SPORTS New beginnings and bitter ends pg 24
Kelly Jolley, Auburn’s out-of-thisworld philosopher pg 36
PROFILE
PANEL Our financial experts ruminate on the recession pg 42 SPRING 2009
Predatory Mending Behind the scenes at the Southeastern Raptor Center
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Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
War Eagle! Ten-year-old golden eagle (and this month’s cover model) Nova, also known as War Eagle VII, flies over Jordan-Hare Stadium on game day. Nova is a public ambassador for Auburn’s Southeastern Raptor Center, which houses a team of wildlife experts who aid injured birds and educate people about their welfare. Cover story on Page 28. Photograph by Jeff Etheridge
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
3
luxury living on the trail
INTRODUCING NATIONAL VILLAGE – a golfing community at Grand National. You can eat, sleep and breathe golf… right outside your back door. National Village, a community on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, offers the finest in Craftsman style architecture with state-of-the-art interior and exterior finishes and amenities. You’re a golf cart away from the award-winning Grand National Golf Course and the Auburn Opelika Marriott’s fine dining, pools and fitness area.
National Village is ideal for avid golfers and Auburn Tiger fans alike. Enjoy easy access to the university and the tranquility and luxury of calling National Village home. See why US News & World Report named Auburn/Opelika “One of the Top 10 Retirement Locations for Golf” in the country.
See how you can enjoy easy living at National Village. Call us at 334.821.1878 or visit www.nationalvillage.com.
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Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
All information is believed to be accurate but is not warranted.
On the cover Auburn University’s golden eagle, Nova, photographed exclusively for Auburn Magazine by Randal Ford
Spring 2009 F R O N T
24 Tiger Walk
Tuberville’s gone, Chizik’s here. What a difference a month makes. Plus: Hoops are HOT!
6 From the Editor
Notice anything different? Here’s why: We’ve got a new look. 8 The First Word
We offer the topic; you expound on it. 10 College Street
In our campus news section: Sustainability is sexy, and money’s scarce. Also: study abroad, ethical business practices and eau d’Auburn.
Portrait of a football coach
B A C K 47 Alumni Center
We bring you a calendar chock full of events, plus sweet snapshots of grads doing good. 48 Annual Report
See what your Auburn Alumni Association has been up to.
Kingpin, circa 1959
16 Research
Football and voting go hand-in-hand. Also: clover love, soil tricks, virtual science labs and more.
The humble turkey vulture vomits up semi-digested meat to deter predators from attacking its nest. Gross! For more raptor trivia, see Page 28.
18 Roundup
From tending broken wings to introducing schoolchildren to the habits of barn owls, scientists and educators at the Southeastern Raptor Center go nose-to-beak with nature’s feathered predators. by taylor dungjen photographs by randal ford
What’s happening in your college? Check it out. 20 Concourse
Our student-life section tackles hunger, horror films and attitudes.
36
Love at First Flight
The Thinker
Kelly Jolley is a practical man, an Auburn man who loves football and raises pit bulls. He just looks at the world in a very philosophical way—and has earned respect for the university in the unlikeliest of disciplines. by jonathan mahler
44
Haley Walker: Working for food
Auburn honors four graduates who have scaled career heights, from a famous football coach to an astronaut.
F E A T U R E S
28
The Perfect Storm
Auburn experts turn a weathered eye toward the nation’s economic meltdown and forecast when the winds of change might blow in our favor. with john jahera, dan gropper, jimmy e. hilliard, beverly marshall and keven yost
50 Lifetime Achievement
Honored: Oliver D. Kingsley
51 Class Notes 60 In Memoriam 64 The Last Word
Former wide receiver Thom Gossom Jr. ’75 makes peace with his past.
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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S P R I N G
2 0 0 9
From the Editor
Our new look
Betsy Robertson
BETSY ROBERTSON
Suzanne Johnson
Editor, Auburn Magazine
EDITOR
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
For about a three-week period four times a year, the staff at Auburn Magazine shifts into a focused, frenzied deadline mode, during which my colleagues and I are often impatient and occasionally unhinged as the calendar pages flip toward deadline day. We yell through office walls: “Is ‘kickoff’ one word or two?!?” (It’s one.) We mutter to ourselves, searching the thesaurus and dictionary for exactly the right word to use in a headline. (Did the professors “discuss” or, more accurately, “ruminate”?) We write captions, belabor the quality and composition of photos and illustrations, check proofs three, four, five and eight times, analyze layout options and correct typos. Then, after it’s all over, we breathe a sigh of relief, clean our offices and wait to hear from you. For the last few years, issue after issue, we’ve been surveying readers on what they like and don’t like about the magazine. One of my favorite survey questions asks, “If you could change one thing about Auburn Magazine, what would it be?” Hundreds of you respond each quarter with thoughtful comments, and when you’ve offered constructive criticism, our staff has pondered how we might do a better job. With this issue, we offer a new look—but more importantly, we’ve attempted an editorial renovation
AUBURN MAGAZINE (ISSN 1077– 8640) is published quarterly; 4X per year; spring, summer, fall, winter, for dues-paying members of the Auburn Alumni Association. Periodicals-class postage paid in Auburn and additional mailing offices. Editorial offices are located in the Auburn Alumni Center, 317 South College St., Auburn University, AL 36849-5149. Phone (334) 844–1164. Fax (334) 844–1477. E–mail: aubmag@auburn.edu. Contents ©2009 by the Auburn Alumni Association, all rights reserved. ADVERTISING INFORMATION Contact Betsy Robertson at (334) 844–1164. POSTMASTER Send address changes to 317 South College St., Auburn University, AL 36849–5149.
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Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
that conserves what has worked well for years and resolves what didn’t. Since the magazine debuted 15 years ago, for example, more and more readers have expressed concern about its environmental footprint. To that end, we are now printing on a partially-recycled paper stock certified by SmartWood to Forest Stewardship Council standards, denoted by the logo (below right) on our masthead. For more information, see www.fscus.org. By now you’ll have noticed other changes too—but what hasn’t wavered is the staff’s primary goal: With every single issue, Auburn Magazine strives to enlighten, fascinate, inspire, challenge, indulge, delight, absorb, entertain, inform, advise, educate, illuminate, surprise, galvanize and, occasionally, ruffle the feathers of its 45,000-plus readers, all of whom are dues-paying members of the Auburn Alumni Association. By doing these things, Auburn Magazine quietly and persistently cements the bond between Auburn University and its alumni. Keep letting us know how we’re doing. Editor’s note: As Auburn Magazine went to press, we learned of the sudden death of Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller ’57, who was featured in our Fall 2008 cover story, “God’s Man.” For more on Fuller and his legacy of service to the poor, see our blog at: auburn-magazine.blogspot.com.
Shannon Bryant-Hankes ’84 ART DIRECTOR
Stacy Wood WEBMASTER
Jeff Hall UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHER
Jeff Etheridge EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS
Morgan Ladner ’10, Rebecca Lakin ’10, Kate Winford ’09 DESIGN ASSISTANTS
Nayeon Kim ’10 Ashley Hollis ’09 PRESIDENT, AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Jay Gogue ’69 VICE PRESIDENT FOR ALUMNI AFFAIRS AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AUBURN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Deborah L. Shaw ’84 PRESIDENT, AUBURN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Nancy Young Fortner ’71 AUBURN MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD CHAIR
Kay Fuston ’84 AUBURN MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD
betsyrobertson@auburn.edu
LETTERS Auburn Magazine welcomes readers’ comments, but reserves the right to edit letters or to refuse publication of letters judged libelous or distasteful. Space availability may prevent publication of all letters in the magazine, in which case, letters not printed will be available on the alumni association Web site at the address listed below. No writer is eligible for publication more often than once every two issues. No anonymous letters will be accepted. Auburn Magazine is available in alternative formats for persons with disabilities. For information, call (334) 844–1143. Auburn Magazine is a benefit of membership in the Auburn Alumni Association and is not available by individual subscription. To request a membership application, call the association at (334) 844–2586.
John Carvalho ’78, Susan Dendy ’79, Ed Dickinson ’70, Christian Flathman ’97, Tom Ford ’67, Mary Lou Foy ’66, Thomas Gossom Jr. ’75, Paul Hemphill ’59, Eric Ludgood ’78, Cindy McDaniel ’80, Carol Pappas ’77, Neal Reynolds ’77, Joyce Reynolds Ringer ’59, Allen Vaughan ’75
Alternative fuel.
Home of th
#1
e
Public Cou rse in the US! *
Centrally located in the Southeast, Auburn-Opelika is a quick drive from every major southern city. Park your car, grab a cart, and find out why Golf Digest called us the #1 Golf City in the US. Or walk the streets of a beautiful and safe campus community where restaurants, shopping, and attractions are just a short stroll on foot - not an arm and a leg! 334-887-8747 | 866.880.8747 | aotourism.com | info@aotourism.com *Golf World Magazine, October 2008
L E T T E R S
T O
T H E
E D I T O R
The First Word THE TOPIC In our Winter 2008 issue, we asked read-
ers to submit their favorite Iron Bowl memories. Although the most recent Auburn vs. Alabama game was one we’d prefer to forget, several AU alumni wrote with stories that remind us why we keep the faith. To read more letters, see www.aualum.org/magazine. Camp Coup
As I read the article in the latest Auburn Magazine (“Civil War,” Winter 2008), former Auburn quarterback Pat Nix’s experiences struck a chord. The first Auburn victory over the Tide for me was in 1982. I was 11. I remember dreading those Mondays at school following yet another Auburn loss. I also remember asking my mom once if Auburn had ever beaten Alabama in football. In my life, they hadn’t—that is, until Nov. 27, 1982. We had a deer camp right on the Dallas/ Lowndes County line. The old trailer we slept in had no electricity and Coleman kerosene lanterns for lights, but we did have one luxury item—a 9-inch black-and-white TV. I, along with one of my dad’s friends, Bill Neighbors, an AU grad, decided we were going to watch the game on that tiny screen instead of go hunting. I remember the smell of kerosene from the lanterns, and I remember one play—one glorious play. The ball was snapped, there was a pile, quarterback Randy Campbell turned to the freshman wearing 34 and gave him the ball, 34 jumped over the pile, and then the referee threw his arms up. What I remember next was being outside the trailer, running around in circles, hugging “Mr. Bill” and shouting “War Eagle!” into the night. And finally, I remember with great joy and anticipation the prospect of going to school on that following Monday. —David Hardy ’93, Laurens, S.C. Heaven
Our daughter, Meredith, who was 13 in 1989, got her dad (Mike Bean ’70) to leave for Auburn at daylight so they could stake out a tailgate spot for our large crowd of family and friends coming to the Iron Bowl. She wanted everything to be perfect so our Alabama-fan family members would have a taste of the Auburn experience. We couldn’t have known how important that day was in her life, but as the sun set over the Plains that evening, we hugged as we watched the final seconds tick away—the end of a perfect day. Four years later, in her 11th-grade English journal, Meredith wrote that it was the best day of her life. She recalled the details from the tailgate to the final score, writing: “I knew we were going to win, because the sun was orange and the sky was blue!” I read this entry
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a few days after her funeral less than a year later. Meredith died in a car accident just before her senior year of high school. She had received her acceptance letter to Auburn a few weeks before. The hardest thing my husband and I did after her death was walk back into Jordan-Hare Stadium without her! We watch each time the eagle flies and think of how much she would have loved this latest tradition. And when the sun is orange, and the sky is blue, our girl lives on in our hearts and in the spirit that is Auburn. —Deborah Bean, Dothan, Ala. Bad Bear
As a native New Orleanean with no family connection to Auburn, I had never heard of Auburn until my senior year in high school. However, during my five years at Auburn in the ’60s, I gained an appreciation of the Auburn-Alabama relationship, an appreciation that is with me until this day and as intense as ever. What I have observed is that no Auburn coach has ever shown as much disrespect to Alabama as Bear Bryant showed to Auburn, both on and off the field. To this day, that is hard to forgive and harder to forget. In the late ’90s, our son played on the lacrosse team for Auburn. We lived in Massachusetts at the time. During the parents’ weekend for the team, a game with Alabama was scheduled. The coach was impressed that we came from as far as we did for parents’ weekend of a club sport. My response was, “Coach, I was here in the ’60s. I’ll walk here if necessary whenever I’m confident we are going to beat Alabama in any sport.” War Eagle! —Tom O’Connor ’68, St. Simons Island, Ga.
the polls, and we were ... not. In spite of the more than dismal odds against us, a bunch of friends and I decided to go to the game at Legion Field just for the heck of it, with no thoughts of winning, placing or showing. I’ll be darned. We remained in the stadium for what seemed like hours. We got out of our cars to shout “War Eagle!” and run between the jammed cars on the freeway around Legion Field. We stayed up all night. We went back to Auburn on Sunday barely able to comprehend what had happened. To this day I cannot hear the radio playback of the second blocked punt (David Langner! David Langner!) without tearing up. I can’t explain it, but I can still feel it. —Debra Smart Hartsfield ’77, Atlanta, Ga. Missed Opportunity
I’ve got ’em: the two most valuable tickets in Auburn-Alabama series history. Two untorn, unused tickets to the 1972 “Punt ’Bama, Punt!” game. I was planning to go, but my girlfriend at the time called me on Thursday night and broke our date. I could tell she was breaking more than the date—she was breaking off the relationship. Heartbroken, I decided not to make the long trek to Birmingham by myself. Needless to say, I listened to the AM radio in delirium as my Tigers pulled off the upset of a lifetime. The tickets are still in my dresser at home. I plan to have them framed, donate them to a museum and under them inscribe the following words: “The Day I Did Not Go: Never Let a Woman Get in the Way of a Good Time.” —Gene Martin ’75, Dothan, Ala.
Bam Bam
Hold It
I had the wonderful privilege of attending Auburn as a co-op student from 1960 through 1966. During my tenure, Auburn struggled mightily in the Iron Bowl series, but that did nothing to damper my spirits. My most memorable moment in that series was at the game in Birmingham in 1965. As always it was a hard-hitting game, but Auburn came out on the wrong side of a lopsided 30-3 score. However, rather than being downtrodden, I remember standing in the stands with thousands of other Auburn students for more than a half hour after the final whistle, shouting at the top of my voice, “Beat Bama next year!” There is nothing like the Auburn spirit! —John B. Allen ’66, Abingdon, Va.
The 1982 Iron Bowl game was one to witness! We were expecting our first baby the following June. Like most expectant moms, I had to visit the women’s restroom often during the game. When Bo Jackson went “over the top,” we were standing and screaming and cheering so loudly with the other Auburn fans from our section of the end zone that … oops! We still laugh 25 years later about me standing there, screaming, cheering and then stopping to look at my husband, saying, “I just wet my pants! Who cares—we just beat Alabama!” War Eagle forever! —Cindy Bailey Davis ’78, Wadley, Ala.
Traffic Jam
I was a freshman when time for the 1972 Iron Bowl rolled around; Alabama was ranked high in
NEXT TOPIC What’s your favorite graduation-day memory? Send e-mail to aubmag@auburn.edu or write us at: Memories, Auburn Magazine, 317 South College Street, Auburn, AL 36849-5149. We’ll run the letters in our Summer 2009 issue.
in the periodic tAble of the elements,
AU is the symbol for gold.
so nothing less than the gold standard will do in academics, athletics, facilities, and service to the state. AcAdemics: Being in the top 50 of public institutions 16 years in a row isn’t enough. Our new strategic plan calls for more accountability, higher standards, and higher graduation rates. And our new freshman class is the smartest ever—with an ACT average of 25.9 (national average 21.1). Athletics: If Auburn were its own country, its 18 medals in the Beijing Olympic Games would rank in a tie for 14th in the world with Spain and Canada. Collectively, Auburn athletes won three gold medals, 10 silver, and five bronze. They’re all gold to us. FAcilities: Auburn has new gold standards in “green,” too: environmentally friendly LEEDS certification for new buildings, a greener pedestrian campus with bike-friendly additions, and more research into alternative sources of energy.
service to the stAte: Tens of thousands of hours of faculty and student time is dedicated to improving the quality of life for Alabamians, the nation, and the world.
And Auburn provides a $4.85 billion annual contribution to the state’s economy (that’s 205 tons of gold), a figure that’s definitely worth its weight.
A Land, Sea, and Space Grant University
www.auburn.edu/rankings a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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C A M P U S
N E W S
COLLEGE STREET
University gets even greener Sustainability and carbon footprints are hot topics these days, but neither idea is new to Auburn University. Environmental commitment appears in both Auburn’s strategic plan and its master plan for campus development. The university’s environmental awareness movement gained its official stamp of approval in September when Auburn president Jay Gogue ’69 signed the Presidents Climate Commitment along with 580 other university presidents—including the chief administrators at Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Clemson, North Carolina and Florida. Gogue was the first public university president in Alabama to sign the agreement, which commits Auburn to working toward becoming “climate-neutral,” a multi-step process that involves creating institutional structures, completing a comprehensive inventory of all greenhouse-gas emissions and implementing an institutional action plan. The signature was a formality for Auburn, where efforts toward reducing the university’s carbon footprint have been ongoing for several years. But belonging to the Presidents Climate Commitment will help Auburn learn best practices from other schools, says Lindy Biggs, director of the Auburn Sustainability Initiative. “Auburn is in good company,” Biggs says. “A lot of highly respected institutions are committed to reducing their carbon imprint and educating their students in environmental responsibility, and so are we.” Biggs, an associate professor of history, says the university has made rapid progress in environmental
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Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
sustainability in recent years, increasing the amount of materials going to recycling sites instead of landfills, constructing buildings with the energy-efficient LEED classification and incorporating environmental awareness into its academic programs. A greenhouse-gas emission inventory was started last summer and was due to be completed in December; the results will help establish and refine programs and activities that improve energy efficiency. Sustainability and energy efficiency have been gaining in administrative areas since Auburn launched its Sustainability Initiative in 2004. After being funded annually for its first four years, the initiative this year received permanent funding. Among faculty and students, environmental awareness is braiding its way into the curriculum as well as extracurricular activities: a new minor in sustainable studies is now being offered, and the English department is teaching 28 sections of its sustainability-themed composition classes. Auburn’s Student Government Association has created an environmental-initiatives committee that looks for activities that might reduce the campus’ carbon footprint. “Universities are very important, not only in educating our students and the public about climate change, but also in producing future leaders, Biggs says. “Within a relatively short time, today’s students will be the leaders who will have to carry the world into a sustainable future. It is reassuring to see that so many of our students want to prepare themselves to do this kind of work.”
Drip, drop The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has designated Auburn as a Center of Excellence for Watershed Management— the first such center in Alabama. A watershed is an area of land that drains into a lake, river or other common basin.
Q and A WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR AUBURN TO HELP BUILD SUSTAINABLE FOOD SUPPLIES IN DEVELOPING NATIONS?
It’s really important, because we have so many educated people and so much information at Auburn. It seems kind of a shame if we didn’t spread it out and if we didn’t use it, especially for students who are learning how to apply what they’ve learned at the university, and actually make a difference. As they say, teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.
Sara Rademaker Fisheries/allied aquacultures graduate student
AUBURN COPES WITH MID–YEAR BUDGET WOES Auburn University
“proration.” The added
entered its fiscal year
9 percent cut, which
in October with a sound
will short the univer-
plan for coping with a
sity budget by another
12.5 percent reduction
$26 million, was much
in state appropriations.
more than anticipated
The board of trustees
and left administrators
last June addressed
scrambling to find ways
about $42 million in
to cope, said Auburn
budget cuts through
executive vice president
stringent budget
Don Large ’75.
reductions and a tuition
increase of 12 percent,
budget reductions in
which covered about a
administrative and other
third of the appropria-
areas that stay as far
tion reduction.
from the classroom
as possible,” he said.
Those cuts left
“We will target our
Auburn bruised but not
Solutions may include
battered as the budget
delaying construction
year began. But in mid-
projects and cutting
December, the state
spending for employee
announced an addition-
travel, but the ultimate
al mid-year cut in edu-
goal is to keep the cuts
cation appropriations,
from affecting students,
an action known as
Large added.
AUBURN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
Flashback 100 years ago
75 years ago
50 years ago
25 years ago
10 years ago
Spring 1909
Spring 1934
Spring 1959
Spring 1984
Spring 1999
On Jan. 11, Alabama Polytechnic Institute opened the doors to its Carnegie Library, built with a $30,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie after the API library outgrew its three rooms on the second floor of Samford Hall.
Upon graduating from Auburn, where he lettered in football, basketball and baseball, Ralph “Shug” Jordan ’32 joined the university as head basketball coach and assistant football coach under Jack Meacham. In 1951, Jordan took over as head football coach and went on to become the winningest coach in Auburn history, with a record of 176-83-6.
Strike king Andy Varipapa, known as the “greatest oneman bowling show on Earth,” visited the Plains and wowed students with his “pin-spinning abilities” and trick rolls such as the “boomerang ball,” in which he’d roll a bowling ball slowly down a lane only to have it return.
On Feb. 15, James E. Martin began an eightyear stint as president of Auburn University following a period of unrest during which three different presidents led the institution in less than four years.
Auburn researchers made a breakthrough with genetically altered catfish, becoming the first group to perform governmentapproved experiments with transgenic catfish living outdoors. The “super-catfish” had been modified to make them more resistant to disease.
