Florida’s Top College Paper
Vol. 76 No. 15
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Preview: Fall Commencement
Museum Celebrates 28th Annual Victorian Christmas Stroll
By Jeffrey Palmer Reporter
See more photos page 4 Snowmen scene displayed at the Victorian Christmas Stroll.
By Coryn Doncaster Reporter
Living in warm Florida weather doesn’t mean you can’t fully enjoy the Christmas spirit. The 28th annual Victorian Christmas Stroll is here for the entire University of Tampa community to participate in the festive exhibit right on campus. The Victorian Christmas Stroll began on Dec. 1 in Henry B. Plant Museum. “We’re trying to showcase Christmas past—Christmas as it was when the building was the Tampa Bay Hotel,” said Sally Shifke, museum relations coordinator. Throughout the museum, rooms are being decorated in the atmosphere of a 19th century Christmas. “Every exhibit room has a different tree in it with a different theme,” said Shifke. Something that makes this year’s ex-
Scott Silverstro/ The Minaret
hibit different is that a vintage clothing store in Ybor, LaFrance, has lent clothing to the museum that will be featured on mannequins throughout the rooms. The annual Victorian Christmas Stroll has changed since its first year. “It started out as a candlelight tour, and it was only for three evenings. It grew in popularity, so we changed it to 10 a.m. until 8 p.m., 23 days in a row,” said Shifke. UT students don’t need to worry about admission fees, either. Students can come in for free. Admission includes hot cider and cookies on the verandah. “The Stroll was started really to attract the community to the museum during the holidays, so the museum would become popular with the Tampa community and not just out of town visitors,” said Shifke.
December 11, 2009
Creating a Christmas exhibit is not an easy task. It takes two days just to put up the trees and lights. “UT students actually help us. We start setting up Nov. 16. It takes two days just to put up the trees and lights. It takes another three days to put up decorations and another full day to do the ceilings where fabric and stars will be hanging from,” said Shifke. The exhibit isn’t over until the 23rd, so students still have time to take a break during finals week and see it for themselves. Shifke has a challenge for all of those who choose to visit. “One of the staff people walked around and counted 100 Christmas trees. Sixty-seven are really little ones, and we have a 15-foot tree. I challenge students to find them all.”
Next week, 408 University of Tampa students will graduate. The 2009 winter commencement will take place Dec. 19 at 10 a.m. in the Martinez Sports Center. Dr. Gary S. Luter, recipient of the Louise Loy Hunter Award, director of the UT Honors Program and professor of speech, theatre and dance, will be Luter the event speaker. The Louise Loy Hunter Award is bestowed annually upon a faculty member for cumulative contributions in teaching, service and scholarship, according to Eric Cardenas, director of public information. Traditionally, this award recipient gives the winter commencement address. “I am very honored to have been selected by my peers to receive the Louise Loy Hunter award,” Luter said. Luter will be joined on stage by student speakers Nicolas David Pazmino Mora and Mark Kieslor of the class of ’09. Graduating students must apply for the honor of presenting speeches. These applications are reviewed by a committee which selects the students. Pazmino Mora will introduce the commencement speaker, and Kieslor will give the challenge to graduates. Jeffrey Palmer can be reached at jpalmer@ut.edu.
Keith Bellows Preaches the Importance of World Travel to UT Students By Jeffrey Palmer Reporter
Keith Bellows, editor-in-chief of National Geographic magazine, visited The University of Tampa last Thursday. The event was titled, All the World’s a Classroom, the third in a series of related presentations put on by the Office of International Programs. The event was introduced by John Capouya, UT journalism professor and personal friend of Bellows. “He has made his passion his life’s work,” said Capouya of Bellows. “And that’s something all of us here can think about.” Bellows opened the discussion in
Inside ...
Reeves Theater by asking how many individuals in the audience owned a passport and how many had traveled outside of the country, making the point that Americans are known abroad as deficient in international skills and experience. He stressed the importance of travel in unraveling the mysteries of cultures outside of our own. Bellows made it clear that textbook learning is no substitute for seeing the real thing. “No matter how much you study or read about a culture, you will never really begin to understand it until you visit,” he said. Bellows shared the history of his own
infatuation with travel, one that began with his birth in the Congo. He said the role his well-traveled parents played in nurturing his spirit of adventure was key. It was his parent’s creed, Bellows said, that so heavily influenced his desire to roam the world. In fact, Bellows is currently working on a book aimed at parents seeking to enrich their children’s lives through travel. In addition to highlighting the importance of travel in personal growth and enlightenment, Bellows also stressed the forming of life-long friendships through
Students’ Holiday Plans [2] Campus Libraries Modernize [2]
Student Directed Movie Review [9] That’s Some Great Christmas Music [7]
Online Reporter’s Farewell
[11]
Copy-Editor Says Goodbye [11] D1 Wins [14]
Best in History [Back]
See “Bellows” [2] News....................[1-4] Diversions..............[6] A&E....................[7-9] Editorial...............[11] Commentary....[10-13] Sports..............[14-16]
“It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.” [W. T. Ellis]