as a master’s degree in bioengineering or biomedical engineering. Meanwhile, the program continues evolving and receiving outside advice about curriculum from a 30-member professional advisory board. The board is composed of local leaders as well as representatives from NASA Langley, Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., and engineering firms near Washington, D.C. Dr. Loren Limberis, an assistant professor, says the department’s core curriculum “has been adjusted to better fit what we perceive the student needs to learn at the right time.” This re-evaluation led to moving the robot design and construction project from the first semester to the second semester, which Limberis says lets students “feel ownership of a multi-week project through design and application.” The department plans to combine systems engineering and engineering management into one concentration soon and hopes to gain approval for a mechanical engineering concentration, perhaps as early as the fall of 2009. Additional concentrations might be added in other more traditional fields, if enrollment grows as projected. The department, now in Slay Building, might need new quarters in the future, too, as enrollment increases. Kauffmann believes the program is poised to generate increased recognition and visibility, and he says the future is bright. “We have a better, more capable faculty than I thought we would have at this point,” he says. “Our facilities are great. We just spent $1 million on lab equipment.” “We have a particular mission to serve those in the eastern part of North Carolina, and we want our students who become engineers to stay in the East, help build a better economy and make the region more economically competitive,” he says. “In the past, we (in engineering education) have been driving the car by looking at the rear-view mirror. Instead, we want to look forward. For a world with highly technical demands, we want to determine what are the job fields out there that will need our engineering students in the E ast, and in North Carolina as a whole.” Who knew that the straight-laced victorians spent their idle hours reading riddles and word puzzles? or that Jane austen hid some in her books, particularly her last one, Emma. english associate professor gregg hecimovich has unraveled these victorian word puzzles with two new books based on his research conducted at the British library of periodicals and parlor game books of the time . he learned that Queen victoria herself created a double acrostic, “Windsor engima,” for a parlor book; her puzzle’s answer was a reference to the glories of the British empire . riddles and word puzzles “were a product of the oral tradition as it entered mass produced culture in the 19th century,” hecimovich said . “There was a vast increase in literacy and cheaper production costs through the advances in papermaking and the distribution made possible by the expansion of pieces from her father of a rather bawdy riddle of the times . “Modern readers likely often miss many of the word plays in works such as austen, William Blake or Charles Dickens; however, the 19th century reader would have been looking for these,” hecimovich says . “for instance, the answer to the bawdy puzzle offered up in austen is ‘a virgin prostitute ’ We don’t think of austen telling those kind of jokes, but she does ” “The humor and fun of books of that era are in the games,” he says . “Both of these books point those elements out, and both come from my teaching and the pleasure that i get from these 19th century works—austen’s feminism, Dickens’ class issues ” hecimovich, who joined the faculty in 2002, received the 2006 UnC Board of governors Distinguished Professor for Teaching award and the eCU scholar-Teacher award in humanities, as well as the Max ray Joyner award for excellence in online education and the Bertie fearing award recognizing excellent teaching among english Department faculty . Puzzling the Reader: Riddles in Nineteenth-Century British Literature By Gregg hecimovich Peter lang Publishing 136 pages, $27 Austen’s Emma By Gregg hecimovich Continuum international Publishing 119 pages, $16.95 Track Finds its Stride It’s one of the largest sports teams on campus, with more than 90 athletes lining up against some of the top teams in the nation. But track lacks decent fields, so it can’t host home events. Still, records are falling. By Bethany Bradsher PhotoGraPhy By jay Clark In terms of the number of students participating, the second largest sport at ECU after football is track and field, an unusual sport in which some competitors suit up for three distinct seasons and as many as six championships during the year. Historically not among the most successful or most popular sports on campus, the image—and expectations—for track and field are changing. The addition of several new coaches last season already is producing more victories and the construction of a new track and field facility on campus should raise the team’s visibility and help attract better athletes. Track and field athletes don’t have much of an off-season. “It would be like taking football and saying, we’re going to have a fall football season, and then we’re going to take a little bit of a break and we’re going to have another football season in the winter, and then we’re going to take a little bit of a break and then we’re going to have another football season in the spring,” says head coach Curt Kraft. And while track and field athletes are members of a team, they contribute to the team’s success with individual skills like triple jumping, sprinting and hammer throwing. Kraft says his challenge is to continue sharpening each athlete’s individual talents while instilling a strong sense of teamwork. “You can’t accomplish what you want to accomplish unless you get across to them that we are a team,” said Kraft, who is entering his second season as head coach for both the men’s and women’s teams. “Even though we are an individual sport, it’s very important that the long jumper goes up to the half miler and says, ‘Hey, good job.’” “When the distance runners come around and make their laps in practice, you’re hearing the sprinters go, ‘Come on guys, push it, push it,’” says assistant coach Udon Cheek. “That’s never been there before, never.” East Carolina has produced some notable track and field athletes, including LaShawn Merritt, the 400-meter gold medalist in the 2008 Summer Olympics. There’s also Hector Cotto, a hurdler who competed in those same Olympics for his native Puerto Rico. Both were accomplished athletes, and Merritt’s success was unprecedented in ECU annals, but he spent less than half a year at ECU before signing a professional contract. Going the distance The more typical face of ECU track and field belongs to senior Jarrett Newby, an 800-meter specialist who also competes