Above: Former Auburn president James E. Martin shows off the university’s new vanity license plate, first issued in 1988. The purchase of Auburn tags by Alabama residents has generated more than $15 million in student scholarships.
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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C O L L E G E
S T R E E T
ETHICS CENTER TACKLES ‘COOKED BOOKS’ AND OTHER DILEMMAS
New faculty post focuses on bluechip scholarships
12
Paul Harris arrived on
cause they either don’t
grant for dissertation
the Auburn campus with
know how to prepare
work in Germany while
one charge: increase
or they wait too long
pursuing his doctoral
the number of students
to begin the process,”
degree at Auburn.
attracting prestigious
says Harris, who says
national scholarships
the university is evaluat-
miss out on scholar-
with names like Rhodes,
ing new students and
ships because they
Fulbright and Marshall.
applicants for signs
focus too narrowly on
of superior academic
grades, while selection
the Honors College
potential.
committees emphasize
and political science
students’ activities away
faculties last fall, says
prospective applicants
from campus, Harris
there are plenty of
for nationally pres-
notes. Committees often
Auburn students quali-
tigious scholarships
pick scholars with both
fied for such scholar-
no later than their
good grades and an
ships but no one to help
freshman year and
active record of service
them apply.
mentor them through
learning or interna-
the process over their
tional experience over
would have a good shot
academic career at
candidates with higher
at becoming a Rhodes
Auburn,” says Harris
grades but limited
Scholar or a Fulbright
’97, who himself re-
activities outside
Scholar never try be-
ceived a Fulbright
the classroom.
Harris, who joined
“Many students who
“We want to identify
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
Students often
The man with the plan: Former Fulbright scholar Paul Harris ’97 helps students find scholarship money to further their studies abroad.
A new Center for Ethical Organizational Cultures in Auburn University’s College of Business will help companies avoid questionable practices and teach students how to behave appropriately in their jobs. Among its services, the center may conduct surveys to find out whether client companies are operating properly. “If we find an unethical culture, we will help the management develop a plan to correct it,” says Achilles Armenakis, James T. Pursell Sr. Eminent Scholar in Ethics. “The small things we find now may keep the organization from doing much worse later, like ‘cooking’ the books.” In today’s business culture, ethical quandaries—including conflicts of interest, lying and abusive behavior—abound. Surveys by the Washington, D.C.-based Ethics Resource Center indicate that more than 50 percent of respondents who have observed misconduct at work didn’t report it. “They either said they feared retaliation or felt it would not do any good to report it,” Armenakis says. “We want to help companies have ethical cultures and to foster an environment that does not punish those who report unethical behavior.” At Auburn, more than 30 business faculty members devote a total of 150 classroom hours to teaching ethics. Graduating students also are asked to complete a questionnaire about their confidence in their grasp of ethics, as are various alumni and employers. “The cultures of organizations they join have been established already, and the new graduates often face pressure to conform,” Armenakis says. “We want our students to recognize unethical situations and make the right decisions.”
Robot wars Fifty middle- and high-school teams from across the eastern United States participated in the 2008 South’s BEST Robotics Championship in December on the Auburn campus. Taking first place was a team from Decatur and Austin high schools. For more on the competition, please see www.southsbest.org.
Tomorrow, the world JAY GOGUE ’69
President, Auburn University Initiatives in Auburn University’s recently completed strategic plan to enhance academic quality and reputation are under way. For this year, Auburn is concentrating on 35 of the 58 tactics in six strategic priority areas, and the first status report to the board of trustees in November summarized progress to date. Among the highlights reported: • The writing requirement on ACT/SAT college entrance exams for entering freshmen will be implemented this year, and a writing center will be operational by this fall to help colleges and schools implement new standards for improving the quality of student writing across the curriculum and within their disciplines. • Faculty and academic administrators are developing a new model for the Honors College. A successful Honors College is a critical catalyst to increasing institutional quality and a key draw for topperforming students. Auburn students have studied in China, Australia, Europe, Canada, Africa, Turkey, Costa Rica and other global ports of call.
• Providing students more international education presents a challenge Auburn is determined to meet. While the university is expanding programs and incentives to get more students involved in Study Abroad, many students can’t participate due to financial or other reasons. Administrators and faculty are working together to find ways to help these students increase the international knowledge that prepares them for a global society. Each school and college at Auburn now has at least one Study Abroad program, and the number of students in the Auburn Abroad faculty-led and exchange programs increased from 469 two years ago to 565 last year, with an additional 137 students approved to study at international universities for Auburn credit. So, the total number of Auburn Abroad students reached 702 last year. Twenty new Auburn faculty-led programs have been added for 2008-09, bringing the total number of programs to 49, and the goal is to move toward a 20 percent participation rate for all programs abroad. The university should make rapid progress this year in establishing learning communities where students with similar academic interests are grouped to support their long-term academic development. The Village residential community is being built to facilitate that model, and more opportunities to encourage involvement in service learning—another widely cited element of academic growth—are under way. The campus community has shown initiative in developing and implementing a workable strategic plan, and periodic review and adjustments will help ensure continued participation and success.
jgogue@auburn.edu
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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C O L L E G E
S T R E E T
Graduation day Auburn awarded 1,442 academic degrees at its December graduation ceremony at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. Students earned 1,101 bachelor’s, 266 master’s, 73 doctoral and two specialist degrees.
Meet the Prof Charlene LeBleu ’03 Assistant professor of landscape architecture, College of Architecture, Design & Construction Backstory LeBleu earned a bachelor’s degree in forest resources and conservation from the University of Florida and master’s degrees in landscape architecture and community planning from Auburn before joining the faculty full-time in 2004. She teaches in the Master of Landscape Architecture program, addressing issues in ecological and sustainable design, stormwater management, water quality and professional practice. Coming soon LeBleu is helping create the first
sponsored its annual lamb-and-goat show, an event that drew 4-H and FFA youths from across the state to the Stan Wilson Beef Teaching Unit to show their project animals. Block and Bridle member Amy Bley, a junior in animal sciences/pre-vet, was there with camera, and when she saw four little washed and groomed lambs waiting for their turn in the spotlight, she couldn’t resist taking a shot.
Five high schools test dropout-reduction project An initiative in the Auburn College of Education is taking aim at Alabama high school dropouts. An AT&T Foundation-funded pilot project to reduce the number of dropouts from Alabama high schools is being built around a partnership between the Truman Pierce Institute in the College of Education and five designated high schools in Tallapoosa, Lee, Hale and Bullock counties and in the city of Opelika. The Truman Pierce Institute focuses on ways to improve schools and communities by creating partnerships, conducting research and providing programs to meet the needs of schools and communities. Professor and institute director Cynthia Reed and associate professor Jeffrey Brooks
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Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
will direct the new program, “Building Individual Capacity for Success.” The program, Reed says, “will allow us to provide programming to ensure high-risk students in five high schools do not drop out. Rather than doing more of the same for these young people, we will now be able to provide mentors, engage the students in community-service projects and engage them in leadership development and global awareness.” Since opening in 1982 as the outreach arm of the College of Education, the Truman Pierce Institute has worked with Alabama schools and educators to increase individual and organizational leadership capacity and improve the quality of educational experiences for young people.
Behind the scenes LeBleu likes to read, draw and dance to beach music. WHAT IS THE GREATEST CHALLENGE TO OUR WORLD IN TERMS OF WATER RESOURCES?
Mismanagement of water is a primary factor in the ever-increasing level of ecosystem dysfunction. The more we fail to comprehend the rules and capacities that surround our natural environment, the more dysfunctional natural systems become.
PHOTOGRAP H BY JEFF ETHERID GE
THEIR FLEECE WAS WHITE AS SNOW: Earlier this semester, the Auburn chapter of the Block and Bridle Club
low-impact development residential subdivision in the Auburn area. “Low-impact development is composed of stormwater-management practices that seek to maintain a site’s pre-construction hydrology through ‘micro-site’ management of stormwater,” LeBleu says. LID practices encourage stormwater infiltration at the lot level instead of the neighborhood level, which reduces the concentration of stormwater pollutants. Amenities in the LID subdivision will include permeable pavement, rain gardens, grass swales and rain barrels, among other features.
Jule Collins smith museum of fine Art Continuing Auburn’s tradition of excellence since 2003
SMELLS LIKE TEAM SPIRIT Look like an Auburn fan and smell like one too: Harrisburg, Penn.-based Masik Collegiate Fragrances plans to launch an Auburn University perfume this summer. Masik plans to bottle both men’s and women’s fragrances said to embody the school colors, Samford Hall and Auburn’s famous battle cry. The Auburn orange scent incorporates wafts of ginger, mandarin and grapefruit; the blue boasts iced juniper and black pepper notes. Want more? See www.masik.com.
As we celebrate the museum’s fifth year, we continue our commitment to ser ve our diverse audiences. We invite you to join us as we uphold a legacy begun mor e than 60 years ago, of Aubur n University’s fine ar ts collecti on.
Visit
✦
Join
✦
support
www.jcsm.auburn.edu
901 South College Street • Auburn, AL 36849 HAPPY DAYS: Shortly before his 92nd birthday in
334.844.1484
November, retired dean of students James E. Foy led students, friends and well-wishers in a classic rendition of the “War Eagle” cheer. The crowd gathered to dedicate Auburn’s new Student Center, which houses the Foy Information Desk. F08 AU Magazine Ad.indd 1
9/16/08 9:28:06 AM
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
15
C O L L E G E
S T R E E T
Research JEFF ET H ERI DG E
REAL SCIENCE COMES TO MIDDLE SCHOOL
Loyalty translates from pigskin to politics
16
When David Laband set
ers then drove around
day rolls around.
out to see if there was
the city during the fall
these more expressive
a correlation between
2007 football season to
there is a significant
individuals also are
football fans and vot-
see how many of those
link at all—and that the
more likely to vote as a
ers, he didn’t expect to
4,000 households also
effect is as large as it
type of expressive
find much. Turns out,
displayed AU football
is,” says Laband.
behavior than people
avid fans are twice as
paraphernalia.
The economist at-
who generally are not
likely to vote as the fair-
tributed the link to how
very expressive,” says
weather variety.
and only real-world,
individuals express
Laband.
data-driven analysis
themselves. Those who
of economics and policy
that links completely
are more comfortable
more studies to aid his
in Auburn’s School of
non-political expressive
expressing themselves
understanding of
Forestry and Wildlife
behavior with voting,”
publicly—whether with
expressive behavior—to
Sciences, gathered a
Laband says.
a Tigers flag, a pink or
discover, for example, if
research team to look at
blue bow on a mailbox
people who engage in
results from the Nov. 7,
holds sporting outward
to announce a birth or
private expressive
2006, election and find
displays of signs or
a seasonal wreath on
behavior follow the
out which Auburn house-
flags for the Auburn Ti-
the door—might also
same voting pattern.
holds boasted at least
gers are twice as likely
be more likely to cast
—Kate Winford
one voter. Research-
to vote when election
their ballots.
Laband, a professor
“This was the first
The result: House-
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
“I was surprised that
“It is possible that
He hopes to conduct
For most middle schools, high-tech is too high-priced: Sophisticated equipment for science labs is typically out of the question due to lack of funds. That’s why engineering researchers at Auburn and three other universities are working on a U.S. Department of Education project to provide middle-school students with virtual science labs. N. Hari Narayanan, a professor in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, is part of the research team designing a virtual science experimentation platform for middleschool science instruction. “The revolution in computational science has not yet impacted science education in schools,” says Narayanan. “This project will help introduce students to computational tools. It will also create an advanced physics simulation system, with an interface customized to children for building and running virtual experiments.” Narayanan says the project will draw on the strengths of each partner institution. Auburn will lead computer science research and development, drawing on Narayanan’s expertise in human-computer interaction and educational technology. Faculty from the physics-education research group at Kansas State will provide domain expertise, while information-design researchers at Bentley College will conduct usability testing. Finally, the University of Wisconsin-Madison will deploy and evaluate the system in schools. The researchers hope to carry out several design and test cycles over three years to produce a proven system ready for national distribution. “Students will be able to explore ‘what-if’ scenarios by changing physical properties and principles in ways not possible in the real world,” Narayanan says. “We will test the system in schools in Wisconsin and Kansas, and ultimately make it available to science teachers nationwide.”
C O L L E G E
Aw, shucks Anglers frequenting the harbor pier in Ocean Springs, Miss., might expect to reel in a better catch this winter: The Auburn University Shellfish Lab has donated 23,000 oysters to help enrich the waters and create a more stable fishing habitat. Movers loaded the oysters into cages on the back of a pickup truck and drove them from the lab’s hatchery on Dauphin Island to their new home. Since a single oyster can spawn several million eggs, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources expects the oysters to provide a food supply and also attract more fish to the area.
Better cotton through clover Sustainable farming is
able cotton production
nothing new at Auburn,
was possible in Alabama
where a 112-year-old
if growers would rotate
cotton experiment is
crops and include winter
showing that winter
legumes such as clover
legumes are as effective
to prevent erosion.
as nitrogen fertil-
Researchers at Auburn
izer when it comes to
and the U.S. Department
producing cotton crops.
of Agriculture’s Soil
AU’s “Old Rotation,” the
Dynamics Laboratory
oldest continuous cotton
have written the first
experiment in the world
comprehensive research
and the third-oldest
report on Old Rotation,
field-crop experiment
recently published in
in the United States on
Agronomy Journal.
the same site, began in
The Old Rotation was
1896 when professor J.F.
placed on the National
Duggar began testing
Register of Historic
the theory that sustain-
Places in 1988.
B3 GOOD FOR YOUR HEART
DIRTY BOOK Civil engineering professor David Elton, a 23-year veteran of the Auburn faculty, has hit the big time with Soils Magic, which has sold more copies than any other American Society of Civil Engineers’ book besides conference proceedings and garnered Elton a National Science Foundation grant to develop innovative ways to teach soil mechanics. The book is used by universities and service organizations—even the Boy Scouts—as a source of simple soil experiments that have unexpected results. Elton’s experiments have been performed in venues around the country, including the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas. Check out Soils Magic videos at YouTube.com.
S T R E E T
About 300 species of clover have been identified in the plant world. The type typically seen peeking from your Bermuda grass is known as white clover.
Want to make your workout even healthier? Auburn researchers have learned that a little bit of niacin—also known as vitamin B3—makes aerobic burn go farther in terms of heart health. Peter Grandjean, associate professor in the College of Education’s kinesiology department, and former doctoral student Eric Plaisance ’06 studied a group of 15 men between the ages of 30 and 65 who had been classified at high risk of heart disease. The researchers wanted to know if niacin would enhance the triglyceridelowering effects of aerobic exercise. High levels of triglycerides in blood have been linked to atherosclerosis and increased risk of heart attack and stroke. The men ate high-fat meals and then participated in aerobic exercise one hour before another high-fat meal. They later consumed another high-fat meal after taking a six-week supply of extendedrelease niacin. Their responses were also measured after taking a six-week supply of extended-release niacin and consuming a high-fat meal one hour after a period of aerobic exercise. The researchers concluded that aerobic exercise is more effective than extended-release niacin in reducing post-meal triglyceride concentrations. Niacin does, however, enhance the triglyceride-lowering effects of exercise after a meal. They believe the combination of exercise and niacin might also be beneficial to people resistant to insulin. A feature article on the study appeared in the July 2008 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, published by the American Society for Nutrition.
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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C O L L E G E
S T R E E T
Roundup COLLEGE OF
Agriculture Ready for a barn raising? The Agricultural Alumni Association wants to raise $1.5 million to build a replica of the 80-yearold Dairy Barn at Ag Heritage Park. The new facility would welcome visitors to the 30-acre park and house a retail store featuring homegrown Alabama products; exhibits on the past, present and future of Alabama agriculture; and meeting, office and classroom space.
fronts Samford Avenue has become a favorite fall tailgating site and is home to a weekly farmers’ market in spring and summer. COLLEGE OF
Architecture, Design and Construction A group of Auburn industrial design students take their talents on the road each year through study-abroad programs in Taiwan and Ireland. The 4-year-old program between Auburn and
gow School of Art in Glasgow, Scotland, and Loughborough University in Leicestershire, England—to study such topics as design history and anthropometry (the study of human body measurement). The College of Architecture, Design and Construction boasts the oldest study-abroad program at Auburn. Administrators hope that within the next five years 75 percent of all CADC students will be spending some time studying overseas. COLLEGE OF
Business
Fundraisers expect to build the Dairy Barn replica at a reduced rate by teaming with the College of Architecture, Design and Construction’s design-build master’s program. The project represents the next phase in developing Ag Heritage Park to help preserve Auburn’s rich agricultural history and increase agriculture’s campus visibility. The park already features the new Alabama Farmers Pavilion, the rebuilt Red Barn and renovated Herdsman’s House, plus a 2.5-acre pond and walking trail. The grassy spread that
18
Shu-Te University takes AU students to Taiwan for eight weeks in summer. Each student works with three or four Shu-Te students learning design and crafts, including pottery, glasswork and Chinese painting. Students also visit design firms and exhibitions, and participate in industry visits in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The Ireland program, in its 13th year, consists of a 10-week spring trip that takes students to a variety of schools— including the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Glas-
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
A standard computer lab was reborn in November as the new Trading, Investing and Global Economic Research Lab in the College of Business. Made possible by a donation from Raymond Harbert ’82 and wife Kathryn ’81 of Birmingham, the new lab simulates real-life brokerage floors where security analyses and trades are executed electronically throughout the world. The room not only looks like an authentic trading room, but much of its software will prepare AU students for careers in investments and finance. The lab also has video-conferencing capabilities, allowing traders, researchers and portfolio managers to share their real-world experiences with students.
COLLEGE OF
Education The College of Education welcomed W. Gary Martin and Peter Hastie to the rank of honored professors during a November ceremony at the Auburn Alumni Center. Martin, a professor of mathematics education in the curriculum and teaching department, became the first recipient of the Emily R. and Gerald S. Leischuck Endowed Professorship for Critical Needs in Education. Hastie, a professor and graduate program director in kinesiology, received the Wayne T. Smith Distinguished Professorship. Hastie joined the faculty in 1994 and teaches pedagogy in the physical educationteacher education program. Last year, he received the college’s Outstanding Faculty Award for Research for the second time. Martin, a member of the faculty for eight years, is project director for the National Science Foundation-
funded TEAM-Math program, which bolsters mathematics education in 15 east Alabama school districts. Auburn president Jay Gogue recently named Martin the university’s first presidential faculty fellow. For more information on the College of Education’s endowed professorships, see: education.auburn. edu/facultystaff/ professorships/. SAMUEL GINN COLLEGE OF
Engineering The 2008-09 academic year marks the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s centennial anniversary as an official college at Auburn University. The university offered its first engineering course in 1872 and, during most of the 19th century, engineering represented about half the institution’s total enrollment. In 1908, then-president Charles Coleman
Thach reorganized the Auburn faculty into three colleges, one of which was engineering. Graduates have become astronauts, inventors and CEOs while revolutionizing the energy, transportation and telecommunications industries. The college recently commissioned Atlanta management consultant Art Slotkin ’68 to prepare a history of the college; selections from his upcoming book, They Came from Auburn: A History of Engineering in the New South, may be read at eng.auburn. edu/centennial. SCHOOL OF
Forestry and Wildlife Sciences Southeastern landowners interested in converting their land into longleaf pine forests for reaping economic and environmental benefits now have a resource for information in the new Center for Longleaf Pine Ecosystems in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. Alabama landowners have increased their investment in the pine crop—in the last decade, longleaf pine acreage in the state has increased by 60 percent. The center, which is the only one of its kind in the country,
C O L L E G E
Eggheads Auburn’s College of Agriculture has created a national research center aimed at ensuring that table eggs are safe for consumers and that the $4.9 billion U.S. egg industry continues to thrive. The National Egg Processing Center is a joint effort involving scientists at Auburn, Clemson, North Carolina State, Purdue, Georgia and Arkansas universities, as well as the USDA’s Egg Safety and Quality Research Unit.
provides information about longleaf pine ecosystem management and researches ways to improve longleaf pine restoration and management.
