AHA_Fall_2009

Fall 2009

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“New Honors Residence Hall” Six-story, 537-bed facility provides

“a sense of community, but also privacy when you need it.”

—Anne Reid, Honors College Senior

Throughout the spring, as we filled the 2009 freshman class, and continuing through the summer, parents and new students, faculty and staff members—my neigh-bors!—would ask, “Will it be ready?” Expressing

more confidence than I felt, I would respond, “Yes. Everything is on schedule.” On Wednes-day, Aug. 12, with Move-In Day three days away, the Webcam focused on the new honors residence, ominously showing what could only be called a construction site.

Then an amazing transformation. The heavy equipment began to leave. Plastic sheet-ing that had blocked view and access without a hard hat was removed. The chain-link fence cordoning off the construction site was gone. On Thursday we were certified for occupancy.

Davis Baird

And when Move-In Day arrived, we could welcome 500 new students, most of them incoming freshmen, to the new Honors Residence Hall. Even among the sweat, oaths, and grunts of Move-In Day, one could hear some “Ohs!” and “Ahs!”

“This is more like a fancy hotel than a college dorm,” one parent commented to me.

We are indeed thrilled to have our beauti-ful new space filled with students. Some work remains. As I write (Sept. 1), we are in the final stages of getting the full-service cafeteria and dining facility—and coffee bar, open until 1 a.m.—ready to open. The classrooms are ready but for the technology that is integral to much teaching now. Sod went down a week ago, and we are working to ensure that it will take hold and create a beautiful green space.

For the first time in its 30-year history the Honors College has space for its students to gather, to put on events, to work, and to play.

Recognizing the 40th anniversary of Wood-stock, the Honors Council is planning a “Woodstock Event” focused on the music and culture of the ’60s. They are going to draft Professor Greg Stuart, who is teaching an hon-ors course on the Beatles, to speak. Associ-ate Dean Jim Burns will give a sneak preview of his new course, Divas, and the Men who Ruined their Lives, and there will be music, retro and contemporary. With images of the sea of mud that Yasgur’s Farm became, I worry a bit about our new sod. But I am confident that this will be an engaging, moving, and even educational launch for our new space.

Dean’s puzzle

Last issue’s puzzle was simply put: A wooden beam 8" x 8" x 27" is to be sawed into four parts out of which a cube can be made. Find the four parts. But I admit, this was a bear to solve, and if the truth be told, I never fully suc-ceeded myself after many hours.

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Due to changes within the college staff, your advisor may have changed. See the updated advisor list below.

Davis Baird BARSC, mathematics, philosophy, statistics

Jim Burns African American studies, criminology and criminal justice, dance, early childhood education, elementary education, music, retailing, sport and entertainment management, undeclared—liberal arts, women’s and gender studies

Jim Clarkaccounting, business—general, business and technology educa-tion, business economics, finance, insurance and risk management, international business, marketing, real estate

Molly Gilbride economics, European studies, history, international studies, management, political science, psychology, sociology

Laura Mewbourne advertising, biomedical engineer-ing, broadcast journalism, chemi-cal engineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, computer information systems, computer science, electrical engineering, engineering—general, mechanical engineering, nursing, pharmacy, print journalism, public relations, visual communications

Christian Priceart education, art history, art studio, classics, film and media studies, media arts, theatre/speech

Ed Munn Sanchezanthropology, chemistry, French, German, Italian, Latin American studies, physics, Russian, Spanish

Mark Sibley-Jones biological sciences, cardiovascular technology, comparative literature, English, exercise science, environ-mental science, geography, geol-ogy, geophysics, interdisciplinary studies (arts and sciences), marine science, public health, religious studies, undeclared—science and mathematics

Brianna Timmerman All premeds

Who is my advisor?

How big a cube? The volume of wood we have to work with is 8" x 8" x 27"= 1,728 cubic inches, which is 123. So we are aiming at a cube 12 inches on a side.

For the first step, cut the beam into two congruent step-shaped parts. See Figure 1. These parts can be reassembled into a block that is 18" x 8" x 12". See Figure 2. Rotated end-to-end, we have a block of wood 12" x 8" x 18". See Figure 3. This block, composed of the two step-shaped pieces from the first cut, can itself be cut into two step-shaped pieces. See Figure 4. As with the first, these two new step-shaped pieces can be nestled together, this time into a cube. See Figure 5. Given the method of construction, it is clear that the cube is made of four blocks taken from the original beam.

Only two readers responded to this puzzle, one claiming it couldn’t be done. However, my hat is off to Carl Strange, who was the only reader to find the correct solution. He noted in his e-mail to me that it took him three hours and 14 minutes. Good spatial imagining, Carl!

I took this puzzle from an old book that I spent hours with while an undergraduate. Here is another puzzle from the same book:

Starting in the “lower left-hand square” of a chessboard, can a knight move to the upper right hand square while landing on each of the board’s 64 squares exactly once?

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A neon watch glows 5:30 on a Monday morning, and Tim Jeffreys is already sweating. While most people sleep in lethargic denial of the coming workday, this Honors College senior begins his 70-mile training regimen for the week. His goal: to make it to the U.S. Olympic Qualifier for the marathon in 2011. His strategies: ambition and time management.

“I like to have a plan, and I live by my training regimen. If you can find the motiva-tion to get your hard work out of the way, you will do better because of it—for me, that’s running at 5:30,” explains the 21-year-old math major.

For Jeffreys, waking up early doesn’t stop him from dreaming, an attitude that works hand in hand with his remarkable goal.

Enter the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Not your typical road race, qualifiers must run a time of 2:19:00 (two hours and 19 min-utes) for an invitation. Averaged out, that’s about a 5:18 mile, multiplied 26.2 times over the course.

“If you don’t set your goals high, why set them at all?” says Jeffreys, and he laughs. “If you really believe you can do something, you can do it. And if somebody else believes in you, you can really do something.”

This journey of 1,000 miles (or four) ahead of Jeffreys began with a single step. However, it wasn’t a pretty one, and he could not be where he is now without support.

“I ran my first marathon when I was 16, and it was terrible. I trained poorly, I didn’t have any guidance, and I just died,” Jeffreys recalls.

Using this experience as a stepping stone, Jeffreys ran an impressive 2:59:56 at last year’s Myrtle Beach Marathon. This bench-mark, while not Olympic caliber, caught the eye of local running guru Selwyn Blake—now Jeffrey’s coach and mentor—who posed a simple question after Myrtle Beach: “Why not the Olympic Trials?”

With proper coaching and somebody who believes in him, Jeffreys has never looked back.

“I couldn’t do without Selwyn. It’s important to find a mentor in anything you do, someone you can call and talk to after you have a bad day, someone who understands the ups and downs of what you’re going through, whether it be school, sports, work, or whatever.”

In addition to his running expertise, Blake also provided Jeffreys with the opportunity of a summer.

“I spent four weeks this past summer in Flagstaff, Ariz., where I trained with McMillan Elite, a team of professional runners sponsored by Adidas. Selwyn knew the coach and told him about me. It was an incredible experience.”

Even while running alongside his idols in the high Arizona altitude, Jeffreys seized the chance to take home more than an improved VO2 max level.

“The main lesson I learned out there was patience. Some of these guys had put in years of training to get to where they wanted to be. Being around that mentality was something I needed.”

In the midst of his world-class running, Jeffreys also happens to be a student—a title which he perceives as first and foremost in his development. With resourcefulness, he applies the same determination from running as a support beam for his challenging curriculum.

“I remember one semester where my advisor told me to take the two hardest math classes at USC. He didn’t tell me they were supposed to be taken in different semesters. The classes got harder as time went on, and I wanted to give up,” Jeffreys remembers. “But, just like in running, you have to keep going, which is what I did.”

