AHA! | South Carolina Honors College | University of South Carolina | Volume XIII No. 1
Fall 2007
The South Carolina Honors College celebrates its 30th anniversary in high literary fashion.
from the dean |
As we welcome our new freshmen I am struck by variation. Each student arrives with his or her own unique set of abilities and goals. Backgrounds vary; intellectual passions Davis Baird vary; personalities vary. Our job in the Honors College is to celebrate and build on this variation. We benefit from our ability to tap the extensive intellectual and material resources of a comprehensive research university: 1,200 faculty members, each in hot pursuit of a portion of the endless intellectual boundaries of what we don’t know, are our primary resource. It is exciting to be able to make connections between the individual interests of our students and the faculty members who can help them cultivate and refine these interests. Intellectual and personal growth comes from these connections. Each of our graduates leaves enriched, and the variation that is so striking in the freshman class is yet further extended in our graduates. The world we live in requires a bewildering variety of skills, knowledge, and dispositions, and I am encouraged by the capacity of the Honors College to respond to this need by providing students with a multiplicity of talents. This is good for us collectively, and it is good for each of our graduates individually.
Dean’s puzzle: In the last issue of AHA! we added a new feature, “Dean’s puzzle.” The solution to the puzzle we left you with is below. But first a new puzzle and a competition. To make things more interesting, we will award a prize of Honors College merchandise
to a randomly selected person who sends us a solution. Send your solution electronically to puzzle@schc.sc.edu or by regular mail to Dean Davis Baird (address on last page of this issue). This puzzle considers a two-player game. Players sit across from each other at a round table. Each draws from a large pool of identical cans of Campbell’s Tomato Soup. In turns players place cans on the table. The first player who cannot place a can on the table loses. Here is the puzzle: Does it matter who goes first? Is there a winning strategy, and if so, what is it? Now for the solution to the puzzle in the last issue.
Here is the puzzle: You have 12 golf balls, 11 of identical weight and one that is either heavier or lighter than the others. You have a two-pan “scale of justice,” which you can use three times. Find the odd ball and determine whether it is heavier or lighter. Before I proceed with the answer, it is worth trying to solve this. The difficulty has led some of my students to conclude that it simply is not possible. So the answer feels that much more wonderful. Here is that wonderful answer: We can number the balls 1–12, and we are searching for one of 24 possibilities: Ball 1 is heavy (“1H”); Ball 1 is light (“1L”); Ball 2 is heavy (“2H”); etc. When we put balls on the pans of our balance, it can respond in three different ways: The left pan can go down (and the right pan up) [“LD”]; the right pan can go down (and the left up [“RD”]; the pans can stay at equilibrium [“E”]. Step 1: Divide the balls into three equal groups 1-4, 5-8, 9-12. Weigh the first two groups, against each other, balls 1-4 in the
left pan and 5-8 in the right pan. One of three things can happen: [E]: The pans stay at equilibrium, in which case we know the odd ball is off the scale. Go to step 2. [LD]: The left pan goes down. Here we know that either the left pan has the heavy ball—1H, 2H, 3H, or 4H—or the right pan has the light ball—5L, 6L, 7L, or 8L. Go to step 3. [RD]: The right pan goes down. Similar to [LD] above, we know that the left pan has the light ball—1L, 2L, 3L, or 4L—or the right pan the heavy ball—5H, 6H, 7H, or 8H. Go to step 4. Step 2: Weigh balls 9 and 10 in the left pan against ball 11 and any of the “normal” balls (18) in the right pan. Again, one of three things can happen: [E]: The pans stay at equilibrium, in which case you know the odd ball is off the scale—it is ball 12—and you can use the third weighing to compare it with a normal ball to see if it is heavier or lighter than normal. [LD]: The left pan goes down, from which you can conclude that either ball 9 or 10 is heavy or ball 11 is light, and you use the third weighing to weigh 9 against 10. If they are equal, ball 11 is light; if one pan goes down it contains the heavy ball of 9 or 10. [RD]: The right pan goes down, from which you can conclude that ball 9 or 10 is light or ball 11 is heavy. Weigh 9 against 10. If equal, 11 is heavy; if unequal, the pan that goes up has the light ball 9 or 10. Step 3: You know that either ball 1, 2, 3, or 4 is heavy or ball 5, 6, 7, or 8 is light. Here you have to be a little tricky. Weigh 1, 2, and 5
(left pan) against 3, 4, and 6 (right pan). Again, three possibilities: [E]: The odd ball must be 7 or 8, which you can weigh against each other to determine which is light. [LD]: You know either ball 1 or 2 is heavy or ball 6 is light. Weigh 1 against 2. If equal, 6 is light; if unequal, the pan that goes down contains the heavy ball. [RD]: You know either ball 3 or 4 is heavy or ball 5 is light. Weigh 3 against 4. If equal, 5 is light; if unequal, the pan that goes down contains the heavy ball. Step 4: If you think about this for a bit, you’ll see that this situation is the same—logically— as covered in Step 3; just exchange “H”s for “L”s, and you have the answer. This is in fact a well-known puzzle type, known among puzzle fans as the “counterfeit coin” problem. Those interested in a more extensive discussion are encouraged to consult Guy, Richard K. and Nowakowski, Richard J. 1995. “Coin-Weighing Problems,” American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 102, no. 2, pp. 164–67. And here let me thank my wonderful friend Clyde Kruskal (now a computer scientist at University of Maryland) and his colleague William Gasarch for pointing me to this paper. Readers of AHA! may remember Clyde as the person who multiplied two five-digit numbers in his head as he and I and a third friend drove through the night across the country. Evidently serious thought was given to dropping flyers with this problem over Germany during World War II. In theory, the Germans would be so distracted trying to solve the problem, they wouldn’t think to defend against invasion.
Davis Baird chemistry, philosophy, pre-Baccalaureus
Jim Burns criminal justice; education; hospitality, retail, and sport management; music; theatre; liberal arts—undeclared; exercise science
Jim Clark business
Ed Munn Sanchez behavioral sciences; languages, literatures, and cultures; physics; statistics
Laura Mewbourn journalism and mass communications, engineering, mathematics, nursing, pharmacy; marine science
Kathy Myrick economics, education, English, history, international studies, political science, religious studies, women’s studies, art, classics, dance, film
Mark Sibley-Jones premed (regardless of major), biology, geology, geography, geophysics
How students prepare for advisement: Visit “The Advisement and Registration Process” in the student section of the Honors College Web site. This is your most important resource prior to advisement, and you should visit the site regularly. You will find there a six-point item list that gives specific instructions about how you must prepare prior to meeting with your advisor in order for your advisement to be effective. And of course, remember the following:
1. Sign up for advisement with your Honors College advisor on the first sign-up day. An appointment book with your advisor’s Honors College picture and name will be in the lobby of the second floor, Harper College. 2. After signing up, but before coming for your scheduled advisement, visit the course listings on the Honors College Web site and identify courses that you wish and/or need to take, both for your major and for progress toward completion of the Honors College requirements that will enable you to graduate with honors. 3. Arrive for your scheduled advisement 10 minutes ahead of time so that you may fill out the personal information on your SCHC Schedule Form before you go in to meet with your advisor. This saves both you and your advisor time.
Meet our new staff Kathy Myrick, former vice president for career development and campus life Kathy Myrick at Horry-Georgetown Technical College, joins the Honors College staff to coordinate and contribute to the development of a service-learning program for Honors College students. This initiative will integrate service experience with educational opportunities in the Honors College curriculum. Kathy will also provide academic counseling for Honors College students.
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Who is my advisor?
