Ole Miss Alumni Review - Winter 2009

Ole Miss AluMni Review

A

l

u

M

n

i

R

e

v

i

e

w Winter 2009

Rebelettes make it to the big leagues Former quarterback leads national marketing team

winteR 2009 vOl. 58 n O. 1

School of Rocks

A geological discovery in the Bahamas teaches UM researchers some surprising lessons on how rock is formed—and how appearances can be deceiving

Bring home the grandeur of

Ole Miss

Introducing The University of Mississippi: A Pictorial History,

a lavish coffee-table book written by former Provost Gerald W. Walton.

Filled with gorgeous color and black-and-white photographs,

each page brings your favorite moments and memories of Ole Miss exquisitely to life.

A book to savor and to treasure….

These photos capture the spirit of the University.

—Governor Haley Barbour, Class of ’73

Order your copy this month and receive

10% off

Enter promo code ALUMREVIEW Don’t delay—supplies are limited!

Visit

www.OleMissBook.com or call 1-800-358-0560 Sponsored by

© 2008 The Booksmith Group

BusinessorPleasure.

I t�is all our pleasure.

Savvy travelers know, the pleasure of a stay is in the details. And here at The Inn at Ole Miss, we’ve been finessing the fine points for years now. Whether you’re looking for meeting space or breathing space, The Inn has a room set aside for you.

Nestled in the heart of Oxford, The Inn has amenities and facilities that meet your demands and exceed your expectations. And the future of The Inn is all the brighter. With a record-setting expansion on the horizon, you’re sure to find a home you can’t wait to return to.

GUESTS OF THE INN ENJOY: • Swimming pool • High-speed Internet access • Individual climate controls in each room • Same-day valet laundry service • Voice mail • Full-size ironing boards and irons • Hairdryers • Free continental breakfast (7-9 a.m.) daily

• Coffeemakers • Auditorium, conference facilities and meeting rooms with multimedia support • Golf, tennis and off-site workout facility • Groups welcome • Enjoy beautiful walks around historic Oxford and Ole Miss

When you’re coming to town, give us a call. Whether you’re here on business or pleasure, you’ll find an unparalleled welcome. And enough smiles to keep you coming back.

P: 662.234.2331 The Inn at Ole Miss

F: 662.234.0437

Alumni Drive

1.888.4.UM.ROOM

University, MS 38677

www.theinnatolemiss.com

The University of Mississippi Alumni Association P.O. Box 1848 University, MS 38677-1848 (662) 915-7375 www.olemissalumni.com

Ideas fuel the

engines

economic opportunities for that drive

Mississippi.

T

he ideas of just one university researcher have a direct impact by • Bringing millions of dollars in R&D funding • Creating dozens of jobs • Enhancing educational opportunities for our students • Starting local companies that harness the gathered knowledge for the benefit of the entire community

Invest in the future of Mississippi by investing in Mississippi researchers.

The University of Mississippi Research and Sponsored Programs For more information, please contact: vcrsp@olemiss.edu, or 662-915-7583 or visit our Web site: www.olemiss.edu/depts/research/

A

L

U

M

N

I

R

E

V

Winter 2009

features 24 School of Rocks on the cover

a geological discovery in the bahamas teaches um researchers some surprising lessons on how rock is formed—and how appearances can be deceiving

I

E

W

Vol. 58 No. 1

departments 6 FRom The ciRcle

The latest on ole miss students, faculty, staff and friends

13 calendaR

by Rick hynum

18 On Their Toes These former Rebelettes have kept on dancing

34 SpoRTS

ole miss students organize donation of shoes to kenyan athletes

41 aRTS and culTuRe

by Rebecca lauck cleaRy

42 TRavel

30 Calling the Plays

Former quarterback uses his leadership skills to rebrand a restaurant chain

by Tom Speed

On the cover: Exuma Cay in the Bahamas has become a geological hotspot for an Ole Miss researcher. Photo by Nathan Snyder

46 alumni newS

new alumni association board members dedicate their time to helping ole miss

Ole Miss A lumni R eview ublisher P ublisher Warner L. Alford (60) Timothy Walsh (83)

E Editor ditor Jim Urbanek II (02) Jim Urbanek II (97) jim@olemiss.edu jim@olemiss.edu Creative Director A ssociate ditor and SabrinaEBrown A dvertising Director Designers Tom Speed (91) ? tom@olemiss.edu Creative Director Editorial A ssistant Sabrina Brown Macaulay Knight Designer C orrespondents Rachael? Davis Editorial A ssistants Lauren Smith C orrespondents Andrew Abernathy (08), Kevin Bain (98), Tobie Baker (96), Rebecca Lauck A dvertising R epresentative Cleary (97), Bruce Coleman (88), Cristen Hemmins (MA 96) Mitchell Diggs (82), Jennifer Farish (01), 662-236-1700 Jay Ferchaud, Patrice Sawyer Guilfoyle, Officers ofRobert The University Rick Hynum, Jordan (82), of M ississippi ssociation Barbara Lago (82),A lumni NathanALatil, Jennifer Laws SouthallChance (92), Lee Eric(63), Smith (92), Lajuan Tallo,president Kathleen Williams David McCormick (77), Officers of The University president-elect of M ississippi A lumni A ssociation Rose Jackson Flenorl (79), Rose Jackson Flenorl (79), vice president president John T. Cossar (61), Charles Clark (72), athletics committee member president-elect Roger Friou (56), Bill May (79), athletics committee member vice president A lumni A ffairs Staff(61), , O xford John T. Cossar Warner Alfordcommittee (60), executive director athletics member Wendy Chambers Carmean (97), Karen Lee (73), assistant director for marketing athletics committee member Clay Cavett (86), associate director A lumni A ffairs Staff, Odirector xford Josh Davis (99), assistant TimothyDollarhide, L. Walsh (83), executive director Martha systems programmer II Joseph Baumbaugh, systems analyst Sheila Dossett (75), assistant directorI Wendy Chambers Carmean (97), Annette Kelly (79), accountant assistant directorsystems for marketing David Gilmore, analyst I ClayRobert Cavett Radice, (86), associate director manager, The Inn Ole Missdirector Josh Davis (99),atassistant Scott Thompson alumni assistant, II Martha Dollarhide,(97), systems programmer club coordinator Sheila Dossett (75), senior associate Jim Urbanek II (02), director assistant director for communications Annette Kelly (79),associate accountant Tim Walsh (83), senior director Tom Speed (91), publications Rusty Woods (01), editor assistant director for information services Scott Thompson (97), assistant director James Butler (60), director Jim Urbanek II (97),emeritus Herbert E. Dewees Jr. (65), assistant director for communications executive Rustydirector Woods emeritus (01), assistant director for information services A lumni A ffairs Staff, Jackson James Butler (53), director emeritus Geoffrey Mitchell (70), alumni director Warner Alford (60),(77), executive director Ginger Roby Daniels assistant director emeritus The Ole Miss Alumni Review (USPS The561-870) Ole Miss Alumni Reviewquarterly (USPS 561-870) is published by is published quarterly

by The University of The University of Mississippi Alumni Mississippi Alumni the Office Association and Association the Officeand of Alumni of AlumniAlumni Affairs. Alumni Association offices Affairs.

Association offices are are located at Triplett AlumniCenter, Center, Room located at Triplett Alumni Room 172, University, MS 38677.

Telephone 662172, University, MS 38677.

Telephone 915-7375.

662-915-7375.

2451Z 2451T

2 A lumni R eview

fromthe

Chancellor For many years now, The University of Mississippi has strived to be a great public university. The national and international press coverage of the presidential debate hosted on our campus revealed to the world that we are exactly that. The week of the presidential debate at Ole Miss was a defining moment for our university that set the tone for an outstanding fall semester—one that will go down in history as one of our finest.

Just a day after the presidential debate our football team beat the Florida Gators on their home field, and we would remain the only team to beat the Gators as they went on to win the national championship.

The excitement that began that Saturday in “the swamp” under the new leadership of Head Coach Houston Nutt culminated in our football team’s victory in the Cotton Bowl.

In 1995, we adopted seven goals, and one of those was to maintain and operate an integrity-based, competitive athletics program. During the past 14 years, we have worked to upgrade our facilities and to employ the finest coaching staff available to us. We are now nationally competitive in all our sports programs.