in the mile. He begins each season in August with cross-country team camp in the North Carolina mountains. After a week of running at high elevations, the group is ready for preseason and a slate of meets that runs from early September to early November. Cross-country ends in November, followed by about two weeks of “active recovery.” In early December the indoor season begins, with meets scheduled all the way through early March. Less than two weeks after the indoor track season ends, the outdoor season starts and continues through at least May— and into June for those fortunate enough to qualify for the national meet. Newby only ran middle distance in high school in Endwell, N.Y., so the transition to competitive cross-country was jolting. “I crashed into that world,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was doing. It’s a five-mile race. That was a death march to me. You can fake an 800 if you’re somewhat in shape and you have guts. You can’t fake five miles.” Newby also represents Conference USA on the NCAA’s national Student-Athlete Advisory Council, and he was one of the inaugural recipients of the C-USA Spirit of Service award in December Field event athletes like high jumper Valeria Moore don’t compete in the cross- country portion of the season, but the fall conditioning regimen is so intense that Moore can’t find a true off-season in her schedule, either. A junior, Moore was a walk- on member of the team, and last year she tied for second in her event at the C-USA Championship. “It’s never a dull moment,” Moore said of her training and meet schedule. Cheek, one of the team’s four paid assistant coaches, can speak with considerable perspective about the changes in the ECU track and field program. When Cheek came to Greenville in 1987 as a sprinter the program was skewed heavily toward speedy, quick events. After several years as a volunteer coach with the women’s program, Cheek was hired to work with the sprinters and relay teams. Preaching team spirit The new backdrop for the program probably won’t be measured by spectacular wins, Cheek said, at least not yet. But when Craft took over the program in 2007, he turned his vision of team spirit into action. He assigned jumpers to room with distance runners on the road. He called ahead to restaurants when the team traveled to make sure that all 50-plus athletes who make the trips could eat together. “He has amazing attention to detail,” Cheek said of Craft. “He remembers kids’ birthdays, their parent’s names, brothers and sisters, conversations he had with them years ago. “That’s what makes it so much a team atmosphere; he’s truly a father figure. He just cares about everybody.” Assisting the four paid assistant coaches are four volunteers. As program director, Craft is responsible for all travel, meals, equipment, practice schedules, recruiting management and academic accountability. By managing the administrative side of the team, Craft makes it possible for the assistants to focus on their discipline and the athletes in their group. “I make sure they [student athletes] convey to me what their dreams are,” Cheek said. “Because whatever their dreams, aspirations and goals are, they automatically become mine. That’s the goal of the assistant coach.” raising expectations Because athletes like Newby subject their bodies to practically year-round competition, the coaches must try to improve performance while also preventing injuries. Newby said he was injured much of the time during his first year at ECU, but after that Daniel Lee began coaching the middle and distance runners, including Newby. Now, Newby says he’s rarely injured and he beat his personal-best time in the 800-meters by three seconds. Brittany Copeland, a sophomore from Stafford, Va., specializes in distance events, and she has also benefited from new coaching in track and field. She came to ECU because “it just seemed to be a growing program,” Copeland said. “We’ve gotten a bunch of new coaches, and just from last year to this year, there’s such a dramatic change in the work ethic,” she added. Increased fan awareness of the sport undoubtedly will grow once the new track and field facility is completed. Construction was scheduled to start in June. Up to this point, the team has had to do all of their competing on the road. Senior Kris Bell, who has won the 60-meter hurdles title for two consecutive years at the C-USA Indoor Championships, welcomes the changes. “The more that we compete at a higher level and compete with the best, the more that our program gets recognition,” Bell said. “LaShawn, when he came here and set records, he definitely put us on the map. It’s up to us to step it up and maintain a high level of exposure.” East ClassnoTesPiraTe naTionClassnoTesPiraTe naTion ALUMNI SPoTLIGHT Let us help with your job search and spa packages, jewelry, weekend getaways, use of debit and credit cards. Get started at 2008 art and photography, and sports memorabilia. www.cashcourse.org/piratealumni today. Christie BryAn, originally of Moody, Ala., is We know that times are tough and we want elaine Darby a recruiting coordinator at Nease Personnel Services This annual event is held in conjunction in Greenville. MArgAret D. DuDley is a nurse you to know that the Alumni Association can with the ECU Alumni Scholarship Classic Homecoming, reunion dates set provide you with tools to help you through practitioner at Eastern Carolina Pain Consultants, this difficult time. As a member of the Pirate family, your member benefits provide a number of valuable services and resources. In partnership with the university and various national companies, the Alumni Association can help you with job searching, networking and discounts on goods and services. We urge you to take advantage of Pirate Career Calls, live conference calls with career and human resources professionals that are held the first Thursday of each month from noon–1:00 p.m. You can find a mentor through the Pirate golf tournament to raise funds for scholarships awarded to undergraduate students who excel in the classroom and the community. If you or your business is interested in making a contribution to the auction, contact Kendra Alexander at 800-ECU-GRAD or Kendra.Alexander@PirateAlumni.com for details. CashCourse aids young alumni The Alumni Association has partnered with Homecoming will take place the weekend of Oct. 16-17. This year the Alumni Association is excited to offer a 25th Reunion, ECTC/ECC Golden Alumni and 50th Reunion, and Black Alumni Reunion. Along with these reunions will be the annual Alumni Awards ceremony, open house breakfast with parade watching, and tour of campus. Watch your mail for detailed information in the coming months. Two part of East Carolina Anesthesia Associates. She was a PCMH staff nurse and a patient care representative in a family practice in Washington. Ashley WAtson is an educational program assistant with Literacy Volunteers of Pitt County. 