Celebrate our 30th anniversary with great literature news |
By Mark Sibley-Jones
The 2007–2008 academic year marks the 30th anniversary of the Honors College, and we are celebrating in high literary style. At the requests of quite a number of alumni, we have formed the SCHC Book Club. This year we’ll read and discuss three major literary works. The SCHC Book Club scheduled its inaugural meeting in conjunction with the University’s First-Year Reading Experience. Alumni and students were invited to attend the Aug. 20 lecture by Julie Otsuka, who discussed her novel, When the Emperor Was Divine. A beautifully written but disturbing account of the evacuation experience of an unnamed Japanese-American family during World War II, the novel has been called by one reviewer “easily the best novel about the internment experience, [with] a universal arc in its haunting depiction of the failure of the American dream.” Following Otsuka’s lecture, SCHC alumni and students gathered in Flinn 107 for a discussion of the book led by SCHC student Thomas Chandler (’08), who provided extensive background on American-Japanese economic and political relations from the mid-18th century to World War II. Chandler then called the group’s attention to several important scenes in the novel and invited comments and questions from the audience. He challenged the group to consider ways in which the novel encourages us to seek empathy and understanding among different ethnic and national groups. Chandler finally left us to contemplate ways in which we allow unexamined fear to adversely control our views of others and our behavior toward them. The second book club event offers a special treat early this winter. Former SCHC Dean Bill Mould will fly down from Washington to lead a discussion of Art and Fear, by David Bayles and Ted Orland. One editorial review says that this book “explores the way art gets made, the reasons it often doesn’t get made, and the nature of the difficulties that cause so many artists to give up along the way. The book’s co-authors … are themselves both working artists, grappling daily with the problems of making art in the real world.” For anyone who’s ever had even the faintest compulsion to write or compose music and produce visual art (I suspect this includes many of you), this book speaks poi-
gnantly to both the appeals and the difficulties of such a calling. Our last book selected for this academic year is Dava Sobel’s Galileo’s Daughter. Sobel puts her excellent literary skill to work as she produces an account of Galileo’s insufferable heartache following the death of his illegitimate daughter, Suor Maria Celeste, at the age of 33. Alan Lightman says in a New York Times Book Review that Sobel has created “an exceptionally human narrative of the physicist whose achievements and thought have been equaled only by Newton and Einstein. Galileo began modern science as we know it. Yet what the great thinkers of this world struggle with intellectually is often matched by the inner struggles of their hearts.” This will be an exciting year for the Honors College as we mark the 30th year of our presence at Carolina. We are pleased to offer an experience that will engage both students and alumni in yet another journey of exploration and discovery. So join us as we celebrate our anniversary with good literature and stimulating discussion.
The schedule of meetings and books selected are as follows: Aug. 20 When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka Jan. 24 Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland April 19 Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel.
By Susan Nesbitt Ward
Mark Sibley-Jones grew up in a home full of books, raised by parents who were voracious readers. As a boy he thought they—the books and the parents—were boring. But, in a reversal worthy of any great coming-of-age novel, the kid who says he spent every free moment playing outdoors came to love the reading, the writing, and the teaching of literature. And students named him this year’s Outstanding Honors Faculty award winner. Each year, South Carolina Honors College seniors nominate professors for the award, which was endowed seven years ago with a gift from Honors College alumnus Michael A. Hill, who graduated in Mark Sibley-Jones shares a lighthearted moment with students. 1992 with a degree in international studies. The college’s senior marshals select finalists and a winner through a review of Sibley-Jones is anything but the stereotypeach professor’s record of teaching and service, ical erudite English professor. After earning letters of support, and course evaluations. an undergraduate degree in English literaHonors College tradition has the winture from Furman University (at some point ner address the graduating class at revocation he did figure out books and his parents weren’t ceremonies in May and the incoming class at so awful), he allowed a chaplain friend to talk convocation in August. him into attending Duke Divinity School, “Without all of us working together after which he spent nearly 20 years in the toward a common goal,” Sibley-Jones told ministry of the South Carolina United Methgraduates, “each of us would be considerably odist Conference. the poorer, the less vital and productive in our Sermons—many published and some individual efforts. nationally recognized—indulged his growing “That is to say, an honor such as this is enjoyment of writing and teaching. “I spent only properly understood as a reflection of our about 20 hours a week doing research, writcommunal effort to seek understanding. In ing, polishing the delivery,” he said, though he other words, learning at its best is a collaboraadmits writing them was “always tough.” tive enterprise that engages all of us in pursuit But he found himself moving “increasingly of the good that will serve us all,” he said. toward academics and away from parish min“So thank you—all of you—for including istry.” He had completed a Ph.D. in Medieval
and Renaissance English Literature at Carolina in 1993, taught several years as an adjunct professor for the Department of Religious Studies, and in 2002 came on full-time as a visiting assistant professor in the English department. Around the same time, he became interested in writing fiction, completed a novel he calls the “worst thing ever written in the history of humankind,” and enrolled in Janette Turner Hospital’s writing class. He has completed two other novels for which he has higher hopes. He still enjoys the outdoors: he swims, does yoga, rides a bike, and plays golf. But these days he spends two or three hours each morning writing, and also reading. A lot. In 2006, he joined the staff of the Honors College, where he is, by all accounts, a thoughtful advisor to honors students in a variety of disciplines. He’s SCHC’s director of alumni affairs. He also edits AHA! and teaches honors English courses. Terrill Wilkins, now a graduate assistant in the Honors College who was on the senior marshal committee that chose the Outstanding Honors Faculty winner, said Sibley-Jones was the most deserving of all the candidates nominated. “Though there were a myriad of compliments to Mark’s teaching style, ability to connect with students, and academic skills included in the student-submitted nominations,” Wilkins said, “there was one aspect of Mark’s teaching that remained an underlying theme in every student’s rationale for nominating him: ... that whether or not a student is an English major or someone who has never truly enjoyed literature, Mark possesses an uncanny ability to make some of the most dry material interesting and relevant to each individual in his classes. “The students overwhelmingly agreed,” Wilkins said, “that where many other professors are academically talented but lack the ability to communicate effectively to a classroom, Mark possesses both of those skills.” An ability to forge a connection even with a reluctant reader—perhaps not so surprising for the active kid who couldn’t have imagined himself stuck indoors, chained to a book.
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Mark SibleyJones Receives Outstanding Honors Faculty award
me in this common journey to what we must hope is a greater end than we dare imagine.” Sibley-Jones clearly sees himself as part of a community, a fact further evidenced in a statement of his approach to teaching. “My teaching philosophy is grounded in an abiding trust that we are all learners engaged in a search for understanding of ourselves, of each other, and of a world that is at once profoundly beautiful and hauntingly frail,” he wrote. “My hope is that by learning together, we may build unity where there is discord, love where there is hatred, peace where there is war.”
Leslie Sargent Jones leaves Honors College for further involvement with medical school
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By Cade Warren (‘07)
For the past seven years, Leslie Sargent Jones has advised hundreds of honors students in her position as associate dean of the Honors College. Along with providing students with impeccable Leslie Sargent Jones advice and guiding them through administrative mazes, her unique experiences and outlook on both the sciences and humanities proved invaluable to the development of many honors students’ educations. Jones left the Honors College in July to focus full-time on her role at the USC School of Medicine, where she is associate professor of pharmacology, physiology, and neuroscience. She will continue to teach courses in anatomy, and provide guidance on how courses under her purview should be taught. Additionally, she’ll collaborate on research with other scientists at the medical school. Jones’ perspectives were formed early in life. Her father was a diplomat and Arabist who studied extensively in the Middle East. Born in Cairo, Egypt, Jones grew up in the Middle East, spending over half of her life before college overseas. Her foreign experiences, along with her burgeoning interest in psychology, fostered both a deep interest in how people learn and a concern for how culture and different environments affect learning. This led to the study of psychology and the brain, which would culminate in her work as a neuroscientist for much of her career. Jones’ higher education began at Bryn Mawr, where she majored in psychology. Later, she served two years as a lab technician studying the genetics of Drosophila (the fruit fly) at the University of Chicago, and produced her
first publication in 1977. She then attended graduate school at Northwestern University, obtaining a doctorate in anatomy, a subject she has taught throughout her career. Over the course of her education, Jones gradually shifted her interest in learning from the psychological down to the cellular and molecular levels. She realized that questions about learning and memory were best answered through an understanding of the structure and function of the brain. After a two-year stint as a technical writer, she worked at Duke University for her postdoctorate in pharmacology, where she studied cellular responses to strokes and lesions. During this time, she studied in Moscow for nine weeks. Not only did this continue Jones’ overwhelming interest in the ways that different cultures affect what scientists study; it provided her with new experimental tools to research learning and memory. In 1988, Jones took a position at the USC School of Medicine. Her study of epilepsy with a rat hippocampal model fulfilled her need for interdisciplinary research. She understood that the only way to investigate the workings of the brain was through the mixture of various disciplines. In her epilepsy research, Jones utilized knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology. She believed that understanding of all areas of neuroscience, indeed, all areas of knowledge, were beneficial. Her interdisciplinary work then extended to heart research, where she helped prove that a class of protein receptors vital to cell growth and communication—integrins— are present in the adult brain. This was previously thought to be false. Two years after coming to the Honors College, Jones was appointed associate dean, and served in that capacity since 2002. During her tenure many of her influences and passions coalesced. Jones mentored and advised many students, particularly premeds and those interested in neuroscience. Extensive travel throughout her life has taught her that “you cannot pursue science without being global in outlook.” Consequently, she has encouraged students to study abroad. Broad-based learning—the crux of a liberal arts education—is important for those going to medical school, Jones believes, as well as for those who study neuroscience. She says that a broad education provides a measure of objectivity and scholarly ability: “The more I
can learn about anything and everything, the better a scientist I can be.” In other words, humanistic pursuits should inform the longterm goals of any doctor or scientist. One can see Jones’ outlook at work in the numerous projects she was involved with at the Honors College. First and foremost, she wanted to give students primary and authentic research experiences. She aided this endeavor at Carolina by helping to create the Office of Undergraduate Research, headed by Julie Morris, which helps students with travel grants, and provides select students with undergraduate research fellowships during junior year. She also helped coordinate the Summer Program for Research Interns at Carolina by recruiting mentors to train and provide research experience for select high school students. Finally, for five years, she served as mentor for students nominated for the Goldwater scholarship. Jones also facilitated the creation of numerous honors proseminars that emphasize interdisciplinary studies. She helped recruit professors to teach such diverse classes as Artists and Cadavers, and RNA and Disease Treatment, providing an outlet for students to explore topics that might not be available in other undergraduate courses. Jones helped create and subsequently taught honors classes such as Introduction to Neuroscience, Neurobiology of Culture, Introduction to Human Anatomy, and even Anatomy of Karate! Perhaps most important to Jones is her continued role as faculty advisor for the undergraduate neuroscience journal Impulse, which publishes neuroscience research by undergraduates online. Begun in 2003, the journal continues to grow, and this summer, she presented Impulse with current editor in chief Ben Goodlett in Australia at the annual meeting for the International Brain Research Organization. Jones deep understanding of education at the Honors College has helped immensely her many advisees, including this writer. Her students and colleagues in the Honors College are sad to bid her farewell. We do so, however, with every confidence that her future in medicine will continue to be rewarding. Every Honors College student who had Dr. Jones as an instructor knows that her profound enthusiasm for science will be contagious for many medical school students fortunate enough to study with her.