In October, Rose Jackson Flenorl, a 1979 graduate from Clarksdale (now Memphis), was inaugurated as the first African-American president of our national Alumni Association, and, on Nov. 29, Shadrack “Shad” White was named The University of Mississippi’s 25th Rhodes Scholar and the first to receive prestigious Rhodes and Truman scholarships. The Rhodes academic distinction is shared by some of the world’s great leaders and intellectuals of the past century.

Despite the successes of fall 2008, the university is not exempt from the economic challenges being faced across the world. However, our finance administrators have been planning for the kinds of issues that we now face, and it is important for us to take stock of how we differ from other organizations and society at large. More than ever, we must place our faith in the potential of higher education to create the opportunity for a better future.

As we look forward to the next few years, we should be inspired by what we have accomplished through the years with limited resources. With prudent and careful fiscal decision making, we will be able to manage our financial challenges while providing the high-quality educational experience we are known for. We are committed to being good stewards of our resources and to maintaining affordability and access.

We are extremely fortunate that our alumni, parents and friends are generous and supportive, and we are grateful that you trust us to meet these responsibilities.

Warmest Regards,

Robert C. Khayat

Na-Ann’s

Interior Design • Custom Framing

Na-Ann

HAS A GAME PLAN FOR YOU!

401 LAMAR BLVD OXFORD, MS 38655 662•236•3747 The Oxford Home of Craig and Linda Sartin Provence Park

FordCtr-ARspring09AdNEW:FordCtr-ARfallAd

THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

2/4/09

1:41 PM

fromthe

Page 1

President Dear Alumni and Friends,

MARCH 3 Giselle, Russian National Ballet Theatre 8 The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley 9 Arlo Guthrie 17 U.S. Air Force Academy Band 23 National Symphony Orchestra

APRIL 6 Messiah 24 The 5 Browns

M AY 1 Las Vegas Tribute to Motown 2 The Gizmo Guys 3 The Ten Tenors

Tickets available at 662.915.7411 or www.olemiss.edu/fordcenter 4 A lumni R eview

Remember the scene in “Peter Pan” when Tinker Bell drinks the poison left by Captain Hook for Peter? It’s one of those childhood stories I will never forget. Tinker Bell is about to die. Then Peter Pan asks the question, “Do you believe?”

“If you believe,” he says, “clap your hands. Don’t let Tinker Bell die.”

I remember clapping as loud as I could. We all clapped to save Tinker Bell. We believed.

Sometimes when I need to be reminded of how to believe, I read Romans 10:10: “For it is with your heart that you believe… .”

Lately I’ve been believing a lot. We beat Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, LSU and Mississippi State before topping the season off with a win over Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl. I read in the Memphis Commercial Appeal that Coach Houston Nutt asked his team at the beginning of the season what bowl game they wanted to play in. Based on the previous season, why would he ask?

He believed. He wanted his team to believe, too.

This year an Ole Miss student, Shadrack “Shad” White, was named The University of Mississippi’s 25th Rhodes Scholar. He is the first to receive both Rhodes and Truman scholarships.

When asked about his son’s success, Shad’s father, Charles White, said, “He would not be here, I believe, without Ole Miss.”

I believe.

I believe in our university’s ability to attract the best and brightest students in our country. Students like Shad. I also believe in the opportunity we have to educate the children of Mississippi and raise the level of education in our state. Without good leadership and a committed faculty and staff, believing wouldn’t be so easy.

I’ve decided my mantra as president of The University of Mississippi Alumni Association will be, “Ole Miss Believes.” And, if you believe, I’m going to ask you to do a little more than clap your hands.

First, we need your help recruiting students. One way to help our university weather these challenging economic times is to identify prospective students and to assist admissions counselors at college fairs and recruiting parties. Tuition is an important component of our university’s budget. In this issue of the Alumni Review, we provide you the information you need to help in recruiting students from your community.

Second, the economy is impacting the value of our investments, which impacts our ability to grant scholarships. We need you to continue to support scholarship funds established by your local alumni chapters, the Alumni Association and the university.

Third, we need all graduates, former students and fans to become active members of the Alumni Association. Your dues support Ole Miss.

Gratitude is defined as a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation. I am thankful for the support you have already provided your university. I am grateful for the many blessings we have received, and I am looking forward to more good things to come.

Believe.

Sincerely,

Rose Jackson Flenorl (BAEd 79)

        

       





    

Winter 2009 5

fromthe

Circle

The latest on Ole Miss students, faculty, staff and friends

Branch Campus campus landscapers honored for care, planting of trees

S

The state’s largest Osage orange tree is at Ole Miss.

Photo by Kevin Bain 6 A lumni R eview

cores of journalists from around the world began their reports on the presidential debate by mentioning the natural beauty of the Ole Miss campus.

That beauty was recognized recently by the Mississippi Urban Forest Council, which selected the university for its annual Scenic Communities of Mississippi award. The award recognizes the university’s commitment to a range of activities to protect the environment, as well as planting and maintaining trees on its 1,000-acre campus.

Donna Yowell, executive director of the Mississippi Urban Forest Council, presented the award Oct. 1 to UM Landscape Services Director Jeff McManus and Chancellor Robert Khayat (BAEd 61, JD 66) in a ceremony on the Quad near Paris-Yates Chapel.

“I think it is a great honor for the Ole Miss family and landscaping team,” McManus says. “It is great recognition for the campus, and it shows our commitment to the continued enhancement of our facilities and grounds.”

The Oxford campus is home to some of the state’s largest and oldest trees, including a northern catalpa with a circumference of nearly 21 feet, and Mississippi’s largest Osage orange tree.

“This past year alone, another 754 trees were planted, pushing the university’s inventory to well over 6,000 trees,” McManus says.

Other factors that were considered include efforts to combat litter on campus, protect water quality and control storm runoff, Yowell says.

The Landscape Services Department has received other awards in recent years, including the 2002 Grand Award from the Professional Grounds Management Society for having the nation’s best-maintained campus. AR

With Honors Sandersville native wins rhodes scholarship

S

hadrack “Shad” Tucker White (BA 08) was named The University of Mississippi’s 25th Rhodes Scholar in November and is the first UM student to receive both the prestigious Rhodes and Truman scholarships.

T he U M honor s g r a du ate w a s selected following rigorous interviews in Kansas City. The academic distinction is shared by some of the world’s great leaders and intellectuals of the past century.

The scholarship provides an allexpenses-paid opportunity to study for two years at Oxford University in England, one of the world’s oldest universities. It is the most coveted academic award for American undergraduates.

“We have not had a more capable student than Shad White,” says UM Chancellor Robert C. Khayat. “Shad had already been selected as a Truman Scholar, so we knew he had the intellectual, personal and leadership skills needed to be selected as a Rhodes Scholar. Plus, he is multitalented and keenly interested in enhancing the quality of life in our society.”

Since graduating summa cum laude from UM in May, White has been in

“

ated as a fellow of UM’s Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science. Before doing so, he spent a summer working at an impoverished orphanage in San Salvador, El Salvador.

He also organized students to help with voter-registration drives in the Mississippi Delta, provided edgy political commentary in the campus newspaper and helped with various political campaigns, including that of State Auditor Stacy Pickering.

At Ole Miss, W hite received Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa honors, and was named a Taylor Medalist and Truman Scholar. Recognized as “change agents” with the potential to improve how public entities serve the public good, Truman Scholars receive up to $30,000 for graduate school.

White plans to finish his work in D.C., then join the

Shad White, 2008 Rhodes Scholar. Photo by Robert Jordan

We have not had a more capable student than Shad White. ... We knew he had the intellectual, personal and leadership skills needed to be selected as a Rhodes Scholar.

—chancellor robert khayat

Washington, D.C., working to improve early childhood education in both Mississippi and the rest of the nation.

A Sandersville native, White gradu-

”

postgraduate Enfield program in comparative social policy at Oxford University and study social programs in the United Kingdom.

UM’s 24th Rhodes Scholar was Calvin Thigpen, who received the honor in 1998. Since then, the university has produced several Rhodes Scholarship finalists, as well as five Truman, eight Goldwater and six Fulbright scholars, plus one Marshall and one Udall scholar.

Rhodes Scholarships were started after the death of Cecil Rhodes in 1902 and bring accomplished students from around the world to the University of Oxford. The first American scholars were elected in 1904, according to the scholarship’s Web site, <www.rhodes scholar.org>.