2007 elexis gillette, a U.S. paralympian, received the 2009 Courage and Character Award from the Greater Raleigh Sports Council. Gillette, who has been visually impaired since the second grade, set two new American records and won a silver medal during his competitions in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. William C. Harrison ’77 ’80, (right) the man that gov . Beverly Perdue says “literally has north Carolina’s future the National Endowment for Financial of in his hands, is an educator with two degrees from east 2006 Alumni Network, attend a career fair, review Education’s CashCourse component to guide Centennial. If Carolina and a distinguished record as a teacher, principal job listings and read advice from the Career students and young alumni in building a ViolA Justine Cooper and William and superintendent in Cumberland County . Center staff. Create a career profile, sign up Christopher Fain of Tulsa, Okla., were married Feb. 21 prosperous and secure financial future. Tools at Kirkland Chapel. She was a marketing major. tArA harrison, 56, was tapped by the governor as north spArks, an interior designer at AECOM Design’s Carolina’s new education czar, serving as both the Virginia Beach office, passed the National Council for chairman of the state Board of education and Ceo of for an alumni e-mail account, network at an provided by CashCourse include financial since you alumni event, and get connected with fellow basics, paying for college, college life, and the graduated, why graduates on LinkedIn or Facebook. world of work. Each of these features can Interior Design qualification exam. luke spenCer the n C . Department of Public instruction . The dual roles not make this and his teammate, both third-year Elon University law means harrison can shape education policy and oversee students, placed second to Florida State out of 24 its implementation at DPi, an agency with 780 employees . assist current students and recent graduates Alumni Association members can even year the year with the realities of building their own save on higher education, health insurance, and utilize worldwide discounts through financial portfolio, managing student loans, you return. teams at UNC Chapel Hill School of Law’s 32nd J. a Pennsylvania native who came south to attend Methodist College in fayetteville and adopted the area Braxton Craven Moot Court Competition in February. buying a car, moving off campus, preventing our many partnerships.To learn more, visit They were Elon’s first team to compete, and arguing as his hometown, harrison went to east Carolina for identity theft, overspending, and responsible 14th Amendment issues, they bypassed Charleston PirateAlumni.com/toolsforthetimes. graduate school and studied here for five years, receiving School of Law’s team in the fourth round, Boston his master s and an educational specialist degree in This summer, one lucky East Carolina College in the quarter-finals, and George Mason educational administration . During most of that time he art major will have the opportunity of a Painted Pirates boost scholarships University in the semi-finals. also was teaching in fayetteville and serving as principal lifetime—to showcase their work at the of Walker-spivey elementary school . he completed his education with a doctorate from vanderbilt University For more than a year 16 Painted Pirate 2005 Berkeley College Art Gallery in New York statues have stood proudly at businesses City. Thanks to a special relationship with susAn BulloCk is the new principal of New in 1985 while working as principal of Terry sanford high throughout Greenville and Pitt County, reminding citizens and visitors of our region’s Hope Elementary School in Wilson. With Wilson school in fayetteville . Bob Keiber, Berkeley College professor, artist, County Schools since 1985, her awards include teacher gallery director and father of actor Christian in harrison, Perdue found a veteran manager who has led assistant of the year at Lee Woodard, teacher of the rich maritime history and that “we are the school districts in hoke, orange and Cumberland counties Keiber ’92, the School of Art and Design year at Lucama, Wilson County bus driver of the year, Pirates of ECU!” On Thursday, Sept. 24, and is credited with improving test scores in hoke, one has been given gallery space to showcase one and Wilson Jaycees Outstanding Young Educator. of the states poorest . as hoke County superintendent, these stoic Pirates will be auctioned off budding artist for a month. Bob Keiber was She was assistant principal at Hunt High School. harrison was a key player in the landmark lawsuit against during the Alumni Association’s Pirate’s elizABeth liles of Greenville was named to the to select the art student in April through a the state showing the unfair funding received by low Little Willie Center board. She is associate relations Bounty Scholarship Auction, with proceeds competition among art majors. Showcasing wealth counties . The case resulted in a state supreme manager for U.S. Cellular’s Eastern N.C. market, benefiting the scholarship program and Court ruling that all public school children are entitled to an ECU art student’s work at Berkeley has held several positions in her seven years with the the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber a sound basic education . harrison was awarded the 2008 Jay robinson leadership award, an honor that comes College’s Art Gallery will bring great exposure company, and received the Human Resources Leader of Commerce. There will be plenty of Award. In the last year, she volunteered with the and notoriety to East Carolina’s fine arts with a $5,000 cash prize . other items to bid on as well, including Little Willie Center for more than 100 hours, and program and strengthen its relationship with she also works with Brigade Boys and Girls Club in harrsion and his wife, Judy, have a son, William, 22, a personalized gifts, fan packages, outdoor the prestigious New York art world. Visit Wilmington, the Backpack Pals program, and United senior at UnC-Chapel hill, and a daughter, Caroline, 17, a equipment, vacations, automotive care, salon PirateAlumni.com/nycartgallery for details. Way. ronAlD MCneill was named director of high school senior . 