By Mark Sibley-Jones
Imagine a course description that tells students they’ll spend part of their classroom experience taking walking tours of Columbia. You know what spring is like in Columbia: magnolias in bloom, cool breezes, aromas of various plants and flowers. A class outside for much of the semester? Almost too good to be true. Imagine also that several students sign up for this most inviting course only to be told by their professor the first day of class that they will be burdened with more work than they’d bargained for. “In fact,” the professor says to her students, “before the end of the term, you’ll research and write papers, produce an online walking tour for Historic Columbia, and provide online contributions to ETV’s Road Trip Web site. You’ll also make historic markers for the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, and you’ll conduct a guided, public tour of the sites you study throughout the term.” Would you, the student, consider dropping the class? Would you feel you’d been hoodwinked? And how would you feel about a professor who had the gall to make you work that hard for a course not even within your major field of study? Award-winning news writer Claudia Smith Brinson dared to offer such a class for the Honors College last spring semester. Public History by Doing: Marking the African American Experience in the Midlands challenged students to research and write about individual sites, people, and stories of the Waverly community, whose historic district is bounded by Taylor, Harden, Gervais, and Assembly streets. The culmination of a semester’s work occurred on Saturday, April 21, one week
Left to right: Jeehan Yasin, Elias Peterson, Haden Choíníere, Tom Benning, Matthew Perry, Lomas Gist, Ashley Clay
before the end of the semester. Students and volunteers posted at 16 different historical sites in the Waverly community explained the historic, social, and political impact that Waverly citizens and organizations had on Columbia and throughout the Southeast. To those who took the self-guided walking tour, students handed out brochures and other information that they had prepared. Remarkably, every student who took the class and conducted the afternoon tour of Waverly said that Brinson’s class was one of the best they had at Carolina. Elias Peterson (’08) said, “This class should be offered every semester, and it should be a required course for every student regardless of major.” Tom Benning (’09) said, “A lot of classes advertise themselves as life-changing opportunities, but this class actually succeeded. I have a completely different perspective of Waverly. Now when I drive past the Waverly community, I don’t just see a bunch of buildings or another indistinguishable section of Columbia. I see courage, friendship, and inspiration, among other things. I feel a connection to a place I’ve never lived in and to people I’ve never met.” Benning and Peterson were moved by stories of Waverly residents who used the collective strength of their community to challenge the injustices of racism and thereby to transform their state and nation. Benning researched and wrote about John H. McCray, editor and publisher of The Lighthouse and Informer, an all-black newspaper, from 1941 to 1954. McCray wrote a regular column, “The Need for Changing,” promoting tolerance between blacks and whites. According to his widow, Carrie Allen McCray, her husband said
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Marking history: The story of Waverly
the weekly was published “so our people can have a voice and some means of getting along together.” McCray was also heavily involved in the founding of the Progressive Democratic Party, which organized blacks for voter registration and worked extensively with the NAACP to fight for equal rights. One of the more compelling statements Benning uncovered in his research came from Carrie McCray about her husband’s upbringing in Lincolnville, S.C. Mrs. McCray said, “He was the most unafraid person I ever knew. I asked him one time, ‘John, how did you get to be the way you are, that you are so unafraid?’ He said, ‘You know Carrie, I grew up in an all-black governed town. The mayor was black. The council was black. The head of the police—my father—was black. So I thought blacks ruled the world!’” Brinson offered the class believing it could provide service to Carolina students and to the community. She said the class allowed her to “put into play several convictions: 1) that college students should write for a larger audience than themselves and their teacher; 2) that the South Carolina history most of us know leaves out too many people and their stories (and that we have ended up with a false story of South Carolina as benign during the civil-rights era); 3) that writing for publication inherently offers students a better understanding of the requirements of clarity, grace, and awareness of audience; and 4) that service makes change possible for the giver as well as the recipient.” In a way that few college courses manage to do, this one immediately erected a bridge between the University and the community. “I hoped that they would grasp the power of stories and how important it is to catch these stories before they die with their owners,” Brinson said. “I believe the students will tell you their contacts with good people and their own hard work have transformed them, as a good education and community service can.” According to her students, Brinson accomplished all her objectives. Peterson said, “This class was unique because it combined two experiences not normally associated with undergraduate education: original research and writing for publication. It is the kind of class that makes me glad I picked Carolina’s Honors College over other top programs.”
James Gadsden Holmes IV Scholarship
Granddaughter explores life of man whom scholarship honors
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By Cecile S. Holmes
I never knew my paternal grandfather, James Gadsden Holmes IV, a 1903 graduate of South Carolina College, now the University of South Carolina. Born in Charleston in 1881, my grandfather died in 1942 at the age of 62. A few weeks later my father, James Gadsden Holmes V, left Columbia to complete U.S. Army training before going overseas to serve in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy during World War II. My father was only 22 when he lost his dad, but his love and admiration for him live on. That’s why my father, now 86, wanted to endow a scholarship in my grandfather’s memory. Indeed, one cannot measure my grandfather’s legacy by his short span of life. His dry wit, strong work ethic, business acumen, community spirit, and personal compassion left an indelible impression on family and friends. Though we never met, I feel like we had a relationship. When I was small, my dad attended church almost every Sunday. Then he stopped by the post office, picked up his business mail and went to his office at the company my grandfather founded, Columbia Office Supply Co. in downtown Columbia. My brother and I usually joined him. While my father slit open envelopes, we played hideand-seek under the watchful eye of my grandfather’s portrait, which always hung over my father’s desk. This man so beloved by my father and my grandmother wasn’t there in flesh, but in spirit. Looking up into his compassionate blue eyes, I would imagine he looked kindly on the antics of the grandchildren he never knew. My brother and I worked at Columbia Office Supply while in high school and college, but chose different fields as adults. I went into journalism, my brother into acting. But we learned important truths—including how to
treat others in the workplace and the value of a job well done— working at the firm my grandfather founded. When my father wanted to endow this scholarship, the South Carolina Honors College seemed the right choice. Both my dad and his father loved to read. Both loved languages, books, ideas, history, and other liberal arts. During my four years at Carolina, I majored in print journalism, but I studied within what was then the “Honors Program.” About three-fourths of my courses were liberal arts. Seventy-five years earlier in college, my grandfather was involved in everything. The college literary journals and yearbooks of his day—on file at the South Caroliniana Library—have only a few photographs. But looking through them, I recognize a “soul friend” in this grandfather I never knew. I found his name over and over in those publications. He was president of the Clariosophic Society, member and manager of the Dramatic Club, vice president of his junior
class, editor and business manager of The Carolinian (the yearbook), manager of the football team and president of the German Club. He graduated with a degree in modern literature, then worked for the Columbia Stamp and Seal Company. He also worked at a local bookstore run by The State newspaper. He met my grandmother there. Later, he founded Columbia Office Supply. “He was a great civic servant. He was the president of most everything. He was president of the Chamber of Commerce. He started the Community Chest, which is now the United Way,” my father recalls. My grandfather also was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church. He was an able storyteller who loved a good joke and an ace bartender who entertained friends by making fancy drinks. And he was a true Southerner of his era. Neither my dad nor a family friend ever recalls him being rude or mean to others. But my father stresses that his father was born and grew up at a time when white Southerners still smarted from the North’s defeat of Dixie.