Regiona l commit tees select 32 American Rhodes Scholars annually from nominees in each state. AR

Winter 2009 7

fromthe

Circle

Project’s lessons for future teachers are “all natural”

T

Madison Halbrook (left), Jitin Chatlani and Sederia Gray attend an Honors College alumni dinner at the Kennedy Center. Courtesy photo

Capitol Idea

Honors college students visit washington

W

hat began months ago as a discussion around a kitchen table in Oxford ended in October with a dinner at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College students Erin Callahan, Claire Graves and Kent Ford were together one night last spring, wondering how to select a topic for their senior honors theses, a requirement for their graduation in 2010.

“We seemed to agree that if we could just go talk to people who are actively engaged in—and shaping the futures of—our fields of interest, our task would be much easier,” says Ford, an international studies major from Hattiesburg.

As a result, the three students were among 40 Honors College juniors who traveled to Washington last month on the college’s first Junior Quest to conduct preliminary thesis research interviews, explore career and internship opportunities, and soak up culture and history.

They also enjoyed dinner at the Kennedy Center with Honors College alumni in the D.C. area. The occasion was an opportunity for the alums to reconnect with the Honors College and for the students to network and to see where SMBHC grads go and the career paths they follow.

The entire trip proved to be an incredible experience for the students. Callahan, an international studies major from Ocean Springs, says she hopes Junior Quest becomes a permanent part of the Honors College experience.

“I felt it went amazingly well and really showed entrepreneurship and leadership among the honors students. I was so impressed by some of the interviews, and I really enjoyed reconnecting with honors alums,” she says. AR 8 A lumni R eview

he day began with an apple, a symbol of the Ear th. It s resources—peel, fruit and seed— are limited, much like Mother Nature’s assets.

The apple wasn’t left on a teacher’s desk by a student; instead, it was a teaching aid in the recent Project Learning Tree workshop at The University of Mississippi Field Station. Some 150 UM education majors were taught interesting ways for teachers to incorporate the environment into their lesson plans.

Harold Anderson, a retiree of the Mississippi Forestry Commission, has worked for 10 years as the state’s PLT coordinator. The program instructs pre-ser vice and in-ser vice teachers in 97 lesson plans across multiple courses of study, all of which are aimed at fostering better environmental understanding, he says.

“Project Learning Tree is good, unbiased, scientific material that’s both fun and interesting,” Anderson says. It is sponsored by the Mississippi Forestry Commission, Mississippi Forestry Association and the USDA Forest Service.

Since 1987, nearly 15,000 Mississippi teachers have participated in PLT training, Anderson says. AR

Harold Anderson, state coordinator for Mississippi Project Learning Tree, points out the distinctions in foliage to UM elementary education students. Photo by Tobie Baker

Bionic Man State’s first i-limb facility offers the next generation of protheses

Farley Hall. Photo by Harry Briscoe

Good Press Farley Hall Rededicated after renovation

S

ome 50 years ago at The University of Mississippi, journalism was taught in a small building that no longer exists.

Among the faculty were three professors who would distinguish themselves as they helped mold the minds of a generation of reporters and editors. In the process, those men—Jere Hoar (MA 54), S. Gale Denley (BSJ 57) and Samuel S. Talbert—helped establish a legacy of excellence in journalism education that lives on in the newly renovated Farley Hall, home of the Department of Journalism.

In November, the journalism department and the university rededicated Farley Hall and named three classrooms in honor of those professors: the J.R. Hoar Center for Excellence in Writing, the S. Gale Denley Digital Photo Lab and the Samuel S. Talbert Reading Room.

“Without question, they are the foundation of journalism at Ole Miss,” says Samir Husni, journalism chair and Hederman Lecturer. “They’ve touched countless lives and helped literally hundreds of journalists in their careers.”

A mong t hose journa lists is Ronnie Agnew (BA 84), who received the 50th anniversary Samuel S. Talbert Silver Em Award on Nov. 6 during Journalism Week.

Agnew, executive editor of The ClarionLedger in Jackson, beamed with pride about the award.

“To be nurtured the way I was at Ole Miss, I’m just so proud of my university,” Agnew says. AR

A

fter using his bionic hand for a month, Kevin Hollingshead still admires its lifelike appearance. But it’s the way that his prosthetic hand functions that truly amazes him.

With a contraction of muscles in his forearm, he can open and close his hand, extending each finger to form a variety of grasping patterns, from reaching for car keys to curling around a coffee cup. The movement is even more striking when a cosmetic glove that has the same skin tone and appearance of his real hand is used.

Even the name of the device sounds like science fiction: i-LIMB, a prosthetic hand with individually powered digits. That’s what makes this prosthetic system different from the limited pinching motion of other prostheses. For Hollingshead, the cutting-edge technology has allowed him to work, go to school and enjoy hobbies, all of which require two-handed, multitasking skills.

“It’s a complete 180 from what my life could have been without this new technology,” says Hollingshead of Millry, Ala. The University of Mississippi Med ic a l Center’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitation is the first i-LIMB Handaccredited facility in the state, and the surgeons and prosthetists here worked as a team to return Hollingshead to his normal routine.

According to i-LIMB Hand manufacturer Touch Bionics, the prosthetic hand is controlled by a system that uses myoelectric signals generated by the remnant muscles. Kevin Hollingshead demonstrates the flexibility and The same muscles that grasping patterns of his state-of-the-art i-LIMB prosunder normal circum- thetic hand. Photo by Jay Ferchaud stances would open and close the anatomical hand now are used to initiate the opening and closing of the i-LIMB hand.

The prosthetic hand can be replaced with other devices that allow Hollingshead to, among other things, play golf, one of his favorite pastimes.

AR

Winter 2009 9

fromthe

Circle new prograM opens in religious sTudies

F

rom civil wars to international terrorism, religion’s impact on the world is undeniable.

To help alleviate the tensions of faith, Mary Thurlkill, assistant professor of philosophy and religion at uM, believes more college-bound students should consider religion as an academic major. now uM students have that opportunity. “in business and culture, the global world is a part of everyday life,” says Thurlkill, who specializes in christianity and islam. “understanding the various religions could be the key to maintaining stability in today’s diverse world.”

The new degree program requires 30 core hours of relireli gion-based course work. students are excited, says william l awhead, chair of philosophy and religion. “with the growing relipopularit y of our reli gion cour ses, there has been quite a demand for this for some time,” he says. “ T here are few disciplines in the university whose subject matter is not affected by religious issues.” clas s e s of fer ed in t he new degree program are numerous and include asian religions, abrahamic Traditions, saints and sexuality, religion and politics, and philosophy of religion. future courses are expected in religion and film, religious implications of the holocaust and comparative religious ethics. according to the american academy of religion, fewer than 100 american universities and colleges offer a bachelor’s degree in religious studies. AR

10 A lumni R eview

The Weeks brothers: Christopher (left), Stephen and Andrew. Photo by Jay Ferchaud

Going My Way? one afTer The oTher, Three broThers Major in biology Then head To uMMc’s school of Medicine

T

hree brothers growing up together must have gotten into all kinds of mischief as children, right?

Wrong. When asked about daredevil antics or brotherly pranks, Stephen, Christopher and Andrew Weeks look at one another and shake their heads. There are no sordid details to share.

Their mother, Beverly Weeks, laughingly agrees.

“Oh yes, we had our moments, but the three boys were best friends,” she says.

“They really did not get into trouble. As their parents, Steve and I feel that our wonderful sons have been such a blessing to us.”

The Jackson Preparatory School graduates attribute their beginning desire for education excellence to their parents and grandparents. Early in their paths, the value of education was nurtured by family, educators and mentors. Their naturally inquisitive minds, coupled with a fascination for the human body, led all three to choose careers in medicine.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center was each one’s first choice to study medicine, and all three majored in biology for their undergraduate degrees, Stephen and Christopher at Mississippi College and Andrew (BS 08) at UM. Currently, Dr. Stephen Weeks, 28, is a third-year internal medicine resident who recently matched for a three-year gastroenterology fellowship at UMMC starting July 2009. Christopher, 24, is a second-year medical student, and Andrew, 23, is in his first year of medical school.

The brothers say their parents respected their different talents, interests and abilities. As Stephen says, “Our parents expected our best, and I believe all three of us tried to give just that. Early in life, we learned good morals, high work ethics and the value of satisfaction in a job well done.”