44 45 Class noTes ALUMNI SPoTLIGHT Capping a 36-year career as a college football official, Dr . Jerry McGee ’65 (right) was selected to work the BCs national championship game in January, along with fellow eCU alumnus Darrell Harrison ’75 ’79 (left) . it was the third national championship game that Mcgee officiated . as i watched the clock wind down, Mcgee said, i thought about many people who had helped me along the way, including east Carolina Coach Jack Boone who hired me as an intramural football official when i was a college sophomore . Mcgee continues working at his day job as president of Wingate University . Ten years ago, Paul Hoggard ’87 became the assistant football coach at richmond senior high school in rockingham, and the team won the state 4-a championship last year he became the head coach, and the team again won the state s biggest high school football prize in an improbable fashion . his team was 4 3 1 at midseason, but then ran off eight straight wins, including three on the road in the playoffs, to win the state 4 a championship for the seventh time . seven seniors on the team received college scholarship offers . Cheering on hoggard were his principal, Cory satterfield ’99, and his superintendent, George Norris ’76 ’85 the Independent College Fund of North Carolina, which uses corporate, foundation and individual funds to award scholarships to students attending the 36 N.C. independent colleges and universities. He was director of operations for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Nash/Edgecombe Counties for seven years and worked in resource development at local, state and national levels. 2004 trACy lynne oWens ’04 ’08 and Anthony Pittman of Fremont were married Oct. 18 in Goldsboro. She teaches third grade with Wayne County Public Schools. pAM JurAnAs, the executive assistant in the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s sports department for four years, is pursuing an MBA, concentrating in sports management, at The Citadel. niCholAs JAMes serAfini and Brittany Elyse Moody of Clinton were married Dec. 13. He is a Walgreen’s manager in Smithfield. AnnA BAttle Wilkinson and DAViD ChADWiCk stinson of Leland were married Oct. 4 in Sanford. She is a business services officer with BB&T in Shallotte, and he is a research coordination specialist with PPD in Wilmington. JessiCA lAil Wilson, a Claremont native, received the Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce’s annual Ambassador of the Year award. She began working as community outreach coordinator for the Partnership for Children of Lenoir and Greene counties in 2006, and in 2008 attended most chamber events. She was an extra on One Tree Hill and is married to tiMothy Wilson, an RN at PCMH. 2003 JessiCA hAllMAn holton of Greenville was appointed to the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Specialty Practice Section Committee of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). She was a coastal representative on the board of the N.C. chapter of the NASW and works at the Walter B. Jones Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center. Colleen l. J. MCginn of Jacksonville was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army National Guard after two years in the military. guy kelly “BuBBA”WilliAMs ’03 ’05, who was a long-snapper for ECU’s football team, is the new head football coach at Eastern Wayne High School. 2002 Bill ADDis and his wife Suzanne of Abington, Pa., had a daughter, Payton Aubrey, on Nov. 17. tyWAnnA lenise Jeffries ’02 ’04 and Elijah Jerome Purkett II of Winterville were married Oct. 11. She is assistant director of campus wellness at ECU. ryAn MAson and Lee Hill of Raleigh were married Nov. 8, at the Matthews House in Cary. She is catering manager at Caffe Luna in Raleigh. Dr. erik lie-nielsen is an assistant professor focusing on family medicine and geriatrics in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where he completed a geriatric medicine residency and fellowship after graduating from BSOM. 2001 Cheryl WilliAMs DoBson of Mount Olive, a nurse at Wayne Memorial Hospital in Goldsboro, was selected as an item reviewer for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensure Examination. Nominated on the basis of clinical specialty and nursing expertise, she was one of six nurses selected nationally. BriAn fleMing and AMAnDA CAlfee fleMing ’02 ’05 had their first child, Bailey Cara, on Jan. 3. He is an installation director for Stock Building Supply, and she is an associate registrar at ECU. pAMelA Cox sugg and her husband, Ron, of Winterville had a son, Nathan Connor, on Nov. 29. 2000 Chip gurkin of Arlington, Va., received his masters in public administration, concentrating in environmental science and policy, from George Mason University in December, and is an environmental 10,000in 2010 5,100 memberscurrentlyJoin today and help us reach our goal of protection specialist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. stephen piner ’00 ’03 and BrAnDy piner ’02 ’05 of Belmont had a daughter, Eva Caroline, on Dec. 27. Doug sMith ’00 ’07, the ECU Alumni Association’s director of membership and marketing, received the 2009 Council of Alumni Association Executives (CAAE) Tardy New Professional Award, which provides an opportunity to visit other CAAE member alumni associations and the CAAE summer institute. 1997 Dr. Josh huMphrey is an emergency veterinarian at Veterinary Specialty Hospital of the Carolinas’ 24-hour Cary facility. He changed careers from information technology to veterinary medicine after working in IT at Duke University Medical Center and volunteering at an animal hospital. He was a research fellow at N.C. State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and worked as a relief doctor at a local vet’s office. DeBorAh foster neVin and her husband John of Wilmington had a daughter, Violet Mae, on Feb. 19. ChAD neWton was named to the Carolina’s PGA board of directors. Originally of Winston-Salem, he is the head pro at Asheboro’s Pinewood Country Club. There since 2004, he previously worked at Forsyth and Bermuda Run country clubs. rené hooD VAnek and roDney hAyes VAnek of Benson had twin sons, Westin Hayes and Jake Harrison, on Oct. 9. They also have a daughter, Reagan Whitley. He works for Fonville Morisey Realty, and she is an instructional technology facilitator at Benson Elementary School. 1996 Arthur l. BreWster and kiMBerly king BreWster ’97 of Clermont, Fla., had a daughter, Addison, on Sept. 23. An Orlando, Fla., police officer, she is a liaison between the FBI and DEA for the Orange County Sheriff ’s office. elizABeth McDAViD Jones of Palmyra, Va., wrote “The Secret Life,” a story serialized in the “Your Weekly Read” section of the Greenville Daily Reflector. Author of five historical novels for the American Girl History Mystery series, she received the Edgar Allan Poe Award for her 1999 novel, The Night Flyers. She is married to riCk Jones. 1995 kAren floyD peArCe ’95 ’99 and ennis lee peArCe iii ’97 ’99 of Rocky Mount had a son, Ennis Lee IV, on Jan. 8. Joining is easy! Call 800-ECU-GRAD or visit PirateAlumni.com/jointoday Class noTes 1994 M. Dustin “Dusty” fielD, CEO of the real estate services source Boylan Companies, was named a director of the ECU Foundation. John g. JernigAn was promoted to assistant store manager for Harris Teeter in Raleigh. He and his wife, Cyndi, had a daughter, Alyssa, on Oct. 13, 2006. 