James G. Holmes IV , fourth from left, en route to Saluda, N.C.
Scholarship recipient responds
James G. Holmes V, donor
James G. Holmes IV, 1942
“He just didn’t like Yankees very much,” my dad says. My grandfather left a legacy of love. His wife, Minnie Lee Farmer Holmes, never remarried. She lived to the ripe old age of 92, always speaking of her husband with love and laughter. Through her, I learned the true meaning of the word “family.” She lived for 20 years on Gibbes Court, next door to today’s Capstone residence hall, in a ground floor apartment. Woody and Virginia Woodruff lived upstairs. To me, they were “Uncle Woody” and “Aunt Virginia” in keeping with the Southern custom of addressing treasured family friends as relatives. Their daughter, Virginia Elizabeth Bowen, grew up in South Carolina and graduated from USC. Now a Virginia resident, she remembers my grandfather. “He was a dear man,” she recalls.
“My parents and I used to come visit from Georgetown when I was a little girl. He always made me feel so special. My parents would bring me in to see him at Columbia Office Supply. I was, maybe 6 or 7. And he’d always say, ’Now, do you have time to leave Virginia with me?’” Then the gentle businessman and the little girl, an only child, would walk downstairs. Together, they’d run Columbia Office Supply’s printing press. Then they’d stroll a couple of blocks for lunch, just the two of them. Cecile S. Holmes, a 1977 Carolina graduate, is an associate professor in the University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
When I opened the letter from the University, I was merely expecting to see yet more information about the South Carolina Honors College. But when I read that I had won a scholarship, I was ecstatic. Knowing that my family cannot afford to contribute any monetary support to my post-secondary educational pursuits, I am profoundly grateful to the Gadsden family for helping me in this time of need. This scholarship also gives me a feeling of accomplishment. After working arduously for 12 years to further my goals and passions, I feel that I am being honored for my hard work. Another way I see this scholarship is as an investment. I believe that the Gadsden family and the South Carolina Honors College are not only investing in my passion to make a better life for my family, but also in my pursuit to make the world a better place. I wish to help people, especially the sick and those who cannot help themselves. My desire to help people compels me to become a doctor. Whether I do medical research or become a heart surgeon, this monetary support goes a long way in assisting me to reach my goal. Not only does this award fund my education, but it also tells me that other people care about my education and want me to succeed. No words adequately express my gratitude to the Gadsden family for aiding me in my academic journey. Years from now, after I have graduated from the South Carolina Honors College and from medical school, and have established myself as a medical professional, I will remember the Gadsden family and hope that my efforts to aid others repay their generosity.
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Cecil Ballew, recipient of the James Gadsden Holmes IV Scholarship
A cultural fling Honors student gets the Ultimate opportunity
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By Emily Mitchell (2008)
Anna Handley’s world-class toss
A diving catch over the goal line
One day you’re taking a Latin American history exam, the next you’re on a plane to Italy to play in the Paganello World Beach Ultimate Cup. Only in the University of South Carolina Honors College could this seemingly impossible dream come true. And it happened to Anna Handley. Anna has been playing her favorite childhood game, “catch the bugs,” ever since she learned to walk. But when college came, and she was presented with a world of new experiences and possibilities, this childhood favorite just wasn’t enough. That’s when she first explored the fascinating subculture of Ultimate Frisbee. What is Ultimate Frisbee? On any given college campus, on a sunny day (or even a windy and/or rainy day, depending on the tenacity of the players) you will find a handful of students throwing around a flat disc-shaped object known as a Frisbee. Sometimes the throwing becomes intense and an organized game ensues. This game marks the distinction between “playing catch” (not to be confused with “catch the bugs”) and the well-loved club sport of Ultimate Frisbee. Ultimate is typically played 7 vs. 7 on grass or 5 vs. 5 on sand for Beach Ultimate. Players throw the disc to each other up the field to the end zone. When a team successfully catches the disc in the end zone, they are awarded one point. The first team to score 15 points wins. Illegal activities include running with the disc, touching other players in a violent manner, eyegouging, using obscene language to distract the other team, and insinuating that Ultimate Frisbee is in any way inferior to other sports. All of these activities are OK off the field, except of course for the last one. The official Paganello tournament magazine describes Ultimate Frisbee as the best possible combination of all other
Team’s celebration (Anna second row, second from left)
Anna joined what she now calls her “South African family” when she studied social anthropology at the University of Cape Town in the fall of ’06. “You can’t be an anthropologist without getting to know the local people,” she said. When the opportunity came to do more than engage in conversation—indeed, to join an Ultimate Frisbee team of local South Africans—she jumped. After spending six months in another country and forming international friendships, Anna left Cape Town, wondering if she would ever see her new friends again. But in March of ’07, just three months after she had said goodbye to her South African home indeterminately, she received a phone call from Dr. Ed Munn Sanchez, an associate dean of the Honors College, saying that several of the faculty had heard about her opportunity to participate in the World Beach Ultimate Cup with her South African Frisbee team. Apparently the dean of the Honors College is an Ultimate Frisbee fanatic, so the college offered to send her to the tournament. All she had to do was to get the details from her Frisbee team, and the OK from her professors to miss a week of school. There began the long journey from South Africa to Italy. It’s a 19-hour plane ride from Cape Town to Rimini, but Anna’s venture was much more significant than a quick climate change. While studying in South Africa, she says she learned to “see the U.S. from outside the U.S.” Immersed in another culture, she was able to view her own more critically. She also learned some of the more difficult lessons about poverty and justice, the kind that most college stu-
dents prefer to ignore in favor of a night with their X-Box and a case of Bud Light. One of the most challenging realities Anna faced was in the township of Nyanga, where she volunteered with a University-sponsored public health education program. In South Africa, townships were created under the apartheid government as a place on the outskirts of the city to relocate “colored” people, as designated by the government’s classification system. The houses in these towns are made of scraps of metal gathered to form what appears to be a temporary lean-to. But the people living in these communities are anything but temporary. Due to economic hardships and the strain of everyday living, most people born in townships die in townships. Although they are legally considered “equal” to all other South Africans, township residents still suffer the effects of the government’s decision that not too long ago they were ancillary to mainstream society. Now, they must find ways to escape the hardships of their strenuous lives. That’s why Derrick and Asanda began to play Frisbee at the age of 10. A South African coach developed a Frisbee team for 10-year-old boys from the township of Khayalitsha, in an attempt to divert youthful and idle energies away from the temptation of gangs and street violence. Derrick and Asanda, now 16 and 18 years old, respectively, are considered two of the best Ultimate Frisbee players in South Africa. They were able to participate in the Paganello Tournament because of the generosity of the other South African Frisbee players. Donations were collected to send these talented young men on their first plane and their first trip outside of their country. Anna said, “Our team bid was likely accepted because we were the only team from Africa to enter the tournament. But we’re more than just ‘that team from Africa no one has heard of before,’” as her team was often referred to by the veteran teams. “We are Jika Majika, an eclectic family of Africans that has found common ground.” That common ground is the great sport of Ultimate Frisbee which, while superficially a lighthearted pastime for idle college students, is more deeply a means for international understanding, friendship, equality, and of course, the Ultimate human desire to compete and party with thousands of other Frisbee fanatics.
f e a t u r e | 11
sports, requiring “the cutting of basketball, the passing of football, the running of soccer, the precision of baseball, the hand-eye coordination of tennis, and the athleticism of polo with the total body control of dance-sport.” And dance they did. Perhaps the most valued aspect of Ultimate Frisbee is the “Spirit of the Game.” Because Ultimate Frisbee is self-officiated, this maxim encourages fairness in competition. If a dispute arises between two players, there is no objective official, and it is up to the players involved to work out a solution. As with nearly all competitions, sometimes the desire to win can overpower the spirit of friendship between players. One way to emphasize the idea of good sportsmanship and calm nerves from a heated game is to reaffirm camaraderie among all Frisbee players through post-game rituals. After a fair game of soccer or basketball, the teams usually line up to tell each other, “well done,” or, “good game,” occasionally handing out high fives. For the Ultimate Frisbee players at Paganello, however, this congratulatory ceremony is not enough. After every game at the tournament, the two opposing teams got together in a group to talk about the good and bad aspects of the recently played match. Afterward, each team shared a part of their culture while showing appreciation for the other team. Anna’s team donned large rain boots and performed and taught a traditional African boot dance, reflecting their team name, Jika Majika, which is Zulu slang for bend or dance.