Although their common thread is medicine, each has different personal interests. Stephen enjoys weightlifting and the outdoors, including hunting and fishing.

Christopher, the creative one, is an accomplished artist, photographer and drummer/ percussionist. Andrew was the athlete while growing up, but now spends any free time playing golf and keeping track of politics.

The Medical Center was a logical choice for the brothers to complete their medical training. They enjoy being close to home and occasionally still have the benefit of a home-cooked meal. They also noted UMMC’s upgraded facilities and hospital additions are on the cutting edge of medical care and education. AR

Share the Wealth

oxford couple leave more than $1 million to various ole miss initiatives

A

longtime UM faculty member and his wife have left a final, transformative gift to the institution they supported for decades.

More than $1 million was recently received from the estates of Carl (BBA 52 , MBA 53) a nd Oliv ia (BA 51) Nabors to support several areas of the university: J.D. Williams Library, University Museum, Basketball Practice Facility, Ole Miss First Scholarship Initiative and Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy.

“When I think of Carl and Olivia Nabors, I think of quiet, kind, generous people,” said Chancellor Robert Khayat (BAEd 61, JD 66) at a recent reception honoring the late couple and their family. “Everyone at Ole Miss is profoundly grateful for the generous gifts made by Carl and Olivia, and we wanted to celebrate the fact that they’ve designated funds to areas that need help.”

Longtime Oxford residents, Olivia Nabors received a bachelor’s degree in home economics from Ole Miss in 1951, and Carl, a World War II veteran, followed with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting in 1952 and 1953, respectively.

Gathering to honor the generosity of Olivia and Carl Nabors are Chancellor Robert Khayat (left); Billy Bratton; Beatrice Bratton, sister of Carl Nabors; Patricia Lewis; and Will Lewis.

Photo by Nathan Latil

estates (Olivia died in 2001 and Carl five years later). While the Nabors had designated funds specifically to the J.D. Williams Library and the University Museum, funds designated generally to the UM Athletics Association went to the Basketball Practice Facility.

“

When I think of Carl and Olivia Nabors, I think of quiet, kind, generous people.

Everyone at Ole Miss is profoundly grateful for the generous gifts made by Carl and Olivia ....

”

—chancellor robert khayat Will Lewis (BA 68, LLB 62) of Oxford, brother of Olivia, and Billy Bratton (BBA 72, MBA 75) of Chattanooga, Tenn., nephew of Carl, oversaw the recent settlement of the couple’s

Additionally, funds designated to the UM Foundation are supporting Ole Miss First and the Ole Miss Women’s Council. As a result, the Carl W. Nabors Ole Miss First Scholarship Endowment

will provide four years of undergraduate education for deserving students for generations to come. The Olivia L. Nabors Ole Miss Women’s Council Endowment will provide permanent funding for the leadership-mentorship program that offers guidance and training in leadership skills, career development and personal growth to recipients of Women’s Council scholarships.

A f ter work ing for the accounting firm Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and Co., in Memphis for several years, Carl returned to his alma mater to teach.

In 1961, he embarked on a 30-plusyear career with the university, serving as associate professor of accounting, chair of the accounting department and acting dean of the School of Business Administration, and on the university’s athletics committee. Most importantly, the move to Oxford allowed him to meet Olivia. They married in 1965 and lived in Oxford for the rest of their lives—lives spent actively supporting Ole Miss. AR

Winter 2009 11

fromthe

Circle Law School launches alumni hall of fame

Tee Time

um golf course open following $3.5 million renovation

O

fficials and alumni of the UM School of Law have created a Law Alumni Hall of Fame, with the inaugural induction scheduled for late 2009. Nominations for the first group of honorees should be submitted by July 1, 2009.

“The Hall of Fame grew out of a need to recognize outstanding alumni of the law school who have, through their professional achievements, brought honor to the law school,” says Al Povall (BA 63, JD 77), outgoing president of the UM Law Alumni Chapter. “The general Alumni Association already has an Alumni Hall of Fame, but because the practice of law is unique, determining what constitutes outstanding achievement in the legal profession is difficult, if not impossible, for laymen.”

The only requirement is that the nominee is a graduate of the UM law school; however, graduates cannot be nominated if they are politicians or judges who are elected or appointed and currently holding office, current law school faculty and staff, university employees who were employed during the fiscal year the nominations are submitted, or current Alumni Association and Law Alumni Chapter officers.

The Hall of Fame is an appropriate way to honor law graduates who are outstanding in their profession, says Tim Walsh (BPA 83, MEd 91), executive director of alumni affairs.

“We have many distinguished and respected graduates of our law school,” he says. “This new Hall of Fame gives us an oppor tunity to honor their success and their positive reflection not only on the law school but the university as a whole.” AR

12 A lumni R eview

Judy Trott (left), Roy Sheffield, Nell Cochran and Eddie Crawford tee off at The University of Mississippi Golf Course. Photo by Robert Jordan

W

earing a yellow embroidered sweater, Nell Cochran addressed the ball.

With a solid whack, the 79-year-old University of Mississippi Golf Course legend was the first player to tee off at the newly renovated facility.

“This means a whole lot,” says Cochran, who has played the game for more than 40 years. “I’m excited about the reopening, and to tee off first has been a pleasure.”

The course was closed for nearly a year, and renovation efforts include green complexes rebuilt to USGA specifications, fairways sprigged with 419 Bermuda grass, new cart paths, a fleet of 60 new electric golf carts, a state-of-the-art 900 sprinkler head irrigation system capable of pumping out more than 850,000 gallons of water a night, rebuilt sand bunkers and the addition of back tees on several holes, pushing the course to more than 7,000 yards in length. Also, the driving range has been doubled in size.

More improvements, including a new pro shop and putting area, are to be completed soon. UM men’s golf coach Ernest Ross (BBA 74) says that before the renovation, his team—ranked No. 11 nationally—couldn’t even practice, much less play the old course. “The course was too short, only 6,670 yards,” he says. “Now it’s over 7,000 yards. A top-level, modern course.”

Watermark Golf LLC/Nathan Crace Design was responsible for the $3.5 million renovation project.

For more information, visit <www.olemiss.edu/depts/golf>, or call 662-234-4816.

AR

What Katrina Taught Us

disasTer clinic up and running before gusTav Makes landfall

W

hile Hurricane Gustav was bearing down on the Louisia na-Mississippi Gu lf Coast, staff and volunteers at the University of Mississippi Medical Center were poised to take action.

“We learned from Katrina of the dire need for services to manage common chronic diseases,” says Dr. Debbie Minor, executive vice chair of the Department of Medicine and associate professor of medicine. “Although some evacuees needed acute medical care, the greatest need was for maintenance medications and management of common illnesses, such as hypertension and diabetes.

“Many people lacked transportation to seek care and also did not need to use emergency departments for less severe conditions. We collaborated with the

Red Cross and worked closely with the Department of Health to help meet the needs of the citizens of our state and of the Louisiana evacuees.”

According to Travis W. Schmitz, project manager in the Department of Medicine, approximately 130 individuals received assistance during the three days the clinic was open.

“The major difference between this clinic and [the one opened after Hurricane] Katrina was that we had 100-plus volunteers ready to be called upon during the Labor Day holiday,” Schmitz says. “By Tuesday, the clinic was staffed right away.”

The decision was made Labor Day morning to open the clinic; that afternoon, Hurricane Gustav made landfall.

“A s w i t h K a t r i n a , m o s t p e o ple just needed to have their prescrip-

tions refilled,” Minor says. “They had left home without their medications.

Our pharmacy students and residents were very helpful in helping our medical staff identify medications and write prescriptions.”

Clinic administrators worked with local pharmacies that had set up tables in the Trademart building to fill prescriptions on a same-day basis. Most of the prescriptions were for hypertension and diabetes, but some were for chronic pain.

“This event helped us further refine how we can treat patients in this type of clinic,” Minor says. “It also has allowed us to examine and develop better tracking mechanisms so we can know who we’ve seen and what to expect in the future.” AR

Dr. Debbie Minor (center), executive vice chair of the Department of Medicine, cradles one of the youngest evacuees of Hurricane Gustav while Dr. Jameika Stuckey (left) pharmacy resident, and Carly Blevens, pharmacy student, look on. The UMHC Disaster Relief Clinic provided care for approximately 130 hurricane evacuees in just three days. Photo by Jay Ferchaud winteR 2009 13

Calendar 28

February

26

-27 Blues Today Symposium. Various campus locations. Call 662915-5129, or e-mail mark@ livingblues.com.