1993 kristie flynt BAity of Yadkinville is director of Forsyth Technical Community College’s new Northwest Forsyth Center in King. With FTCC for nine years, she previously chaired the public safety technology department. She is married to trAVis BAity. Jeff DishMon ’93 ’98 of Haw River was named principal at River Mill Academy, a new charter school in Graham. He was an assistant principal in Pitt County and principal at Orange County and Roanoke Rapids high schools. stephAnie J. eDMonDson of Clayton was named clerk for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for N.C.’s Eastern District. She was acting clerk and chief deputy clerk since 2008. She worked for Dixon, Doub & Conner in Greenville from 1997 to 1999; was the Pitt County school board attorney from 1999 to 2001; and lectured in ECU’s College of Business from 2001 to 2006, when she became a career law clerk for a bankruptcy judge. She and her husband, AllAn eDMonDson ’94, have two children. keVin s. Joyner ’93 ’94, a labor and employment attorney in the Raleigh office of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, was elected as one of 244 shareholders with Ogletree Deakins, a nation-wide company that employs more than 430 lawyers in 34 offices and serves more than half of the U.S.’s Fortune 50 companies. r. MAttheW poteAt, an assistant professor of history at Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg, Va., released a new book with McFarland Publishing, Henry Toole Clark: Civil War Governor of North Carolina, which is the first comprehensive biography of N.C.’s second chief executive of the war. CrAig turnBull ’93 ’95 was promoted to assistant athletic director for internal operations and director of NCAA compliance at Catawba College. In his 11 seasons as the men’s head soccer coach, he led the team to three consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2004 to 2006 and became the winningest coach in Catawba’s soccer program history. 1992 lt. Col. John shirley, originally of Ormondsville, is commander of the 200-member 25th Intelligence Squadron based in Hurlburt Field, Fla., which provides intelligence for Air Force Special Operations Command aircraft, mostly in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan. After completing his AFROTC training at ECU, he held several international assignments. His most recent was at the Pentagon managing more than $4.5 billion of support resources for 28 aircraft. 1991 ken Burnette ’91 ’93 opened a new insurance office in Davidson. He and his wife, Kimberly, have 5-year-old sons, Kace and Koy. 1990 kristin sAuer giBson of Carolina Beach was selected to participate in a permanent collection exhibition for Raleigh’s North Ridge Country Club. Twenty-five of her new paintings are at Greenville’s City Art Gallery, and others are at Greensboro’s Tyler White, Bald Head Island’s Woods Gallery, Wilmington’s Spectrum Art & Jewelry and New Mexico’s Jandreau Art. 1989 DeBorAh MorgAn ’89 ’94 ’04 is a certified nurse-midwife at Greenville Women’s Clinic. An American College of Nurse Midwives member, her 12 years of medical experience include working at Cape Fear Valley Obstetrics and Gynecology in Fayetteville, Obstetrics and Gynecology of Washington, and the Beaufort County Health Department. 1987 eriC hArper was promoted to chief information officer at Southeastern Regional Medical Center. He was a network systems manager there for 13 years and was named director of information systems in December 2007. 1986 Beth ArMstrong foss of Newton was promoted to assistant vice president with BB&T in Hickory. With BB&T since 1989, she is a business deposits specialist in the deposit portfolio administration department. esther l. sMith is senior project manager at The Corporate Image in Bristol, Tenn. In Greenville for 25 years, she worked at Glaxo and PCC. She was an editor and teacher in N.C. and Tennessee before joining the media and public relations firm in 2007. 1985 stephen W. CAuley iii of Smithfield was promoted to manager of the CPA firm Pittard, Perry & Crone. MAriA MCDAniel ’85 ’06 of Grimesland received the Middle School Outstanding Science Educator Award for District One at the National Science Teachers Conference in Charlotte. An eighth grade science teacher at Chicod School, she is also involved in ECU’s NCTEACH program. 1984 ross rhuDy opened Ross Rhudy Consulting, after 25 years in real estate sales and management, to offer strategic vision assistance to property firms. He and his wife, penny rhuDy ’82, have two sons and live in Raleigh. 1982 DonnA M. DAniels ’82 ’84 of Kure Beach and Jay Gartrell of Wilmington were married May 28. kiMBerly M. Jessup ’82 ’94, a third grade teacher at Wintergreen Intermediate School, was named Pitt County teacher of the year. She is married to real estate appraiser roBert Jessup iii ’83. ALUMNI SPoTLIGHT esther Mason Fulcher ’27 of atlantic, celebrated her 100th birthday in January with more than 100 of her friends and family gathered around her at the assisted living center where she lives in sea level . a former teacher, fulcher is a popular figure in the Down east community and remains involved with her church, atlantic Methodist . she was honorary grand marshal for the 2008 Down east Christmas Parade . she says her most gratifying life experience was her time at a student at e C T C . karen Dye evans ’80 was named one of the “Best lawyers in america” for 2009 in recognition of her achievements in health care litigation . a partner in the Washington, D C , law firm olender & associates, evans is both a nurse and an attorney . active in the Trial lawyers association of D C , evans serves as advisory director of the virginia Commission on Women and Minorities in the legal system and as an adjunct professor at the University of D C . school of law . she is a volunteer mediator with the alternative Dispute resolution programs of the D C . superior Court and the U s . District Court for the District of Columbia . after receiving her nursing degree at east Carolina, evans served as a captain in the air force nurse Corps . later, she received a law degree from UnC Chapel hill . she is married to Carter evans, who lettered in football at eCU from 1976-80 . Patricia Laye Garren ’61 ’66, a longtime music educator in the asheville area, was inducted into Women Band Directors international hall of fame . During her 30-year career, she was the first woman president of the n C . Bandmasters association, was chairman of the north american Band Directors Coordinating Council and served as president of Women Band Directors international . she became a fixture of asheville’s music scene in 1979 when she became the founding director and conductor of the asheville Community Band . Upon her retirement from this organization