Jeffreys aced both courses. Despite his can-do attitude and impres-

sive track record, Jeffreys, like everybody, has dealt with failure. His advice to people: “There’s a sign in the Five Points store Strictly Running (which sponsors Jeffreys) that says ‘Runners who never fail are runners that never tried anything great.’ You’ve just got to stay positive.”

Indeed, Tim Jeffreys is staying positive. With the summer of 1,000 miles over, his senior year beginning, graduation on the horizon, and the trial of trials in 2011, Jeffreys’ way of staying positive is to run away from it all—at least, for a few hours each morning.

You can see Tim’s daily journal from his training in Flagstaff at http://timinflag.blogspot.com.

Running away from it all: Tim Jeffreys, the SCHC, and the Olympic TrialsBy Gregory Goetz (2011)

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Patricia Ann Tangney Dumiak ScholarshipBy Mark Sibley-Jones

Bill and Kathi Tangney established this year the Patricia Ann Tang-ney Dumiak Scholarship in memory of their daughter, a 1994 SCHC graduate. The scholarship is awarded to a worthy incoming freshman whose major is in the Department of Political Science, which includes both international studies and political science.

Two years after being awarded her undergraduate degree in inter-national studies, Patricia completed a master’s in political science. She then went to work for the South Carolina Department of Energy, where she was responsible for nuclear policy and related issues. Later, Patricia worked for the State Budget and Control Board, where her portfolio included responsibility for the state K–12 education program.

Prior to her enrollment at USC, Patricia lived with her parents in Fort Devens, Mass., where her father, Bill Tangney, was stationed. What would have persuaded a young woman to leave the cool climate of New England for the torrid August heat of South Carolina? “It’s the only place we would let her keep both her car and her horse,” said her mother.

Kathi said her daughter started riding horses at the age of 9. By the time she was a teenager, she was competing in equestrian contests. In 1986 Patricia’s equestrian team won the National Dressage Team Championship for the U.S. Pony Club in Lexington, Ky. Her horse at the time was a big chestnut-colored thoroughbred named A.C. He accompanied Patricia to USC in 1990 and remained her friend for the rest of her life.

Patricia continued her athletic pursuits at USC, where for four years she was a member of the equestrian team. She stabled her horse at Softwinds Farm and trained under the guidance of Janet Brown.

In addition to her love of horses, Patricia developed in college a keen fondness for Native American culture, and a particular interest in hawks. Many Native American cultures regard the hawk as a messen-ger of insight, adaptability, and openness. Hawk people aim to initiate and lead and may be impulsive from time to time. They want to estab-lish individuality while still being accepted by the group.

Patricia’s husband, Andy Dumiak (USC 1994), spoke of the similar-ity between the hawk’s intrepid spirit and that of his wife. “Trish loved life and lived it to the fullest, regardless of any obstacles she encoun-tered,” he said. “She often encouraged others to do the same. She was a

strong, intelligent, and beautiful person, full of faith and bravery.” Andy also explained his wife’s appreciation of Native American cul-

ture and its reverence for the hawk by saying that she was inspired by one of her favorite writers, James Herriot, with whom she shared “a profound love of animals and nature.”

Patricia’s passion for life found expression also in her devotion to academics. Andy described her as “a voracious reader of fiction and nonfiction. Her favorites included Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and she often read their books over and over again.”

It is surely fitting that the first recipient of the Patricia Ann Tang-ney Dumiak Scholarship has in common with Patricia a desire to be an innovator and a leader in her field. Meghan Kelly, an SCHC freshman from Rock Hill, was a leader in environmental work while she was in high school.

In a letter of gratitude to the Tangneys, Meghan said, “I have always been interested in environmental issues, and became interested in political science through participation in my high school’s Model United Nations Program. I like that being in Model U.N. meant that we were discussing and debating real-world issues. We were always looking for solutions to real problems that would be viable to most nations in the world.”

After reading this portion of the letter to me, Kathi looked up and smiled. “She sounds a lot like Patricia,” she said.

Then she looked down and continued to read what Meghan had written: “[T]he grant that USC was recently awarded for research in alternative fuels shows the school’s commitment to developing sustain-ability. I want to understand the science and develop the policies that will help our environment.”

Like his wife, Bill is delighted that Meghan avows such passion for her field of study. Whatever Meghan and future recipients of the schol-arship choose to do, he said, “I’d like to see them live full, productive lives, and contribute to society. Make a difference, whether in law, aca-demics, or any other profession.”

“Yes,” said Kathi. “I hope the recipients will do well in school and pursue what is of interest to them.” With a finger she tapped Meghan’s letter as if to indicate that this young woman has what it takes to work hard and to make a great contribution to society.

Patricia and Andy Dumiak

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“A renewed interest in debating and other forensic activities is being shown at the University of South Carolina this year,” read an article in a 1949 edition of the Columbia Record. Now, 60 years later, the same thing can be said again.

The Carolina Debate Union (CDU) is a new student organization working in tandem with the leadership of the Honors College to provide students with opportunities to hone public speaking and critical-thinking skills.

Shortly after the University of South Carolina was founded, students established two debate organizations. The Clariosophic and Euphradian societies trained generations of Carolinians in the rhetorical arts and produced many leaders, including governors, congressmen, college presidents, and an attorney general.

After many years and coaches, the debating community at USC achieved widespread suc-cess. Under the leadership of English professor Merrill Christophersen, Carolina debate teams competed in the Grand Nationals Tournament and the Pi Delta Kappa National Champion-ship. USC was indeed among the national elite within the world of debating.

In recent years with coach David Berube at the helm, the USC debating team partici-pated in the University National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence, an invitation-only competition. Carolina debaters won first place two consecutive years. Despite the success of the program, debating at South Carolina folded several years ago. Since then Carolina has had little to offer students interested in debate.

Unlike in centuries past, rhetoric is no lon-ger an integral part of a high school or uni-versity curriculum. Thus, if students desire to be trained in the rhetorical arts, they must receive most of their training extracurricularly. And this is exactly why we, as interested stu-dents of the University of South Carolina, have founded the Carolina Debate Union.

The union differs from previous debat-ing endeavors at Carolina in that it is a union and not a club or team. CDU is a network of passionate students actively pursuing the fur-therance of their education through debate. The union was not founded to make the Uni-versity look better, but to be better. Previ-ous attempts to establish debate clubs have failed because they were dependent on coaches. When coaches left, clubs dissolved. In con-trast, students run the Carolina Debate Union, so the success of the organization is not tied to any individual. It is our hope that the student initiative that birthed the union will also gift it with longevity hitherto unrealized.

Though there are many benefits to the union being founded by students, one read-ily apparent disadvantage is funding. Students have ample determination and passion, but lit-tle in the way of finances. We are committed to making our organization accessible to as many students as possible. Thus, the decision was made not to charge an organization fee. This is why it is critical that the union receives support from dedicated alumni.

But why contribute to the union? What makes this a worthwhile cause, especially when previous debating organizations have folded? In financially difficult times, is this a good investment?

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! The union will greatly augment the education that stu-dents receive at the University and will gift South Carolina and the nation with a genera-tion of articulate defenders of liberty who will further public discourse. The skills acquired and honed in debate are useful not only for those seeking to pursue a legal or politi-cal career, but for everyone. In every human endeavor, we spend our lives communicat-ing; debate enhances our ability not merely to express our own ideas, but to understand the ideas of others.

Though modeled in part after the renowned Cambridge and Oxford unions, the Carolina Debate Union also is endowed with rich tradition on this side of the Atlantic, espe-cially in seeking to preserve the distinguished legacy of Carolina’s own Euphradian and Clar-iosophic societies. It is our vision to build this program so that it will enrich the educational experience of students today and for genera-tions to come.

Let’s bring Oxbridge to Carolina and the Ivy League down South!