27

-28 Leadership Ole Miss Conference.

The Inn at Ole Miss. Call 662-915-7375.

28

Rebelette for a Day: Girls age 4 and up can perform Ole Miss Rebelette cheers and dances during halftime of the Ole Miss vs. Alabama basketball game. Indoor Practice Facility, noon-2 p.m. Register online at <www.olemiss alumni.com/event/>. Call 662-915-7375.

Red and Blue Preview Day. Martindale Student Services Center, 8:30 a.m. Register online at <www.olemiss.edu/ admissions/redblue.html>, or call 662-915-7226.

March

5

-6 2009 Porter L. Fortune Jr. History Symposium: Strategic Bombing and the Civilian Experience of World War. Oxford-Ole Miss Depot.

Keynote Address: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Abandoning Restraint: The Air Attack on Dresden, February 1945,â&#x20AC;? Johnson Commons Ballroom, 7:30 p.m. March 5. Sponsored by the Department of History. E-mail sgrayzel@olemiss.edu, or visit

Strategic

iBomBing And the Civilian Experience of World War

Porter L. Fortune Jr. History Symposium March 5-6 <www.olemiss.edu/depts/ history/symposium/Events_ Symposium_current.htm>.

6

23

6

23

-7 Alumni Pharmacy Weekend. Triplett Alumni Center. Call 662915-7375, or e-mail maggie@olemiss.edu.

-8 Black Alumni and Friends Weekend. The Inn at Ole Miss. Call 662915-7375, or visit <http:// olemissalumni.com/events/ blackalumnireunion2009. pdf>.

Be an Ole Miss Student for a Day March 23

14 A lumni R eview

a.m.-1 p.m. Call 662-9157375.

9

Ole Miss Luncheon Series: Memphis, Tenn.

The University Club,11:30

Be an Ole Miss Student for a Day. Student Union Room 404, 9 a.m. Call 662-915-7226, or e-mail jplowe@olemiss.edu.

Concert: National Symphony Orchestra. Gertrude C. Ford Center, 8 p.m. Call 662-9152787, or e-mail kmeacham@ olemiss.edu.

24

Ole Miss Luncheon Series: Tupelo. BancorpSouth Conference Center, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Call 662-915-7375.

14

Ole Miss Club Season: North Delta Ole Miss Club meeting with basketball Head Coach Andy Kennedy. Location in Clarksdale TBA, time TBA. Call 662-624-5471.

15

Ole Miss Luncheon Series: Greenwood.

Greenwood Country Club, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Call 662915-7375.

17

Scholarship Benefit Concert: Music City Comes to Ole Miss, fea-

turing Vince Gill. Ford Center for the Performing Arts, 8 p.m. For tickets, call 662915-7411.

20

Ole Miss Luncheon Series: DeSoto County. Location TBA, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Call 662915-7375.

20

Ole Miss Club Season: Rebel Club of Memphis Spring Golf Tournament and Meeting. Location TBA, time TBA. Call 901-268-7850.

Jean Jones Walk/Run april 4

25

-26 Ole Miss Insurance Symposium.

Call 662-915-1869.

26

-28 Oxford Conference for the Book.

Various campus locations.

Call 662-915-5993, or e-mail mheh@olemiss.edu.

26

Ole Miss Luncheon Series: Vicksburg.

The BB Club, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Call 662-915-7375.

26

Concert: Mississippi Rocks the Ryman, featuring 3 Doors Down.

Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., 7:30 p.m. Call 615-889-3060.

27

-28 Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation Annual Meeting.

Johnson Commons Ballroom, 9 a.m. Call 662-9156734, or e-mail wwirr@ole miss.edu.

27 30

-28 Law Weekend.

Call 662-915-7375.

Ole Miss Luncheon Series: Madison.

Annandale Golf Club, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Call 662-9157375.

april

4

Jean Jones Walk/ Run. Ole Miss Student Union, 7:45 a.m. Call 662-915-3784, or e-mail gbaumhardt@hotmail.com.

Scholarship Benefit Concert Featuring Vince Gill friday, april 17, 2009 â&#x20AC;˘ 8 p.m.

Ford center For the perForMing arts Following a successful concert in 2008 that featured Mississippi and Nashville singers and songwriters, the Ole MissNashville connection brings Music City to Ole Miss for an evening of entertainment featuring Vince Gill. Proceeds from the event will go toward the Ole Miss First scholarship fund. Tickets range from $30-$40. Sponsorship and special patron opportunities include benefits such as special VIP seating, and pre- and post-concert hospitality. For concert tickets, call 662-915-7411 or visit <www.olemiss.edu/ depts/tickets/order.htm>. For information about becoming a sponsor or a patron, call Debbie Vaughn at 662-915-3937.

winteR 2009 15

Calendar 21

Ole Miss Club Season: DeSoto County Rebel Club meeting with football Head Coach Houston Nutt. Location in Olive Branch TBA, time TBA. Call 662-893-0994.

22

10th Annual WorldFest. Grove Stage on the Oxford campus, 4 p.m.

Call 662-915-7404.

27 10th Annual WorldFest april 22

16 A lumni R eview

Ole Miss Club Season: Lee County Ole Miss Club meeting with football Head Coach Houston Nutt. Location in Tupelo TBA, time TBA. Call 662844-1787.

28

Ole Miss Luncheon Series: Gulfport.

Great Southern Club, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Call 662-9157375.

28

Ole Miss Club Season: Tippah County Ole Miss Club meeting with football Head Coach Houston Nutt. Location in Ripley TBA, time TBA. Call 662837-9893.

30

Central Mississippi Ole Miss Club Scholarship Luncheon.

Location in Jackson TBA, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Call 601914-2116, or e-mail erica_ skelton@hotmail.com.

WRIGHT_7X4.75 AD

7/31/08

2:45 PM

Page 1

Private.

Principled.

Practical.

Wright Law Firm is a family law firm – exclusively.

The results we achieve have a lasting and personal impact. That’s why confidential communication is key. Persistent, ethical advocacy is assured. Attention to each aspect of each case is crucial.

Wright Law Firm. Private. Principled. Practical.

International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Best Lawyers in America

www.wrightlaw.net 400 River Hill Tower • 1675 Lakeland Drive • Jackson, Mississippi 39216-4852 Phone: 601.366.8090 • Fax: 601.366.3080 Fr e e b a c k g r o u n d i n f o r m a t i o n a v a i l a b l e u p o n r e q u e s t .

Ole Miss Alumni Association

an InCircle community

Rebel Network Your

Find Jobs • Meet Alumni in Your Area Catch Up With Old Friends • Share Photos Network with Alumni Around the World

Ole Miss

Connection

http://rebelnetwork.olemissalumni.com

Brittany Evans was one of 36 Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders to start the regular season in 2008, after first auditioning in the spring along with 1,000 other hopefuls.

18 A lumni R eview

n ee

these foRmeR Rebelettes ARe hAppy to hAve jobs thAt keep them

o th ir to s |

by R ebeccA l Auck cle A Ry

|

M

ost little girls love dancing, twirling and leaping on makebelieve stages in their bedrooms. They usually give up the fantasy of becoming a dancer as they grow up, but for a lucky few the dream survives and becomes a reality. Just ask anyone who has been an Ole Miss Rebelette.

As part of the Pride of the South Marching Band and Ole Miss Athletics, the Rebelettes are the official dance team associated with many university functions. On a typical football game day, the 15 Rebelettes perform at the pre-game Grove pep rally, cheer on the sidelines and perform with the band at halftime. Each January, the team travels to Orlando, Fla., to compete against the top dance teams in the nation at the UDA College Dance Team Championship.

They also perform at basketball games and travel to postseason events such as bowl games and conference tournaments.

Throughout the year, the Rebelettes also perform at other university events such as volleyball games, charity events and parades.

They practice approximately 12 hours a week on top of performances and morning workouts, and receive a $1,000 scholarship for the year.