in 1996, she was named director emeritus and the band created a music scholarship in her name to be given annually to a student pursuing a degree in instrumental music . in 2000 the eCU school of Music named her a Distinguished alumni . now retired, she and her husband enjoy traveling and have visited all seven continents . Class noTes 1978 collections. reggie pinkney was inducted into 1974 the Fayetteville Sports Club Hall of Fame. He played reV. Joe Collins ’78 ’82, the 2007 National Milt sherMAn ’74 ’79 published Wrestling football at ECU and then in the NFL for five years Mountain Dulcimer Champion and a singer/ Spoken Here, a young adult novel that draws on his 30 and is now principal at Hillsboro Elementary School. songwriter, taught dulcimer workshops and played years of coaching and teaching experiences. A former an evening concert at Dalton First United Methodist All-American, he is a member of the ECU Athletics 1976 Church in Georgia in March. He is an assistant Hall of Fame and the N.C. chapter of the National professor of religion at Gardner-Webb University in Joseph s. BoWer was a featured speaker at Wrestling Hall of Fame; has written more than 25 Boiling Springs and is married to pAMelA BunCh the Investors Title Insurance Co.’s fifth annual Fall magazine articles; and teaches part-time in ECU’s Collins. MAriAnne CArroll elliott Gathering Seminar in Chapel Hill. An attorney with Exercise and Sports Science department. retired in July 2008 from the Roanoke Rapids Kinston’s White & Allen, he spoke about practical and Graded School district after 30 years as an exceptional ethical dilemmas in real property transactions. He is a 1973 children’s teacher. DAViD BryAnt hill teaches real estate law instructor for candidates preparing for AleC CArr frenCh of Elon received the Physical P.E. at Goldsboro’s Northwest Elementary School. the N.C. Real Estate Licensing Examination; an N.C. Education Association Lifetime Achievement Award Bar and Land Title associations member; and counsel at the N.C. Alliance for Athletics, Health, Physical 1977 to the Kinston Housing Authority, North Lenoir Education, Recreation, and Dance Convention in and Deep Run water corporations, Homebuilders JAyne DuryeA exhibited her glasswork, created Winston-Salem. He teaches at Sylvan Elementary School Association of Kinston, and the Kinston Board of with off hand Italian glassblowing techniques, in her in Snow Camp, is an adjunct professor at Elon University, Realtors. reBeCCA BrADshAW “BeCky” “Hot Sculpted Glass” show at the Brazosport College and is married to sAnDrA B. frenCh ’73. lytle received her masters in Christian counseling Art Gallery in Lake Jackson, Texas, in March and from Trinity Theological Seminary in Newburgh, April. In Texas for 28 years, she has taught since 1981 1970 Ind. pete West was named an inaugural member at Coastal Bend College, where she founded and directs of TrustAtlantic Bank’s Greenville advisory board. MArgAret DAniel BrADsher ’70 ’81 retired the glassblowing program, and since 1989 has chaired He owns and operates Custom Building commercial in July 2008 as principal of Person High School the Visual Arts division. She is a charter member of contracting company, helped found the Coastal after 39 years in education. She was a Person County the National Museum of Women in the Arts, studied Conservation Association in N.C., and is a member of commissioner from 2000 to 2004 and 2007 Person in Europe, and her paintings are in international the Pitt County Home Builders Association. County principal of the year, and was elected to the your neWs AnD ACC oMplishM ents Make a Note of Complete this form (please print or type) and mail to: Class notes editor, Building 198, east Carolina University, greenville, nC 27858-4353; or fax to 252-328-4269 Please use additional paper as necessary when sending your news . you also can e-mail your news to ecuclassnotes@ecu edu While East happily prints wedding announcements, it is our policy not to print engagement announcements . also, when listing fellow alumni in your news, please include their class year . Please send address changes or corrections to: Kay Murphy, office of University Development, greenville Center, east Carolina University, greenville, nC 27858-4353, fax: 252-328-4904, or e-mail: murphyk@ecu edu . naMe first Middle last Maiden Class year e-Mail Day Phone evening Phone aDDress CiTy sTaTe ziP yoUr neWs arrrrgharrrrgh The Voice of thePirate Nation listen free online www.pirateradio1250.com 50 51 in MeMoriaM in MeMoriaM Goldsboro’s Greenwood Junior High School from He retired from Charlotte County, (Va.), Public Schools guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, White pugh ’84 of Sophia died Jan. 9. He was manager and 2000s pAul ArnolD hiCkfAng of Columbus, Ohio, 1962 to 1985 and retired at age 70. JeAn JACkson in 1991. JAMes CeCil forMyDuVAl Jr. ’69 House clearance guard, and representative guard in vice president of Quality Auto Sales in Asheboro and died Feb. 6. He taught at ECU from 1954 to 1962 MiChAel DouglAs eDWArDs ’00 of New hArper ’51 of Smithfield died Feb. 20. She taught ’86 of Whiteville died Feb. 10. He was principal at President Dwight Eisenhower’s funeral. He was a a member of the Carolinas Independent Automobile and at UNC Greensboro before retiring as director Bern died Jan. 13. He worked at Joyner Library and in N.C. and Tennessee for 35 years until her 1989 Old Dock Elementary School for 36 years until his corporate safety director at Nash-Johnson Farms. Dealers Association. John MAtheson young of opera and voice at Ohio State University. He then at Craven Community College for four years. He retirement from Wilson’s Mills School. Vernon 2001 retirement. He was a member of the National John Brooks nelson ’75 of Whitehouse ’80 of Atlantic Beach died Jan. 25. He taught in the was in the Air Force for 28 years before retiring as enjoyed vintage radio and classic television. BriAn k. Monroe leWis ’58 of Jacksonville, Fla., died Dec. Guard and president of the Whiteville Lions Club. Station, N.J., died Jan. 31. He founded and was Nash-Rocky Mount school system before becoming a lieutenant colonel; toured with Boris Goldovsky pulliAM ’07 of Raleigh died Feb. 12. A Theta Chi 9. He was an IRS officer for 32 years before retiring BArry freDeriCk gAns ’69 of Las Vegas died CEO of Media Marketing Services of Flemington. head librarian and cross-country coach at West Opera Group; sang with the Columbus and Honolulu brother, he was a greenhouse technician at Syngenta and becoming an independent tax consultant. He was Dec. 5. He moved to Lake Tahoe in the early 1970s for He was married to Carol nelson ’72. lorrAine Carteret High School. symphonies and others; and owned and operated Biotechnology in West Chester, Pa. a deacon, elder, and board chair at Arlington Christian the scenery and enjoyed hiking and music. DonnA BiDDle noBles ’73 ’89 of Greenville’s Cypress Columbus Opera Tours. Church. sue grAhAM MAnguM ’51 of Wake kAy DeBruhl hill ’69 of Kinston died Dec. Glen Retirement Center died Jan. 4. She was chief 1990s Dr. ruth elizABeth MitChell-pitts Forest, formerly of Creedmoor, died Dec. 26. She was 14. A member of Alpha Delta Kappa, she taught in dietician at PCMH from 1976 to her 1991 retirement. george Dunn ’96 ’97 of Mount Holly died Feb. fACulty DeAths died Feb. 1. She taught political science at ECU from a teacher and principal in Granville County until her Lenoir County for 36 years and was the 2000-2001 Betty JuAnitA pACker ’75 of Raleigh died Jan. 8. He was a vice president with Bank of America in 1992 to 1994. She helped develop the Center for 1979 retirement. roBert frAnCis “BoBBy” teacher of the year for Southeast Elementary School. 