Carolina has prestigious debate team historyBy Joel Iliff (2012) and James Strickland (2012)

TheCarolina DebaTe Union

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New Honors Residence HallBy Tori Espensen-Sturges (2011)

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Every summer the incoming freshman class bubbles over with the uncertainties of starting a new school year. This year, their apprehension was mirrored in the minds of faculty and staff members waiting on the new Honors Residence Hall to open. Despite a few features that were not yet ready, everyone’s fears began to be assuaged on Aug. 15 when the dorm opened in time for Move-In Day and roommates met for the first time. The six-story, 537-bed dorm houses the entire fresh-man honors class, some upperclassmen, and the music and Magellan living and learning communities.

The building is designed as much more than a traditional dorm. The first floor is pub-lic space, accessible to the entire campus. It houses a cafeteria with a salad bar, deli, inter-national station, exhibition station, and hot entrée line, as well as a Starbucks open late at night. The game room is full of couches and armchairs, a big-screen TV, and space for board games and video games. Tables and chairs for gathering and studying line the main hallway. There are several classrooms and a conference room for Honors College classes and events. Outside, the dorm has its own grass courtyard with rocking chairs for enjoying the South Carolina sun that so many out-of-state students are quickly learning to love. Perhaps the most striking feature of the public floor is the segment of honeycomb sal-vaged from “The Towers,” which had stood on the grounds since the ’60s.

Although catering to the entire Honors College, the building does not shirk its func-tion as a dormitory. The upper floors house students in single and double rooms. Every group of 12 to 24 residents has a study room and a small community room with couches and armchairs, with larger living room areas on each floor. The dorm is designed to facil-itate a community atmosphere among Hon-ors College members by providing common space for meeting, relaxing, and forming study groups. Even the rooms are purposely designed to be small to entice people into the living spaces. Anne Reid, a senior living on campus for the fourth year, describes the dorm as having “a sense of community, but also privacy when you need it.”

Another unique feature is the permanent, live-in Honors College staff member. Molly Gilbride lives in the building to provide sup-

port from the academic side of the living and learning community and to create a presence of the Honors College in the building.

The new Honors’ Residence Hall is a departure from the traditional idea of a dorm. Even for those who have never lived in a dorm before, the building is a deviation from the expected. First-year students Trey Gord-ner and Cecilia Fendrock report the dorm as being nicer than they had anticipated in many respects. “Everything is so nice and new. It’s awesome,” said Fendrock. Gordner echoed her sentiments by claiming that nothing is lack-ing, and the dorm is filled with “convenient touches” that make living easy.

Even without the novel concept of the dorm as a gathering place for all students in the Honors College, not just the residents, the new hall is distinguished from older, more conventional dorms by the palatial quality of the facilities and furnishings. Upperclass-men collaborated on selecting the furnishings and outfitting the usable space, so it is truly a dorm designed with the needs and applications of students in mind.

In addition to the functional and furnish-ing innovations of the building, it has also been designed with “green” in mind. It follows Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines and should soon be Gold LEED certified. There are recycling centers and kiosks educating about sustain-able features located throughout the building. Twenty percent of the materials used in con-struction came from within a 500-mile radius of Columbia, and many products were made of recycled materials. The dorm uses high-effi-ciency plumbing and washers and dryers. The carpets are made from recycled materials, nat-

ural light is utilized as much as possible, and all south-facing windows are outfitted with “light shelves” to limit unwanted heat.

For the new freshmen, all the worry-ing about starting college will likely continue for the next few weeks. For those fretful fac-ulty members who played a part in the design of the new Honors Residence Hall, the hours of innovative planning have paid off. They have created a dorm that allows for comfort-able, if not lavish, living, while also provid-ing a space that will begin to truly unify the students of the Honors College as an entity. For some Honors College students, this will mean having a space to spend time with peo-ple they have known for three years, while for others, it means creating a community to meet the people who surround them daily. Gordner described it in terms of the Fab Four: “In the words of the great John Lennon, ‘I get by with a little help from my friends,’ and the honors dorm is definitely a great place for that.”

A place for study

A place for hanging out

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During the first week of my home stay in Mokpo, South Korea, I asked my host brother, Jo Jong Mu, if his school had had a native English teacher like me the previous year. He looked at me very seriously and said, “Yes. She is dead.”

Now, Jo Jong Mu’s English is quite limited, and the details surrounding this unfortunate woman and her untimely demise were not forthcoming. Had she overdosed on octopus and kimchi? Had her lung col-lapsed after a marathon night of karaoke? Had she strayed into the minefield at the North Korean border? Or had something simply gotten lost in translation?

Who knows?I have been in Korea for over two months,

and my pulse is still ticking. But if I am going to survive the remainder of my Fulbright grant year, I’d better assess the situation.

Mokpo is a port city on Korea’s south-west coast with a population of about 250,000 and a half-serious reputation as the center of the nation’s organized crime. Not to worry, though. I’m told most of that publicity stems from a farcical gangster movie set in Mokpo in 2004. Despite the distance of 7,500 miles separating Mokpo from the University of South Carolina, where I’ve spent my last four

years, so far I’ve been struck more with the similarities to America than the differences.

Like my hometown of Charleston, Mokpo is a peninsula where you can walk along the water, breathe the salty sea air, and watch the green reed beds sway with the tide. They’re famous for their seafood, their harbor is bustling, and they’re currently constructing a bridge to an outlying island shaped exactly like the one spanning the Cooper River. Heck, they even have a Popeye’s chicken!

But differences, both subtle and stark, imprint upon all my experiences a uniquely Korean mark. The shore faces west, not east, and opens, not to the embrace of the warm Atlantic, but to the enigmatic Yellow Sea. Their most famous seafood dish isn’t fried catfish or boiled shrimp, but whole baby octopus soup.

As the weeks go by, and the breadth of my experiences widens, I continue to slowly transcend the tourist mindset and notice the deeper, subtler aspects of Korea and its peo-ple. Koreans, like many other ethnic groups, are fiercely proud of their country, but their dedication to ensure its continued success is astounding and unique. Nowhere is this more evident than in their education system. The primary assignment of the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) program is, unsur-prisingly, to be an English teacher. I was placed in a coed middle school, where the students arrive at 8 a.m. and finish class around 5 p.m. But their studying does not end there.

Every night, including Fridays, as I’m about to go out to dinner with friends or relax with a book in my room, my host brothers are finishing homework and preparing to go to “hagwons,” independent academies where they are drilled in math, science, and English

grammar until midnight or later. In few, if any, places throughout the world is such dedication seen as the norm. Perhaps because of their fervent dedication to all things Korean, and in spite of the many comforts of living in this high-tech, first world country, no other place I’ve traveled has ever felt so separated from the rest of the world.

In Europe, one feels engaged with the global community. Dozens of countries are packed together, ethnic and linguistic bound-aries are constantly being mixed together, and individuals of many cultural backgrounds commingle, at least in the cities. In Korea, however, one feels engaged wholly with Korea. Surrounded on three sides by massive bodies of water and on one by the societal black hole of the communist north, Korea and its people have developed a remarkable uniformity for such a prosperous nation.

Even in Seoul, one of the richest, most cosmopolitan centers in Asia, a young girl walking with her mother pointed at me with wonder and said, in Korean, “An American!” Virtually all the cars I see on the roads are Hyundais and Kias, the two biggest Korean car manufacturers. Cell phones are almost exclusively made either by Samsung or LG, the Korean electronics giants. There is much to admire in this self-reliance, for Korea has struck a remarkable balance between being an important global economic power and a faith-ful supporter of its people and their com-mitment to entrepreneurship and continued prosperity. In spite of their uniformity, how-ever, I have come across no xenophobia, and, to the contrary, have found Koreans to be some of the warmest and friendliest people I’ve ever encountered.