Honors College travel courses create lasting memories s t u d y a b r o a d | 12
By Jim Clark
A great Honors College travel course has at least four interactive parts—visiting fascinating places, participating in enjoyable activities, making valuable connections with local citizens, and reflecting upon the journey taken. These fundamental elements combine to create wonderful and powerful memories, and the experiences gleaned along the way often cause permanent changes in a student’s worldview. In May 2007, Honors College students participated in travel courses led by experienced faculty and had the opportunity to learn about the world in unique settings including Morocco, Romania, Poland, and Germany. Our students and trip leaders shared the following experiences:
Morocco Students camped in the desert in southeastern Morocco and rode camels in the shifting sand dunes. Honors College students rose in the early morning to watch a spectacular sunrise in the desert near the village of Merzouga. Participating in Arabic and English conversation groups and experiencing local culture and typical home life with a Moroccan family were major highlights. Students have identified living with native families as one of their most rewarding study abroad experiences. This brief visit often leads to the formation of lasting friendships.
Romania Our students communicated and socialized with Romanian high school students who were enrolled in the international service-learning program. Honors College students taught sessions in several high schools on a variety of topics such as leadership, globalization, and
Honors College students and group leaders gather at the Mathias Corvinus statue in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
entrepreneurship. Extracurricular activities included bowling, paddle boating, and dancing—ordinary pursuits that resulted in the breakdown of cultural barriers and the start of new connections. Romanian historical sites included centuries old painted churches. Many students were impressed by the detailed frescoes and the radiant blue color on the outer walls of the Voronet Monastery. Students also enjoyed touring Bran Castle, more commonly known as Dracula’s Castle, near the city of Brasov in central Romania. Visiting the city of Sibiu, which has been designated as a European Capital of Culture for 2007, the group arrived in the city just in time to see a fireworks show and outdoor con-
cert. The multitude of exciting activities and events in this appealing city created a very positive impression.
Poland and Germany The immersion in history was memorable. Visiting historical sites associated with Nazi Germany is a powerful experience that cannot be duplicated in a regular classroom setting. After the trip, several Honors College students expressed a strong interest in continuing their study of the Holocaust. Upon reflection on his visits to the sites of former German Nazi concentration and extermination camps, including AuschwitzBirkenau, Treblinka, and Majdanek, Honors College student Jonathan Tomberg wrote that
Minority Honors Student Union
Honors College student Emily Burns walks through the Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw, Poland.
Honors College students enjoy a camel ride into the desert in southeast Morocco.
“visiting these death camps and remembering the once thriving community of European Jews was an experience that I will carry with me forever.” In the Honors College, one of our goals is to create valuable educational travel experiences for an increasing number of students. If you are interested in helping to provide financial support for travel courses, please contact our development office at 803-777-7511.
Early in the fall semester of 2006, I began meeting with students to discuss how to better recruit minorities into the Honors College. Soon these discussions took on a life of their own as students determined that there was more than just recruitment to be done, and decided that the time was right for a minority student organization for the college. By spring semester the Minority Honors Student Union was born. The MHSU has gotten off to a fast start. In the spring 2007 semester MHSU members organized a game night for potential minority transfers, organized a panel of students to speak at the college minority recruitment reception, and gave me invaluable help in recruiting students into the college. With their help the Honors College was able to increase the number of minority transfers into the college and continue the process of making the South Carolina Honors College a destination of choice for high-achieving minority students. The founding officers of the MHSU are Tameka Porter, president; Chuck Redmond,
vice president; Paige Fennell, secretary; Stephan Mitnaul, treasurer; Sierra Carter, public relations coordinator. Last May, officers for 2007– 2008 were elected. These are Fennell, president; Mitnaul, vice president; Carter, secretary; Ricky Evans, treasurer; and Redmond, public relations coordinator. The goals of the MHSU are varied and include helping with the recruitment of qualified minority students into South Carolina Honors College, encouraging the development of a strong minority community in the college, advising the college on issues of importance to the college’s minority students, serving as mentors to entering minority students, and developing programs of all types that reflect the concerns of our SCHC students. The MHSU is officially a subcommittee of the Honors Council and is open to any student with an interest in participating. Students who would like more information should contact Fennell at Fennell@mailbox.sc.edu. I would also be happy to answer questions about the MHSU and can be contacted ed@schc.sc.edu.
Chuck Redmond, publicity and honors council liaison; Ricky Evans, treasurer; Paige Fennel, president; Steven Mitnaul, vice president; Sierra Carter, secretary; and some other members of the MHSU
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By Dr. Ed Munn Sanchez, Associate Dean, SCHC
Senior thesis explorations feat ure | 14
By Shawn Campbell (‘09), Jennifer Brackett (‘08), Shelley Price (‘08)
Since fall semester 1989, all SCHC students, regardless of major, have been required to complete a Senior Thesis/Project in order to graduate “with Honors from the South Carolina Honors College.” Students are encouraged to regard the thesis not so much as a requirement, but rather as an opportunity to draw the undergraduate learning experience together and to express the quality of their intellectual development. The Senior Thesis/Project should be something to which students can point with great pride and satisfaction, and which they may show to potential graduate or professional schools and employers as an example of their finest work. To provide examples of interesting possibilities that may be explored, three Honors College students—Jennifer Brackett, Shelley Price, and Shawn Campbell—spoke with some of their peers about their senior thesis projects. Two of those projects are currently under way; one was completed last May. Jacob John working on skeleton
Cadaverous Interests Jennifer Brackett learned that Jacob John has a rather unusual senior thesis: He’s building an armature of the human skeleton out of scrap metal. A chemical engineer and pre-med student in the Honors College, Jacob could have opted to use his chemical engineering senior project as his senior thesis. His friends say he’s taking on too much extra work by doing both. But Jacob says, “I thought it would be more fun and interesting to do something extra. It’s something I enjoy doing, so the extra time and work isn’t a burden.” This project idea was born out of Jacob’s love of cars and metal fabrication. His experience restoring old automobiles helps him
imagine ways of fitting the armature together. The primary focus of the project for Jacob is that the skeleton be made entirely of scrap metal. He isn’t going to create any piece. Rather, he collects metal pieces from junkyards and along railroad tracks. “Sometimes railroad cars carry scrap metal, and pieces fall out. So I can find some useful stuff that way,” Jacob says. Jacob fuses everything together with a mig welder. So far, he has collected a lot of scrap metal and built a mini skeleton, about a foot and a half tall, as a test case. His thesis director is Deanna Leamon of the art department.