Graduate School Pathobiology professor Bernhard Kaltenboeck of the College of Veterinary Medicine received the 2008 Distinguished Graduate Faculty Lectureship Award jointly sponsored by the Auburn Alumni Association and the AU Graduate School. During his 14 years at Auburn, Kaltenboeck has garnered more than $4 million in federal funding for his research into human and livestock diseases caused by the intracellular bacteria of the genus Chlamydia. Kaltenboeck also has successfully tested a therapeutic vaccine approach to treating mastitis, the infection of the mammary gland, and fertility disorders in dairy cows.
programs accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation. Interior design faculty and students also completed the documentation and exhibition process required by CIDA to complete the reaccreditation process. The quality of student work, level of student professionalism and faculty commitment to student success earned the program the maximum Six-Year ReAccreditation Award.
of the College of Liberal Arts; recipients are nationally recognized in the arts or humanities and agree to engage in community outreach. SCHOOL OF
Nursing
Music professor Howard Goldstein has been named the Breeden Eminent Scholar for spring semester. As part of his appointment, he will coordinate performances,
The School of Nursing and the Alabama Department of Public Health devised an emergency-preparedness mock hospital unit in early December to demonstrate disaster training and technology. Auburn’s senior nursing students also took part in a three-day immersion experience to orient themselves with all aspects of public health, and all nursing students participated in the emergency-preparedness exercise using a
classroom instruction and outreach activities for the Tasman String Quartet, which will be in residence at Auburn from Feb. 15 through March 15. The Daniel F. Breeden Eminent Scholar Chair was established in 1989 to provide support for both the academic and the outreach missions
mobile medical station and interoperable communication vehicle capable of connecting communications systems worldwide. … The Fourth Annual Alumni Reunion for nursing graduates and their families will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon April 18 at Miller Hall. Festivities include
COLLEGE OF
Liberal Arts
COLLEGE OF
Human Sciences The interior design undergraduate program in the College of Human Sciences’ Department of Consumer Affairs is ranked fourth nationally in the 2008 Design Intelligence Education Survey, marking the fifth consecutive year it has ranked in the Top 10 of 152 peer
a tailgate brunch before the 1 p.m. A-Day game; photos with Aubie and the Tiger Paws dance team; music by the AU Singers; and other activities. For more information and tickets, contact Stacey Seawell at seawasj@auburn.edu or (334) 844-7390.
and electing a student “mascot” who painted his arms, legs, face and hair red. COLLEGE OF
Sciences and Mathematics
Pharmacy
The College of Sciences and Mathematics named Jane Upshaw ’69 its 2008 Distinguished Alumna. Upshaw became the
A legend has returned to the Harrison School of Pharmacy, where student leaders have revived Hargreaves Day after several years of dormancy. Hargreaves Day consists of field games, including tug-of-war, wiffleball, kickball, Ultimate Frisbee and volleyball. The celebration honors the late professor George Hargreaves, who was instrumental in building up the pharmacy program in its early days. For months, student council members used their lunch hours to do the extensive planning. A huge sign-up board was posted within the school, which immediately stirred the spirit of competition between the classes. Faculty, staff and graduate students made up a separate category, and each class wore T-shirts with Hargreaves’ image and the slogan “Return of a Legend.” First-year students recently won bragging rights after an intense campaign that included running flags around the field, wearing red headbands
first woman to lead a University of South Carolina campus when she was named chancellor of the University of South Carolina at Beaufort in 2002. USCB offers 12 baccalaureate degrees and is the fastest-growing institution in the South Carolina system. As head of the school, Upshaw has led unprecedented growth in the student body and extended the university’s connection to the surrounding area by teaming with local agencies and school districts. She also helped establish community support and funding for a new 200-acre site called the USC Beaufort South Campus—Gateway to Hilton Head and for the school’s northern campus site in historic Beaufort. Upshaw is
HARRISON SCHOOL OF
S T R E E T
involved with a number of community and civic organizations and is a former board member of the Auburn Alumni Association. COLLEGE OF
Veterinary Medicine Auburn’s veterinary college is increasing the number of students it accepts from Kentucky and will begin to accept West Virginia students through partnership agreements with the Southern Regional Education Board. Since 1946, SREB “contract seats” have been meted out to students from states that lack their own vet schools. In the early days, students from many states attended Auburn through the program, but as states began building their own public veterinary schools in the 1970s and 1980s, fewer students needed to leave home to get educated in the field. Kentucky eventually became the only state with an SREB contract with Auburn, and for years only 34 Kentucky students were admitted annually through the program. In the last two years, Kentucky veterinarians, producers, pre-veterinary advisers and others worked with their state legislature to increase the number of contract seats, resulting in six more seats for the current and upcoming academic years.
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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S T U D E N T
JEF F ET H ERI DG E
CONCOURSE
Faculty, students say what they think about learning at Auburn Haley Walker Senior, mechanical engineering The 4-1-1 As president of the Auburn Committee
of 19, Haley Walker has taken on the issue of world hunger in a big way. Last fall, the student group—which runs AU’s War on Hunger campaign—sponsored a 60-mile march from Auburn to Montgomery to draw attention to the issue. The Committee of 19, along with Auburn’s Student Government Association, has agreed to donate 19 cents a year for each Auburn student to the World Food Programme. The group even sells its own “War on Hunger” blend of coffee, roasted in Leeds, with proceeds benefiting the cause. What about you would surprise your parents? “I think my parents would be surprised
at how busy I am and how sporadic my schedule is. I don’t ever eat three meals a day at a planned meal time. It’s more like 2 p.m. or 4 p.m. lunch and 9 p.m. or midnight dinner.” If you could take a trip anywhere in the world, where would you go? “I would go to
Kenya to work and see firsthand the dangers and consequences of chronic hunger. I think everyone should go to a Third World country to get a change of perspective and help someone else.” You’re assigned to create a 30-second commercial about hunger. What do you say?
“Every five seconds a child dies of hunger. This statistic should be shocking; it should move people to take action, but it doesn’t. The face of hunger is changing, and we must do something to stop it. Every person on this Earth is a blessed child of God. It is our job to care for those in need. Our priorities are in the wrong place. When we spend more money on pet food in America than we do on helping our fellow man, something is wrong. A small change for each of us is a huge change for the world. I have a vision of everyone in the world donating just one dollar, and all that money being put toward ending hunger.”
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
Auburn faculty members think students don’t study as much as students think they do. Faculty also don’t think their classes require much memorization, while students think their memorization skills are getting a serious workout. Understanding the gap between how students are engaged in their education and how faculty think the students are engaged can only improve the education Auburn offers. At least that’s the thinking behind a pair of surveys the university participated in this year—students in the National Survey of Student Engagement, and faculty in the companion Faculty Survey of Student Engagement. Together, the data provides new perspectives on academics at Auburn, and will help the university and individual faculty members identify areas for improvement in teaching, communication and related areas, says Drew Clark, director of institutional research and analysis. The National Survey of Student Engagement is the leading national source of information about how students spend
their time, how involved they are in proven learning practices and to what extent they consider themselves challenged and supported by their university. “What students learn depends on what they do,” Clark says. “The information these surveys generate can be used to improve the education our students receive. That is our main concern.” The National Survey of Student Engagement collects information on how much time freshmen and seniors devote to study as well as other activities. The survey also gathers data on the kind of intellectual activities their classes require; how much contact they have with faculty members; how often they take advantage of enrichment activities such as study abroad, service learning or student government; how they grade their own progress in terms of knowledge and skill; and how satisfied they are with their educational experience. “From these NSSE details emerges a general picture of the institution’s level of academic challenge, its encouragement of active and collaborative learning and student-faculty interaction, and the JEFF ETHERIDGE
Interview
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L I F E
Fish tales Auburn’s Bass Sports Club hosted its second annual Auburn University Fall Classic in November at Lake Logan-Martin. A team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham finished first with a two-day weight of 28.41 pounds, followed by Auburn’s Clay Messer and Richard Peek, with a two-day weight of 27.89 pounds. For more on the club, see www.auburn.edu/student_info/bass_fishing/.
extent to which it provides enriching educational experiences and a supportive campus environment,” says Clark. To gain additional perspective, Auburn last spring participated for the first time in the Web-based Faculty Survey of Student Engagement, in which respondents answered questions about the structure of specific courses they teach. In some areas, the student and faculty surveys revealed considerable gaps between the views of faculty and students. For example, large majorities of both freshmen and seniors believe Auburn places a lot of emphasis on the importance of studying and doing academic work, while only half of faculty respondents agreed. “Perhaps this is because faculty would like to see students spend about six hours per week preparing for their class but estimate, accurately, that the real figure is about half that much,” Clark says.
Other differences are more surprising. While only 30 percent of faculty said their courses place a lot of emphasis on memorization, 75 percent of freshmen and 62 percent of seniors agreed their courses have such an emphasis. Ninety percent of faculty respondents emphasized the importance of students learning something that changes the way they understand an issue or concept. Smaller proportions of students reported that they often have that experience (59 percent of freshmen, 66 percent of seniors). Despite some differences, the two surveys suggest that students devote energy largely to activities faculty members consider valuable. Clark says this is especially true of activities such as internships that may not be formal program requirements. For more survey results, please see http://oira.auburn.edu.
C O N C O U R S E
HELP US REMEMBER LOST CLASSMATES Auburn’s dean of students is seeking help in gathering the names of students who died while enrolled at the university. The names will be featured on a memorial wall being created for the new Auburn Student Center by graduate students in the Department of Industrial Design. While the design will only include the names of students who died since 1960 when the institute became Auburn University, computer kiosks at the wall will also contain information about students who died prior to that year. If you know of someone who died while a student at Auburn, please e-mail the student’s name, hometown and enrollment year(s) to studentmemorial@auburn.edu or call Paul Kittle at (334) 844-4600.
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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C O N C O U R S E
Elephant walk It would take roughly 2,000 elephants, standing noseto-tail, to fill Jordan-Hare Stadium’s Pat Dye Field, according to the staff at Auburn’s Foy Info Desk.
Pedal power Lauren Lewis has cut her
more than a year early.
commute to campus in
half—just by riding her
a pedestrian dominance
bike. The junior agricul-
in the central core of
tural economics major
campus,” Love says.
from Haines City, Fla.,
“It’s a more collegiate
makes the 1.5-mile ride
environment.”
on two wheels in 15 min-
utes; by car, including
ticed the difference. The
time spent searching for
director of the univer-
a parking spot, the trip
sity’s Sustainability Ini-
runs a good half hour.
tiative, Biggs has ridden
her bike to campus for
“I also get to exercise
the past 20 years. “Over
cise,” she notes.
the past four years, I’ve
Lewis is one small
Course name RTVF 4970 “Horror Films” Instructor Deron M. Overpeck, assistant
professor, Department of Communication and Journalism The Scoop Classes meet twice a week for a
discussion and introduction to specific horror films, then watch the movies during “lab” time. “We’ll look at how these films reflect or suggest cultural attitudes and insecurities that were operating at the time the film was made,” Overpeck says. “We’ll also talk about how horror comes from the way humans behave. Horror films scare us not just because they feature things that are unknown, but because those odd creatures in some way embody what we as a society are concerned with at a particular time.” Required Viewing “Cloverfield” (2008),
“The Incredible Shrinking Man” (1957), “Dawn of the Dead” (2004) and “Hostel” (2005)
22
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
They may not have jobs, but schoolchildren nationwide still feel the pain of recession. “More and more children are coming from families who fall below the federal poverty line and are harboring their own anxieties regarding the future,” says College of Education professor Jamie Carney. Carney and her students in Chi Sigma Iota, a counseling honor society, designed a four-day poverty-awareness program for education majors. The goal: give future educators the tools they need to help needy kids. Topics included poverty and public policy, the systemic causes of poverty, child poverty in Alabama and educational responses. “There are countless children, adolescents and families who are struggling,” says Carney. “The events of the last few months with the economy have brought home the idea that this impacts more people.”
seen a five-to-tenfold in-
spoke in a big wheel of
crease (in riders),” Biggs
change on the Auburn
says. “Now, there are no
campus, as the number
empty bike racks.”
of students biking to
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
Lindy Biggs has no-
without having to exer
Syllabus
“That plan described
Love says Auburn has
class has increased
plans to accommodate
to the point of creating
the new two-wheelers,
a traffic jam at the
installing bike racks that
bike racks.
are easier to use and
designed to inflict less
Cathy Love couldn’t
be happier. Love, univer-
damage to the bikes.
sity engineer in the Of-
The university also has
fice of Campus Planning,
eliminated its bicycle
says the Auburn board of
parking fee, although
trustees set a goal back
Love says students might
in 2002 of increasing the
eventually be required to
proportion of students
register their bikes (so
who rode to campus at
officials can track thefts)
the time from 5 percent
and watch a bicycle-
to 12 percent by 2010.
safety video.
Students met the goal
—Rebecca Lakin
12%
C A M P U S
N E W S
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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S P O R T S
TIGER WALK
New turf
As a largely untested defensive coordinator in Orlando, Fla., a decade ago, Gene Chizik often awoke at dawn and drove more than an hour to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ practices and study the team’s moves.
Can Gene Chizik carry the ball at Auburn? When Pete Carroll was introduced as the University of Southern California’s head football coach nearly a decade ago, he was flanked by armed security guards—just in case. USC fans’ opposition to Carroll—who went on to win two national championships—was that intense. As Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke once opined, Carroll might have been the only coach in history who was on the hot seat before he even had a chance to sit down. Enter Gene Chizik. Auburn’s new head football coach hire hasn’t been quite as controversial, though the choice certainly wasn’t popular, at least
24
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
initially. Alumni, students and other fans—many still reeling from the surprise resignation of longtime coach Tommy Tuberville— were quick to criticize, protesting vehemently on message boards and in e-mails to university administrators. “To say this move is shocking is an understatement,” wrote sports editor Jay Coulter ’91 of www.trackemtigers.com, which bills itself as “Auburn’s No. 1 Football Blog.” “For many Auburn fans, this is a worst-case scenario. There appears to be little logic in the choice.” Blogger Jerry Hinnen of www.warblogeagle.com was even more dramatic in a mid-December post: “I don’t know how to
P H OTO G R A P H B Y J E F F E T H E R I D G E
T I G E R
Birds of a feather Four hundred individual feathers were crafted into the wings of a new 10-foot-tall bronze statue representing female athletes on Auburn’s campus. “Wings of Triumph,” located near the Earlon and Betty McWhorter Center for Women’s Athletics, was created by international sculptor Branko Medenica.
react. It doesn’t seem real. I’m going to spend tonight trying to figure out how to react. That, and drinking.” A few days after hiring Chizik, Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs wrote an open letter to fans defending his decision—and as 2009 dawned, Auburn loyalists had begun to change their tune. “Of all the coaches we interviewed, Coach Chizik best understood where Auburn is and where we can be,” Jacobs wrote. “He outlined a clear plan for the future that will put us into position to consistently compete for championships. “Other important factors that weighed heavily in my decision were Coach Chizik’s experience competing in the Southeastern Conference and his reputation as a relentless recruiter.” Chizik, a 48-year-old father of three, doesn’t pretend to be oblivious to the firestorm his hiring generated. “Obviously, I’m aware of it,” Chizik says. “It comes with the job. People are going to have their opinions.” Chizik’s record at Iowa State fueled much of the criticism. During his two years as head coach there, Chizik’s teams won just five games against 19 defeats—including a 10-game losing streak to end the 2008 season. But those who’ve worked with him say Chizik’s merits overwhelm the underwhelming Iowa State record. “It’s difficult to do well in that league,” says Steve Sloan, former athletic director at the University of Central Florida. Chizik was the school’s defensive coordinator and secondary coach before his brief stint as Auburn’s defense chief during the Tigers’ 2004 glory season. “You can’t judge him based on two years there. I would hope Auburn fans let him start at zero.” Five Big 12 schools finished in the Top 25 this past season. Iowa State, meanwhile, has never notched an outright conference championship in the 117-season history of the program. “It was a perfect storm,” says Chizik. “The league got great, and we (Iowa State) were really down. One of my jobs there was to change the entire culture. You had a group of young people who weren’t used to winning. Overcoming that was a daily challenge.” In the Midwest, Chizik was recruiting against the likes of Oklahoma and Texas. The competition is even fiercer among SEC schools—but, fans will attest, Iowa State is no Auburn. “It’s a very special place,” says Chizik, who told the press he had obtained his “dream job” as Tuberville’s successor. “The tradition, the enthusiasm, the pride. It’s a part of your blood, and I understand that.” For the past two months, Chizik has been barnstorming the region looking for commitments from future Tigers. In the meantime he’s had to move his family—wife Jonna, twin daughters Landry Grace and Kennedy Danielle, and son Cally—down South from Ames, find a place to live and hire a coaching staff. Amidst the chaotic schedule, Chizik says he hasn’t yet had the opportunity to reflect on his new job. “I don’t think it’s hit me yet,” he says. Auburn’s 26th head coach has even less time for the skeptics. “I try not to pay attention to that exterior stuff,” he says. “Heck, I’ve got another meeting to go to, and I don’t even know where my pants are.” His new hires, including wide receivers coach Trooper
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Taylor, offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, defensive coordinator Ted Roof and defensive line coach Tracy Rocker ’88, have impressed even Chizik’s harshest critics. “Is it true? Are Auburn fans beginning to warm to Gene Chizik?” wrote Coulter in January. “Chizik has made all the right moves since being named coach on Dec. 13. He’s made few public comments and smartly allowed his actions to speak louder than his words.” Sloan, who coached at Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Ole Miss and Duke, maintains Chizik possesses the temperament necessary for the head coach of a major program. “He’s got a lot of equanimity,” says Sloan, an All-American quarterback at Alabama under Bear Bryant. “As the kids would say today, he’s pretty cool.”—Christian Boone
The Chizik file A Clearwater, Fla., native, Chizik and wife Jonna have identical twin daughters, Landry Grace and Kennedy Danielle, and a son, Cally. Chizik received his bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Florida in 1985 and a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Clemson University in 1991. 2006–2008
Head coach, Iowa State During two seasons at Iowa State, Chizik was in the midst of rebuilding the team. He directed the Cyclones to a 5-19 mark. The 2007 season included conference wins over Kansas State and bowl-bound Colorado. 2005–2006
Assistant head coach/co-defensive coordinator, Texas In two seasons in Austin, the Longhorns were 22-3 with Chizik. At one point, he was part of 29 consecutive victories, which began in 2003 at Auburn and ended in 2006 at Texas. 2002–2004
Defensive coordinator, Auburn Chizik’s 2004 defense led the nation in scoring defense (11.3 ppg) and was fifth nationally in total defense, allowing just 277.6 yards a contest. In three years, Chizik helped the Tigers to a 30-9 mark, including an 18-6 SEC record. 1998–2001
Defensive coordinator, Central Florida Chizik improved a team that was 81st nationally in total defense before his arrival to one that was 16th in the country in 2001. 1992–1997
Linebackers/defensive coordinator, Stephen F. Austin Chizik helped the Lumberjacks to back-to-back NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, including a national semifinal appearance in 1995. 1990–1991
Defensive ends coach, Middle Tennessee State Chizik’s first full-time college coaching position; he helped lead the Blue Raiders to NCAA Division I-AA playoffs twice and to a conference championship in 1990.
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Shout-outs “Coach Chizik is a play-
he was the defensive
ers’ coach. Even though
coordinator the year
he was on the defensive
that Auburn had that
side of the ball, he
magical year where they
taught all of us the im-
were undefeated and
portance of hard work.
left out of the national
He’s the kind of coach
championship, you might
recruits hope to get to
understand it. If you look
play for, and I think this
at the success he had as
is a great hire.”
defensive coordinator at Texas, you might under-
—CARNELL “CADILLAC”
stand it. And if you look
WILLIAMS ’05, Tampa
at the man that he is and
Bay Buccaneers
the way he can represent (Auburn University)—me
“This was the best deci-
personally, I think it’s an
sion Auburn could have
outstanding hire.”
made. Coach Chizik was like a dad to me. From a
—KIRK HERBSTREIT, ESPN
player and student point
College GameDay analyst
of view, he’s exactly what Auburn needs in a
“Gene Chizik … knows
head coach.”
the game of football and knows how to moti-
—CARLOS ROGERS ’04,
vate and relate to young
Washington Redskins
athletes. He knows
Breaking up is hard to do
how to motivate them “Gene is a terrific
to be successful not only
football coach. He …
on the field but in the
was very instrumental
classroom and
in leading our defense
in the game of life. He
in the 2005 national
will be a blessing for the
championship season.
players and for Auburn
He had the guys well
University.”
prepared, did a nice job managing practices and
—DONTARRIOUS
games, and we could
THOMAS ’03,
always tell he was going
Minnesota Vikings
to be a successful head coach at some point.
“I played for him my
He is equally as good at
last two years. He told
building relationships,
me something once that
which is one of the main
I have never forgotten:
reasons I think he’ll do
‘Never let your character
a terrific job running the
be dictated by your
Auburn program.”
circumstance.’ He told me that after a bad loss
26
—MACK BROWN, head
at LSU. I think he’ll do a
football coach, University
good job and was a good
of Texas
choice.”
“If you look a little bit
—REGGIE TORBOR ’03,
deeper, the fact that
Miami Dolphins
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
During his first collegiate head coaching job at the University of Mississippi, Tommy Tuberville earned the nickname “Riverboat Gambler” for his aggressive play calling.
When Tommy Tuberville was hired before the 1999 season, he inherited an Auburn team coming off a last-place finish in the SEC West. The only thing worse than the team’s play on the field was the melodrama off it. Terry Bowden, convinced he would be fired, quit following a 1-5 start to the ’98 season. His interim replacement, “Brother” Bill Oliver, filed a lawsuit alleging then-athletic director David Housel and prominent booster Bobby Lowder reneged on a promise to make him the permanent head coach. “Auburn hired me to coach football games, not to sit around and watch soap operas,” Tuberville declared prior to his first season on the Plains. He’d been lured away from Ole Miss, where the first-time head coach revived a scandaltainted program. At the time, Tuberville had a dual mission: return the team to respectability while unifying the various factions that had developed among Auburn’s fans and boosters. Mission accomplished. In 10 years as AU coach, the Arkansas native won five bowl games and one SEC championship.