When Charleston and Korea collideBy Ben Forney (2009), Fulbright Scholar

Ben Forney outside classroom with students

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Service learning at USCBy Sarah Langdon (2011)

As part of the Fulbright ETA program, I am living with a family, the Jo family, to be exact, who has gone beyond all my expectations to help me adjust to this strange and wonderful new life. Their Eng-lish is about as good as my Korean, which so far has limited me to such exchanges as, “Is this food good?” “Yes, it is good,” “Are you hot?” “No, I’m OK,” and “Is this food spicy?” “It is spicy, but it’s good.” Simple, yes, but I’ve learned not to underes-timate the power of the hand gesture. And my knowledge of Korean is swelling by the hour. When you hear a language nearly every waking moment of every day, even one as foreign and seemingly impenetrable as Korean, the mind finds a way to adjust.

So here I am, faced with the million variables of the next year in Korea. Will I survive? Absolutely. I hope to achieve more than mere survival. Surrounded by this new land, these new people, and with a million opportunities awaiting only my initiative to engage them, this year may be the first of many I spend in foreign lands. Whether in Korea or elsewhere, my experiences as a traveler have, above all, inspired me to travel more and to delve deeply into new cultures, where we as a human race share common aspirations, though we approach them in marvelously different ways.

Ben is surrounded by some of his students.

This past spring I wanted to take an advertising or marketing class. A visual communications major, I thought it would be a valuable way to broaden both my knowledge and skill set. Through the South Carolina Honors College, I discovered a service learning marketing class, Communicating for a Cause. I signed up not knowing what to expect. On the first day of class, Professor Karen Mallia, who teaches in the advertising department of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies, told our class of five students that throughout the semester, we would research and eventually create an entire communications plan to present to our client, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Columbia (BBBS-GC).

We began our research by meeting with Julie Tovey, president and CEO of BBBS-GC. She identified the organization’s biggest obsta-cle to be a lack of big brothers, specifically black males. The meeting helped us to identify our target audience for our plan.

This was my first time meeting with someone from the business community in a professional manner. It proved to be a very valuable experience as it helped me to be much more confident in my abilities when contacting professionals during my summer internship search. I also learned to be more comfortable with the interviewing process, which aided me in securing an exciting internship for this coming fall.

I’d never taken a service learning class before. These types of classes combine a traditional classroom experience with some type of community service project. Our group used the marketing and advertising skills we learned in the classroom to create a communi-cations plan for a local nonprofit.

The most meaningful part of our project occurred when we held a focus group with big and little brothers in the Columbia program. We asked the little brothers what their favor-ite thing was that they had done with their big brothers. One little brother told us that his favorite thing was taking a walk on USC’s Horseshoe and then having lunch at the Rus-sell House, while another said his was making dinner with his big brother. These simple acts that are an everyday part of my life made such an impact on these young boys.

The focus group, and specifically the answers we received, gave us two important insights: 1) being a big brother does not require big, grand acts to make a meaningful impact, and 2) the time commitment for a big brother is minimal. These important realizations became the cornerstone of our campaign, with a tagline of “It only takes an hour to change a life.” This tagline highlights the small amount of time needed to commit to BBBS-GC (one hour a week) and suggests that in this small amount of time, big brothers do in fact change lives.

After the months of research and hours upon hours of work that finally led us to our tagline, we were able to start working on the creative aspects of the plan, my favorite part. This allowed me to take the things I have learned in my visual communications design classes and apply them to a real-world situation. Doing this for a worthwhile organization only enhanced the meaning of what I was creating. Knowing that my designs would eventually be used to help find mentors for young boys made me that much more excited about the project.

Continued on page 19

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2 Honors College students engage in a number of unique opportunities over the course of their careers. One such opportunity—for students considering futures in teaching or medicine, or who are simply inter-ested in a different kind of learning experience—is to find themselves “on the other side of the desk” by serving as undergraduate peer teaching assistants (TAs) for the large introductory biology courses.

Honors College peer TAs work alongside the graduate TAs in the laboratory portion of these large freshman courses and engage in all the best parts of teaching; they lead students in discussions, assist them one-on-one, give introductory lectures, write exam questions, and provide feedback on student work. Dr. Briana Timmerman coordinates the peer teaching experience. Students must enroll in the one-credit-hour course SCHC 391D in order to become peer teaching assistants.

The peer teaching experience has three major components. The first component is the weekly preparatory meeting directed by the faculty lab coordinators for each course (Dr. Kirk Stowe for Biology 101 and Susan M. Carstensen for Biology 102). During these meetings peer TAs are exposed to the planning and pedagogical aspects of teaching as they become part of the community of practicing teachers for each course. In addition, peer TAs attend a biweekly discussion group focused around relevant educational research materials. For example, in the fall 2008 semester, the group read and discussed the recent book How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom, as well as other articles from the scholarly literature.  

The largest piece of the experience is the excitement of actually teaching in the classroom. Kelly Scriven (BARSC, Class of 2010) and Jennifer Humprey (biology major, Class of 2010) share their thoughts and reflections on this experience.

Kelly Scriven (2010)I can remember clearly the first time I completed a major dissection in a science laboratory. I was a senior in high school, and I recall carefully making my incisions in the preserved cat on the table in front of me and working to identify all of the organs and muscles. Though the assignment was difficult, I was in awe of the relation-ship between the facts and figures I had read in my textbooks about vertebrate physiology and the actual organs I held in my hands and saw right in front of me.

As a peer teaching assistant in a Biology 102 lab, I had the singular opportunity to share my enthusiasm for biology with other students. As I showed the students how to make a proper incision and identify the organs in the process of their rat dissection experiment, I realized that teaching is not simply about passing my knowledge and experi-ences to the students. In fact, some dissection techniques and ways of memorizing and understanding physiology that I had always embraced seemed foreign to the other students. In this sense, peer teaching challenged me to discover my students’ strengths and learn-ing styles and help them put these skills to use in their own ways.

Now that the semester has come to a close, I hope that having a peer teaching assistant enhanced my students’ laboratory experience. I feel that as a peer instructor, I was able to relate to the students in ways a graduate student or a professor could not. I took care to put all experiments and lab activities into context for the students, telling them when and in which future classes the skills learned in the assignment would be relevant. Soon enough, my students felt comfortable enough to come to me with questions and concerns regarding their other classes, many of which I had previously taken. As a fellow undergraduate student, I was in the same stage of my academic career as my lab students, and being their peer as well as their instructor created a certain trust between us, as though we were “on the same team.”

While being a peer teaching assistant gave me the opportunity to instruct and help other students, I also gained valuable skills that are highly applicable to my own courses. In addition to brushing up on certain biology topics such as evolution and plant and animal physiology, I gained valuable insight into the scientific method and how this applies to both teaching and learning. For example, a lab activity early in the semester involves reading e-mails containing stories involving science—such as warnings against eating at

Peer teaching Kelly Scriven teaches in the Biology 102 lab.

certain restaurants or contracting deadly infectious diseases—and deciding whether or not they are valid. I must admit that when I was enrolled in BIOL102 my freshmen year, I found the activity to be beneath the level of intelligence of college students. However, since then I have realized and witnessed the many misconceptions about science prevalent in society and the inability of many people to use critical thinking skills to effectively evaluate evidence.

Of course, not everyone has to think exactly like a scientist; however, healthy speculation and critical thinking should be essen-tial in all fields of study, and even in everyday life. Because I am an interdisciplinary studies major, science is not my sole interest, yet the principles of scientific inquiry have guided me in all of my academic pursuits. For this reason, I found this lab assignment to be of vital importance for introductory-level biology students, and I have gained further appreciation for the principles guiding scientific research.

Serving as a peer teaching assistant has been one of the most valuable experiences I have had at USC. I now understand what it is like to be “on the other side” in a classroom environment, and I have a true appreciation for teachers at every level of academics, keeping in mind the preparation, effort, and dedication they must have for their students in order to make a course successful. Being a peer instructor has not only improved my communication skills, but it has also taught me how to relate to many individuals with different learning styles and methods for understanding material.