31. She worked for the N.C. Department of Health DAViD sutton phelps Jr. of Fort Pierce, Charlotte and enjoyed working with the Boy Scouts. European Studies at UNC Chapel Hill, directed three MCCotter sr. ’50 of Vandemere died Jan. 29. He DouglAs MurrAy o’neAl ’63 of Wake Forest and Human Services. rAyMonD “Bussey” Jennifer lisA sMith Jones ’99 of Raleigh Fla., died Feb. 21. A professor emeritus, he taught European studies programs, and received several grants. played baseball at ECU and with other local teams; was died Jan. 17. He worked with the N.C. DOT until his hoWArD sMith Jr. ’78 of Greensboro died Dec. died Feb. 1. She taught at Goldsboro and Garner senior anthropology from 1970 to 1996 at ECU, where the a Pamlico County Board of Education member and 1994 retirement. BArBArA rose pAtriCk ’66, 29. He worked for the Department of Corrections Dr. rAlph steele of Greenville died March high schools before becoming assistant principal at archaeology laboratory is named for him. His notable Vandemere United Methodist Church trustee chairman; formerly of Jacksonville, died Feb. 26 at Sunbridge for almost 30 years. sAlly sCheipers suther Beddingfield High School in Wilson and taking her digs include a Tar River site that shows evidence of 6. He taught at East Carolina from 1960 to 1990. and was married to thelma Joy McCotter ’51. Nursing Home in Mount Olive. She worked with the ’71 of Sanford died Jan. 17. She taught in Lee County He developed the parks, recreation and conservation last job as assistant principal at Middle Creek High human occupation dating back more than 11,000 years; MArthA Whitehurst Mills ’50 died Jan. 12. YWCA, was a teacher and counselor, and retired from Schools for 30 years. riChArD West ’72 of department. For 55 years, he was married to Marilyn School in Apex. penelope JAne nelson ’96 of the Neoheroka Fort Tuscarora War site near Snow Hill; A Greenville native, she was a credit manager for Brody’s Camp Lejeune Dependent Schools. Antoinette Charlottesville, Va., died Dec. 21. A Sigma Phi Epsilon fulton steele ’71, who taught in the College of Goldsboro died Feb. 6. She taught public speaking and Lake Phelps in Washington County; Fort Raleigh near for more than 30 years and was active in Jarvis Memorial Morel pAtterson ’67 of Raleigh died Jan. brother, he was the first clinical licensed social worker Health and Human Performance. Memorials may be drama at Chambersburg High School in Pennsylvania Manteo; and a site near Buxton on Hatteras Island, United Methodist Church. Vergie BArefoot 30. She got her masters degree from N.C. State and to train at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute and made to the Dr. Ralph Steele Memorial Lecture Series. for 10 years and later at Wayne Community College. where he found a 16th century signet ring that may riggs ’52 of Waynesville died Feb. 6. She was a retired retired in 2006 as assistant superintendent for human the first to graduate from a psychoanalytic institute sCott tyrone steWArt ’92 of Charlotte died have belonged to one of the Lost Colonists. Memorial roBert M. “BoB”WooDsiDe sr. of Greenville Red Cross social worker. JAne AnDreWs sMith resources for Wake County Public Schools. frAnCes accredited by the American Psychoanalytic Association Feb. 9. He was a safety manager with ThyssenKrupp contributions may be made to the David S. Phelps Jr. died Dec. 17. A Staunton, Va., native, he taught math ’58 of Greenville died Feb. 8. She worked at Sheppard kugler “frAnke” ruMley ’64 of Washington and The International Psychoanalytical Association. Safway in Columbus, Ohio, and completed the Ironman Anthropology Scholarship Endowment. at ECU for 30 years until his 2000 retirement. Memorial Library; was one of the first librarians at Pitt died Jan. 2. Traveling with her military husband June kuleen Whitehurst ’73 ’77 of New Florida Triathlon in November 2008. Community College, where she retired in 1996; and for 30 years, she lived in several states. ChArles Bern died Jan. 11. Originally of Whitehurst Station, sang in the choir at Hooker Memorial Christian Church. BAllentine sAVAge ’65 ’69 of Sand Hill she worked in special education. ChArles C. WAylon Cline upChurCh ’53 died Dec. 27. Township died Jan. 21. He taught high school in WilliAMs ’73 of Greenville died Jan. 19. He retired With El Paso Natural Gas Co. for 35 years, he worked Snow Hill and later became a vocational rehabilitation in 2007 as superintendent of parks after 22 years in personnel and was administrator of group benefits-counselor and rehab unit manager in New Bern. with the City of Greenville. A College of Health and design and implementation. BArBArA seAgle Human Performance outstanding alum, he received The Charitable Gift Annuity: WhAley ’59 of Maysville died Feb. 10. She retired 1970s the Governor’s Outstanding Volunteer award. hilDA from teaching in Onslow County. rAy Blue Worth ’79 of Durham’s Croasdaile riChArD BriAn “riCk” BAtts ’79 of Village died Feb. 15. She taught in Grifton, Carthage, Part Gift/ Greenville died Feb. 28. He worked in banking and 1960s Whiteville, and Wilmington, and was an attendance with ECU’s Human Resources, taught in Tarboro and counselor with New Hanover County Public Schools eDWArD liDDell “Dell” ADAMs ’65 of Aurora, and was a Pitt County magistrate. DouglAs Part Income Stream until her 1984 retirement, after which she volunteered Durham died Feb. 11. He was an associate professor MiChAel Benson ’74 of Raleigh died Jan. 7. for 15 years as an elementary school tutor. of music at Ferrum College for four years, and in After receiving his Ph.D. from N.C. State in 1984, When you set up a charitable gift annuity with east Carolina University Durham was a public school band director for five years he did post-doctoral work at Baylor University and 1980s and registrar at Durham Technical College. Joseph became chief scientist and director of software through the east Carolina University foundation inc , east Carolina Clinton “JAy” BArBer