P H OTO G R A P H S B Y TO D D VA N E M S T
Tuberville highlights Sept. 18, 1999 In Tuberville’s SEC debut, the Tigers
crush LSU 41-7. Auburn scores 10 points off turnovers and adds touchdowns on a fake field goal and a fumble recovery to match the win total from the previous season. Sept. 9, 2000 Rudi Johnson rushes for 165 yards to lead Auburn over Mississippi in Tuberville’s Oxford homecoming. Sept. 16, 2000 Auburn broke an eight-game home losing streak against SEC opponents, defeating LSU 34-17. The game marked then-LSU coach Nick Saban’s SEC debut. Nov. 18, 2000 Three Damon Duval field goals give Auburn a 9-0 win over Alabama, clinching the SEC West title for the Tigers. Oct. 13, 2001 Auburn intercepts Rex Grossman four times, upsetting then-No. 1 Florida 23-20. Jan. 1, 2003 Tuberville notches his first bowl win at Auburn as the Tigers defeat Penn State 13-9. Nov. 18, 2004 A fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Jason Campbell to Courtney Taylor gives Auburn a 10-9 victory over LSU, preserving what would be an undefeated season. Dec. 4, 2004 Jason Campbell throws for 374 yards, and Auburn withstands a late rally by Tennessee to give Tuberville his first SEC championship, 38-28. Jan. 3, 2005 Thirteen unanswered points by Virginia Tech are not enough as Auburn holds on to beat the Hokies 16-13. Shut out of the BCS Championship, the second-ranked Tigers finish a perfect season 13-0. Oct. 12, 2005 A 20-yard field goal by John Vaughn with six seconds left gives Auburn a 31-30 victory over Georgia in Athens. Nov. 19, 2005 Tuberville becomes only the third Tigers coach to defeat Alabama four consecutive times. Sept. 16, 2006 Auburn beats No. 7-ranked LSU 7-3, the first of two wins over teams that would finish in the Top 5 at the end of the season. Oct. 14, 2006 Auburn advances to 6-1 with a 27-17 win over Florida, the eventual BCS champion. Jan. 1, 2007 A Cotton Bowl win over Nebraska gives Auburn its 11th win of the season. Sept. 29, 2007 Auburn rebounds from a disappointing start to defeat then-No. 3-ranked Florida 20-17 in Gainesville. Nov. 24, 2007 For the sixth consecutive year, Auburn triumphs in the Iron Bowl, beating Alabama 17-10. Dec. 31, 2007 A seven-yard run by Kodi Burns gives Auburn an overtime victory over Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Nov. 8, 2008 A 37-20 victory over TennesseeMartin is Tuberville’s last as Auburn’s coach. He finishes his career at Auburn with an 85-40 record.
WOMEN’S HOOPS MAKES FAST BREAK FOR TOP 10 The No. 6-ranked Auburn Tigers women’s basketball team entered Southeastern Conference play in January with one huge advantage: an as-yet-undefeated season. Led by senior standouts DeWanna Bonner and Whitney Boddie, the Tigers kicked off a string of SEC games Jan. 8 by edging out South Carolina with a score of 80-76. The win brought the team to a 16-0 record overall. As Auburn Magazine went to press, head coach Nell Fortner’s team was off to its best start in 20 years and was one of only four undefeated teams in the nation. Auburn’s women Tigers played 10 of its 15 non-conference games on the road, a difficult schedule with nine of the 15 opponents holding records at .500 or better. “I am very happy about being undefeated, and I’m happy that we competed well and played hard every night, and that is what feels the best,” Fortner said. “We gained a lot of confidence from it, good team chemistry. The team is still hungry to keep winning, so we just want to stay on this track.” Auburn is in its 38th season of women’s basketball and boasts an alltime record of 750-325. AU has made 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, two WNIT appearances and three Final Fours in the program’s history. The Tigers are coming off a 20-12 season in 2007-08, with their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2004. The men’s basketball team was enjoying a seven-game winning streak at presstime, its longest under head coach Jeff Lebo and the most since the opening of the 2003-04 season. For up-to-date stats please see www. auburntigers.com.
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For Liz Crandall ’00 and her flock at Auburn’s Southeastern Raptor Center, love sometimes means having to say goodbye. b y t a y l o r d u n g j e n with bird portraits by randal ford
Love at First Flight Thirteen-year-old bald eagle Spirit is a popular resident of Auburn’s Southeastern Raptor Center. The federal government removed the bald eagle from its endangered species list in 2007.
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JEFF ETHERID GE
Night rain cools the oppressive air as Liz Crandall and her colleagues climb stiffly from the white van that just carried them six hours from Auburn to southeast Georgia. The group circles the vehicle like security guards. Southeastern Raptor Center director Jamie Bellah breaks away and heads into a nearby motel off Interstate 95 in Pooler. “Is there a side entrance?” Bellah asks the desk clerk as he books two rooms. She nods and points down the hall. Moments later, two women from the van balance a large sheet-covered object between them. Checking the hallway to make sure no one watches, they scoot through the door. Crandall, arms crossed, watches calmly. “I hope he doesn’t cry,” she says. Crandall is worried about the bald eagle under the white sheet that she, Bellah and a team of volunteers are smuggling into the motel. It’s the only way to keep the bird safe for tomorrow’s reunion with the mate who has waited for him since he disappeared from Georgia’s coastal marshes last February. That’s when he arrived, broken and bruised, at Auburn University’s raptor rehabilitation center, administered by the College of Veterinary Medicine. Raptors are Liz Crandall’s passion. For the last three-and-ahalf years she has run the center’s day-to-day operations, making life-or-death decisions for dozens of birds—birds that slammed into buildings, birds hit by cars, birds shot by lawbreakers, birds with feathers cut off by cruel captors, birds sick with undiagnosed infections and birds that can barely live as birds because they were raised by humans. Her feathered patients are often half as tall as a man, with wingspans as wide as an NBA player’s height. Her patient today, the male eagle she’s helping sneak into the hotel, isn’t the biggest bird she’s cared for— female eagles are bigger—but he is impressive. At nearly eight pounds, he’s a pound heavier than usual. “I hope he can get off the ground,” Crandall says. The individual lives of birds engage Crandall as she moves through any particular day, tending some 80 hawks, owls, kestrels and even turkey buzzards in addition to juggling the schedules of 50 volunteers. Rehab workers aren’t supposed to get attached to their patients. To that end, they don’t name the birds they hope to return to the wild, instead assigning them numbers: The male bedding down in the Georgia motel room
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with forest green carpet is No. 08-030, meaning he was the 30th bird treated at the rehab center last year. No. 08-030 arrived at the raptor center six months ago with a fractured ulna, injured feet and an uncertain future. An eagle’s wing is analogous to the human arm. From its shoulder to midway down the wing is the humerus. From the elbow, where the humerus ends, are two bones, the radius and the ulna. In eagles, the ulna is the larger of the two. Once broken, the bird is doomed—it can no longer fly. Over the months of 08-030’s treatment, the staff came to believe he’d been hit by a car: The foot injuries, which damaged the hallux—the opposing toe that allows birds to grasp for perching—were the avian equivalent of road rash. The eagle’s wing required a splint, and the bird endured daily physical therapy, with Crandall or a volunteer flexing and extending his legs and repeatedly extending his wings. He didn’t like it. “He resented our handling him, which is good,” says veterinarian Elizabeth Rush ’95. “The more defensive and aggressive they are, the better they do when they’re released.”
I
nside the raptor hospital a feisty barred owl demonstrates how to succeed under treatment. Volunteer Stephanie Stillwell ’06 grips the struggling raptor securely to her chest as he tries to avoid the eye drops Crandall administers. The bird, who originally presented with cataracts in each eye, has a new lens in one and is scheduled for a second lens transplant. A broad-winged hawk gulps food greedily, less concerned with his captors than with his food. Crandall offers him seconds; other raptors have to be force-fed, fighting desperately the very thing that will save their lives. Then there’s Foghorn, the red-tailed hawk raised by humans. He’s the exception to the number-naming rule. He can never return to the wild, so he plays the role of hospital mascot, playing with his tiny toy mouse, offering occasional squawks, giving gentle bites, and stealing pens and eyeglasses. Crandall pets and talks to him the way people talk to their dogs. When another redtail eats dinner, Foggy screeches like a dog begging at the table. As a girl in Georgia, Crandall, 35, didn’t grow up expecting to rescue animals for a living. But at age 21, she found four baby squirrels fallen from their nest in her parents’ front yard. “I treated them, fed them. I was enamored by the little creatures and just wanted to take care of them.” Three of the four lived, and Crandall went on to earn a bachelor’s degree at Auburn, dreaming of someday working with wild bears or wolves. At first she Left: The raptor thought of the raptor center job as a center’s Liz Crandall Foggy). way-station, but the birds won her over. (with Opposite: The tiny A vacation trip to Idaho last summer to screech owl, which work with wildlife showed her there was measures from 6 to 10 inches, is typino turning back. cally monogamous “I went and worked on a bear proj- and mates for life. ect, and you know, the coolest thing to me was seeing the eagles flying around,” she recalls. Even on her days off, Crandall spends time searching for bats in Chewacla State Park or banding songbirds near Midway. “She has an enthusiasm for what she does, and it is contagious,” says her boss, Jamie Bellah. “When you have the
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hroughout last spring and into the summer, No. 08-030 lived alone in a giant aviary, getting in shape for his return to the wild. A few weeks into his stay, Crandall is in the rehab center’s hospital when volunteer Kathy Gerken pulls her aside, whispering. Crandall nods twice, strands of purple-streaked hair bobbing, and the pair strides from the air-conditioned hospital into the blast-furnace morning, quickly covering the distance to an aviary the size of an elongated one-car garage. As they draw nearer, dull thudding sounds grow louder. Gerken and Crandall pull on long leather work gloves and enter the aviary. The number of sickening thuds increase as a female bald eagle throws herself against one wall, then another. The eagle is 08-100, and she is freaking out. The young bird had arrived at the center more than a month before, weak and emaciated after someone found her near a dumpster. Although vets couldn’t diagnose an illness, No. 08100 would neither eat nor drink. Staff members force-fed her with a rubber tube at first, but within weeks she was “eating aggressively,” Crandall says. Soon she was moved from a cage to an aviary, where she could stretch her wings and rebuild muscle mass. Crandall figures the bird’s natural fear of humans may have led to the panic attack. She and Gerken calmly close in on the frenzied bird. After a series of heart-sinking thuds followed by the muffled beat of
JEF F ET H ERI DG E
gift of enthusiasm, people around you catch on. To me that is what is so enjoyable about Liz. It’s pretty obvious she loves what she does.” When a raptor arrives at Auburn’s rehabilitation center, it needs that kind of commitment. In addition to battling injuries, the stress of captivity can kill them. And No. 08-030 was under a lot of stress before he even got here. Dale and Donna Hardie, whose backyard opens onto the watery sweep of Savannah’s coastal marsh, enjoy observing the eagles that hunt there. One morning in February, Dale was sipping coffee on the back porch when he noOpposite: Although ticed a bald eagle perched on a low branch barn owls have very good vision, they rely mainly in the yard, seemingly begging to be phoon their sense of tographed. But when he approached with hearing when hunting for food at night. The disk a camera, the eagle started, jumped to the created by the bird’s face ground and held its right wing close to feathers actually works its body: Something was wrong with this to trap sound. Right: An aviary provides a safe bird. Dale called the Georgia Department environment for recuperof Natural Resources, and the eagle ran ating raptors. from the wildlife officer, wobbling like a toddler. Dale himself finally captured the bird with a shrimp net. “Get a blanket,” he shouted to his wife. “Donna ran into the house and grabbed some designer Christian Dior king-sized blanket,” Dale says. “It was the most expensive one in the house.” The DNR official took the luxuriously swaddled eagle to a local animal hospital. From there, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service summoned Crandall to bring the bird to Auburn. The Hardies never saw the blanket again. For No. 08-030, it’s been a long, strange trip.
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wings, Gerken finally grabs the eagle. The two women lay the bird on its back. The bird resists for only a moment, sensing, perhaps, there is nothing more she can do. They rush the patient across the dry grass to the hospital, where Liz looks it over. Majestic and frightened, No. 08-100 opens her mouth wide and sticks her tongue out as though gasping for breath, a sign of stress. Crandall cleans the bird’s wounds with saline solution and carefully cuts away scabbed tissue and bloody feathers. The bird’s chest rises and falls rapidly, her startled brown eyes darting around the room. But she doesn’t seem to take anything in, including a tray of dead white mice nearby. (Later, using special scissors, Crandall will cut the mice in thirds, distributing them into piles on a cutting board. Each mouse body is a method of raptor medicine delivery, injected with a drug needed by one ailing bird or another.) With No. 08-100’s wounds treated, Crandall decides against putting her back into the aviary where she battered herself so cruelly. Instead, she and her co-workers will do something they’ve never tried: putting two eagles in the same aviary. The jumpy female will share a larger aviary with a bald eagle male— No. 08-030—in hopes his companionship will calm her. For these birds, stress is the fiercest enemy. When an injured bird first arrives at the center, it may be allowed to acclimate to being out of its natural environment before more extensive testing and treatment begins. “You can actually kill birds by over-stressing them,” Crandall says. “The more we handle the birds, the more likely when they’re stressed they’ll die. I’ve seen it happen.” Crandall sees things from the birds’ perspective. Being stuck in rehab “is probably equivalent to being kidnapped by aliens,” she says. Meanwhile, No. 08-030 is cautious about humans entering his domain, even after nearly half a year at the center. He flies to the back of the wood-sided enclosure, as far away as he can get. Gerken releases the female, who flies to the far wall and thuds against it. But the bird’s panic seems to subside quickly, and she settles down about two yards from the male. She sneaks a look at her new companion while he watches the humans. Then it’s her turn to study the humans while he glances her way. Introductions complete, Gerken parks herself outside the aviary, leather gloves at her side in case the eagles fight. All through the hot day, someone will watch them, looking for signs of trouble.
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ust beyond 08-100’s new home are smaller, hexagonal aviaries. These serve as a sort of holding unit for severely injured birds that are on the mend but not quite ready for a flight aviary. Four pint-size barn owls, looking like cuddly stuffed toys with their white disk-shaped faces, occupy one hexagon. The orphaned owls, initially emaciated, are improving, gaining weight, and will soon return to the wild. On a late July morning, Crandall is in the hospital watching senior vet school students force-feed several birds. Staffer Tyler Eads approaches, and as they talk, Crandall looks grim. She follows Eads to the hexagonal aviaries. Loose feathers litter the ground. Three barn owls huddle together on a high plank. Beneath them is the body of the fourth owl, its midsection torn away. Sometime in the night a wild animal reached through the slat construction of the aviary and grabbed the bird from behind. “It’s very upsetting, especially when they’re releasable,” Crandall says. She looks like she might cry, but instead moves quickly to her duties. “We put so much work into them.” She puts the disfigured carcass into a garbage bag; the body will be frozen and later incinerated. There is not much anyone can do with a bird as badly mauled as this one. But often even dead birds serve a purpose. When an animal is euthanized, the body is preserved, gutted, and used as a feeding puppet: A volunteer, with a hand inside the puppet, places food in the puppet’s mouth. Then the puppet feeds young birds, preventing them from imprinting on their human caretakers. An imprinted bird can never return to the wild, and some of the center’s permanent residents—including the majestic eagles Spirit and Nova who soar before the Auburn Tigers football games—are imprinted birds assumed to be abandoned in the wild and picked up by well-meaning people. After three weeks of hand-feeding, a young bird can’t distinguish between its own species and humans. Such a bird will not know how to mate or hunt and may approach humans, putting itself in further danger. In a large flight aviary where a dozen or more hawks await release, Crandall picks up a long flight feather. Later, this feather
may help another bird return to the wild quickly. When injured birds lose feathers, a little epoxy and a toothpick inserted in the feather’s hollow shaft provides a reliable transplant in a process called imping. Without imping, birds with lost feathers would have to remain in captivity until their annual molt. Despite the size and ferocity of these birds, the wild raptors present little danger to their caretakers. It’s a different story with most of the center’s permanent raptor residents. Those have no fear of humans and can be dangerous. A great horned owl once attacked Crandall, puncturing her eye—an injury she dismisses as insignificant. But her cool vanishes, her colleagues attest, in the presence of a bird parasite known as a ked. “Keds are very quick, and when they land on you, they automatically look for a place to go and hide, like up a shirt sleeve or in your hair,” Bellah says. Although virtually harmless to humans, keds give Crandall the creeps. “I have definitely seen some interesting dances and heard some interesting vocalizations from Liz when the keds start flying around,” Bellah says.
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t’s a bright august morning in Savannah, and a large crowd gathers in the Hardies’ backyard awaiting the release of No. 08-030. Some spectators are drawn by large signs around town advertising the event; others come from a garage sale two doors down to see what all the commotion is about. Reporters with cameras, voice recorders and notepads are everywhere, talking to anyone who knows anything. An hour passes, and the raptor center crew is still fielding questions from local media. Finally, Crandall breaks free. She thanks the crowd for coming, acknowledges everyone’s work, and explains that No. 08-030 is returning to this spot because, somewhere, his mate waits. In the hands of center volunteer Ralph Wood ’08, No. 08-030 looks around. He’s calm while Wood poses for photos, and the spectators transform into paparazzi. After too many camera flashes to count, the bird Left: Raptors in grows nervous. It’s time to let him go. rehab often need help staying on their The crowd stills; the air is quiet. Wood diet of white mice. looks to Crandall, and with a nod, she Opposite: Peregrine hone in on signals it’s time. With a deep sigh, Wood falcons prey from above, then tosses the big bird into the air, and with dive in for the kill at a few powerful wing beats, the eagle speeds topping 200 lifts high over the marshland. For the miles per hour. first time since February, No. 08-030 is free. He soars over the marsh and circles back above the crowd. Whispers rise from spectators. Will he find his mate? The male eagle takes his time. He perches on a branch of a live oak a hundred feet above the crowd, his back to the humans, observing everything the land has to offer. The Hardies last saw his mate some three weeks ago. No one knows whether she’s still near. After 10 minutes, No. 08-030 turns back to the crowd, stares for a moment and flies away. “He has it made here,” Crandall says, watching No. 08-030 soar into blue sky. A cool breeze blows from the marsh. “He’ll be happy here. He’ll be really happy.” Reprinted with permission from Lee Magazine.
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Auburn University prides itself on preparing students to thrive in a practical world. So why are philosophy department chair Kelly Jolley and his team of sages getting
so much attention? by jonathan mahler
The Thinker With its roots in agricultural education and its rural Alabama location, Auburn’s original land-grant mission—geared toward helping the working class obtain practical college educations— continues largely unfettered to this day. Among its 21,000 undergraduates, business and engineering are the most popular majors, and when students choose courses of study in the liberal arts, they tend to be those with obvious career paths—communication/journalism, criminology, psychology, pre-law. So it came as something of a surprise when, in the late ’90s, Auburn’s College of Liberal Arts undertook an internal ranking of its dozen academic departments and philosophy came out on top. The administration figured there must have been a problem with the criteria it used, and a new formula was drawn up. Once again, philosophy came in first. This time, the administration decided to give up on the rankings altogether. “As I often put it to the dean, you’ve got a philosophy department that you have no right to have,” says department chair Kelly Jolley. “It’s just way, way out of step with what you would expect to find at a place like Auburn.” Jolley is almost single-handedly responsible for this state of affairs. When he first arrived at Auburn as a young professor 17 years ago, there were only a handful of philosophy majors, and there wasn’t much interest inside the department or among the administration in adding more. Today, there are about 50 philosophy majors at Auburn. If recent history is any guide, some will even pursue Ph.D.s in philosophy at highly competitive graduate schools and go on to become professional philosophers. “I don’t know of a comparable department at a comparable school,” says James Conant, a philosophy professor at the University of Chicago, where two of Jolley’s former students are now studying.
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY J E S S I C A N E L S O N
Kelly Jolley’s book, The Concept “Horse” Paradox and Wittgensteinian Conceptual Investigations, was published in October. For more deep thinking, the philosophy department’s Web site boasts Immanuel Kant’s The Transcendental Deduction set to music: www. auburn.edu/academic/ liberal_arts/philosophy.
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At 42, Jolley is a bear of a man with a prematurely white beard and blue eyes. He walks with an unsteady gait, the product of a pair of bad knees from his days as a high-school football lineman. You might imagine philosophers as inaccessible and withdrawn, endlessly absorbed in esoteric thoughts. Jolley couldn’t be further from the stereotype. He’s cheerful and engaged, an enthusiast about everything from college football, which he follows rabidly, even by Southern standards, to pit bulls (he owns two, Ahab and Sadie). This is not to say that Jolley isn’t, above all, a philosopher. It’s just that he sees philosophy less as a profession than as a way of looking at, of being in, the world. “I am convinced that philosophy is not just about theory,” he says. “It’s about a life well-lived and thoughts truly thought.”