Having experienced a course from the perspective of a teacher has not only taught me how to convey my knowledge and understanding to others, but it has also made me a more effective learner, and I feel that these skills will serve me well as I embark on a future in the field of medicine. I now understand that teaching and learning, while some-times viewed as mutually exclusive, are closely interwoven, and the relationship between them will play an integral role in my future career.

Jennifer Humphrey (2010)Science was never a question for me, never a prerequisite or a burden. Imagine, then, the shock that came when I realized not everyone loves delving into hypotheses in order to see how our world works. The decision to be a peer teaching assistant was rewarding for me because it allowed me to relay my excitement for biology to my lab section and to influence some students’ exploration of the study of life.

My roots in science, specifically biology, sprouted early. I received my first microscope at the age of 5. I will never forget one summer when I fell off of my bicycle while out riding with some friends. Unlike other children, especially dramatic “girly girls” who would have screamed at the sight of blood starting to trickle from my kneecap, I was fascinated by it, sprinted inside, and immediately prepared a slide of my blood, which I spent a few hours analyzing under the microscope. This enthu-siasm has never subsided over the years, though it has been challenged; it remains my direction into the medical field and served as the backbone in my peer teaching experience.

I realized that peer teaching, especially for a Biology 101 class, would prove difficult, as I was sure to encounter stubborn attitudes of many whose sole purpose in the class is to fulfill a prerequisite requirement. Thinking about this past semester, I realize it is those students I was able to learn from the most. The topics and techniques provided a succinct review of material I have not seen for years and need for my upcoming

MCAT. The challenge was to relate that material to the students in a way that they could understand its necessity.

I had to learn also to present the material in a way from which various learning styles could benefit. Being only a year or two older than the students, I found, actually worked to my advantage (something I was initially afraid of) because the students found me approachable and often came to me with questions about both the lab work and their class work. It was humbling to not always have the correct answer on hand; searching for it with them allowed me to understand the various learn-ing styles, many of which differ from my own, and find ways to help students best remember the material.

Having a peer TA, I was told by a student while answering questions about an upcoming lab report, is a very positive experience. This student told me that her friends in other sections were jealous and could not understand fully the dynamic that having an undergraduate TA in the classroom presented. There are two people, with different backgrounds and outlooks, to come to for help. The “peer” part of peer TA adds an additional element of trust and understanding. That trust allowed them to ask me about classes I have previously taken, and, as the semester went on and my e-mail inbox filled with questions, I recognized and enjoyed the bond I established with many of the students.

Peer teaching the Biology 101 lab gave me the unique opportunity to review basic concepts through doing. My skills, such as focusing the microscope to show the crenation of cells in a hypertonic solution, were further reinforced, and being on the other side allowed me a much more hands-on approach than when I took the lab freshman year.

The 101 lab additionally now has a weekly video component (dictated by my 101 lecture professor) that details one element of the scientific method at a time. These videos, in conjunction with my understanding of the lab content, allowed me to see the students’ evolution in under-standing the scientific method and their portrayal of the method in their experimental design. The Drosophila lab, which I had the fortune of leading completely on my own, especially reinforced their understand-ing of the scientific method, as well as statistical analysis of the P2 generation of both a sex-linked and unknown cross through chi-squared distributions. In this lab, the students really got a feel that they were “doing science,” and I especially saw the application of the lab to my career in the scientific and medical field.

Jennifer helps students with lab analysis.

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Continued on page 14

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Being on the other side influenced the way that I learn, especially in science. The scien-tific method, with its observation and detailed analysis and critical review, is applicable to all fields and has especially persuaded my learn-ing in my other classes. It’s so easy to become caught up in the minute details of an experi-ment, or even the understanding of a cycle or mechanism in higher-level biology classes, but when it is taken in context of the “big picture,” critical thinking becomes integral in learning.

The knowledge and skills I acquired this past semester as a peer TA are priceless. I have the satisfaction that I influenced the futures of other students, explaining the application of what they were learning to classes and careers in the future, and I hope that I was a posi-tive part of their transition into college here at South Carolina. I have gained a better under-standing of how students learn, and having seen what goes on behind the scenes, I am able to integrate that awareness into my own learn-ing, both as I finish my undergraduate career here and as I begin the transition to medical school.

I just submitted my first set of exam ques-tions for the students, and it was fulfilling to realize that I taught the material, that I am confident they will understand and ace the exam with my help in their preparation. In my opinion, not all of the computer programs were necessary in the students’ learning —rather, many were just a frustration for both the TA and student —but the lab exercises that accompanied them were critical. My commu-nication, patience, and humility were all tested this semester. Now, with the benefit of this experience, I have gained wisdom unachiev-able in any other class, and the understanding to fully appreciate it.

Betsy lives with her husband in Oakland, Calif., and has worked in the California wine industry since 2006, specializing in Monterey vineyards. She enjoys traveling, cooking, and good wine.

(Editor’s note: At our request, Betsy graciously agreed to write an article about wine that we thought our readers would enjoy.)With winter blowing through your door and frosting your windows, you may be tempted to start spicing some cider or warming some egg nog to sit by the fire. And while those hot drinks make for excellent after-dinner con-versation, it still does not answer the question: “What to serve with dinner?”

The classic California favorite is Cabernet, and while that big red does wonders for steak on the barbie, it doesn’t quite cut it with tur-key and dressing. For a real winter wine that also pairs with comfort foods like stew and shepherd’s pie, think Red Rhone.

When wine lovers speak of “Rhone” or “Rhone-style,” they are referring to wines made from the typical grapes of the Rhone region of France. There are both red and white grapes in this region, but for winter, we’ll focus on the reds, the most common of which are Syrah (or Shiraz) and Grenache (or Gar-nacha). Others, like Carignane, Mourvedre, and Alicante Bouschet, are often blended in to add intensity or “ripe fruit” qualities, but they can also be found bottled on their own or as a majority of the blend.

While the originals, like Chateauneuf-du- Pape, are grown and bottled in the ancient

vineyards of France, they can carry a hefty price tag, especially with the recent strength of the Euro. But that is no reason to dismiss the idea of Rhone with dinner. For more than 30 years, many small wineries in California have been quietly tending their Syrah and Grenache vines without much hype and bottling beautiful Rhone-style reds made in America.

Syrah is a “spicy” grape, with bold flavors of pepper. Grenache tends to be more “floral” and display hints of sweetness like candied apple. Both wines, whether blended together or prepared as a 100 percent varietal, are earthy and herbal. However, the beautiful thing about California reds is that they are sure to carry a lot of red and black fruit, which should create a wine with “layers,” making each sip a new experience.

When cooking for a Rhone wine, think sage, rosemary, thyme, and even oregano. This blend of herbs can be used to make a Provence-style beef stew or can spice up navy bean soup or rice pilaf. Avoid tomatoes, unless all the acidity is cooked out. Syrah is hearty and can stand up to the best venison stew, especially if you toss in a splash of the wine while you’re cooking. Grenache or Grenache blends are soft enough for turkey and just fruity enough for cranberry sauce or other berry chutneys. So, on a blustery, cold day, come in for a hearty bowl of winter soup and a warming glass of Rhone-style wine.

Here are two excellent Rhone-style wines from California to recently hit the S.C. market:

2006 Ventana Vineyards “Rubytone” ($18)—62% Grenache, 38% Syrah. Incredibly food friendly, it starts off with fruity notes of red berry and candied apple, but finishes with black pepper and spice. Lighter in alcohol, this wine can pair with both bird (turkey or duck) and red meat (think pot roast). Don’t be afraid to put carrots or squash in the pot with the meat. 100 percent estate grown in the Arroyo Seco AVA of Monterey, Calif.

2006 Le Mistral, Joseph Phelps Vineyard ($45)—Syrah, Grenache, and Alicante Bous-chet. Thick and rich with flavors of black fruit and mulled spices and a finish of white pepper. Notes of sage and thyme make it easy to pair with food cooked with the same spices. Serve with roasted rack of lamb or a hearty beef stew. Syrah and Grenache are estate grown in Mon-terey County, the Alicante Bouschet sourced from a Sonoma vineyard.