Jr. ’67 of Coral development with DVC of Austin, Texas. russell susAn BlAke DeWAr ’86 of Jamestown died University Medical & health sciences foundation inc , or the east Springs, Fla., died Feb. 12. At ECU, he was Alpha Phi BlAnton fonVielle ’70 of North Myrtle Jan. 14. She directed the Guilford County Health Carolina University educational foundation inc (Pirate Club), you Omega president and worked at WECU radio and Beach, S.C., died Feb. 2. He taught school and retired Department’s nutrition and WIC programs and are contributing to an organization dedicated to educating students WECU television. He was a personnel manager and as a pharmacist after 29 years. In 1979, the Carnegie graduated from the Center for Creative Leadership. and preparing them for the future . your support through this partial sales consultant for Control Data Corp. and Metro Hero Fund Commission and N.C. Highway Patrol tinA hArris JACoBs ’87 of Maxton died Feb. charitable gift/partial annuitized income mechanism enables you to Information Services in several states, and president of honored him for rescuing an accident victim from a 13. She was a nurse. MAri CeCeliA Mileur strengthen eCU for the future . a charitable gift annuity may be estab- Heron Bay Group. linDA floWers Bunn ’63 submerged car at Sunset Beach. Dennis gerAlD ’82 of Ahoskie died Feb. 21. She was a speech and lished for a minimum of $10,000 in the form of appreciated stocks and of Raleigh died Feb. 19. She taught in Cumberland “DiCk” Jones ’73 of Greenville died Jan. 30. He language pathologist with public schools and Guardian other securities as well as cash or certain types of real estate . for more County and worked with the N.C. Public Instruction worked for Northern Telecom, later named Nortel. Care of Ahoskie and Scotland Neck. nAnCy and Agriculture departments. An N.C. State University Memorial contributions may be made to the ECU MArion outlAW ’89 ’02 of Mount Olive died information please call 252-328-9573, e-mailabeyounisg@ecu edu, or professor emerita, she was a teacher and administrator with Educational Foundation. lottie greenWooD Jan. 11. Originally of Rocky Mount, she worked in visit www ecu edu/devt/ . the extension program and received the Outstanding MAtheson lAssiter ’74 of Ahoskie died Dec. Wayne and Duplin counties as a middle school teacher Extension Service Award. She also owned and operated 18. She opened That Added Touch Florist in 1975 for 20 years and a counselor for eight years. She was the firm Elegance by Design. e. lee CArroll and was named working woman of the year in 1982. named Duplin County teacher of the year. frAnCes ’62 of Garner died Dec. 25. From 1963 to 1989, She was executive director of Ahoskie’s Chamber of kennA MCClure peters ’86 of Tarboro died he owned and operated Carroll Produce Co., and Commerce, served on the Downtown Rehabilitation Feb. 27. She taught kindergarten at Willow Grove and retired in 2004 from the N.C. DOT. For 47 years he Committee, and held several positions with The Gallery Bridgers elementary schools, was principal at Bridgers was married to kay efland Carroll ’62. Burl rAy Theatre. WilliAM ronole “Bill” leWis ’72 and Stocks elementary schools, and retired as personnel CleMents sr. ’64 of Keysville, Va., died Dec. 9. of Wilson died Feb. 19. He was an Army representative director for Tarboro City Schools. ronAlD DAle single Life Payout %Two Life Payout % 50:4450–50: 3855:4855–55: 4160:5060–60: 4665:5365–65: 4970:5770–70: 5275:6375–75: 5680:7180–80: 61 UPon The PasTUPon The PasT “We are not here to destroy the old and accept only the new, but to build upon the past…” —robert h Wright, nov 12, 1909 from his inaugural address and installation as east Carolina’s first president My first day student teaching Recollections of Thelma Elliot ’20 on her first day of student teaching on Jan. 6, 1920, at the Joyner School, a model primary school located seven miles west of campus operated jointly by East Carolina and the Pitt County schools. To begin with, our day started wrong. One of the girls did not hear the bell and as a result we had to sit in the car (a seven passenger Willys-Knight) and wait, trembling with both excitement and cold. Once all were safe inside, Ollie Moore, who acted as chauffer, attempted to start the car, but in vain it seemed for a few minutes, but finally it started and we were off. Smoothly we glided along rejoicing until we came to Five Points. Our chauffer found it utterly impossible to change to high gear from low. We finally managed to get from Five Points to Eighth Street on low gear. We then learned that the next thing would be a garage. So we speeded around from Eighth Street to Greenville Motor Company, every minute expecting to be pulled for speeding. We were going at the rate of five miles an hour! At the garage our troubles were soon ended and at last we were off. So after overcoming our many difficulties we at last reached Joyner School. None of us knew where to go but after wandering around for a while we found the principal’s room. We were glad enough to stand and warm our fingers for a while. We were then asked to have seats, but where were the seats? There were plenty of seats on the stage, but how were we to get to them? The stage was only three feet high and there were no steps in sight. Sad was the news reported that night when some of the girls found their new dresses split. Then came recess. What games were to be played? Sling the biscuit seemed to be the most popular, so we joined in. I know some of the girls were not sorry when the bell rang. It was really hard running around on the end of the line with narrow skirts and high heels. Dinner time soon came and we began to think our Joyner School experiences for that day were nearing an end, but we were sadly mistaken (because) our Willys-Knight decided to stay a while longer. We decided the push and pull method was the best to use. This had little effect at first, so someone got the crank. But it also proved of no use, so we put it on the fender. Again we pushed and pulled, the whole school helping. This time it started and we bade farewell to Joyner’s for that day. Everything was running smoothly until we got about two miles from Joyner’s and somebody thought of the crank, which had been left on the fender. It was gone. Back we had to go for it. We found it lying in the middle of the road. We had always understood getting to and from Joyner’s was the chief problem connected with practice teaching in the rural school and we well understand why. East University Advancement 2200 South Charles Blvd. East Carolina University Greenville, NC 27858-4353 change service requested nonprofit organization U s Postage Paid PPCo eCU gallery The 30th annual barefoot on the Mall gave students some fun and free food before cramming began for spring semester finals. Photo by Cliff Hollis