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hen i visit jolley, the Auburn campus is cleared out for the summer, but he is teaching a summer class, “Introduction to Logic.” He is also running two unofficial notfor-credit study groups, one on an early Greek theologian named Gregory of Nyssa and another on the 20th-century philosopher Bertrand Russell, which meets in the philosophy department’s cramped lounge, known as the Lyceum, after Aristotle’s original school of philosophy in Athens. Jolley has been running discussion groups like these since he first came to Auburn. They are emblematic of his teaching style, which, if working properly, quickly migrates out of the classroom and into more informal settings such as the local Lyceum, a coffee shop or the rambling grounds of a Civil War-era mansion where he likes to go for walks with students. Being a philosopher requires you to engage in the practice of relentless inquiry about everything, so it’s not surprising that Jolley has spent untold hours puzzling over how best to teach the discipline itself. What he’s decided is that philosophy can’t be taught—or learned—like other academic subjects. To begin with, it takes longer.
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“Plato said that you become a philosopher by spending ‘much time’ in sympathy with other philosophers,” he says. “Much time. I take that very seriously.” We’re sitting in his office, which is dark with academic books and journals; a large paperweight reading “Think” sits amid the clutter on his desk. “Plato,” he adds, “talked about it as a process of ‘sparking forth,’ that as you spend more time with other philosophers, you eventually catch the flame. That’s how I think about teaching philosophy.” Jolley describes his relationships with students as having a master-apprentice quality. His goal, as he sees it, isn’t to teach students about philosophy; it is to show them what it means to think philosophically, to actually be a philosopher. When the approach works, the effect can be significant. Several years ago, a student named Zack Loveless wandered into one of Jolley’s classes and very nearly dropped it after the first day. “I was expecting a survey course, and in walks this big scary guy, using words I’d never heard before, talking about Hume as background for Kant, telling us how hard the class was going to be,” Loveless says. Loveless, who grew up in a working-class home in a small Alabama town, stuck with the course and soon switched his major from psychology to philosophy. He took at least one class with Jolley for each of his remaining semesters at Auburn, worked on several independent projects with him and is now getting a Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Chicago. He describes Jolley as more of a collaborator than a professor; rather than answer his questions, Loveless says, Jolley tried to work through philosophical problems with him. Jolley is always on the lookout for students with a philosophical bent, and has urged his colleagues to recruit aggressively as well. Senior Benjamin Pierce’s gift for reasoning was identified by a faculty member a couple of years ago in an entrylevel logic class. “If A is greater than B, and B is greater than C, then A is greater than C,” the professor said, introducing the so-called transitive relation. “Not in rock, paper, scissors,” Pierce volunteered. Pierce is now majoring in philosophy and is one of the department’s top prospects for graduate school. “We have high hopes for him,” Jolley says with the pride of a football coach talking up a strong tackler with great open-field speed. “I would bet that he ends up in a Top 10 graduate program.”
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olley grew up in Gallipolis, Ohio, a small town in the Appalachian Mountains. He first felt the tug of the philosophical life during his freshman year in high school, when a teacher gave him a copy of Plato’s dialogues. An intellectually unfocused but precocious student, Jolley instantly took to the challenge of wrestling with such a difficult text. “Until then, I’d been clever enough to do whatever I wanted to do, to read with one eye,” he told me. “Then all of a sudden I ran into philosophy, and it was like running into a brick wall.” But it was the substance of Plato’s meditations—the radical nature of the philosopher’s quest for self-knowledge—that really grabbed hold. This was partly a function of Jolley’s religious upbringing. His parents attended a Church of Christ
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three times a week. Listening to those sermons about heaven and hell turned Jolley inward, made him wonder about what kind of person he was. But the church, he felt, hadn’t given him the tools he needed to grapple with that question. Philosophy did. “I’ve never been able to shake the feeling that the old Delphic instruction, know thyself, applied to me,” he says. At the end of Jolley’s junior year in high school, the College of Wooster offered him a four-year academic scholarship. He skipped his senior year and went straight to college, declaring his intention to major in philosophy on the first day of class. Jolley went on to get his Ph.D. at the University of Rochester and was still finishing his dissertation on Plotinus, the founder of neo-Platonism, when he and his wife packed up their apartment and drove to Auburn in the summer of 1991 with their 15-month-old son. Jolley’s early efforts to change the culture of the philosophy department at Auburn met with resistance from administrators, he remembers. Among other things, they rejected his requests for money for more upper-level philosophy classes. Determined to build up the major, Jolley simply taught the courses himself— free of charge. Many of his colleagues were similarly skeptical of what he was trying to do. Several urged him to “tone it down,” he recalls, when they noticed the intimidating syllabus for his first class, the history of ancient philosophy, taped to his office door. They advised Jolley against wasting his time trying to start a philosophy club at Auburn—the club now has about 30 members—and called his approach to teaching “aristocratic.” In particular, they objected to the fact that he was grading students not on how well they learned the discipline’s terminology and definitions but on their ability to think philosophically. Jolley gradually built allies within the department while simultaneously looking to bring in like-minded professors. He didn’t expect Auburn to be able to land top candidates, but he was convinced that a lot of talented young philosophers were slipping through the cracks, often because they had the misfortune of specializing in an especially popular area, or because they had been stigmatized for taking too long to finish their degrees. (One of Jolley’s recent hires, Arata Hamawaki, spent 18 years finishing his Ph.D. at Harvard.) Auburn’s philosophy department is now dominated by graduates of some of the nation’s top philosophy programs. By any measure, Jolley has accomplished a great deal. But in the service of what, exactly? During my stay at Auburn—and in e-mail exchanges afterward—Jolley and I returned again and again to that very question. Why does philosophy matter? Jolley could never seem to come up with a clear, settled explanation, and since clarity is a philosophical virtue, on one level this obviously bothered him. Yet his failure to give a simple answer was, in a way, the best answer he could give. Philosophy is so much a part of how Jolley thinks, talks and writes that his attempts at an answer were themselves invariably philosophical, which is to say, aimed as much at exploring the assumptions behind the question as at answering it. “One reason it can seem so hard to see how philosophy relates to life is that we have often already decided that philosophy is thinking, not living,” he once wrote. Explaining why philosophy matters, in other words, requires doing philosophy—the very thing the questioner wants explained.
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You have a philosophy department that you have no right to have. It’s just way, way out of step with what you would expect to find at a place like Auburn.
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ll auburn students are required to take at least one entry-level philosophy course such as “Introduction to Logic” or “Introduction to Ethics,” classes traditionally designed to ease students into a particular subject. Jolley eschews this approach. “Core” courses, he argues, should aspire to do more than merely give students a taste of an academic discipline. “Look, if the core is really going to matter for a student’s education, they need genuine exposure to that discipline,” he says. “You’re not giving them ‘the core’ if what you’re giving them is some sugarcoated simulacrum of philosophy that you’ve decided they can swallow.” Jolley’s classes are famously demanding. Instead of assigning relatively accessible books on philosophers, he loads his syllabi with primary texts and asks students to record in a notebook their thoughts on what they’re reading. “For the student merely interested in getting a degree, Kelly has nothing to offer,” says fellow philosophy professor Michael Watkins. “But for those who are interested in more, Kelly provides an example of what it means to be educated, to take one’s education seriously.” Jolley’s logic class meets at 9:45 a.m. in the Haley Center. He’s assigned a short essay by Lewis Carroll, “What the Tortoise Said to Achilles,” an imagined dialogue in which the Tortoise flummoxes Achilles by repeatedly refusing to accept what at first appears to be an easily justified deductive argument. Looking a lot like a forest ranger in his army-green shirt, khaki pants and heavy brown boots, Jolley recaps the essay and runs through several opposing interpretations. At every turn, he’s greeted with an uncomfortable silence. “Not a very talkative group,” Jolley observes after the procession of flip-flops, orange Auburn T-shirts and backward baseball caps files out of the room. “I can usually tell if students
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Auburn’s philosophy program includes course offerings in epistemology, metaphysics, pragmatism, aesthetics, logic, ethics, existentialism and religion. Department chair Kelly Jolley specializes in the theory of judgment, metaphilosophy and philosophical psychology.
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are getting it from the looks on their faces, but some of these kids were positively Sphinx-like.” For all his success in creating a thriving philosophy program at Auburn, the core classes still represent the bulk of the teaching load and the biggest challenge to the department’s professors. “There’s a battle at the core level here to convince students there’s even a possibility that philosophy might have something interesting to offer them,” says philosophy professor Guy Rohrbaugh. It seems fair to wonder whether Jolley’s approach is the best way to win that battle. It’s been years since he has taught, say, a student on a football scholarship, and the size of his classes tends to shrink substantially after the first meeting. Jolley’s goal, as he describes it, is to produce students who are “capable of genuine creative philosophical thought.” That’s a high bar to set for students in an entry-level logic class. After class, Jolley and I walk across campus and into town for lunch. Over pizza and iced tea, I ask him if he ever wonders if his style of teaching might be inappropriate for a large public university like Auburn—whether the cost of his approach is that he teaches to the few rather than the many. “My view is that you really fall into a trap when you start allowing what you believe about your students to dictate how you teach your discipline,” he answers. “Too often these days we end up setting up our courses in light of what we believe about our students, and we end up not teaching them. At best, we end up housebreaking them.”
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n a sense, what Jolley is engaged in at Auburn is nothing less than a defense of a liberal-arts education. As he points out, the opening stanza of Auburn’s beloved creed—“I believe that this is a practical world and that I can count only on what I earn”—conveys a certain kind of hostility to the world of ideas in which philosophy and the other humanities reside. “The creed is a fine document in many ways,” he says, “but it reinforces a certain picture of what you’re here for, and it can be very hard to break the grip of that with students.” In Jolley’s ideal world, every student would catch the philosophy flame, but he knows that will never happen. He says philosophy requires a certain rare and innate ability to observe your own mind in the act of thinking. In this respect, Jolley recognizes that his detractors have a point when they criticize his approach to teaching. “It’s aristocratic in the sense that any selection based on talent is aristocratic,” he says. “I know it offends everyone’s sense of democracy, this idea that everyone’s equal, but we all know that’s just not true.” Perhaps the dispute between Jolley and his critics boils down to how you define great teachers. You typically think about them as being devoted, above all, to their students. Jolley says his first priority is to philosophy itself. “I care about the discipline of philosophy more than the academic fate of any individual student—and I think I should,” he says. “Otherwise I’m just a babysitter who occasionally breaks into syllogism.” Reprinted with permission from The New York Times. Jonathan Mahler’s most recent book is The Challenge: Hamden v. Rumsfeld and the Fight Over Presidential Power.
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Conditions that had been building for years finally coalesced to send a financial tsunami over the U.S. economy. Listen in as a quintet of Auburn University experts provide an economic weather report—and the hint of a rainbow in the long-term forecast.
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Perfect Storm
THE FACULTY The five professors contributing to Auburn Magazine’s panel discussion on the state of the national economy teach in Auburn’s College of Business. The college was cited last year as one of the “Best Business Schools” in the nation, according to The Princeton Review.
John Jahera
Dan Gropper
Jimmy E. Hilliard
Beverly Marshall
Keven Yost
Colonial Bank Distinguished Professor of Finance; chair, Department of Finance
Associate dean, MBA programs; David and Meredith Luck Professor of Economics
Harbert Eminent Scholar; professor of finance
Associate professor of finance
Assistant professor of finance EXPERTISE Bankruptcy, financial distress
EXPERTISE Corporate governance, banking
EXPERTISE Financial markets and the economy
EXPERTISE Corporate and international finance, corporate governance
Storm clouds gather How did we get here? DG Several years ago, the Federal Reserve aggressively pushed interest rates down and touched off a real spike in housing prices. At the same time, there was also political pressure to change the criteria for mortgage lending. So ‘how we got here’ was political pressure, cheap money, rising housing prices and people qualifying for mortgages who, in retrospect, really shouldn’t have.
I L LU S TRATION BY BRIAN STAUFFER
EXPERTISE Risk management, investments, international markets
JJ The political pressure created a big move to increase home ownership. Home ownership is a thing to be desired, of course, but not everyone can afford it. But the incentives were there to continue making mortgages for less-creditworthy individuals. To enable them to get into homes, we saw a gigantic increase in adjustable-rate mortgages. A lot of people were stretched to the limit at the time they got their loans, and then two or three years down the road when the rate adjusted upward and their payments
went up $300 or $400 a month, they found themselves unable to make their payments and defaulted. JH There’s another factor, too, and that’s rising energy prices. When you go to fill up your tank with gas and it costs you $60 instead of $20, it puts a lot of pressure on your income. If you were already on the margin, that was enough to tip it the wrong way. Rising energy prices made the problem worse than it would have been otherwise.
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Thunder rolls Now we’re officially in a recession. Will we go into a depression? DG The difference between a recession and a depression is really one of degree. I don’t think that we’re going to see anything like the Great Depression of the 1930s, where a third of our workforce was unemployed, but our economy has been so good for so long that people become alarmed when they start seeing unemployment going up and the economy slowing down the way it has this year. KY There also are different degrees of recession. We’ve had some economic downturns in the past that were shorter in duration and not quite as painful as the one we’re in now. JH The danger this time is that we may have too much intervention. We may do some things that are hard to undo. In the past, we’ve had a lot of recessions, and they’ve been short except for one, which we called the Great Depression. And that is the one where we had the most government interference in the private economy. Many of us worry quite a lot about the intervention into the private economy because it really results in a misallocation of capital. JJ I think this situation is a little different from past recessions in the extent to which it has spread around the world. We’ve had financial crises that have affected regions, but to see something zoom around the world and affect so many countries and so many economies so quickly, I think, really surprised a lot of people. Of course it also speaks to how interconnected we all are. BM It also shows how much our economies are going in sync. We’re supposed to have some diversification from being invested globally, but we also share the risk—and the downside of sharing all that risk is that everybody gets pulled down.
The maelstrom Bailouts or bankruptcy? DG Earlier this year, we saw the federal government make some choices about who they were going to rescue and who they were going to let go down. That caused tremendous uncertainty in the financial markets, because if the government isn’t going to rescue anybody, then companies know they have to deal with their own problems. If the government
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is going to rescue everybody, companies know they have a way out. When the Federal Reserve stood by and let some institutions go down and then stepped in to help others, it created a huge amount of uncertainty. Now we’re seeing the federal government jump in and start programs that are going to be with us for a long, long time. Unfortunately, relatively few of our elected officials are standing back and asking if we should really be spending our money this way. Should we really be getting involved in the automotive industry? And if we’re going to step in there, what about all the rest? Why not retail? Why not tourism? Why not other types of industries? And who really thinks the federal government is somehow going to be able to straighten out any particular industry?
We need to provide stimulus to the economy, but we need to make sure we are not setting a slippery slope for the future that taxpayers are going to have to handle.
JJ We’ve seen the hearings on the auto industry talking about all the conditions and terms. But a lot of people are skeptical when they look at the performance of Congress itself in the last few years. Can they really run the auto industry? And do we want our political
leaders running an industry? That’s not what they’re elected to do. JH The argument those in favor of bailouts use is that we’re about to fall off the cliff—if General Motors goes down, can you imagine all the unemployment? How will we ever recover? They say we should just get through this period and then we’ll go back to our free-market principles and things will be fine. What they overlook is the issue of “moral hazard,” which says that you’ll never get back to the same place. If the government says a company is too big to fail, that company will eventually take on too many projects and be right back where they started, only the next bailout will be for more money. KY People also have a tendency to hear the word bankruptcy and think it means a business is going to shut its doors. Really, bankruptcy is just a legal process for resolving financial distress. It allows the firm a crack at coming up with a reorganization plan that then has to be approved by all of the parties that are owed money. So if an automotive company were to declare bankruptcy, it doesn’t mean the company would disappear; it just means it would restructure its debt, perhaps, and then there may be some other downsizing. JH But it does give them leverage for renegotiating union contracts. KY The indirect costs of bankruptcy are real. A bankrupt company will probably downsize. And sales will suffer—people may not want to buy a car from a company they don’t think is going to be around. But bankruptcy doesn’t mean they’re going to liquidate and go out of business.
Slow-moving front What are the lessons we should be learning from this economy? KY We forget about the downside of investments sometimes. The economy was strong, investments were doing well, and some people were buying houses bigger than they could afford and others were investing in risky things because everything was working out and they were being rewarded for taking that risk. But “risk” means that it’s not always going to work out, and I think people are now getting a taste of that. It’s hard, but you expect something good will come out of it. Maybe people will start to realize they need to budget more cautiously. They need to evaluate risk better than they
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have, making sure their investments are diversified and making sure their housing isn’t comprising too much of their investment. People are reassessing, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. That’s a very hard reality but, overall, at a macro level, it’s not bad for the country to get a dose of what risk really is. DG What’s happened in the last few months is the loss of a couple of trillion dollars of American wealth, and this comes from two primary areas: the wealth that individuals had in the stock market, much of it in retirement accounts, and the equity they had in their homes. They still owe on their mortgage but now their equity has gone down, so that’s a big chunk of what they thought of as their savings. And in many cases their retirement accounts are their stock portfolios. If I used to have $300,000 in my retirement account and now I have $150,000, I’m going to figure I’ll have to work a few years longer or be retiring less lavishly. People are trying to adjust to this loss and change their spending habits to account for it.
Isolated hail Has so-called “corporate greed” played a role in creating this recession, or is it just a sexy topic for the media? JJ People get outraged when they’re struggling and they see a CEO making $8 or $10 million a year. But the CEO is the face of the company. The highest-paid employee at Auburn at any given point in time is probably our football coach, and in terms of the market, (his salary) is reasonable. When the day comes that 87,000 people will come and pay $60 a ticket to watch me give a financial lecture, then I want to get paid what our football coach gets paid. You have to look at what they bring to the table. It’s the CEO’s job to make money for their company. DG But it does touch a nerve when you see these guys go asking for taxpayer money at the same time they’re getting multimillion-dollar salaries. And people wonder why they’re asking for a bailout to handle a situation they’ve gotten themselves into.
A break in the clouds Are there any signs that the financial crisis is turning around? JH There are some positive things happening. If you look at the price of gas-
oline today, dropping from $4 to about $1.50 a gallon, we can figure that consumers will save $250 billion a year just on gasoline—plus more on utility bills. That’s a market stimulus. We could see $500 billion savings from the cost of gasoline and crude oil if it stays at this level. DG And it’s a faster and more certain stimulus than waiting for our politicians to pass a tax cut. The only downside is that the reason gasoline prices are falling so much is there’s a decline in the world demand for oil, and that decline is occurring because this is, in fact, looking like a global recession. JJ Having the election over will help. A lot of the pundits felt that (U.S. president Barack) Obama clearly was favored, but until the election was over that threw in another element of uncertainty. Whether you like him or not, at least you know who it’s going to be now.
Stormchaser So, realistically, what can Barack Obama do to right the ship? JH Given the economy, he’d better talk about reducing everybody’s taxes. That’s the stimulus program everybody needs right now. JJ Including corporate taxes. We have the second-highest corporate tax rate of all industrial countries in the world. And again, people always say, “let’s tax that big company,” but companies don’t pay taxes—people pay taxes. Whatever (corporations) pay, the cost will ultimately be passed on to the consumers who buy their products or services. BM Or if they have to cut costs in other ways it could mean jobs. So if we raise corporate taxes, eventually we pay the bill. DG Class envy has won elections many, many times in this country. But Obama needs to remember the lessons of the Great Depression. (Herbert) Hoover helped turn a recession into a depression by increasing taxes to try and balance the budget, and by erecting trade barriers. But I think Obama is smart enough, and is surrounded by smart-enough advisers, to learn those lessons and not repeat that. BM I’m pleased with the people he’s surrounded himself with. He has made choices that bring experience to the table. But I’m still very concerned about the levels of intervention that could take place. We need to provide stimulus to the economy, but we need to make sure we are not
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setting a slippery slope for the future that taxpayers are going to have to handle. We hear a lot about the automakers and their retirement and medical benefits, but the fact is that half of Americans do not have pension plans, very few of them are saving at the rate they need to for retirement, and many do not have medical insurance. We’ve got some other bills coming due down the road that are going to need to be addressed once we get past this recession.
The forecast How long will the storm last? JJ I’ve heard anywhere from two years to five years or longer, but of course no one knows. I don’t know that anyone expects it to last as long as the Great Depression, when it took 25 years for the stock market to recover—we have a lot of safeguards built in that we didn’t have in that time period. JH “Main Street” will get worse for a while; the financial markets will turn around first because they’re based on future cash flows. But we don’t want to be like Japan. Japan has been in a recession since the mid-’80s, and we gave them a lot of grief because they kept firms alive that should have been gone. There’s some evidence in the United States that we have some zombies we’re keeping alive, and I’d hate for us to go down the same path Japan did. If we don’t do all the same things and intervene too much, I don’t think the recession will last longer than a year or a year and a half. DG The seeds of recovery are already being planted, so hopefully by the end of 2009 we’ll be back on the growth path. Some of the adjustments are already starting to bring about changes. Houses are being repriced, the stock market seems to have found the bottom, we’ve eliminated the uncertainty over the election, and we’re seeing an unprecedented amount of cooperation between different countries to try and fix things. JJ Generally speaking, recessions are bad but there is some advantage. Companies will fail, and we’re seeing that now, but in the whole scheme of things sometimes it’s good to purge the financial system of companies that are weak and inefficient. Data shows that as you come out of a recession you have more new businesses starting. A recession gives you a chance to purge weak, inefficient companies and start over. It’s call creative destruction.