Several Rebelettes have gone on to pursue dancing at the professional level, including with the Rockettes, cruise lines, and NBA and NFL teams.

a

e a

M king th Te m

Brittany Evans (08), a Pearl native, is one of those little girls who didn’t give up the dream. She never questioned what she wanted to do with her life. She recalls a photo of herself at age 4 in her Halloween costume—a miniature version of the iconic blueand-white, star-spangled Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders uniform.

That photo turned into reality this year when she tried out for the team—and made it.

“Dance is my true passion,” the exercise science major says.

“I always loved dancing and performing.”

This spring, Evans arrived in Dallas for open call with 1,000 other hopefuls. She says she was grateful to have the opportunity to try out at Texas Stadium because future tryouts will be at the new stadium in Arlington.

The field of hopefuls was reduced from 1,000 to 300 to 75 to the approximately 45 who started boot camp and finally to the 36 who made it to the first game. The women have to prove themselves in a range of categories that include athleticism, dance, football knowledge (including passing a written test), personality and overall style.

“The solo portion was my favorite because all the solos were

20 A lumni R eview

creative and different,” Evans says.

Even more nerve-racking than the audition process was having cable television network CMT there. They were taping it all for their eight-episode “Making the Team” series. The show is promoted as “bringing you the inside story of selecting this year’s Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad with all the emotion and drama as thousands of women hope to fill the 36-member team.

It is an intense, grueling four-month process that begins in April … and ends in August as the final team greets the players at the first pre-season home game in front of 50,000 fans.”

Despite being away from her family and having a knee injury, Evans says she danced her heart out.

“My knee hurt so bad, but I didn’t notice it. I just got through the dance and performed the best I could. I knew I wasn’t performing to the best of my ability, but I danced my hardest.”

Evans says her years as a Rebelette helped her work her way up to the professional dancing world.

“Being a Rebelette was actually my first experience of walking into a stadium filled with people. My freshman year we practiced with the band, and they taught us how to march and find the yard lines. We created a whole show with the band and were part of their formations.

“I’ve always cheered and danced and found so much joy in it. After being a Rebelette, I felt like that was the next step because I wasn’t ready to quit dancing. After college people usually stopped, but I wasn’t ready.”

a r

me

f r f om ho

Katie Martin’s love of dance has taken her all the way to New York City. Martin, a senior in exercise science, is kicking it up as a legendary Radio City Rockette, dividing her time between dancing in New York in the fall and taking classes at Ole Miss in the spring.

“

It takes hard work, dedication and teamwork to be a Rebelette and a Rockette.

—k atie

”

m ar t i n

Since the Rockettes formed in 1932, more than 3,000 women have danced with the group. There are two casts, four shows a day and little time to rest—the quickest costume change

Katie Martin (far right) became one of the youngest members of the Rockettes when she joined the group in 2004 while still on the Rebelettes team.

is 78 seconds. Martin says the Rockette rehearsals are long, arduous and taxing on the body but worth it in the end.

“It’s hard being away from family and friends because they mean so much. It’s hard to put your life on hold while you pursue a dream, but nothing is better than dancing on the stage at Radio City Music Hall. It’s the most beautiful dancing stage in America.”

In 2004, Martin arrived in New York for two days of strenuous auditions with thousands of other young women. The line of hopefuls stretched all the way around the block at Radio City Music Hall, but, at the end of it all, Martin, then 19, became one of the youngest Rockettes while she was still on the Rebelettes team.

She says the Rebelettes and the Rockettes are similar because neither group has a “star” and everyone works together.

“It takes hard work, dedication and teamwork to be a Rebelette and a Rockette,” says Martin, a Mobile, Ala., native who has been dancing since the age of 3.

“It’s fun to be in New York, but I’m ready to come home at the end of it and be back in the South,” Martin says. “I came home for a wedding last weekend. I got to the airport in Memphis, and I stepped off the plane, and the sound of a Southern accent and the smell of fried food made me happy. I’m away enough to be able to really enjoy the South when I come back.”

a

n shape

st ying i

This was a sentiment echoed by Carmen Keys (BSFCS 03), who kept right on dancing after college on the NBA Memphis Grizzlies Dance Team.

Winter 2009 21

Unlike the other women featured in this story, Keys did not begin her dancing career at a very early age. “I did baton when I was little but really didn’t get into it until later,” says the Jackson resident. She was co-captain of her high-school dance team, and decided to come to Ole Miss because she knew the Rebelettes went to nationals each year.

for the Madison County Journal. One of the things she misses most about her days as a dancer is the instant camaraderie she felt with the other women.

“I knew when I moved to Memphis I would have 22 instant girlfriends, and I do miss it. But it’s good to know you can keep dancing after school is over. It’s a good post-college job to have.”

For girls interested in pursuing dance as a profession, Keys says to keep training and stay in shape. “Go try out because you never know what can happen. Don’t let a lack of training intimidate you. If you love dance, go for it.”

n e

reu it d

Carmen Keys danced with the Memphis Grizzlies dance team from 2005-07 and attributes her success there to her experience dancing as a Rebelette.

“My first year in 1999 I was a JV Rebelette, and then I made varsity in April. We competed for two years at nationals in Daytona and placed fifth. We were on CBS against some awesome schools,” Keys says.

She says her experience as a Rebelette gave her the tools needed to be a Grizzlies dancer. “If I had tried to be a Grizzly straight from high school, I wouldn’t have made it. I was definitely a better dancer because of Rebelettes,” says Keys, who danced for the Grizzlies from 2005-07.

She now lives in Jackson and works as a sales representative

22 A lumni R eview

Casey Franco (BBA 04) is a former Rebelette who also coached the team for three years. She knows being a Rebelette is an important foundation for the young women who want to continue dancing.

“I’m so excited about Brittany and Katie because I coached them both,” Franco says. “I was there when we transitioned from band to athletics. Now each semester the girls get a scholarship, and there is an actual place on campus to practice. Things have really come a long way.”

Franco helped coordinate the Rebelette reunion held at the Ole Miss-University of Louisiana Monroe football game.

“We try to get together every year in the spring for a basketball game and in the fall at a football game,” she says.

One of the girls who came back for that reunion was Maggie Holland Rosamond (BA 01). She continues her dancing career by providing inspiration to the young girls in the Memphis area who are interested in dance. As owner of Studio 413 in Collierville, she has been in dance classes herself since she was just 3 years old. At Ole Miss, she was captain of the Rebelettes and led the team to its first national ranking in school history.

“My senior year in April 2001, we got the highest ranking at nationals, and it was a really big accomplishment for me,” Rosamond says. “We trained outside of practice, raised all the money and had a really good group of girls who were willing to commit.

That experience helped me in terms of what I was going to do later in life because it was a huge responsibility and I loved doing it. It helped me more than I knew at the time.”

After graduation, she kept dancing as part of the Memphis Grizzlies Dance Team from 2001-02, and encouraged Carmen Keys to try out for the team.

At Studio 413, which opened in September of 2004, Rosamond balances business and family while instilling a love of dance in young people. The studio recently expanded to 5,000 square feet of space, with nine instructors and 250 students.

She travels to Los Angeles yearly to keep up with trends in the dance world, which are constantly changing.

“Any sport or activity helps build confidence, especially with young girls. Having a group to belong to helps you feel good about yourself,” Rosamond says. “Not every kid will grow up to be a professional dancer, but I care and encourage and believe in them. If they’re good at it, they will excel even more.” AR

A geological discovery in the Bahamas teaches UM researchers some surprising lessons on how rock is formedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; and how appearances can be deceiving by rick hynum

24 A lumni R eview

The existence of stramatolites in Exuma Cay is one of the main reasons professional geologists in the petroleum industry visit the Bahamas.

T

he average junior-high student knows it typically takes thousands of years for sediment to evolve and solidify into rock. The secrets of the Earth’s 4.6-billion-year history lie concealed in these vast and far-flung layers, revealing a gradually unfolding saga of mighty forces—wind, water, gravity and the ocean’s tides—perpetually at work, shaping and re-shaping the physical world around us over countless millennia.

But University of Mississippi researchers, particularly geology graduate student Nathan Snyder (BA, BS 08), are learn-

“

a safe route for its aircraft carriers bound from the U.S. to Europe.) The spoils were dumped into an inlet on Lee Stocking Island and then practically forgotten— except, luckily for Snyder, by some of the older locals.

The Bahamas chain of islands, relatively isolated from any continent, has long been a point of interest—a sort of “school of rocks”— to geologists like Major and Snyder.