From Oak Ridge to Hiroshima: Building and Detonation of a Bomb Shelley Price discovered in an interview with Emily Mitchell (’08) that an honors thesis may be inspired by the conjunction of a University class and personal experience. Such is the case for Emily Mitchell, a McNair Scholar and senior math/religious studies double major in the South Carolina Honors College. A native of Oak Ridge, Tenn., Emily was deeply touched by a required reading of John Hersey’s Hiroshima for the course Religion and Existentialism in her sophomore year. From a cathartic emotional experience was born the idea of her senior thesis: a memoir of her journey to
Senior Thesis Timetable First semester Junior Year Begin thinking of a topic and exploring whom you would want your Senior Thesis/Project director to be. This is time to think about areas in which you want to do advanced study, and to look for people on campus to help you with your research.
accept and acknowledge the historical significance of Oak Ridge, with its unusual burden of 140,000 Japanese deaths, and finding within this process a new definition of her own relationship with her beloved hometown. As part of her thesis, Emily will travel this December to Hiroshima, where she will attempt to comprehend the effects of the Manhattan Project on a personal level. What will happen when the emotional life jacket offered by the distance created by dry statistics and censored photographs in history books is gone? How does one reconcile pride in the uniqueness of a hometown and the horror caused half a world away by the product of that uniqueness? In her research, Emily Mitchell will wrestle with these impossible questions. “What she discovers,” says her director, Dr. Mark SibleyJones, “will surely yield a fascinating thesis.”
Thesis Completed Shawn Campbell (’09) interviewed Terrill Wilkins (’07), who completed his thesis last May. SC: What was the title of your thesis? TW: Nation in Exile: An Historical Analysis of the First Palestinian Intifada, 1967–1987 SC: How did you come up with the topic for your thesis? TW: After taking a class on the history of the modern Middle East, my director, Dr. Ken Perkins (who happened to be the instructor of the course) and I decided it would be best to cover a topic that I hadn’t learned about in great detail from the class SC: What was the hardest part of completing your thesis? TW: Maintaining the discipline to complete the reading and research portion of the proj-
ect. Once the writing began, there was a tangible end in sight so it was much easier to remain motivated to continue. SC: Is there any one piece of advice you would give to someone as they are coming up with or in the beginning stages of their thesis, now that you have completed yours? TW: Plan ahead, and make sure to do this in conjunction with your director. The most helpful tool in completing the thesis successfully was having my director be accessible enough to meet with me on a bimonthly basis. This is beneficial because at the defense, the director enters into it knowing how much you have put into the project. Many of my peers only had one or two meetings with their directors all semester; and, as a result, they did not have the advantage of getting feedback on their work until after the thesis defense. Moral of the story: find a director who is willing to play an active role in this learning experience with you! SC: Do you feel completing the thesis was worth the effort, in the end? TW: Most definitely, yes. Having the opportunity to essentially construct my own course, research a topic I cared about, and create an end product that was truly my own work will be something I will always carry with me. It definitely made me feel that my graduation from the Honors College was genuinely earned. For those of you interested in meeting Terrill Wilkins and asking him a few questions of your own, he will be back as a graduate assistant for the Honors College next year, so stop by and say hello.
By fall break/spring break, depending on which semester you plan to enroll in SCCC 390Z, you will have needed to turn in your SCCC 390Z pre-enrollment form to the Honors College. By the end of the second eight-week period, you will have refined your Senior Thesis/Project topic, and named your second reader.
Senior Year Students normally enroll in SCCC 499 the beginning of their senior year and therefore give themselves two semesters to work on their thesis/project. Whenever you plan to enroll in SCCC 499, you will need to turn in the Senior Thesis contract form to the director of Student Services by the end of the first week of classes to ensure that you are enrolled in this course on time.
Senior Thesis/Project Defense You should plan to defend your Senior Thesis/Project in early April or early November to give yourself enough time to correct any problems with your work. Notify the director of Student Services three workdays prior to your defense.
After the Defense You will need to turn in your final copy/ copies of your Senior Thesis/Project to the director of Student Services by the end of the month that you intend to graduate from Carolina. You will need to make sure that the director of Student Services gets paper copies to be bound and an electronic copy of your Senior Thesis/Project. For more detailed information about thesis requirements, students should see “Senior Thesis Information” on the Honors College Web site.
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Second semester Junior Year
class n otes | 16
Class notes
70s
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William C. Floyd (1976) won the $3,000 grand prize in New Carolina’s “New Ideas for New Carolina Business Idea Competition” in the award ceremony at the 2007 ThinkTEC Innovation Summit held at Trident Technical College in Charleston, S.C., on May 7. Floyd is the proprietor and director of research and product development of AQUES Chemical Consulting Group, LLC, based in Chester, S.C. His business idea was titled, “Environmentally Friendly Fluorochemical Reactants.” In addition to the prize money, Floyd will receive a “Dream Team” of mentors to help guide commercialization of his idea, and tuition to a New Carolina entrepreneurial workshop. Prototype samples are already under evaluation in customer labs.
Dr. Dan Sansbury (1977) was elected moderator of the Presbytery of East Tennessee for 2007. After serving two pastorates in North Carolina, he has been the senior pastor of Rivermont Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga since 1991.
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80s
Donna Marie Beals (1981) won the 2007 ASTM International Harlan J. Anderson Award for her outstanding contributions to Committee C26 on Nuclear Fuel Cycle. An ASTM International member since 1995, Beals is recording secretary for the C26 main committee, and also serves on Committees D19 on Water and E54 on Homeland Security Applications. Beals is a fellow scientist at the Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, S.C.
Liz Lucas Reynolds (1987), formerly the director of public affairs for Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, has joined the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies as state affairs manager for the southeastern United States. She advocates on behalf of NAMIC member companies before state legislatures and departments of insurance in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Liz and husband Michael moved from Indianapolis to Jacksonville recently so she could be based in her region.
90s
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Susan (Nesbitt) Ward (1990) and Susanne (Fisher) Leland (1990): “We spent 10 days together in Japan this summer—accompanied by respective husbands William (Carolina 1992) and David—celebrating 20 years since
we two girls met as freshman honors students.”
4th/5th Grade ALERT at Bethel Hanberry Elementary.
Emily Nabors, (1994, MD), was
Norm Jones (2002) completed his
selected Business Woman of the Year by the state of North Carolina in 2006. She was presented the honor in March 2007.
Master of Divinity at Duke University in May and was commissioned in June as a probationary elder in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. He began his first appointment in July serving as a pastor to four churches in Lilesville, N.C. Recently Norm was selected to participate in the “First Parish Project,” a two-year program for developing pastoral leadership among beginning clergy funded by the Lilly Endowment. He and Kathryn Blackwell met through the United Methodist Scandinavian Caravan Mission in 2001, and married in June 2006. Kathryn is entering her fourth year teaching elementary education and will serve as an ESL specialist for Anson County Schools.
Sarah F. Robertson (1994) has become a shareholder of McNair Law Firm, P.A. Sarah’s practice areas are real estate, corporate, and business law.
Candace Kaiser Perry (1998) and Callee Kaiser Boulware (2000) have launched The Kaiser Group, a firm offering a host of support services to small businesses and nonprofits. The Kaiser Group is off and running, supporting clients from across South Carolina in their endeavors. Candace and Callee, sisters, worked together while students at the South Carolina Honors College as co-counselors at the Adventures in Creativity summer camp, and continue to enjoy working together today in their new venture. Callee, married with a 1-year-old daughter, received her MBA from the Moore School of Business, as well as her Master of Mass Communications in integrated communications from Carolina. Candace, married with children of the canine variety, holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Honors College. Find The Kaiser Group online at: www.kaisergrouponline.com.
00s
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Callee Kaiser Boulware (2000): See Candace Kaiser Perry (90s) Molly Joy Smith was born on Jan. 19, 2007, to Christal Smith (2000) and husband Marshall. Christal Smith is a National Board Certified Teacher,
Bobbie Wofford (2004, JD/IMBA 2009) married C.P. Kanwat (MPH, 2002), in Delhi, India, on Dec. 14, 2006. They celebrated with a trip to C.P.’s native home in Rajasthan, India, then returned to Columbia to continue the celebration with other family and friends.
Please send us a class note (see next page). We want to know what you are doing.