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ALUMNI CENTER
Calendar
Ringing in the new
March 6–15
NANCY YOUNG FORTNER ’71 President, Auburn Alumni Association
There’s nothing like a trip to Auburn to remind me what a special place Auburn University is. When I turn off U.S. 280 or Interstate 85 traveling from Huntsville to Auburn, my I.D. changes—I feel like I’m home again. And I am. At the Dec. 19 commencement ceremony, I brought greetings from your Auburn Alumni Association to 1,400 new graduates as they joined the 200,000-plus men and women who are living Auburn alumni. It was with pride that I shared their day of personal and family achievement. My graduation visit reminded me that the more some things change, the more they remain and endure at Auburn: • a drive through my childhood neighborhood on Forestdale Drive to view the annual holiday decorations that have been the same for the past 50 years; • visits to Auburn bookstores and shops to purchase holiday gifts; • talking with graduating students’ families and remembering my feelings of excitement when our son became a fourth-generation Auburn alumnus; • the majesty of Samford Hall as a backdrop for new-graduate photographs at Auburn’s marble entrance sign; • and voices in unison singing our alma mater at the close of the graduation ceremony. In our family circle of loyal Auburn alumni, we want future students and alumni to have the same experience and education. Results from the association’s 2008 Alumni Attitude Study revealed that 98 percent of alumni from all generations say they are still glad they attended Auburn. They want to be involved in helping identify job and career opportunities for
Auburn graduates, mentoring students and providing feedback to the university. They feel their role includes serving as ambassadors for the university and recruiting potential students. Two alumni association programs can facilitate your involvement in these areas: Tiger2Tiger and FANS. Tiger2Tiger online career and social network is available to all Auburn graduates as well as association members. The service allows alumni to search for job openings and post résumés. If you’re trying to fill a position in your organization, you may post it for other alumni to consider and search the database of résumés to find potential candidates. It’s a great place to improve your career. Are you willing to share your Auburn experience with others? Do you enjoy talking to high school students and their parents? Show prospective students what Auburn means to you by serving as a FANS (Finding Auburn’s New Students) volunteer. College recruiting is highly competitive, and with the assistance of alumni across the country, Auburn is seeking the best and brightest prospective students. To volunteer, fill out the online form at www.aualum.org. The Auburn family embraces challenges and opportunities with hope, renewal and a spirit of moving forward. The Auburn Alumni Association welcomes new head football coach Gene Chizik and his staff to Auburn University with support and enthusiasm for the success of our student athletes both on and off the field. Welcome! May the love of our university, the Auburn spirit and the core values of the Auburn Creed continue to unite us. War Eagle!
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WAR EAGLE TRAVELERS: AMAZON River
This adventure includes a trek through virgin rainforests, plus one night in a tented camp in the Peruvian jungle. From $3,195 per person. Info: (334) 844-1143. March 7 Lifetime Achievement Awards Banquet
(See Page 50) Auburn Alumni Association Board Meeting March 21–28 War Eagle Travelers: Italian Favorites
Explore the pair of cities epitomizing Italy’s elegance, culture, architecture and historically rich character—Rome and Florence. From $1,974. Info: (334) 844-1143. April 2–9 War Eagle Travelers: Peru
Nestled in the misty Andes Mountains, Peru is a rugged, storied land where vast Incan civilizations once flourished and Spanish conquistadors ruled. From $2,495 per person. Info: (334) 844-1143.
Machu Picchu is an ancient Incan city in Peru.
April 3–11 War Eagle Travelers: Saxony
Cruise along the River Elbe on this fascinating journey to the Czech Republic and Germany. From $2,595 per person. Info: (334) 844-1143. April 7–15 War Eagle Travelers: Canary Islands, Madeira, Morocco and Gibraltar
Discover the allure of Casablanca and explore the British Crown Colony of Gibraltar. From $2,795 per person. Info: (334) 844-1143. April 10–18 War Eagle Travelers: Paris
nancyfortner@auburnalum.org
Marvel at the world-famous Eiffel Tower, the Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame, the Louvre Museum and the magnificent Palace of Versailles. From $1,874 per person. Info: (334) 844-1143.
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Calendar April 18 MAIN A-Day Tailgate
Make plans now to attend the third annual Minority Alumni Involvement Now tailgate party. The event starts at 10:30 a.m. near Jordan-Hare Stadium. Info: (334) 844-1113. April 28–May 11 War Eagle Travelers: SouthERN Africa
Tour cosmopolitan Cape Town, cruise to historic Robben Island, site of Nelson Mandela’s incarceration, and enjoy a game-viewing safari at Shishangeni. From $5,695 per person. Info: (334) 844-1143. April 30–May 10 War Eagle Travelers: India
Travel wide boulevards passing architectural marvels of New Delhi, wind your way through age-old crowded bazaars and visit the city of Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. From $2,399 per person. Info: (334) 844-1143. May 3–14 War Eagle Travelers: Celtic Lands
Immerse yourself in four millennia of Celtic history on this remarkable 12-day cruise from the ancient Norman city of Rouen in France to Scotland’s historic capital of Edinburgh and points between. From $5,195 per person. Info: (334) 844-1143. May 7-16 War Eagle Travelers: Mediterranean Cruise
Begin your adventure in Athens, Greece, before setting sail for Turkey, the Greek island of Chios and the ever-popular Mykonos, and, finally, Italy’s sun-splashed Amalfi Coast. From $2,499 per person. Info: (334) 844-1143.
2007–2008
Annual Report
The state of your association DEBBIE SHAW ’84
Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Executive Director, Auburn Alumni Association Thousands of Auburn University alumni and friends choose to show their support for the institution through membership in the Auburn Alumni Association, and we are grateful for their commitment. The association has had a very successful year, due in large part to the numerous volunteers who dedicate themselves to serving Auburn in various ways. Significant accomplishments this year include the completion of a branding survey, which resulted in a new logo for the association; the completion of an alumni survey that provided us with valuable information about what our alumni want and need; the establishment of the Tiger2Tiger online social and career community; sponsorship of the first Diploma-Bound Party to encourage membership in the association among Auburn’s newest alumni; and the contribution of more than $2 million in the last two years toward the association’s scholarship endowment. Our members’ loyalty to Auburn is remarkable, and the Office of Alumni Affairs is proud to serve both the university and the Auburn Alumni Association. Thank you for your membership.
scholarships & academic support
War Eagle!
lifetime achievement awards
debbieshaw@auburn.edu
Four individuals were recognized for their extraordinary career accomplishments: Emory Cunningham ’48, Beverly Kearney ’81, Lloyd Nix ’51 and James Pursell ’52. An annual banquet
May 14 –16 Golden Eagles Reunion
It’s a whole new season for Auburn’s annual Golden Eagles Reunion: This year the event moves to spring. We’ll honor the classes of ’58 and ’59 and take in a baseball game—Auburn vs. Alabama—at Plainsman Park. To register, call (334) 844-ALUM (2586).
Auburn Alumni Association REVENUE Fiscal Year Ending 9/30/08 Rental Income
June 22–26 Tiger Tour: Golf
There’s still time to register for the Tiger Tour, a summer road trip on Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. Registration deadline is March 23. Call Total Sports Travel toll-free at (888) 367-8781.
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Royalties Advertising
3%
6%
Life Member 8% ships
University Support
Investment Income
9%
• Fifty-one student scholarships were awarded this year from the $2.7 million Alumni Scholars Endowment. Alumni contributions support the endowment.
• Fifty-four area Auburn clubs awarded 107 student scholarships.
• The Alumni Professors Endowment, with almost $2.2 million invested, provides financial supplements to 25 faculty members each year for five-year terms.
• Three faculty members received $1,000 each as recipients of the Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Awards. Selected this year were: Joey Shaw, agronomy and soils; Kelly Bryant ’85, graphic design; Ed Williams, communication and journalism.
• Bernhard Kaltenboeck, pathobiology, received $2,000 from the Auburn Alumni Association as the recipient of the 2008 Distinguished Graduate Faculty Lectureship Award hosted by the Graduate School.
• Forty-five life members contributed more than $32,250 to the Circle of Excellence Society, supporting the Alumni Scholars Endowment.
• Shirley Scott-Harris, director of the AT&T Minority Engineering Program, received $1,000 as the recipient of the Alumni Minority Achievement Award.
Auburn Alumni Association EXPENSES Fiscal Year Ending 9/30/08 General and Administration
Scholarships 23%
20%
Member vs Nonmember Based on number of living alumni with accurate addresses Members 45,503 26%
42% 16% 29%
Annual Dues
12% Auburn Magazine
3%
6% Gifts Other Income
Dues and Marketing
6%
17%
Alumni Programs and Services
74% Addressable Graduates 172,606
A L U M N I
Save bucks in Auburn Do you live in the Auburn area or travel back to the Plains occasionally? Some Auburn businesses offer discounts on merchandise and services to Auburn Alumni Association members—just present your membership card at participating local businesses and take advantage of the savings! www.aualum.org/membership
recognized the contributions recipients have made to their professions and communities. student alumni association
Brandon Morgan served as president of the Student Alumni Association, overseeing 24 student ambassadors. Student members: 2,819 (12 percent of undergraduate enrollment)
AUBURN MAGAZINE
Auburn Magazine was mailed quarterly in November, February, May and August to an average 38,856 households. The magazine also received a regional award of excellence from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education in 2008. travel programs - War Eagle Travelers
(International & Domestic Travel) Tours Offered: 20 Travelers: 205
other
• More than 13,000 people visited the Alumni Hospitality Tent hosted by the Auburn Alumni Association before each home football game.
away-game travel
• Tiger2Tiger was launched in February 2008 and
(Football 2007) Trips Offered: Travelers:
7 894
had 6,775 registered users in the first eight months. Auburn Clubs
• More than 200 alumni participated in the MAIN (Minority Alumni Involvement Now) weekend at Homecoming 2007.
Clubs in Alabama: Out-of-State Clubs: Total:
37 60 97
C E N T E R
2007-2008 AUBURN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Board Of Directors
PRESIDENT
J. Ralph Jordan Jr. ’70 VICE PRESIDENT
Ann Bendinger Rundquist ’76 TREASURER
Steven A. Boucher ’77 Neil E. Christopher ’55 Burt Cloud ’66 Walton T. Conn Jr. ’85 Marcus F. Conner ’99 Burke D. Cox ’93 R. Mack Freeman Jr. ’65 Charles R. Horton ’65 Sam David Knight ’94 Janet E. Mertz ’91 Robert E. Poundstone IV ’95 Dana F. Robicheaux ’74 Ben Tom Roberts ’72 Arthur N. Ryan ’69 George A. Smith ’75 William B. Stone II ’85 Michael A. Watson ’69 EX-OFFICIO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The 2007-08 Auburn Alumni Association Board of Directors (back row, left to right) Marcus Conner, Burt Cloud, Bobby Poundstone, Robert Harris, George Smith, Burke Cox, Mack Freeman, Skip Ryan, B.T. Roberts, Bill Stone, Charlie Horton, Walt Conn, Debbie Shaw, (front row, left to right) Ralph Jordan, Ann Bendinger Rundquist, Steve Boucher, Dana Robicheaux, Mike Watson, Janet Mertz, Neil Christopher, Jennifer Stephens. Categories of Association Members
Members by Gender
New Grads 3,264
Unknown 8%
7%
Female
Annual Members 8,851
19%
34% 58%
74%
Male
Life Members 33,388
Members by College/School Agriculture Business Engineering Liberal Arts Education Science/Math Architecture Human Sciences Pharmacy Vet Med Nursing Forestry 0
2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 Number of Members
Deborah L. Shaw ’84 Jay Gogue ’69 Andrew P. Hornsby Jr. ’68 Donald L. Large Jr. ’75 Joe T. McMillan ’58 Brandon Morgan Jennifer L. Stephens Mission Statement The mission of the Auburn Alumni Association is to foster and strengthen the relationship between Auburn University and its alumni and friends; to preserve and promote the university’s traditions, purposes, growth and development; and to keep alive the spirit of affection and reverence for our alma mater. Vision Statement The Auburn Alumni Association cultivates lifelong relationships between Auburn and its alumni and friends to support the advancement of our university.
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Lifetime Achievement Awards Henry “Hank” Hartsfield Jr. Class of 1954 Riding in a van toward the Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad on June 27, 1982, Hank Hartsfield turned to flight commander T. K. “Ken” Mattingly ’58 and said simply, “I believe I’m finally going to do this.” •For the former U.S. Air Force pilot and 16-year NASA veteran, stepping onto the Space Shuttle Columbia represented the culmination of nearly 50 years spent stargazing. •A native of Birmingham, Hank Hartsfield skipped two grades and entered Auburn as a freshman at age 16. He graduated in physics, joined the Air Force on an Auburn ROTC commission, served as a pilot with the 53rd fighter squadron in Germany and applied to the Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program in 1966. He was reassigned to NASA two months after Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969, then worked on astronaut support crews for more than 10 years before flying his first space mission. •Two years after piloting the Columbia with Mattingly, Hartsfield commanded the maiden voyage of the shuttle Discovery and in 1985 led a Challenger crew on the German D-1 Spacelab mission. He retired from NASA in 1997 and served as an aeronautics executive for Raytheon Co. until 2005.
Vincent J. Dooley Class of 1954 Auburn wouldn’t be Auburn without Ralph “Shug” Jordan, and Alabama wouldn’t be the same without Paul “Bear” Bryant. •That’s what Vince Dooley means to the University of Georgia. In more than four decades as UGA’s head football coach and athletics director, Dooley became one of the most respected figures in college athletics. • Best known for his work on the gridiron, Dooley also may be described as a renaissance man—he’s a Civil War buff and avid master gardener. He played football at Auburn under Jordan and served as an AU assistant coach for the 1957 national championship team. •He became head football coach at UGA in 1964, led the Bulldogs to a national championship in 1980, retired in 1988 as Georgia’s all-time winningest coach and remained as athletics director until 2004. •Dooley amassed a trophy case full of awards during his career. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1994, and won the 2001 Amos Alonzo Stagg Award for lifetime achievement from the American Football Coaches Association, the 2007 Homer Rice Award from the Division I-A Athletic Directors Association and the 2006 Wooden Award from the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame, among many others.
Oliver D. Kingsley Jr. Class of 1966 The accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Middletown, Pa., three decades ago shook public confidence in the country’s nuclear energy program. •“The production of nuclear energy in the U.S. came under tremendous scrutiny, causing many of the nation’s generation sites to decrease or cease operation,” recalls AU trustee Samuel Ginn. •Then along came Oliver Kingsley, who, over the course of his career as a utilities executive at several major companies, helped re-electrify nuclear power. •The Ozark native became the industry’s premier practitioner of operational excellence, specializing in transforming troubled nuclear programs. In 2003, Kingsley received the World Association of Nuclear Operators’ Excellence Award, the highest honor in the business. •Kingsley, who lives in Birmingham, was the first Auburn alumnus to be named a member of the National Academy of Engineering and is a member of the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame. He recently chaired the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s leadership team for the “It Begins at Auburn” capital campaign, during which he helped raise $116.7 million for the college.
Philip W. Lett Class of 1944 When U.S. troops deployed for the Persian Gulf War in 1991—and in every operation since—they have taken one of the most effective battle armaments ever created: the Abrams tank, developed by an Auburn engineer with a passion for community service. •Philip W. Lett is known as the father of the M-1 Abrams tank, which for nearly 30 years has been the military’s most widely used armored vehicle. •“Thousands of our precious soldiers and Marines owe their lives to Dr. Lett’s work,” says retired U.S. Army Col. Christopher V. Cardine, scientist for tank technology at General Dynamics, where Lett developed the tank. “There have been several vehicles completely destroyed in which not a single soldier was injured. This accomplishment was due solely to specific features that Dr. Lett had demanded be incorporated in the design with the technical perfection he expected of his engineering organization.” •Lett’s tank design for Chrysler Engineering (now General Dynamics) combined new armor, a high-powered turbine engine and computerized firing system, and, in a radical departure from earlier models, focused on the safety of the tank crew. In the first Gulf War, no fatalities were recorded in combat operations involving the M-1 Abrams tank.
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Class Notes GOT NEWS? Auburn Magazine 317 S. College Street Auburn University, AL 36849-5149, or aubmag@auburn.edu Life Member Annual Member
’20–’59 Frasier Galloway ’48 is a retired U.S. Department of Agriculture statistician, serves as a church deacon and volunteers as an “encourager” for heart patients at his local hospital. He and wife Virginia live in Athens, Ga. John G. Fondren
Woman of the Year in part for creating a fundraising group benefiting the Catawba Lands Conservancy. A retired psychotherapist, Culbertson founded and chaired the North Carolina Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts and also has served in many civic and governmental organizations.
’60–’69 Beverly A. Roberts ’65 of Hephzibah,
Ga., is president of the Georgia Retired Educators Association. James O.
Sr. ’49 and wife Mary
“Oscar” Yeaman ’66
celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in September. They live in Birmingham.
has returned to Alabama after serving as associate general secretary of membership services at Rotary International headquarters in Chicago. He now owns and runs The Lattice Inn bed-and-breakfast in Montgomery.
Ashland Shaw ’51
is pastor-emeritusin-residence at Main Street United Methodist Church in Boonville, Ind. He has served in the ministry for 60 years.
H. Gabriel Melton ’67 Donald E. Dennis ’54
and wife Patricia celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary in December. They live in Magnolia, Texas.
of Childersburg wrote a memoir, My Last Christmas as a Child (Vantage Press, 2008), about his transition from childhood to adolescence.
Abram G. Allen ’55
wrote Truth is “The Word” (Hamilton Books, 2008), the second installment in his Truth Eternal and the Adversity of Diversity Law series. Peggy Barrow Culbertson ’55 was
named Charlotte, N.C.,
Paul Allen Fox ’69 is
a philanthropy consultant in Mobile.
’70–’79
won third place in the heirloom division of the Chambers County Alabama Farmers Federation’s cotton sewing competition. John Alex Floyd Jr. ’70 of Trussville
received the Alabama Tourism Department’s Media Advocate Award for his work as editor-in-chief of Southern Living magazine; he also received an honorary doctorate from Furman University. Floyd retired in December after 31 years with Birmingham-based Southern Progress Corp. Susan Hinds ’70
retired as head of circulation, reserve and security for Auburn University Libraries. Richard C. “Dick” Ingwersen ’70 of Stone
Mountain, Ga., was named Auburn University School of Accountancy’s Alumnus of the Year. He founded the Atlanta accounting firm of Gifford Hillegass & Ingwersen. Robert M. Cain ’71, an Atlanta architect, received an Honor Award from the Georgia chapter of The American Institute of Architects for his work on the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia.
Mary Helen Benford ’70 of Roanoke was
elected to the board of directors of the Chattahoochee Valley Historical Society and recently
James Voss ’72 of Houston, a former NASA astronaut, was appointed to serve on the National Space Biomedical Research Institute’s board of directors. He is vice president of engineering for Poway, Calif.-based SpaceDev Inc. Gary P. Hollis ’73 of
Birmingham received Southern Company’s Generation One Team award for his work on environmental equipment for Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Gulf Power. Oliver Neal Shaw ’74
is a district councilman for the city of Valley. Dennis Bailey ’75 is a part-time journalism instructor at Auburn University and maintains a full-time law practice in Montgomery. He has taught press law and ethics at Auburn since fall 2007. John M. House ’75
wrote Why War? Why an Army? (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008). A retired U.S. Army colonel, he lives in Midland, Ga. Thomas M. “Mike” Little ’75 is vice president of
information technology for Protective Life Corp. in Birmingham. He is a retired commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
Jimmy B. Pool ’71
was elected to a sixyear term as district court judge in Montgomery County.
David Lee Nordness ’75
of Owens Cross Roads is sales manager for Southeastern Pavilion.
SNAPSHOT
Once upon a time Each year before taking the field to meet their opponents for the first home football game, the Auburn Tigers journey to Opelika to visit Humpty Dumpty the horse. The team—along with members of Auburn University’s cheerleading squad— are among the many college students who volunteer at Storybook Farm, a nonprofit, therapeutic riding stable that helps children and young adults cope with mental, emotional and physical disabilities. “The children that come here have tragic stories, and for an hour a week they are given the spotlight to shine, and our volunteers make that possible,” says Lucy Little ’75, the organization’s chief fundraiser. Storybook Farm relies heavily on volunteers—including dozens of Auburn undergraduate and graduate students— to maintain and run its weekly activities. The stable hosts about 500 children a year who suffer from illnesses or have experienced emotional trauma. Kids ride the farm’s horses and ponies—each of which sports the name of a beloved children’s book character such as Stuart Little or Huckleberry Finn—as well as groom and feed the animals with the help of student volunteers. About a dozen cats and dogs, plus a couple of goats, round out the farm’s menagerie. “We are blessed to have about 150 student volunteers each semester who understand it takes commitment and consistency to impact the children who are able to come here,” Little says. Three students are trained and assigned to work weekly with a single child throughout a 10-week program. “It is truly remarkable how many student volunteers leave feeling impacted by our children,” Little says. “And the smiles of the children only begin to describe how they feel about their buddy volunteers.”—Morgan Ladner
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Class Notes
All aboard The Auburn Alumni Association elected four new board members during its annual meeting in November.