“All the areas that produce oil used to look like the Bahamas thousands of years ago,” Snyder says. “It’s a modern ana-

Here was [what they believed to be] this obvious classic natural storm deposit, and we just find out that it is a man-made spoil pile. Well, to say the least, Nathan was crushed. What self-respecting geology student could research and publish on a dump?”

—Larry Baria

ing that, for all its mysterious ways, the Earth also can move pretty fast when it wants to.

In a master’s thesis project developed for him by Ole Miss geology professor Dr. Rick Major, Snyder has uncovered an astonishing rarity in the Earth’s geological history: deposits of freshwater sediment in the Bahamas that cemented into rock over less than the span of an average human lifetime.

The discovery may not rewrite geology textbooks, Snyder says, but “it will be worth a mention in a lot of textbooks, I think.” And how it was discovered is a story in itself because the seemingly ancient but very modern deposit has been fooling geological experts worldwide for years. For all of Snyder’s arduous chipping and chiseling beneath a hot Caribbean sun, it took a casual conversation between Snyder’s wife and an elderly local restaurant manager to dig up the real truth.

Snyder can give at least partial credit to the U.S. Navy for his breakthrough research. During World War II, American troops dredged the channel between some of the Bahamian islands to build a naval base on Exuma Island. (The U.S. needed 26 A lumni R eview

log for oil reservoirs. Oil industry workers from all over the world come there because it’s an isolated carbonate platform, a type of island chain made of rock containing carbonate grains as opposed to silica. Everything that’s there was produced there, without contamination.”

Larry Baria, president and chief geoscientist of Jura-Search, Inc., in Flowood, specializes in locating and analyzing potential hidden reservoirs of oil and gas in the Gulf Coast region.

“For several years now, I have been taking numerous geologists to the Bahamas to study the modern analogs of the reefs, shoals, tidal flats and beaches that they encounter in ancient outcrops and well bores [where oil is found],” Baria says. “It helps immensely to have visited these places and swum or walked over the modern deposits when one is trying to visualize a similar rock body as the reservoir in the subsurface of some oil well.”

Baria, in fact, proposed the seemingly ancient deposit at Lee Stocking Island as a subject of research to Ole Miss’ Rick Major, who teaches sedimentology, stratigraphy and sedimentary diagenesis, and supervises M.S. and Ph.D. students.

Major, in turn, recommended the project to Snyder, a 35-year-old graduate student from Morris Chapel, Tenn. Accompanied by his wife and working with colleague and Ph.D. student Faith Amadi, Snyder began his research about a year and a half ago, describing and sampling pieces of rock from the Exuma deposit.

Snyder says he has always had a passion for rocks. “I love the outdoors, and I enjoy the realization of how old the Earth is and how this particular formation may be millions of years old and took thousands of years to create. As humans, we’re really just a speck in time.”

Rocks and minerals are our friends in ways that most people don’t appreciate, he adds.

“Construction materials for buildings and bridges, our drywall and spackle, even the clay on your paper, all come from rocks,” Snyder says. “So many of our resources are derived from geology.

Most people drive through a place like the Smokey Mountains and take it all for granted.”

But, for all of nature’s beauty, the life of a geologist isn’t an easy one. Digging for samples of rock can be hard, miserable work even in the Edenlike environs of the Bahamas. Mosquitoes are abundant, the heat is fierce, and thunderstorms often dump an inch of wet stuff per hour during the rainy season.

“It’s not like staying at the Atlantis in Nassau when you’re out there in the field,” Snyder says. “You can’t find a better view, but it doesn’t feel like paradise.”

It was one of those sudden Caribbean

(top) His wife’s chance encounter with a local at a beachside restaurant helped facilitate Snyder’s discovery. (bottom, left) Coral growing in the stramatolites. (bottom, right) Partial footprint left by Naval workers in 1942.

Winter 2009 27

28 A lumni R eview

storms, in fact, that led to Snyder’s discovery of the truth behind the Exuma site, which he, like all the other experts, had mistaken for an ancient deposit.

“It had started raining again, and my wife … went to the nearby Conch Shack to get out of the rain and started talking to the lady who ran the restaurant,” he recalls.

His wife’s conversation with the elderly native, Dora, soon took a surprising turn. Accustomed, no doubt, to the curious ways of geologists and their passion for seemingly ordinary rocks, Dora was nevertheless a little mystified by Snyder’s research.

“Why is your husband digging around in that old spoil pile left over from World War II?” she asked, casually.

Once his wife passed on the true story about the deposit to Snyder, it initially seemed that all his research and hard work had been for naught.

Fortunately, just the opposite was true.

“You can imagine the expressions on the faces of all the experts,” Baria says.

“Here was [what they believed to be] this obvious classic natural storm deposit, and we just find out that it is a man-made spoil pile. Well, to say the least, Nathan was crushed. What self-respecting geology student could research and publish on a dump?”

But it was more than a mere dump.

Snyder, with the help of his wife and Dora, had stumbled upon a geological anomaly that may enhance scientists’

(top, left) A pick axe is one of many tools used to examine the spoils pile that led to Nathan Snyder’s discoveries. (top, right) An up-close view of a stramatolite.

The small black animal to the right is a sea urchin. (bottom) The beach at Exuma Cay, Bahamas.

understanding of how rocks form. The deposit may have only dated back to the 1940s, but it had all the appearance and the sedimentological properties of something much, much older.

“The No. 1 question is, why did it happen so fast?” Snyder says. “You can have beach rock that is approximately less than a hundred years old, but this is a

“

amount of fresh water that’s coming into this system. As the rain pours down on the spoils, it cements them from the top down. In only 65 years you have a very solid, very hard rock.”

Snyder hopes to be able to provide a solution to the mystery and is working on an article to be submitted to the Journal of Sedimentology Research. Even if

The No. 1 question is, why did it happen so fast? ...

This is such a different animal than beach rock.”

—Nathan snyder

freshwater area. This is such a completely different animal than beach rock.”

To understand the rock’s secrets, Snyder is now studying the specific minerals growing inside it.

“It turns out that this spoil pile is likely cemented up by some rather unusual carbonate minerals that normally take hundreds and thousands of years to form,” Baria says.

But there seems to be no question that the rock is quite young. In fact, some areas of the deposit actually preserved the footprints of the workers walking around on top of it in the early 1940s. Naval records confirm that the deposit originated with the dredging of the channel, and locals remember playing around the spoils in their childhood years, Snyder says.

Hard science backs up the circumstantial and anecdotal evidence. “In the microscope photographs, you can see the crystalline elements that bind the grains together to form rock,” Major says.

“The mineralogy and geometry of these cements indicate they formed after the sediment was removed from the harbor.

This demonstrates that modern carbonate sediment can be transformed to rock at near-surface conditions in a period of less than a lifetime.”

Snyder believes that the Bahamas’ climate—specifically, the high humidity, heavy rain and warm temperatures— played a major role in the speed with which the sediment turned into rock.

“This rock has a calcite cement, and you have to have water. There is a high

his research doesn’t reach any definitive answers, he plans to finish his master’s degree in 2010, get a job in the oil industry and “go look for oil somewhere.”

Wherever he goes next, Snyder’s research in the Bahamas could have a major impact in his field of study, Baria says. “Nathan’s documentation of this early cement history may turn out to be one of the more exciting contributions to limestone research made in the last several years.”

But Snyder has no delusions about what led to his breakthrough discovery.

“All the credit goes to my wife for talking to that lady at the Conch Shack,” he says, with a laugh. “If not for her, I would have published on the work I’d been doing there and been wrong. All the credit goes to her for not wanting to stand out in the rain—and for being more sociable than most geologists.”

Meanwhile, Baria plans to continue bringing his fellow scientists to the Exuma site and looks forward to testing their expertise.

“We will still take visiting geologists to examine the deposit, and we will continue to ask their opinions as to its origin. Unless they have read Nathan’s thesis, I bet, to a man, they will still conclude that the ‘dump’ is a natural consequence of some hurricane washing over the island eons ago. But now, when we congregate back at the hotel in the evening, we can tell them the real story and cap it off with the results of Nathan’s research.” AR

Winter 2009 29

Callingthe

Plays Former quarterback uses his leadership skills to rebrand a restaurant chain | b y t o m s p e e d |

30 A lumni R eview

Former Ole Miss quarterback Mark Young now leads the marketing team for the Ruby Tuesday chain of restaurants. winte inteR R 2009 31

whatever. We had grown into this sea of sameness, and Ruby’s [needed to] break away.”