The following honors courses are offered for the first time during the fall 2007 semester. Islamic Women’s Movement
September 28–29 Homecoming Weekend
The Anthropology of Sex The Great War in Literature Literary Creation and Literary Marketplace Southern Writers and the West Technology, Society, and the Environment Catastrophe: Risk, Communication, and Ethics Aristotle: A Biological Philosopher
28 Association of Honors Alumni Homecoming Brunch, Carolina Room, Inn at USC, 10 a.m.–noon (contact Mark SibleyJones at alumni@schc.sc.edu for information)
October
21 SCHC Parents’ Picnic, Historic Horseshoe, 12:30–2 p.m.
December
18 University commencement
18 Honors College revocation ceremony (for graduating seniors; contact Laura Mewbourn at laura@schc.sc.edu for information)
Pass us a note ... a class note! Please send us your professional or personal news. (Remember, we love photos, and we’ll send them back to you after publication.) Class notes and photos may be submitted online. Visit http://schc.sc.edu and click on “Alumni,” or fill out the form below and return it to AHA!, S.C. Honors College, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208; fax to 803-777-2214; or e-mail to alumni@schc.sc.edu. Name Year of Graduation Address City State ZIP Phone Is this a new address or phone number? ❏ Yes ❏ No E-mail address May we publish your e-mail address? ❏ Yes ❏ No
Write your news below (please add a sheet of paper if you need more room).
c o u r s e s a n d d a t e s | 17
New seminars offered
Mark your calendar
$10,000
gi f t s | 18
The South Carolina Honors College wishes to thank all donors who made gifts in 2006. When I took on the role of dean of the South Carolina Honors College, I knew I would be leading one of the finest institutions of learning in the country. I quickly learned that the Honors College is also blessed with a myriad of alumni and donors who are devoted to our students and the exceptional education we provide them. It is not often that one has the opportunity to share one’s passion with such a large and wonderful community, and I am humbled each day by your boundless kindness. Davis Baird Dean
The Canal Charitable Foundation Mr. William H. Duncan Mr. James G. Holmes
$1,000–$9,999 Mr. and Mrs. James E. Hardy Mr. and Mrs. Kent L. Hayes Mr. Stephen D. Hibbard Mr. and Mrs. Gerard Hunziker Dr. and Mrs. James C. Karegeannes Dr. William R. Keane Mr. and Mrs. Gary R. McLaren Mr. T. Daniel Silvester Mr. and Mrs. Edward M. Simmons Jr. Mr. Gary C. Stork Witt/Hoey Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Thomas O. Woodbury
$500–$999 Mr. Trent L. Arnold Dr. Davis W. Baird Mr. Dennis Black The Boeing Company Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Daigle Mr. Bradley D. Flaaen Ms. Sarah Gluek and Mr. Gregory R. Smith Mr. Phillip J. Goodman Mr. Fred M. Goolsby Ms. Lauren E. Griswold Mrs. Sandra S. Honaker Dr. James P. Jamison Mr. Neil McCaskill Jr. Merck Company Foundation Mr. and Mrs. William Andrew Minton Sr. Ms. Julia C. Royall Mr. Larry A. Slovensky Mr. Jerry F. Wells Jr.
$250–$499 Mr. and Mrs. Sotirios D. Basilakos Mr. Steven Beckham Dr. Thomas R. Bolt Dr. Wilson W. Bryan The Reverend Marcus C. Burch Dr. Nioaka N. Campbell Ms. Lori F. Copeland Mr. and Mrs. Donald L. Crain Mr. Frank Deloache The Duke Energy Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Floyd B. Hale Mrs. Nancy Elizabeth Hardwick Colonel and Mrs. D. Mark Husband
The Honorable Charles B. Hutto Dr. Laura Barnette Jackson Mr. John E. Johnson Dr. Theresa Fanning Knoepp Mr. Gordon K. Mantler Dr. Michael Patrick O’Donnell Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Oleson Dr. John J. Osborn Mr. and Mrs. Dilip C. Patel Ms. Karen Petit Dr. William M. Rambo Jr. Ms. Mary Lucy Reep Ms. Marguerite Scriven Mr. Timothy D. Sinclair Mrs. Chappell Suber Wilson
$100–$249 Mr. Ashley B. Abel Dr. Paul M. Aitchison Mrs. Carol D. Allen Dr. and Mrs. William D. Anderson Jr. Anonymous Ms. A. Lorraine Aun and Dr. Pierre H. Barakat Ms. Mary Alice Barth Ms. Suzanne H. Bauknight Mrs. Allyn P. Bedenbaugh Mr. and Mrs. Ray C. Bell Jr. Mrs. Kimberly D.C. Benjamin Mrs. Novella F. Beskid Mr. Kyle S. Braxton Mr. G. James Burns Ms. Jennifer I. Campbell Ms. Melissa E. Cargnino Mrs. Mary Grace Clayton Mr. and Mrs. David B. Clement Comcast Corporation Mr. Brian A. Comer Ms. Catherine Linder Conte Mr. and Mrs. William Swaffield Cowan Mr. and Mrs. E. Jeffrey Dinkins Dr. and Mrs. Walter James Douglass Ms. Lori Clos Fisher Ms. Hilda W. Flamholtz Ms. Anne Macon Flynn Mr. Woodward Holland Folsom IV Dr. Harold W. French Mrs. Janet M. Gallagher Mr. and Mrs. Steven A. Ghelardini Mr. and Mrs. Mark Dwight Glenn Ms. Minnie Goodwin Glymph Mrs. Angela K. Gorman Dr. Mary L. Gossett Mrs. Lynne B. Hansen Ms. Anna Maria Hatfield
Dr. Laura J. Herrell Ms. Kathryn Hill Mrs. Maura Kurtz Hodge Dr. F.H. Hodges Mr. Alexander Hray Jr. Mrs. Katharine M. Hubbard Mr. Joseph I. Hungate III Ms. Heather C. Janney Mr. and Mrs. Randy H. Jenkins Mr. Gerald Craig Jepson Mr. Matthew W. Jochim Mr. Dale C. Johannesmeyer Ms. Julye Johns Ms. Elizabeth P. Johnson Ms. Joanne M. Johnson Mr. Wayne D. Johnson Jr. Mrs. Colleen Parry Jones Mrs. Amy Gray Jordan Mr. and Mrs. G.L. Kalinauskas Mr. William J. Kent III Dr. Maribeth B. Kowalski Mr. and Mrs. John G. Krah Dr. Joyce P. Lamb and Mr. Clifford Lamb Mrs. Kimberly Buckner Land Ms. Sharon M. Lemasters Mr. Eric Andrew Liebetrau Mr. and Mrs. Jason Wendell Lockhart Ms. Della Jo Marshall Ms. Kathy J. McKinless Dr. Ronald E. Miller Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Vincent P. Mooney Mrs. Patricia Lockhart Morrissey Dr. Emily M. Nabors Ms. Mariana Rush Lowry Neil Mr. Bryce A. Nelson Mr. Edward F. Nolan Jr. Ms. Lindsay Walker Ormsby Mrs. Carolyn A. Osborne Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Paolini Dr. Frederick B. Piellusch Mrs. Patricia A. Pigg Dr. Dennis A. Pruitt Sr. Ms. Kathleen L. Raschiotto and Mr. James Randall Hall Mr. Stephen M. Rawson Mr. Benjamin H. Rex Dr. James F. Riddle Ms. Tracy T. Rinehart Mrs. Sarah F. Robertson Dr. Mary Cicero Romanic Dr. Anna Mashburn Rouse Dr. Patrick G. Scott Mrs. Dale A. Shadden Mrs. Vandy J. Shrader Mrs. Courtney A. Shytle Mr. and Mrs. Frank Siberio Ms. Lisabeth D. Sisk Ms. Tracy L. Skipper Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Maxwell Skvoretz Dr. Frank K. Sloan Jr.