David M. White ’75
retired from Roy Anderson Corp. construction firm after 33 years with the company. He lives in Gulfport, Miss. Ginger Avery ’77
Jack Fite ’85 of Decatur is president
of Fite Building Co. Inc. He has served as president of the Morgan County Auburn Club and has been a member of the club’s board since 1996. Mike Griffin ’96 of Destin, Fla., is vice president/resident director of Merrill Lynch in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. A former national award-winning Aubie mascot, he has served on the board of directors of the Greater Birmingham Auburn Club and currently is on the board of the Emerald Coast Auburn Club. Howard B. Nelson Jr. ’69 of Bir-
mingham retired in 2004 as chief financial officer of Colonial Properties Trust. He now owns a commercial real estate consulting firm and is a member of the Auburn University College of Business Shareholders Club, George Petrie Society and the Greater Birmingham Auburn Club. Marcus F. Conner ’99 of Saucier,
Miss., is a condition-based monitoring team leader at Mississippi Power’s Plant Watson in Gulfport. A member of Auburn’s AT&T Minority Engineering Program advisory board, he was appointed to the alumni association board in 2007 to fill a vacant director seat.
Nancy Young Fortner ’71 of Huntsville and Michael A. Watson ’69 of Smyrna, Ga., were elected president and vice president of the Auburn Alumni Association, respectively. Both have served several years as board members. Auburn’s Student Alumni Association board also elected officers for the coming year. They are: Lyndsey Yim of Madison, president; Ryan Massey of Concord, N.C., executive vice president; Jessica Stuckey of Huntsville, administrative vice president; and Allen Sasser of Dozier, membership vice president.
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of Prattville is the executive director of the Alabama Association for Justice. She is also serving a one-year term as president of the National Association of Trial Lawyer Executives. Martha Shamp ’77
of Auburn wrote 50 Poems for Pentacost (Vantage Press, 2008). Jim Thompson ’77
of Jacksonville, Fla., is managing director for East Coast investments for Regency Centers, a retail shopping-center developer. C. Craig Cass ’78 of Canton, Ga., retired as a captain with the Fulton County Police Department in Atlanta after 29 years of service. Warren O. Hag-
’80 –’89 Jan Colbert ’80 of
Lexington, Ky., is an accounting professor at Eastern Kentucky University and serves as the university’s AACSB accreditation coordinator.
George Mitchell ’87
and wife Sue celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in September. They live in Montgomery.
Richard Hare ’89 of Columbus, Ga., is senior vice president of finance, treasurer and chief financial officer of Carmike Cinemas Inc. He served as Lowder Visiting Executive in Auburn’s College of Business in October.
Dale K. Geeslin ’81
of Sharpsburg, Ga., joined Atlanta-based Gifford Hillegass & Ingwersen as partner in the firm’s accounting and auditing practice. Stephen Keys ’82
of Byron, Ga., is vice president of Scherer Construction of Middle Georgia, where he oversees office and field operations. John Rice ’82 is a
systems engineering professor at the Defense Acquisition University in Huntsville. He and wife Amanda Brownlee Rice ’84 have two sons. Suzanne Lacey ’84
is superintendent of Talladega County Schools. She lives in Indian Springs.
gard ’78, professor
and Herff Chair of Excellence in biomedical engineering at the University of Memphis, was named to a threeyear term on the ASTM International board of directors. The organization is one of the largest developers of international voluntary consensus standards in the world.
the Eufaula city school system and operates a flute-and-piano studio.
Brent M. Craig ’85 of Hartselle was elected to serve as district judge of Morgan County. Irene Trowbridge Brown ’86 owns an insurance agency in Celebration, Fla., and recently adopted two children, Isaiah Michael, 3, and Jessica Christine, 2. Jan Ziglar Eunice ’86
teaches third grade in
Sean Butcher ’88, a commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, is executive officer of helicopter sea combat squadron 84 in Norfolk, Va. He lives in Virginia Beach, Va., with his wife and two daughters. Suzanne Freeman ’88,
superintendent of Trussville City Schools and former superintendent of Cullman City Schools, is one of four finalists for the American Association of School Administrators’ 2009 National Superintendent of the Year award. She is the first and only candidate from Alabama to be so honored.
Gordon Harvey ’89
joined Jacksonville State University as a history professor and head of the Department of History and Foreign Languages. He formerly served as an associate professor and department head at the University of Louisiana at Monroe from 1999 to 2008. Michael R. Ogles ’89
was promoted to vice president of aerospace systems at Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc. in Huntsville. He has been with the company since 1999. Christopher Brent Snyder ’89 was
Cullman was named national accounts manager for ADT Security Services Inc.
promoted to director of marketing for the Dallas/Fort Worth division of Ben E. Keith Co. food and beverage distributor.
Gregg Olson ’88 of
MARRIED
Johnny M. Green ’88 of
Newport Beach, Calif., was inducted to the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in August. Olson is the Orioles’ all-time leader in saves and in 1989 was the first reliever ever to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award. He retired from baseball in 2001.
Michael Val Hietter ’86 to Eileen Victoria
Habermann on Oct. 4. They live in Winder, Ga. David A. Holcomb ’87 to
Darlene Carter on Sept. 6. They live in McCalla.
Made in the shade Want to be cool and save money? Plant a tree. Forestry and wildlife sciences professor David Laband says homes shaded just 17.5 percent by trees can cut residential electric bills by more than 11 percent over houses with no shade.
’90 Charlotte Cawthon of
Enterprise was selected by the First Baptist Church of Houston to serve as a new International Mission Board missionary in San Jose, Costa Rica. Carolyn Jean Henry was
promoted from associate professor to professor of oncology in the University of Missouri’s College of Veterinary Medicine. James F. Holmes is a
professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Univer-
sity of California/Davis School of Medicine. He lives in Sacramento, Calif., with wife Cindy and daughter Kaitlyn Ann. Kelvin Reed was promoted to director of the Center for Servant Leadership in Columbus, Ga.
A L U M N I
Merle Flowers was re-elected to a second term as a state senator for Mississippi. He and wife Stacey have a 1-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Reeves, born Dec. 24, 2007, who joined siblings Sarah Ann, Jackson and Mary McCoy.
’92
22, Dustin, 19, Jack, 5, and Gabrielle, 5.
MARRIED John Irvine Huff to
Katherine Coleman on April 12. They live in Auburn.
A son, Tristan James Walter, to Mike B. Walter and wife Sara of Memphis, Tenn., on May 22.
BORN A daughter, Ashley Brooke, to David Michael Seymour and
’93
Michele Ballou Seymour
MARRIED
Ronald J. “Ron” Hughes
’94 of Newnan, Ga., on
William Mayfield to Amy
Jr. was recognized by
Ballard on March 15. They live in Opelika.
Worth magazine as one of its “Top 250 Wealth Advisors” for 2008. Hughes is a financial planner with Merrill Lynch’s private banking and investment group in Atlanta.
Sept. 19. She joins sister Kaitlyn, 4.
’91 Eric Fletcher is a senior tax manager with Bond Beebe accounting firm in Bethesda, Md.
A son, Harrison Lewis Taylor, to Jacquelyn Boswell Taylor and husband Larry of Birmingham on Aug. 28. He joins siblings Zac,
AUBURN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION life changes and solutions.
LEAVING AUBURN Take it with you by shopping at Tiger Rags. Coupon Code: alumtr
NEW CAR OR HOME? Auburn alumni are eligible for home and auto insurance at great rates through Liberty Mutual Insurance. *The above listed are proud sponsors of the Auburn Alumni Association.
GRADUATE SCHOOL Members of the association will receive discounts off test prep courses and materials from Kaplan.
Justin D. Cooper II made his final flight as U.S. Navy base commander of the Naval Air Facility at Atsugi, Japan, where he had been stationed since January 2006. He reported to the Joint Military Attaché School, Defense Intelligence Agency, in Washington, D.C., in January.
C E N T E R
Robert Karcher of Opelika was promoted to assistant dean of engineering student services at Auburn University. William Scott Stewart,
a certified public accountant, was promoted to senior audit manager for Birmingham-based Sellers, Richardson, Holman & West. Paul Varnadore was assigned to Perth, Australia, as an exchange officer with the Royal Australian Navy submarine force.
www.aualum.org
SECURING YOUR FUTURE Register for term life and GradMed insurance offered through American Insurance Administrators.
CAREER MOVE? Members can network with other alumni and put their resumes on Tiger2Tiger. MOVING Atlantic Relocation, an agent for Atlas Van Lines, provides Auburn alumni with nationwide moving discounts and assistance.
AGING Auburn alumni are eligible for group rates on long-term care insurance through Marsh Alumni Services.
[re]connect
to you
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Class Notes BORN A son, Graham Allen, to Lee Ann Anand and husband Justin of Decatur, Ga., on Oct. 1. He joins brother Jackson, 2.
Sweeet! SNAPSHOT
Stephen Bailey ’98 isn’t your father’s farmer: At 34, he’s already garnered more accolades than anybody else working the land in Vardaman, Miss.—no small feat in a town boasting more than 85 farmers and laying claim to the title of sweet potato capital of the world. Bailey isn’t afraid to speak up on issues facing today’s farmers, which led to his winning the Farm Bureau Young Farmer & Rancher Discussion Meet in 2007. He and wife Kisha won the Young Farmer and Rancher Achievement Award for Mississippi last year. Stephen Bailey inherited Bailey Family Farms from his grandfather, who started the operation in 1946. He harvests more than 210 acres of sweet potatoes and 15 acres of pumpkins each year, supervising up to 50 employees around Thanksgiving and Christmas—peak season for sweet potato farmers. “Two hundred acres is a lot, but for one person, it’s not unmanageable,” he says. “I keep it that size so I can still be the main person responsible for everything.” The sweet potato industry has undergone drastic changes since 1996, the year Bailey started farming. Market expansion and pest control were two major issues that needed an advocate, and because of Bailey’s willingness to speak out, he was asked to lead many of the groups he had joined for networking purposes—from the local sweet potato co-op to the National Sweet Potato Council. He also was asked to attend a USDA-sponsored multistate meeting on pest management, which resulted in a $2.4 million grant for Mississippi sweet potato research. Bailey wasn’t always interested in agriculture, even though spring breaks and summers were spent working on his grandfather’s farm. “Paw-Paw always made sure I was aware I could come back and farm,” Bailey says. At Auburn University he initially studied engineering, but switched to agricultural science after growing a crop with his two uncles. These days, the fruits of his labor can be experienced at Ryan’s restaurants: Bailey and other Mississippi growers provide the buffet-style chain with 3 million pounds of sweet potatoes a year.—Kate Winford
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A son, Matthew Forrest, to Mark Alan Pitts and Laura Ann
dent for Dothan and the surrounding area. MARRIED Amy Elizabeth Huggins to Edward
Marsh Dearborn on Nov. 22. They live in Acworth, Ga.
Jerlando F.L. Jackson was selected
by the Association for the Study of Higher Education as editor of its ASHE Reader Series. He is an associate professor of higher and post-secondary education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
and Michele Rena Richard ’05 of Santa Rosa, Fla. He joins siblings Tiffani, 14, Louie, 5, Jackson, 3, and Mary Elise, 1.
BORN A son, Cade Andrew, to Brenda Branson West and husband Jesse of Huntsville on Aug. 27. He joins brother Blake. Brenda is a senior pharmaceutical sales representative with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and serves as vice president of the Huntsville-Madison County Auburn Club.
’94
’96
Ace Atkins of Water Val-
David Andrew Gunter
ley, Miss., wrote Devil’s Garden (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2009), a book exploring the life of notorious celebrity Fatty Arbuckle.
was named principal of King Middle School in Milton, Fla.
pion to Andrea Hails Hutchinson on Aug. 2. They live in Nashville, Tenn.
Ritchie Pickron is chair of the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation Inc.
BORN A daughter, Rachel Caroline, to Jason DeShazo and Nancy
Lutenbacher Pitts ’97 of
Birmingham on April 25. He joins brother Andrew, 3. A son, Paul Henry, to Louis Harold Richard III
BORN A son, Austin Christian, to Heather Watson Cohn and husband Mark of Slidell, La., on Dec. 6, 2007. He joins siblings Louis, Samantha and Mark Jacob. A son, Evan Bishop, to Paul Warren Eskew and Leigh Ann Heaton Eskew of Peachtree Corners, Ga., on Sept. 10. He joins brother Ben, 2.
’95 James Freeland has been named Wachovia Corp.’s market presi-
MARRIED Timothy S. Royer to Brent M. Zern on Oct. 15. They live in Atlanta.
BORN A daughter, Taylor Grace, to Cary R. Cloud and wife Catherine of Atlanta on April 11.
’98 MARRIED Samuel Miller Cham-
Gilbreath DeShazo ’99
BORN A daughter, Lauren Bennett, to Brian W. Willis and Anje Harman Willis ’97 of Columbus, Ga., on Aug. 29.
’97 Craig House Aarhus
received a doctorate in musical arts from the University of Iowa in December 2007. He is assistant director of bands at Mississippi State University. He and wife Amy Folsom Aarhus ’98 have a 1-year-old son, John Allen.
of Marietta, Ga., on Nov. 2. She joins sister Joanna Claire. A son, Wade Brannon Haynes, to Ashley Brannon Haynes of Gainesville, Ga., on Dec. 29, 2007. A son, Quinn Saunders Mitchell, to Ben Mitchell and Amanda Nelson Mitchell on Aug. 28. They live in Houston. A son, Gaines Michael, to Robert Michael Murphy and Robin Clem-
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These student scholars embody a wide range of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, and majors, but all share the common goal of fostering an accepting, tolerant campus community…one with a broadminded, non-judgmental spirit, where differing perspectives, personal histories, and cultures are celebrated in a supportive and considerate environment. Welcome to the Auburn family. For your free brochure detailing Auburn’s diversity initiatives, email your mailing address to diversity@auburn.edu, or request an electronic copy.
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a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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Class Notes
Join the club The Auburn Alumni Association board in November chartered two new alumni clubs serving Louisville, Ky., and San Diego, bringing the number of active alumni clubs to 99. From Seattle to Miami, there’s a group for you—check out www.aualum. org/clubs for a complete list. In other club news: • Two new staff members have joined Auburn’s Office of Alumni Affairs to assist the clubs’ network of volunteers. They are Corey Kate Hinton ’07, who will be the chief liaison between club officers and the alumni office, and Opelika native Kate Asbury Larkin, who is now supervising alumni affairs’ programs office. To reach either Hinton or Larkin, call (334) 844-ALUM (2586). • A fledgling group of motivated AU fans is trying to reactivate the Mississippi Gulf Coast Club. Want to help? Call Corey Kate Hinton at (334) 844-1145. • The Greater Birmingham Auburn Club teamed with the Shelby Baptist Association in December to provide Christmas gifts for 100 needy children, doubling its contributions from last year. The club provided each child with toys, clothing, gifts for parents and other goodies. The group hosts a number of events throughout the year, including a junior recognition reception, fall kickoff party and a semi-annual “Beat ’Bama Bash.” The club also funds several student scholarships. For more, see www.thegbac.org.
ans Murphy ’95 of Rock Hill, S.C., on April 15. He joins brothers McCarter, 5, and Will, 3.
A son, Blake Allen, to Linsey Murphy McCullough and husband
Brent of Birmingham on Nov. 19. A son, Eli Samuel, to Daniel Noles and wife
Melody of Chattanooga, Tenn. He joins sister Emmaleigh Grace, 2.
Kendrick, was invited to join the Birmingham American Inn of Court, an organization of lawyers, judges, professors and law students designed to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar. Alex Henig Jones joined
the family business and is the director of marketing and advertising for Henig Furs.
Assurance Co. of Columbus (Aflac). He lives in Midland, Ga. Roger Jones is engaged to be married to Kirstin McDuffie ’03. Kenny Dewain Smith is a student media adviser at Samford University in Birmingham. He formerly was employed as an editorial producer for www.al.com.
Caroline Alvarez to Coy
MARRIED
Smith on Oct. 4. They live in Chunchula.
’99
MARRIED
Philip Austin Currie to
MARRIED
Megan Brooke Nix to
Catherine Kuhlman on Sept. 6. They live in Birmingham.
Melissa Suzanne Durham to Larry Wayne
Thomas on June 21. They live in Loxley. Sarah Hill to Michael
Dominick Corallo on June 14. They live in Montgomery.
Robert Michael Nissen on Aug. 29. They live in Pasadena, Calif.
cano ’99 of Fort Myers, Fla., on March 31.
A daughter, Amelia Paige Wood, to Eric Wood and wife Ashley of Trussville on April 13. She joins brother Lawson Andrew Wood, 3.
A daughter, Caroline Morgan, to John F. McClanahan and Meredith Morrow McClanahan of Florence on Dec. 4. She joins brother Cole, 2.
’00
A daughter, Lauren Annice, to Bradley D. Wideman and Amanda McClure Wideman on Sept. 24. She joins sister Abigail Kathleen.
A son, Scott Thomas Jr., to Scott Loiacano and Rebecca McConnell Loia-
David Cone on March 29. They live in Jacksonville, Fla. Chantel Gurney to Marc Minish ’93 on
April 19. She is a senior account executive at McNeely, Pigott & Fox Public Relations in Nashville, Tenn. Allison Anne Wooldridge
Auburn students examine job prospects in Huntsville.
• The Huntsville/Madison County Auburn Club welcomed more than 50 AU students for a two-day technology tour in October, during which business and engineering majors got a look at career opportunities in the area. Huntsville’s economy is driven largely by aerospace and military technology companies associated with the Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA’s original headquarters. The city’s Cummings Research Park is one of the largest of its kind in the country.
56
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
is assistant professor of forest operations/engineering in the Department of Forestry at Virginia Tech. He, wife Jayme and son Luke live in Christiansburg, Va. Brent Grainger, an
attorney in the firm of Waldrep Stewart &
MARRIED
Charles B. Codding to Amanda Shewmake ’03
on Oct. 25. They live in Huntsville.
Rachel Leigh Davis to
BORN A daughter, Lily Evelyn James, to Brent M. James and wife Elizabeth of Douglasville, Ga., on Aug. 7.
BORN A son, Coleman Holland, to Jason C. Nickles and Shelly DeFoor Nickles on Nov 13. He joins brother Dalton.
Michael Chad Bolding
denoting her as a young rising star in the public relations field. Newman, a principle in the Nashville, Tenn., firm of Hall Strategies, serves on the board of the Nashville Adult Literacy Council and writes a monthly productivity and technology column for Her Nashville magazine.
’01 Michael Lamar Barnett Jr. was promoted to second vice president of internal audit for American Family Life
to Stewart Joyner on June 28. They live in Vestavia Hills. BORN A daughter, Sophia Cresencia, to Matt Albright and wife Nichole of University Heights, Ohio, on Aug. 3. A son, Jackson Blackwell, to Sam Brien and Mandy Hixon Brien ’02
of Atlanta on Sept. 12.
’02 Margie Maddux Newman made PR News’
“15 to Watch” list,
BORN A daughter, Abigail Kennedy, to William Bradford Bancroft and Emilia Anne Bancroft of Dothan on Nov. 7.
’03 Vanessa Casanova, a lecturer in the chemistry and environmental sciences department at the University of Texas at Brownsville, was honored at the Compact for Faculty Diversity’s 15th Annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in Tampa, Fla. The event was hosted by the Southern Regional Education Board and several partner organizations. Jennifer Hamilton of Durham, N.C., was promoted to manager in the assurance and enterprise risk services area of Deloitte & Touche.
Canal a m a n Pa
Kenya
Yourto Pho re He
you are, we ,re there too. (well, almost)
Get involved with an Auburn alumni club in your area.
www.aualum.org/clubs a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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Class Notes gineering, planning and interior design firm in Charlotte, N.C., earned the U.S. Green Building Council’s “LEED” accreditation designation. April Dunaway Wise
SNAPSHOT
Luck o’ the Irish At some point in his life, Ryan Penso ’06 might have dreamed of traveling to Ireland and touring the countryside while traipsing around a luxurious five-star manor house. He just didn’t imagine he’d be paid to do it. The 25-year-old Atlanta native has worked for the past year as food and beverage manager at Capella Castlemartyr, a 17th-century country manor house in Cork, Ireland, that sits adjacent to the ruins of a 1,000-year-old castle. The village of Castlemartyr dates to the Bronze Age, with its first castle built by the Knights Templar and eventually owned by Sir Walter Raleigh. Subsequent owner Henry Boyle, the Earl of Shannon, built the manor house in the early 1700s. It was converted to a luxury resort by West Paces Hotel Group in 2007. Penso’s journey began in Auburn when West Paces—which also manages The Ho-
tel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center—offered him a food-andbeverage internship in Sedona, Ariz. He spent three months rotating to different positions within a Sedona hotel and subsequently fell in love with the hospitality industry. Upon graduation, West Paces hired Penso to take part in the company’s new 18-month leadership training program, inviting him to be on the opening team at Capella Castlemartyr and, subsequently, the company’s new five-star hotel in Donegal, Ireland. After eight months learning the industry, he returned as food-and-beverage manager at Capella Caslemartyr in November 2007. Penso credits Auburn University’s hotel and restaurant management program in the College of Human Sciences for his early success and says he aspires to be a hotel general manager one day— wherever the job takes him.—Kate Winford
Mindy Reed was pro-
Oct. 23. They live in Birmingham.
moted to audit manager for Sellers, Richardson, Holman & West in Birmingham. MARRIED Laura Greenhaw to
Barry Willis on May 31. They live in Auburn. Shannon Kay Salter to
Arthur Fussell Jr. on
58
Aug. 23. They live in Statesboro, Ga. William Edward
’04
Searcy to Katherine
Lacy Anderson joined
Nicole Rutledge on April 26. They live in Enterprise.
the accounting and compliance services department of Sellers, Richardson, Holman & West accounting firm in Birmingham.