Rhone: wine for winterBy Betsy Tyler Johnson Wine writer and SCHC alumnus (2005)

Betsy Tyler Johnson

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When pressed, Profes-sor Douglas “Dr. Doug” Williams has a lot to say about education. But the winner of this year’s Michael A. Hill Outstanding Honors Faculty Award would much rather be out there

doing it than standing around talking about it. The longtime educator has instructed

hundreds of college students in marine and geological sciences at Carolina, even leading expeditions to Russia. But it was when he took his Honors College students out into South Carolina’s elementary schools that he really found himself at home.

How did he get there? In 1997, SCHC’s dean, Peter Sederberg,

recognized the value of a teaching concept Dr. Doug was struggling to bring to life: research-based learning (RBL). The Honors College enthusiastically embraced RBL, integrating aspects of the research university experience into undergraduate learning. Then Dr. Doug took the idea a little farther.

“With honors students, I was able to create an exciting new approach to learning based on a concept called Learning through Experiential Outreach,” Dr. Doug explained.

He tested this concept with two honors courses —Science of the Arctic in fall 2004 and Polar Science in spring 2005. “We took what we learned out into the community to area elementary schools,” he said. “Next I extended this concept into Honors Geology 101.” From there, Blue Marble Science was born.

Doug Williams 2009 Michael A. Hill Honors Outstanding Faculty Award winnerBy Susan Ward (1990)

Douglas Williams

Public relations major Krystal Webber (2009) signed up for geology after enjoying Dr. Doug’s honors oceanography course.

“After taking oceanography and geology with Dr. Doug, I joined him on a personal endeavor to help engage local children in science education,” she said. “As part of the Blue Marble Science team, I accompanied Dr. Doug on an ‘in-school field trip’ to a pre-school in Arthurtown and field study for 100 fourth-graders in Pawleys Island. As I inter-acted with the children, I realized Dr. Doug’s unique talent for engaging students of all ages, myself included.”

Each year, South Carolina Honors College seniors nominate professors for the Hill award, which was endowed nine years ago with a gift from Honors College alumnus Michael A. Hill, who graduated in 1992 with a degree in international studies. The college’s senior marshals select finalists and a winner through a review of each professor’s record of teaching and service, letters of support, and course evaluations.

Honors College tradition has the winner address the graduating class at revocation ceremonies in May and the incoming class at convocation in August.

“As a public relations student, my inten-tions were never to pursue a career in science,” said Webber, who nominated Dr. Doug for the award. “However, when the opportunity came along to use my passion for communication to complement Dr. Doug’s work, I was extremely excited. Dr. Doug became my senior thesis director, and together we transformed Blue Marble Science from a hobby into a state- registered nonprofit organization (www.blue-marblescience.org).”

Dr. Doug takes it from there: “Krystal is amazing, and an example of why I cherish my years in SCHC—the incredible people I have met as students and keep in touch with. She elected to develop a business plan for Blue Marble Science as her senior thesis!

“In the past two years I have visited schools in 22 school districts around the state and delivered programs to just over 10,000 students,” he said. “So now, this is my full-time mission. I’ve been in training for this for the last 30 years as a scientist and educator.”

Dr. Doug recently retired from the University, but remains listed on the faculty as a distinguished professor emeritus.

“Currently I have two weekly after-school programs in two elementary schools (third-fifth grades) in Irmo, S.C.,” he said. The theme is “Science of Space,” partly to celebrate 2009 as the international year of astronomy.

“Starting in October, I will visit schools at least once a week, sometimes three schools in a week. During those visits, I will create hands-on/minds-on learning experiences for an entire grade level, 100 to 120 students in classes of 20 for each program,” he said.

Dr. Doug gets plenty of opportunities for refining his scientific method at home, where he and his wife, Stephanie, are parents to Nathan (8), David (6), and Hannah Ruth (4). He said the homeschooled trio loves science, and each child has a snake for a pet: Queen the blotched king snake, Daisy the albino corn snake, and Princess Pea the milk snake.

“Nathan travels regularly with me for school programs and attends one of the after-school programs; David sometimes, and Hannah is chafing at the bit to come,” he continued. “Eventually I want to model a family loving science and learning together.”

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Top: Ted Rosengarten with his students

Bottom: Arbeit Macht Frei (“Work Liberates”) Gate at Auschwitz

It was our good fortune to arrive in Krakow in time to attend the opening session of a con-ference on “The Family and the Holocaust” at Jagiellonian University. The keynote speaker was the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, who spoke about the necessity of identifying the sites of mass executions of Jews during World War II. The death camps are accounted for, but at countless places in between, Jewish people were murdered for the crime of being Jewish—not exactly an uplifting subject for such a gorgeous spring day, in such a beautiful old building, on such a magnificent campus, in one of Europe’s most dazzling cities.

Everything the students knew about Poland before coming here was in black and white. They were surprised by how verdant and clean the country appeared. Even their knowledge of history was not complimentary to the Poles, who are routinely depicted as eager accomplices of the Nazis. Rabbi Schudrich tried to dispel this view and to paint a hopeful picture of the future based on a full disclosure of the past. He reminded his audience that more Poles are recognized as righteous gentiles than any other national-ity. And that a Pole caught helping a Jew paid with his life. Still, he did not downplay the fatal consequences of Poland’s traditional anti-Semitism. He did hold out the hope, however, that as Poland throws off the old “isms” that have choked it for decades—fascism and com-munism—anti-Semitism will die out as well.

With that utopian thought in mind we headed for Bialystok—via the killing centers at Auschwitz, Chelmno, and Treblinka, and the former Jewish ghettos of Lodz and Warsaw. Bialystok is the main city in the northeastern part of the country and once was a center of

Jewish culture and creativity. In 1939, Bial-ystok, which sent thousands of immigrants to the United States, boasted the highest proportion of Jews of any city in the world. Today, you can count the Jews on one hand. To Poles—non-Jews—in other parts of the country, Bialystok is “the Sticks,” a big cow farm at the gateway to the backward republic of Belarus.

We went there to put in a day of work at the Bialystok Wschodnia Street cemetery, the historic Jewish burial grounds. Our goal was to do for the dead something only strangers could do, because their descendants were wiped out in the Holocaust, or fled and moved far away. Armed with grass clippers and gar-bage bags, with buckets, brushes, cloths, and non-abrasive soap, we proceeded to make modest headway in illuminating a few dozen matzevahs and their scripts in Hebrew, Polish, Yiddish, Russian, even German — signs of the crossroads Bialystok once was.

Water for cleaning had to be brought in from the outside, a task we entrusted to our ingenious bus driver, Tadeusz. All this was done under the direction of the cemetery caretaker, Lucy Lisowska. Half-Polish, half-German, Ms. Lisowska devotes herself to preserving this evidence of Jewish life from the scourges of time, greed, nationalist fervor, and urban sprawl. She has no illusions about the lasting impact of our work. In fact, she told us, the black marble headstones had all been stolen, and the red marble ones becom-ing radiant from cleaning were next. A major act of vandalism was committed by the city itself, which allowed developers to bulldoze graves and put up houses on the oldest part of the burial grounds.

Why do it then? Why cut back the weeds and bushes only to have them grow over the stones with renewed vigor? Why wash the stones themselves if cleaning makes them tar-gets for thieves? That morning, a middle-aged couple walked through the cemetery looking for the grave of the man’s grandfather who died before the war. They had come all the way from Israel. The man couldn’t get over the infernal disorder, the acres of crooked, dirt-caked headstones and overgrown paths. It seemed to him like an insult to the dead. We looked and looked with him, but no luck. He swallowed his disappointment and placed a yahrzeit candle on an anonymous stone, then said a quick kaddish and walked directly out

Revealing the past, a hint

at the futureBy Theodore Rosengarten

Special to The (Charleston, S.C.)Post and Courier

Sunday, August 2, 2009

(Editor’s Note: In May, Ted and Dale Rosengarten led 25 students from the College of Charleston and the Honors College at the University of South Carolina on a study abroad trip to Holocaust and Jewish cultural sites in Poland and Germany.)