Up to $99 Mr. Steven M. Abbott Mr. Dewey Stanlee Adams Mrs. Laurie M. Addy Mr. Brian U. Adler Dr. Samuel G. Agnew Mr. Sean F. Altekruse Dr. Rafael C. Alvarado Captain Ernest G. Anastos Mr. Anthony S. Anderson Mrs. Melissa Anderson Bank of America Mr. Stephen R. Barber Mrs. Rachel Moyle Beanland Mrs. Carol Danner Benfield Dr. Carl T. Bergren Mr. Robert Alan Bernstein Ms. Debra J. Boulware Ms. Susan O. Bradley Mr. John C. Braun Mrs. Victoria G. Breeden Ms. Peggy S. Breeland Mr. Lam B. Britton Mr. Benjamin James Bryan Ms. Kimberly Jan Bryson Mr. John Campbell Mr. Kevin Cannon Mr. Shawn A. Carey Dr. Emily S. Carlisle Mr. Alex Wendell Carmical Mr. Patrick W. Carr
Ms. Susan Cecile Cate Dr. Suzette Surratt Caudle and Mr. Michael Caudle Mrs. Lynn B. Chandler Dr. Sheri C. Christensen Mrs. Janet Coggins Mr. and Mrs. David M. Cohn Mr. T. Charles Conrad III Mrs. Carolina L. Cooper Mrs. and Ms. Stephanie Cooper-Lewter Mr. Joseph S. Cope Mr. Brian Corley Mr. Glenn M. Cornwell Dr. Frankie Elizabeth Crain Dr. John David Culbertson Ms. Carol Tuggle Cutright Mr. Daniel Richard D’Alberto Mr. Konstantinos Gus T. Deligiannidis Mr. Mark Elliott Dicus Mr. and Mrs. Daniel A.S. D’ippolito Ms. Pamme L. Eades Ms. Catherine B. Emrick Ms. Tali Engoltz Ms. Dorothy M. Feeney Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Feeney Mrs. Mary Ann B. Fey Ms. Sheila S. Fitts Mr. Aaron Benjamin Flaaen Mrs. Sarah T. Fletcher Mrs. Teresa Wilson Florence Dr. Philip Dunne Flynn IV Dr. R. Dean Foreman Ms. Fiona Fornwalt Mr. Eddie M. Foust Mr. and Mrs. James H. Fowles III Mrs. Shari L. Freed Mrs. Kathryn G. Furr Mr. Jonathan Gardner Mrs. Laura Doyle Gates Ms. Marie C. Gilbert Mrs. Rita Lillian Gladstone Dr. and Mrs. Gene D. Godbold Mr. Mark B. Goddard Mrs. Debra L. Gordon Mr. M. Ryan Graham Ms. Anne M. Graybill Ms. Kristen K. Greene Ms. Vicki L. Grooms Mrs. Jean P. Hall Mr. Jeffrey B. Hallford Mr. Samuel F. HamiltonPoore Mrs. Susan R. Haney Ms. Carissa E. Hansford Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Hardaway Mr. Jeffrey D. Hartsell Mr. Willis E. Haselden III Mrs. Juanita C. Hawfield
Ms. Diane C. Hazelrigg Mr. and Mrs. Thomas P. Henry Dr. Jennifer Hess Mr. Timothy Lawrence Hewson Ms. Diana J. Heyward Mrs. Ruth Higson Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Hogan Mrs. Shannon M. Holley Dr. Anita Shah Hood Ms. Victoria A. Hood Ms. Debbie Kile Hotchkiss Mr. Kevin P. Hutchens Ms. Elizabeth B. Hutto Ms. Suzanne A. Hyman Mr. L. Glen Inabinet Mrs. Lauren B. Inabinet Cdr. Alice Mobley Jacobson, United States Navy Retired Ms. Brenda Jaffe Mr. Marshall S. James Mr. and Mrs. Wesley K. James Mrs. Anne H. Jarriel Ms. Autumn Ford Jennings Dr. Robert Neill Johnson III Ms. Kelly McPherson Jolley Ms. Helen D. Jones Mr. Norman Ernest Jones Jr. Dr. Prashanth J. Kamath Mr. Robert A. Kamphaus Ms. Meredith A. Kane Mr. Jack H. Kee III Mrs. Jill Timms Keefer Mr. Stephen William Keller Knight Ridder, Inc. Mr. John Edward Kouns Dr. and Mrs. Richard M. Learner Mr. E. Allen Leslie Dr. Judy H. Lui Mrs. Maria Feliciano Mackovjak Ms. Alexa Noelle Maddox Mrs. Casey Bonds Martin Mrs. Leslie K. Martin Ms. Delane Maxwell Mrs. Kathleen C. McKinney Ms. Dale H. McMahan Mr. Kyle J. Meetze Dr. Robert E. Meyer Mr. Marty R. Millender Mrs. Christine P. Mobley Mr. William Pendleton Moore Mr. Jeffrey A. Moran Mrs. Stephanie S. Morris Mr. William S. Morris Ms. Lucille P. Mould Mrs. Brooke Barnett and Mr. Thomas C. Mould Dr. Edward C. Munn and Ms. Susan M. Carstensen Ms. Lucy A. Nolan Ms. Bethany R. O’Hara Mrs. Rolfe G. Olsen
Mrs. Beverly Baker Padgett Ms. Ashley L. Paige Mr. Marcus A. Parker III Mr. Kashmira A. Patel Ms. Gwendolyn L. Pearson Mrs. Patricia G. Pegram Ms. Patricia M. Petty Dr. George T. Postic Philip T. Powell, Ph.D. Dr. Davis Powers III Mr. and Mrs. Andrew J. Pozdol Ms. Claire Harley Prince Mrs. Ann A. Prohoniak Mr. Brandon F. Pugh Ms. Sarah Quick Ms. Jennifer A. Rainman Mr. Ben A. Rast Mr. and Mrs. Rodger D. Repp Ms. Jenny L. Rieck Mr. Robert M. Riley Rinehart Realty Mrs. Cindy M. Robertson Mrs. Vilinda E. Rodermund Mrs. Virginia H. Rogers Mr. Steven C. Rohan Mr. Keven Gisbert Ruby Lcdr. Robert B. Scearce II Mr. and Mrs. James A. Schmalz Science Applications Int’l Corp. Mrs. Margaret W. Sedgwick Mr. Billy W. Self III Dr. Harry F. Sharp III Mrs. Susan S. Sharpe Ms. Monika Lain Shaw Mr. and Mrs. K. Trent Shealy Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Sibert Mr. Justin Lance Simmons Ms. Kerry Michelle Sims Ms. Terra L. Slaton Mrs. Cynthia S. Smith Dr. Rebecca S. Smith Dr. Sally Wilson Smith Mr. Adam R. Snyder Mr. James T. Soniat Du Fossat Mr. Daniel A. South Ms. Virginia A. Spallek Mr. and Mrs. Mitchel L. Spence Ms. Lynn Matthews Steckel Mrs. Patricia S. Stephens Dr. Randall W. Stowe Mrs. Jessica Sullivan Mrs. Zuka S. Sumer Mrs. Kate Magoffin Sutton Ms. Michelle Sutton Mrs. Patricia K. Tanner Mr. John G. Taylor Dr. Summer S. Taylor Mr. Thomas J. Taylor Ms. Jennifer Leigh Tomlinson Ms. Celeste Toole Mrs. Brenda P. Trogdon
Ms. Mindy Shipp Upton Ms. Elizabeth Hadden Verant Ms. Heather Anne Wake Mrs. Jacquelyn Price Warrington Ms. Catherine S. Watson Dr. William A. Webster IV Mrs. Megan Blythe Westmeyer Mr. Bradley A. Weston Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. White Ms. Grace J. Wigal Mr. Jeffrey D. Wildes Mr. E. Jacob Will Jr. Ms. Danielle F. Williams Mr. and Mrs. John R. Wilson Ms. Caroline L. Winter Mr. and Mrs. Greg Wolfe Ms. Rachael T. Zweigoron
Care has been taken in the preparation of the report to assure complete and accurate recording. However, if omissions or errors have occurred, we express our sincere regret and request that you bring such errors to our attention.
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Mr. Mike E. Slovensky Mr. and Mrs. Dean S. Smith Mr. Joseph P. Smith Sonoco Foundation Ms. Sarah Springer Stowe Mr. Carl B. Strange Jr. Mrs. Carolyn R. Taylor Mr. John Michael Teal Jr. Mrs. Janet Teuber Ms. Sigrid C. Thompson Ms. Nicole L. Thorpe Dr. Brian C. Turner Dr. and Mrs. James F. Turner Ms. Renee Van De Griend Mr. and Mrs. John J. Vanderwood Wachovia Foundation Mr. Darryl J. Wade Mr. Joseph D. Walker Mr. Kevin Wallace Ms. Susan N. Ward Mr. William Britton Watkins Dr. Mary Catherine Watzin Mr. James G. Welborn Maj. John W. Welker Ms. Katherine D. Whitt Mr. Bradley D. Williams Mr. and Mrs. Glenn R. Williams Dr. Julie Wilson Lemmon and Mr. Jeremy Ryan Lemmon Mrs. Jeannine M. Winkley Ms. Juliette D. Wood
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AHA! is the official newsletter of the South Carolina Honors College and is published twice yearly for alumni, students, parents, and other members of the South Carolina Honors College community. Managing Editor: Mark Sibley-Jones Copy Editor: Susan Nesbitt Ward (1990) To reach us: 803-777-8102 or alumni@schc.sc.edu Alumni Correspondents: Susan Nesbitt Ward (1990) Student Correspondents: Jennifer Brackett (2008) Shawn Campbell (2009) Shelley Price (2008)
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