BORN A son, John Paul Giovanni, to John Amari and wife Amber on
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
Drew Cater and father Ed Cater ’74 formed a
Hoover landscaping firm, Cater Design and Landscape, on April 1. The company has completed projects in Homewood, Hoover, Vestavia and Mountain Brook.
is an associate with the law firm of Capell & Howard. Her practice areas include estate and tax planning, estate and trust administration, guardianships, conservatorships and adoptions. She received her juris doctorate from Cumberland School of Law in 2008.
Richardson, Holman & West accounting firm in Birmingham. Clay Dudley of Birmingham was named Southeastern development representative for Hope International, a nonprofit group that finances small businesses and provides training to entrepreneurs in thirdworld countries. Colin Jones oversees
wholesale accounts and hotel-and-trunk shows for Montgomery-based Henig Furs.
MARRIED
Cynthia Page was
Edgar P. Denton III to Mel-
promoted to senior accountant in the audit department of Sellers, Richardson, Holman & West accounting firm in Birmingham.
anie Hardwick Mathews ’06 on July 19. They live
in Vestavia Hills. Charles T. Gross Jr. to
Kimberly Ann WhiteSpunner on Sept. 13. They live in Birmingham. Robin Myers to Chris Riddle on April 26. They live in Jackson. Kristen Ogle to Ben-
Adam Reese is national
sales director of Sportsman’s Offroad magazine. He and wife Amy Rebecca James ’04 live in Birmingham. James R. “Jimmy”
jamin Oliver ’05 on
Williams is an associate
March 22. They live in Birmingham.
in the Atlanta office of Jones Day law firm.
Randall Keith Redding
MARRIED
Jr. to Hilary Brooke Wil-
Helon Ann Baldone to
liams on Aug. 9. They live in Bremen, Ga.
Chris Flynn on July 19. They live in Birmingham.
Christopher Michael
Anna Baltikauski to
Rodgers to Monica Miller
Kyle Swenson ’01 on Oct.
on Aug. 19. They live in Newport News, Va.
25. They live in Atlanta.
’05
Garett R. Gossett, an
Lauren Bobba was
electrical engineer-intraining with Clark Nexsen architectural, en-
promoted to senior accountant in the audit department of Sellers,
David Russell Layton
to Jennifer Estes on May 24. They live in Birmingham.
a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine
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Class Notes
The call to serve The Auburn Alumni Association is requesting nominations for four new board directors. All nominees must be association life members and be willing to serve on a volunteer basis. The positions require travel to Auburn at least three times a year. Successful nominees will be installed this fall; each will serve a four-year term. Candidates should have a demonstrated history of leadership in support of the association and Auburn University. Strong consideration will be shown to those who have actively promoted the association and AU through involvement with local Auburn clubs. Those who have previously contributed both time and resources to AU and the association also will be strongly considered. Board directors are expected to participate in the association’s sustaining-life membership program through contributions to the “Circle of Excellence” scholarship society. Nominations may be submitted to Debbie Shaw ’84, Office of Alumni Affairs, 317 South College St., Auburn University, AL 36849-5149. A nomination form must be submitted along with at least two letters of recommendation (but no more than four) from life members. Résumés may also be submitted. The nomination form is available online at www.aualum.org or by calling (334) 844-1134. The deadline for receiving nominations and supporting documentation is 5 p.m. CST April 1. For more information, see www.aualum.org.
clinical services for the Georgia Division of Public Health. Kelly Anthony Lewis
is employed with Birmingham-based Herrington Architects. Jay McGowan joined the audit department of Sellers, Richardson, Holman & West in Birmingham. Lisa Karen Morris is a senior registered nurse with the Florida Department of Corrections. She lives in Chipley, Fla.
Cabin fever Students from Auburn’s design-build master’s program have researched, designed and constructed a replica of a slave cabin at Westville, a living-history museum in Lumpkin, Ga. The attraction portrays life in the preindustrial South of 1850.
Rachel Evans was crowned “Miss Atlanta 2009” and will represent the city in the Miss Georgia Pageant. Mary “Mac” McFadden
is working in the higher education and community design studio of Liollio Architecture in Charleston, S.C. She previously was employed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill in New York. Barbara Kristine Russell is an autism teacher at Baggett Elementary School in Dallas, Ga.
Deitsch on Feb. 14. They live in Birmingham.
July 26. They live in Birmingham. Susanne Weber to
60
Britton Denise McClinton
Brian Richardson ’07
to Robert Winston Bass Jr. ’01 on Sept. 6. They live in Birmingham.
on July 26. They live in Birmingham.
’06
Margaret A. Rivers to
Michelle M. Conner
Andrew Schilder on
was promoted to senior director of statewide
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
Jessica Hughes of Birmingham joined The Garrison Barrett Group Inc. as a graduate architect. She had served as an intern at the firm. Vanessa Ocasio plans to open a personal training franchise, Fitness Together, in Auburn in February.
of the San Diego Natural History Museum’s scientific research division.
Haley Simonetti joined the audit department of Sellers, Richardson, Holman & West in Birmingham.
MARRIED
Anna Wickstrom joined
Christopher Alan Baker
the audit department of Sellers, Richardson, Holman & West accounting firm in Birmingham.
Justin Saia is a legislative assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives. He formerly was employed as field director for the congressional campaign of Alabama Democrat Parker Griffith.
MARRIED
MARRIED
Michael Wall is director
to Alison Joy Oakes on July 19. They live in Auburn. Tracy J. Cunningham to Adam H. Williams on July 19. They live in Asheville, N.C. James S. Lord to Zana
Marie Zaidan on March 29. They live in Charlotte, N.C.
Michelle “Shelley”
Meredith Ardrey to
Latham to Michael Carra
Alan Stephen Baggett
’05 on Sept. 13. They
’06 on Dec. 20. They
live in Birmingham.
live in Birmingham. Kathryn Ann Car-
Scott Peavy on Aug. 16. They live in Auburn.
Harrison Rasnik ’07 on
wee to Joseph Vincent
Hillary Anne Norrell to
Oct. 25. They live in Lexington, Ky.
Webster Jr. on Sept. 7. They live in Green Cove Springs, Fla.
James Patrick Allen on April 26. They live in Montgomery.
’07
’08
Ben Crow was named
construction administrator for Davis Architects in Birmingham.
In Memoriam George W. Royer ’33 of Decatur died Dec. 15 after celebrating his 100th birthday in July. A longtime engineer with Exxon Mobil Corp., he also worked for the U.S. Army Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal before retiring in 1978. Royer served on the advisory board of the Alabama Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch at Punkin Center. Terry S. Mosley ’37
of Hendersonville, N.C., died Aug. 24. A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II and former member of the Auburn Knights Orchestra, he retired as vice president of sales and marketing at Shoe Co., a division of Interco Inc. Johnnie S. Denton ’39
of Fayetteville, Ark., died Sept. 19. She worked as an administrative assistant for Sears, Roebuck and Co. and later owned Dee’s Interior Design. Martha Bost Land ’40
Molly McDonald to
Laura Michelle MillDustin Love to Kathleen
was honored at the Compact for Faculty Diversity’s 15th Annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in Tampa, Fla. The event was hosted by the Southern Regional Education Board and others.
michael to Joseph
Christy Rae Mikels
to Kyle Smith on Aug. 15. They live in Montgomery.
Courtney C. Anderson
is a credit manager for Wells Fargo in Auburn. Melvin Carter of Framingham, Mass.,
of Shalimar, Fla., died Sept. 8. She was a teacher, antique dealer and founding member of the Shalimar library. John H. Real ’41 of Detroit died June 29. He was a rural mail carrier, farmer and retired school teacher.
Britney Leann Roberts to Jordan Eric
James Hugh Nichols
Phillips ’03 on July 5.
’42 of Charlotte,
They live in Fyffe.
N.C., died Aug. 27. A U.S. Army veteran
A L U M N I
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In Memoriam of World War II, he retired as a project engineer from Phillips Petroleum Co.
II, he was transition gineering manager with AT&T for 36 years. Charles Rolland
Martha Vest Scarbrough ’42 of Fairfax,
Va., died July 22. She was a real estate agent for 35 years. Jack Edwin Wood ’42
of Birmingham died Aug. 10. He worked as an electrical engineer with General Electric Co. for 58 years.
Heaslett ’43 of Syla-
cauga died Sept. 26. An Auburn marching band alumnus, he worked for Heaslett Auto Supply and was a member of the Sylacauga Rotary Club, where he recorded perfect attendance for 38 years.
land ’43 of Atlanta died Sept. 6. A U.S. Army veteran of World War
Leo C. Mueller Jr. ’44
of Birmingham died Sept. 21. He founded Allied Corrosion Inc. in 1980 and was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity.
Toy McGehee Jefferson ’43 of Columbus,
Cromwell L. Cleve-
John Locke Redd ’43
of Ozark died Aug. 23. A U.S. Air Force veteran of World War II, he served in the military for 25 years and was a member of the Freemasonry for 50 years.
Ga., died Sept. 14. She worked as a dietitian for the Medical Center of Columbus.
of Agriculture & Industries for 33 years. Robert L. Ferrell ’47
of Bristol, Va., died Aug. 26. A World War II veteran, he also flew for the CIA in the Nigerian War. He was an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Auburn University and owned Farnsworth Heating and Plumbing Co.
Price Moss Stone ’44
Fred Alonzo Sloan Jr. ’47 of Carbondale, Ill.,
died June 16. He was a professor and chaired the curriculum-and-instruction department at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and was a member of Phi Kappa Phi and other academic honor societies.
Foy Campbell ’48 of Montgomery died Sept. 7. A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, he worked in the agricultural industry for more than 40 years. Leland Calvin Courson ’48 of Montgomery
died June 18. He was an installment loan officer at First Alabama Bank for 30 years. Thomas W. Wheeler ’48
Claude H. Moore ’47
of Hurtsboro died Aug. 27. He worked as a veterinarian for the Alabama Department
associate director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station.
of Auburn died Sept. 13. He served as head of AU’s poultry science department from 1959 to 1986 and later served as
Hope Robertson Bosarge ’48 of Mobile died Aug. 23. She taught English at Alba, Vigor and Mobile County high schools.
of Cleveland, Tenn., died Aug. 27. A U.S. Army veteran, he worked for MarshallDeKalb Electric Cooperative.
Locate old friends, network
with successful people in your field, join an online group of Auburn alumni. Tiger2Tiger, Auburn’s social networking site, is open to all Auburn graduates and Auburn Alumni Association members.
Join today!
www.aualum.org
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In Memoriam Richard Earl Benson ’49 of Tyler, Texas,
died Sept. 19. A U.S. Air Force veteran, he served in the military for 26 years, working with NASA as a radiation scientist. He also worked for the U.S. Department of Energy for 13 years. John W. Higgins Jr.
Thompson R. Kelly ’50
of Huntsville died Aug. 8. A U.S. Navy veteran, he was a real estate developer and a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. John Lewis Skinner ’50
of Montgomery died July 30. He worked for the Alabama Department of Transportation for 39 years.
’49 of Huntsville died
April 13. A World War II veteran, he worked for the U.S. Army Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal for 28 years.
Robert Boyd Wilds ’50
of Saratoga died Aug. 12. He served in the FBI during World War II as a radio operator intercepting German messages in South America. Virginia Newsome Kennedy ’52 of Seale
died Sept. 1. She was a longtime member of the Lakewood Baptist Church choir.
William Anderson ’50
of Madison, Miss., died Dec. 4. A U.S. Navy veteran, he was a member of the Freemasonry. Lester Dean Coates Jr. ’50 of Mountain Brook died July 14. He was founder and president of Room Service USA. Ferrell Daniel Hale
62
Joseph O. Thweatt
died June 27. A retired U.S. Air Force captain, he pursued his love of aviation by building and flying models and full-sized airplanes. Jack Henry McElyea
Fla., died Sept. 7. A U.S. Coast Guard veteran, he practiced veterinary medicine for 52 years. Homer C. Moody Sr. ’55 of Picayune, Miss., died July 3. He served as a U.S. Army corporal in Europe, including the Battle of the Bulge, during World War II. Tommy King Goff ’56
Albert W. Charles Jr. ’53 of Manhattan
Beach, Calif., died Sept. 18. A World War II veteran, he was a member of the Torrance Board of Education, owned a business consulting firm for more than 30 years and loved John Wayne westerns.
of Auburn died Sept. 25. He worked in the Auburn city schools system for 32 years as a musical educator and director. In 1987, his band was awarded the prestigious Sudler Flag of Honor. As an Auburn student, he was a member of the Auburn Knights Orchestra.
William James
’50 of Valley died Sept.
Johnson Jr. ’54 of Los
7. A World War II veteran, he served with the U.S. Army combat engineers and worked for West Point-Pepperell Inc. for more than 40 years. He was a charter member of Langdale Kiwanis Club and the Greater Valley Area Auburn Club.
Alamos, N.M., died Sept. 15. A U.S. Navy veteran, he worked in the military as a nuclear physicist and electronics engineer.
’54 of Huntsville died June 8. An U.S. Air National Guard veteran, he worked for Teledyne
Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g
Edward Durmont Sellers ’56 of Baton Rouge,
La., died Sept. 5. A U.S. Air Force veteran, he worked as a chemical engineer for Ethyl Corp. He also served as president of the North Baton Rouge Lions Club and was active in other service clubs. Robert Joseph Clark ’57 of Leesburg, Fla.,
died Aug. 1. A U.S. Army veteran, he was a salesman, entrepreneur and a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. F. Julian Freeman ’57
of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., died Aug. 19. A U.S. Army veteran, he served as chief-of-staff at St. Jude Medical Center and president of the Orange County Medical Association in Fullerton, Calif. John Hurshal Tinsley
Herring ’56 of Tallassee died Aug. 16. He worked for 40 years as an educator, coach and administrator.
of Indianapolis died Aug. 17. A World War II and U.S. Air Force veteran, he worked as a USDA poultry inspector in Alabama and as a
Sara Weed Buttram
died June 13. He was a Methodist lay leader and preacher for 25 years. Buford C. Cole ’59 of Tucker, Ga., died July 27. He worked in the DeKalb County School System for 37 years. Noel P. McInnis ’59 of Decatur died Aug. 13. A U.S. Army Security Agency veteran, he worked for 3M for 32 years.
Jorge Alberto Subi-
’60 of Victoria, Texas,
rats ’72 of Mobile died
died Oct. 10. She worked as an educator for 42 years at various Alabama schools and helped found the University of Montevallo Alumni Association.
Aug. 1. He was a high school teacher, coach and real estate agent.
Mahlon Sealy Paulk ’61 of Montgomery
died Aug. 15. He was a financial planner with AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. and served as president of the Montgomery YMCA’s Jimmy Hitchcock Memorial Award Committee. T. Wayne Lee ’65 of Atlanta died Aug. 14. He worked for many years with IBM Corp. and later in the real estate industry in Beaufort, S.C. Arthur Neal Harrison ’67 of Huntsville died
Sept. 2. He was an educator for 28 years for the University of North Alabama, Huntsville City Schools and Calhoun Community College.
’57 of Montgomery
Kenneth Dewey
Carl Stoy Pruitt ’56 John Rogers Segrest
small- and large-animal veterinarian. He retired from Eli Lilly and Co.’s Elanco division.
’54 of Madison, Miss.,
’55 of Winter Park,
Howard L. Johns ’49
of Huntington, Tenn., died Sept. 12. A World War II veteran, he practiced veterinary medicine from 1949 to 1986.
Brown Engineering Inc. for almost 40 years.
David Ray Baker ’68
of Auburn died Sept. 8. He was an engineer with BFGoodrich in Opelika. Reo Kirkland Jr. ’71
of Brewton died Sept. 17. An attorney and former prosecutor, he served two terms as an Alabama state senator. Danny Frank Bonham ’72 of Birmingham died
Aug. 26. He retired as an electrical engineer with Alabama Power.
James Daniel Cassady ’75 of Montgom-
ery died Aug. 3. He served as president of the Auburn University at Montgomery Alumni Association and as a board member for the Auburn University Foundation. James Edmund Royds ’80 of Williams-
burg, Va., died Sept. 10. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, he served in the military for 23 years. John Franklin Sandlin ’80 of Kennesaw,
Ga., died Sept. 18. He owned Sandlin Frame Studio and taught computer science at St. Joseph Catholic School. Leslie Riley Cubelic ’82 of Alpharetta,
Ga., died Aug. 21. She worked in medical sales with Lederle, Genentech Inc. and Mallinckrodt Inc. Nicole Elise Bourgeois ’98 of Atlanta
died Oct. 8. An active member of the Atlanta Junior League, she was a financial accountant for Alpha Delta Pi sorority’s national headquarters. She also served as adviser for the Gainesville, Ga., Alpha Delta Pi chapter and had recently joined Coca-Cola North America.
C E N T E R
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Š 2008 COSAM / MC&Co. CSM-0035
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C E N T E R
The Last Word
Healing BY THOM GOSSOM JR. ’75 My car roared north up the beautiful stretch of Interstate 85 that lies between Auburn University and home. It was one of those perfect Alabama fall days when the air was crisp but not yet cold. The trees put on a colorful show with their leaves of red and yellow. Just past the line of trees, open fields zoomed by. As we left Montgomery, the familiar green blur of highway signs raced past: Tuskegee 19 miles. Without warning, a rush of tears started streaming down my face. They spilled over my cheeks and onto the new Auburn University T-shirt I bought the day before. It was like someone turned a spigot on, and I tried to move my face so that my wife would not see. Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t hiding my tears because of some macho thing. I’m an actor. I cry for money, on cue when I must. However, this was private. “What is it?” my wife asked. I couldn’t tell her. Not that I didn’t want to. It’s just that the pain came right from my gut, like it was being ripped out. The look on my wife’s face let me know I needed to say something. I pulled the car over to the side of the interstate. After a few moments, I said, “It’s taken me 30 years, but I finally feel like part of the team.” It started back in March 2002. My wife, joyce (she spells her name with a lowercase “J”), at our home in Florida, called me in Los Angeles where I was on the set. “You got a letter from Terry Henley.” Terry “Henlo” Henley was one of my college teammates from my days at Auburn University. He was inviting me back to Auburn for a reunion (of the 1972 football team). My first thought was: “I’m not going!” Mixed emotions stumbled over themselves as they raced through my mind. It wasn’t that I didn’t love my alma mater; Auburn and I had a complicated history, but I’d made my peace. I had forgiven so much, but I hadn’t totally shaken the pain of those years. I didn’t want to open old wounds. I called James. “You going?” I asked him over the longdistance line from Los Angeles to Auburn. “I was going to call you,” he said. “I talked to Terry. Told him I’ll be there.” James Curtis Owens’ smooth, melodious voice was soothing as always. A minister now, James still has the same calming effect he had on us when we were students. We black kids on campus always called him “Daddy Owens” because he was so calm and serene.
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Our lives had taken divergent roads. James and I were the first two black players to play football at Auburn. For the first three years of my career we were inseparable, and not just because we were the only blacks on the team. We respected and liked each other. All these years later, James lives just a few miles from Auburn University’s Jordan-Hare Stadium, where we played our games. I ended up on the West Coast. “You’re going?” I asked, surprised that James was ready to cross the bridge to our past. I was worried about going back to see guys with whom I’d shared one of the most special times in my life. I hadn’t been back since 1995. Living in Florida and working in Los Angeles didn’t make it easy. I’d only been to a handful of games since the last game I played in the 1974 Gator Bowl. I moved on when I moved on. Now I was going back to a reunion. The night of the reunion came, and joyce and I were riding an elevator up to the opening reception. I’ve played ball in front of 70,000 people. I’ve done live theater. I’ve done television shows that have been seen by millions. Films I’ve acted in have played all over the world. I’m never nervous. I always know I can perform when called upon. Except for this night. I was nervous. The elevator door opened and there stood the 1972 Most Valuable Player in the Southeastern Conference, Terry Henley. His infectious smile froze me. The other guys rushed up to us and I was caught up in a sea of well-meaning old teammates. I realized something that night. All of us had lived through a time of change in our society. It was not just James and I that had lived in and through a painful era. We all had. Things would never be the way they were. Odds are, a coach will never stay at Auburn 25 years like Coach Jordan. Also, it would be the last time Auburn would field a team with only two black players. That night James and I received the respect for the contributions we made to Auburn football. As the night ended, my teammates went out of their way to make James and me feel that we belonged. The conclusion to this story had finally been written. It had taken 30 years. Excerpted from Walk-On: My Reluctant Journey to Integration at Auburn University, by Thom Gossom Jr. Gossom has enjoyed a successful writing and acting career, including roles in “Fences,” “In the Heat of the Night” and “Fight Club.” He lives in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and Santa Monica, Calif.
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