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the gate, wife in tow, never to return. But other people will continue to come, from Israel and elsewhere, looking for the tombs of their forebears. Perhaps the little effort we put in will reward someone’s search. Maybe just knowing that work is under way will attract others to pick up where we left off. Maybe, even, the Polish Catholic neighbors will pitch in?

There is reason to believe this is not impossible. A stone wall separates the Jewish cemetery from a Catholic cemetery where visitors come and go all day long and every-thing is neat as a pin. Every November, on the holiday known as the Day of the Dead, Bialystokers place candles on the Catholic stones. In the late 1980s, at the height, coincidentally, of the Solidarity movement against the Soviet puppet government, they began placing candles on the Jewish stones as well, as if to say, these people were human beings known to God and they were Poles too.

Yes, yes, a day late and a dollar short. But one can perceive the influence of John Paul II, the Polish-born pope, “of blessed memory,” who did more to fight anti-Sem-itism, in Rabbi Schudrich’s words, than any Christian in the past 2,000 years. Further-more, the communists were in the business of suppressing Poland’s Jewish history, and to recognize the Jews was an act of defiance. Today, Polish nationalism is torn between embracing the history of Poland’s Jews and blotting out their memory. In Bialystok, I felt the world tipping toward the good. Late one night a Polish graduate student bound for the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard echoed Rabbi Schudrich when he declared over his beer that once his parents’ generation passes the torch to his, anti- Semitism will disappear and be gone forever.

Theodore Rosengarten, a 1989 MacArthur Fellow, teaches History and Jewish Studies at the College of Charleston and at the Honors College, University of South Carolina.

Copyright © 1995–2009 Evening Post Publishing Co.

Reprinted with permission by The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier. The article first appeared on Aug. 2 in the “Faith & Values” section.

Take a second and think about what food and college mean to you. Are you glad you don’t have to eat college food any more? Maybe you find that you miss college food? If you answer “yes” to the first question, there is no need to reveal your age. Leaning toward a “yes” to the second question and you either have an iron stomach or are a much more recent alumnus. (For those who haven’t set foot on campus in a while, there has been a revolution in the food that is available. Whatever it was called when you were here, it’s now a name-brand chain. Starbucks, Soup Man, Burger King, Chick-Fil-A, Einstein Brothers Bagels, Pizza Hut, Marble Slab Creamery, Taco Bell, and Zia Juice are now found on campus.) The changes in campus dining reflect a larger change in our culture: we are more sophisticated eaters than ever before, and watching TV shows about food is almost as much a national pastime as is watching sports. A trip to just about any grocery store provides the chance to purchase fruits and vegetables from exotic locales. Do you want your meat to have been farm raised (as opposed to factory raised), fed a certain diet, or perhaps from a particular breed of animal? Not a problem these days.

Courses at the Honors College have kept up with the times as well. The Politics of Food was the first class to give students the chance to understand what drives the government policies and programs which in turn dictate what and how we eat. A few semesters later The Ethics of Food was launched. Taking a broader view of food, the course looks at what frameworks exist for treating animals (used for food), the ramifications of government policies and programs (nicely dovetailing with the politics course) on individuals or society as a whole, and genetically modified organisms

used at some stage of food production, among other topics. In spring 2009 the food-related offerings were expanded again with the addi-tion of Chemistry and Food. Though the title may scare you, this course attracted students interested in answering one question the other two courses don’t: why things happen the way they do. With the explanations of why came the task of cooking foods and tasting how good (or bad) the “why” could be. This fall the Honors College is offering a service-learn-ing course titled Sugar in the Blood: Cultural Beliefs, Attitudes, and Treatment of Diabetes in the African American Community. Stu-dents in this course will be putting what they learn in the classroom into practice in a local community clinic. With the political, phil-osophical, scientific, and anthropological aspects of food covered, business is the next area that will have to provide a food-centered offering.

All of this is great for current and future students, but for alumni there is still hope if you have a food obsession that you can’t satisfy: The Honors College is launching a food blog covering any and all areas of food. Faculty, staff, and students are posting articles containing thoughts, commentary, explanations, and of course, recipes. To get started, simply go to http://schc.sc.edu/food and explore the links found there. You’ll already find posts covering how to buy local foods, camp-style s’mores, giant chocolate chip cookies, seafood pasta, twittering recipes, and more. We hope you will take a second to leave a comment or perhaps even want to contribute as well. Participate as much or as little as you want, but don’t be shy—you’re among friends both old and new who share an interest in food.

Speaking of college foodBy Jack Goldsmith (SCHC 1990)

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opmental-behavioral pediatrics at MUSC. The bridegroom is a teacher and head basketball coach at Bishop England High School. The couple makes their home in Johns Island.

Monica Hogan (2009) is teach-ing English in Prague this year. She will update a blog (zitkrasnyzivot.blogspot.com) often. Monica will cancel her U.S. cell phone, “so please don’t try and call to get hold of me,” she says. Monica encourages friends to e-mail. And for those who have skype, they can add her (monica elizabeth87).

Ellen Elizabeth McLeod Coble and Denny Parker Major (2004) were married June 6, 2009, at Tren-holm Road United Methodist Church in Columbia. Ellen currently serves as law clerk to Chief Justice Jean Toal in Columbia. Denny is employed with the law firm of Haynsworth Sin-kler Boyd in Greenville. The couple resides in Columbia.

Frances Adair McCartha and Kyle Jacob Meetze (2002) were mar-ried March 21, 2009, at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in New-berry. Both are employed by Richland School District Two, and they reside in Columbia.

Sarah E. Swyers Parker, MD, (2005) accepted a residency position in pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville. She was the recipient of the Glasgow-Rubin Achievement Citation for women who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class. She also received the Community Service Award, presented by the Mobile Medical Society, for the student who best fulfills the ide-als of humanitarian public service. Dr. Parker also was honored with the John W. Donald Memorial Award for excellence in the clinical surgical clerkship. She is a member of the Ala-bama Beta Chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society.

Jeffrey Rotter (1990) authored the novel The Unknown Knowns, released by Scribner March 17, 2009. He appeared on West Coast Live in Napa on June 6 and read at the Blue Bicy-cle Book Store in Charleston, S.C., on June 12.

Rev. Travis Allen Webster (1998) accepted the position of senior min-ister at Forest Lake Presbyterian Church in December 2008. Webster earned his Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Sem-inary in 2004. From October 2004 to July 2005 he was an exchange stu-dent at Eberhard-Karls Universität, Tübingen, Germany, where he stud-ied theology, German language, and culture. Prior to assuming the pas-torate at Forest Lake Presbyterian Church, he was the associate pastor for congregational care at First Pres-byterian Church in Meadville, Pa. He and wife, Karen, also a minister, enjoy biking and are environmentally conscious.

2000sMorgan Lee Kilgore and Robert Frank Daniels (2005) were married April 4, 2009, at Williams-Brice Sta-dium. She is a mitigation investigator with the SC-CID-Capital Trial Divi-sion. He is a clinical pharmacist at Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital. The couple resides in Columbia.

Mary Ann Fanning (2009) had a portion of her senior thesis pub-lished in the online newsletter The African Diaspora Archaeology Network ( June 2009). The link to the article is www.diaspora.uiuc.edu/news0609/news0609-3.pdf. Mary Ann is in grad-uate school at the University of Cali-fornia at Santa Cruz.

Dr. Caroline Jane Hill (2000) and Jeffrey Michael DiBattisto of Charleston were married June 27, 2009, at the Daniel Island Club on Daniel Island. She is a fellow in devel-

1990sIan Ford (1992) has formed a bou-tique law firm: www.greenandford.com. Ian and Dee Walker Ford (1993) live in Charleston with their two young sons, Walker and Reilly.

Jenny Anderson Horne (1994) was recently elected to the South Caro-lina General Assembly representing District 94, Dorchester and Charles-ton counties. Jenny and husband, Marc, live in Summerville with their two children, Nicholas (8) and Mag-gie (4). Jenny practices real estate and employment law in Summerville. She invites her former classmates to e-mail her at [email protected] or to look her up on Facebook.

Jodie McLean (1990), president and CIO of Edens & Avant Inc., is the 2009–2010 president-elect of the Uni-versity of South Carolina’s University Associates.

1970sKathleen Crum McKinney (1975, Law 1978) was elected to serve a two-year term as chair of the board of trustees of Furman University. She is also president-elect of the National Association of Bond Lawyers, a 3,000-member organization of public finance attorneys. Kathy is an attor-ney with Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd P.A. in Greenville, S.C.

1980sPam McDonald (1988) went to Afghanistan last May to begin a one-year appointment training Afghan prosecutors and police investigators in the Justice Sector Support Pro-gram. A former policewoman and now a lawyer, McDonald has written about criminal and constitutional law. She is also an associate professor of criminal justice at Greenville Techni-cal College. Last September McDon-ald presented “How to Help Your Prosecutor Win Trials” and “Legal Issues Related to Domestic Violence” at the International Association of Women Police in Darwin, Australia.

Gwen Whitley (1982, MD 1987) is an ER doctor at Lake Region Hos-pital in Fergus Falls, Minn. In late 2003, Whitley began working for Wapiti Medical Group, which staffs hospital emergency rooms across the Midwest. From 1992 to 2000, she ran her own practice in a town of 16,000 in North Carolina. She was also the team doctor for the local high school football team and jokingly calls riding on the bus with players (post-game and pre-shower) her “greatest act of courage.”

Class notes

Jenny and husband Marc, with children Nicholas and Maggie in the Statehouse

Please send us your professional or personal news. (Remember, we love photos, and we’ll send them back to you after publication.)

Class notes and photos may be submitted online. Visit http://schc.sc.edu and click on “Alumni,” or use the enclosed donor envelope to send us your class notes and photos, or e-mail to [email protected].

Pass us a note ... a class note!

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The following honors courses are offered for the first time during the Spring 2010 semester.

Inside the Oval Office: The Secret History of the Sixties

Waverly and Beyond: A Service-Learning Course

International History: The Cold War and its Aftermath

Technologies of Pleasure

Bob Dylan: The American Folk Tradition and Rock ‘n Roll

Fashion History: Women and the Fashion Industry

The Culture of Arab Food and Agriculture

Technologies of Gaming

World Spirituality: Yogis, Mystics, Monks, and Zen Masters

International Guidelines and Standards in Sustainable Development Planning

Religion and Science

Mathematical Linguistics

Current Issues in Brain and Behavior

Men, Women, and Freedom in Modern American Literature

Shakespeare, the Movie

Writing for our Lives: Literature, Nature, and the End of the World

Civility and the Public Sphere

Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art

Divas and the Men who Ruined their Lives

November 25–27 Thanksgiving recess—no classes

December 4 Last day of classes

5 Reading day

14 Commencement in Columbia

14 Honors College revocation ceremony (for graduating seniors; contact Laura Mewbourn at [email protected] for information)

Mark your calendar

New seminars offered

Brian Ray (2004, MFA 2007) won the inaugural South Carolina Novel Prize, sponsored by the S.C. Arts Commission. Through the Pale Door tells the story of Sarah West, a young artist who works at her father’s steel mill for a summer following the unexpected death of her mother. “It was a lot of work,” Ray said of the novel, which was influenced in part by his time at the old SMI steel plant in Cayce, where he worked sum-mers during high school and college. The book has received a favorable review from Booklist, and the acco-lades have only reinforced Ray’s love of storytelling. This past year he fin-ished another novel, a murder mys-tery based loosely on a case in Sumter County. Ray is pursuing a Ph.D. in English at UNC Greensboro.

Lauren Nicole Toole and Neal Douglas Truslow (2006) were mar-ried May 23, 2009, at Baylor Cha-pel in Chattanooga, Tenn. Lauren is a pharmaceutical rep for Eli Lilly and Company. Neal is a lawyer with the Truslow Law Firm. They have settled in Columbia.

Rebecca Lynne Turner (2007) and Daniel Hampton Jordan III were married May 16, 2009, at Woodcreek Farms Country Club. Rebecca is enrolled in the master’s in elementary education program at the University. Daniel is employed at Seibels Bruce Group as a business analyst. They live in Columbia.

Continued from page 11

Taking this as a service learning class greatly enhanced my edu-cational experience. Because the work I did for the class had meaning beyond a grade in a class, I am sure that I put that much more of my heart into it. Also, I am an out-of-state-student, and I greatly appreci-ated how this class provided for me a greater connection to the Colum-bia community. Being from Ohio and having never been to South Carolina before attending school here, I had little knowledge of and no experience with the people of the Columbia area. The service learning class gave me a personal connection with the local community.

I truly enjoyed this class because it had meaning in a much larger sense than traditional classes. As honors students, we tend to get too caught up with class standings and grade point averages; this class reminded me that there is much more to life than grades. I very much appreciated the opportunity to help my adopted community while also receiving a worthwhile education.

Being involved in a class that connects students to the community and helps us to make a difference in it, while also providing real-world experience, is something I think every Honors College student should experience. I can assure you that the rewards are immeasurable.

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Association of Honors AlumniSouth Carolina Honors CollegeUniversity of South CarolinaColumbia, SC 29208

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Non-ProfitOrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit #766

Columbia, SC

AHA! is the official newsletter of the South Carolina Honors College and is published twice yearly for alumni, students, parents, and other members of the South Carolina Honors College community.

Managing Editor: Mark Sibley-Jones

Copy Editor: Susan Nesbitt Ward (1990)

To reach us: 803-777-8102 or [email protected]

Alumni Correspondents: Susan Ward (1990) Betsy Tyler Johnson (2005) Jack Goldsmith (1990) Ben Forney (2009)

Student Correspondents: Gregory Goetz (2001) Sarah Langdon (2011) Jennifer Humphrey (2010) Kelly Scriven (2010) Tori Espensen-Sturges (2011) Joel Iliff (2012) James Strickland (2012)

The University of South Carolina is an equal opportunity institution. 09614 University Publications 11/09

Have you ever wondered what your classmates have accomplished since graduation?

Do you want to know if your friends are planning to attend alumni events?

Would you want to hear what other alumni think about a new best seller or an old classic?

Now you can find out all of this and more as we debut our new Class Connections project and alumni Web pages!

Class Connections seeks to provide a better sense of community for our alumni by creating more alumni events, providing an online community to connect with friends and the college, and sharing news and pictures. Visit us online at http://schc.sc.edu/Alumni/AHA.php.

Featuring a main navigation page and individual pages for each class, our new “Class Connections” pages allow alumni to:

• post pictures

• view RSVP lists for events

• submit information for AHA! magazine’s class notes pages

• reconnect with other alumni

• make a donation to the college and purchase Honors College merchandise

• view electronic copies of AHA! magazine AND MORE!

Two years ago, a partnership board member recognized the need for a community for Honors College alumni and the college. Out of this suggestion, the Class Connections project was born.

The first major focus was bringing on board a team of representatives for each class to offer feedback on activities we are planning and to help connect the college with “lost” alumni.

Two or more class captains represent each class. Some classes are still in need of captains, and others have only one representative. If you are interested in representing your class by planning reunions, occasionally submitting or approving content for the Web site, and helping us find “lost” classmates, contact Doreen Rinehart, the class captains coordinator, at [email protected] or by calling 803-777-2618.

Class Connections: GET CONNECTED!