To be able to ensure the longevity of the brand and take charge of their market segment again, Young led his team to upgrade the company logo, the menu options and everything in between. They redesigned the buildings and the décor of the restaurant and refitted the wait-staff attire. Young even carefully crafted the music diners hear when they eat. The move was bolstered by an aggressive advertising campaign.

“We felt that to make this brand viable for the future we needed to make some changes to the brand and freshen it up some,” Young says.

grown into this “ We had sea of sameness and Ruby’s

[needed to] break away.

“

A

s quarterback of the Ole Miss Rebel football team in the mid-1980s, Mark Young (BBA 89) chalked up an impressive array of passing records and led his team to a victory over Texas Tech in the 1986 Independence Bowl.

More than 20 years later, Young is using those same leadership skills and competitive spirit to reinvigorate an international restaurant chain. Young went to work for Ruby Tuesday restaurants 14 years ago and worked his way up to executive vice president of marketing. He is now leading an ambitious rebranding effort that has revamped the company’s menus, its marketing and its message.

—Mar k yo u n g Young’s rebranding of Ruby Tuesday included all aspects of the customer experience, right down to the design of the menus.

Building for the Future Founded 35 years ago in Knoxville, Tenn., Ruby Tuesday has grown to include more than 900 restaurants throughout the United States and 16 foreign countries.

They’ve long been a mainstay in the bar and grill segment of the casual dining industry. But in recent years, they’d lost ground to competitors like Chili’s and Applebee’s. So Young was called on to lead the charge.

“We were in fourth place, and that’s not a very good place to be,” Young says in the same tone he might use when speaking of a rival football team with a better record.

Not only was Ruby Tuesday slipping within the segment, Young says the entire casual dining concept had grown stale, with many of the restaurants being too similar to distinguish themselves. “We all looked and felt the same,” he says. “Everybody had stuff nailed to the walls—roller skates or baseball gloves or

32 A lumni R eview

“We wanted to improve our food quality and improve the freshness of our brand. We wanted to change our service structure and upgrade our service. This is the first major overhaul that we’ve done. We really needed to make it a more contemporary and comfortable place to be.”

Creating A Buzz Those goals were at the forefront when Ruby’s set out to distinguish themselves, and they did it with a bang.

To kick off the campaign, the company sponsored a humorous viral marketing campaign. Their Web site featured video footage of a marketing exec (actually an actor) holding a press conference to symbolically demolish the old brand image of the company by staging a demolition of an old Ruby Tuesday restaurant—complete with explosions, smoke and crumbling concrete.

The event was promoted on the company’s Web site for weeks prior to the event. The punch line came when a neighboring restaurant, presumably a competitor, was “accidentally” blown up instead. The video spread through Web sites, blogs and e-mail chain letters with many apparently taking the faux footage for reality. News outlets picked the event up, generating newscasts and newspaper reports. It was just the kind of attention Young hoped such a viral marketing campaign would generate.

“What we tried to do with it was generate some buzz and some talk value around the changes that had happened,” Young says.

“The whole reason we did it virally was so that it would feel like a live event, and so that we could get people to engage into it and get on our Web. It was a way that we felt would get the most buzz.”

Ole Miss Associate Professor of Marketing Charlie Noble says Ruby Tuesday has followed a time-tested model for rebranding.

“Rebranding is all about changing perceptions,” Noble says.

“Firms most often rebrand to try to convey a different image, such as going more upscale or to appeal to a different customer market.”

The rebuilding of the Ruby Tuesday brand covered all aspects of the customer experience, with no detail left unaddressed.

Young led the charge in fine-tuning the music heard in each Ruby Tuesday restaurant via a satellite service that can be tweaked daily. Originally, the musical selections focused mainly on jazz, in an effort to convey a more upscale atmosphere. But there was not enough energy and “casualness” to it, says Young.

So they altered that to feature well-known classic rock hits.

Every aspect of the menu was studied and analyzed, too, with every fold, every font and every color carefully scrutinized to make sure it was consistent with the image.

Even the photography featured on the menu was finetuned. “These are all indicators that can add to what can make the brand feel more casual or make the brand feel a little more upscale,” says Young. For the food photography, Young says he wanted to make “the food the hero,” and less art-directed.

Such minutiae may seem trivial, but Noble says it is allimportant. “There is lots of research to show that we tend to mentally process an experience holistically rather than as a sum of parts,” he says.

“So, after leaving a restaurant, you might not be able to answer a question about what it looked, smelled or sounded like, but you will have an overall impression and all of those things will likely have had an influence on that impression.”

With the rebranding effort in place, Young says his company now has a jump on their competitors.

“We are basically done with all the remodels and all the reimaging we needed to do. We’ve already rolled out fresh products. Our competition is working on those things, but we’re already done with it. We just have to deliver on the experience every time and the value equation every time.”

Competitive drive and the ability to call the right play at the right time are qualities that can help winning efforts in football

and in business. And just as his football teams strived to be the best, so, too, the new rebranding campaign of Ruby Tuesday seeks to capture victory in their market segment.

“Our overarching goal,” says Young, “is to be the best in the bar and grill segment, while providing a high-quality dining experience that you would get at a much more expensive place.” AR

Destination:

OLE MISS

M

ark Young first came to Ole Miss from Florida as a highly recruited football star.

But it didn’t take long for him to feel right at home at Ole Miss. In fact, even though he graduated more than 20 years ago, he still considers Ole Miss to be home.

Working at Ruby Tuesday headquarters just outside of Knoxville, Young might be embedded in Volunteer territory, but he still finds time to visit Ole Miss.

Through his travels as an athlete and a marketing exec, he has seen how unique the Ole Miss experience is time and time again.

“Ole Miss is a destination,” Young says. “When you arrive on campus, when you reach the entrance and the Grove is on the right and the circle is in front of you and the Lyceum is back in the trees there, you feel like you’ve arrived. [Other campuses] are just part of the city. Ole Miss is the destination.”

Like many Ole Miss alums, he points to the hospitable nature of Ole Miss that provides and sense of community and family as the quality that sets Ole Miss apart.

“Ole Miss is the people and the environment. My best friends are the guys that I met at Ole Miss. Some of the best people I’ve ever met in the world are from my days at Ole Miss. It’s where I’m glad I went, and, if I had it to do all over again, I’d go back tomorrow.”

That sense of family and hospitality has helped to inform Young’s approach to creating a new identity for Ruby Tuesday—an inviting and hospitable, casual atmosphere.

winteR 2009 33

Sports One More Time Around

all-sec offensive tackle sees benefits for himself, team in returning for senior season

O

le Miss offensive tackle Michael Oher had every reason to leave Ole Miss and start his professional career after the 2007 season.

The 6-foot-5 Memphis, Tenn., native had racked up the accolades, being

for the draft and would forgo his senior season.

However, less than 24 hours later, Oher released a statement that would end up being valuable to both himself and his team: He was staying.

The season worked out better than Oher imagined. Not only did Oher play a critical role in the Rebels’ Cotton Bowl victory and No. 14 national ranking, his NFL stock continues to soar.

Among the numerous NFL

“

says. “His talk is a lot more positive than it has been in the past, and that does a lot for the team.”

The team not only got a talented player for another season but a dependable one, too. Oher started more than 40 straight games and ranks third in the SEC among active players.

“Mike is a vocal guy, but he leads more by his actions and his play on the field,” Cook says. “I think I’ve seen him miss maybe one or two practices in his four years here. He’s never missed a

I’m pleased that I stayed at Ole Miss. I’ve gotten a lot better as a player. ... Just getting an opportunity to play with a great staff has made it worthwhile.

—michael oher

Michael Oher

named a consensus First Team All-SEC selection and Fourth Team All-American. He was projected by some to be a top 10 pick in the 2008 NFL draft.

After suffering through three-straight losing seasons and just three Southeastern Conference wins in as many seasons, the decision seemed easy. Soon after Houston Nutt was hired as the new head coach, Oher announced he was declaring 34 A lumni R eview

Draft Web sites, Oher is commonly a top-five choice for next year, and some have predicted the tackle to be the No. 1 overall pick.

“I’m pleased that I stayed at Ole Miss,” Oher says. “I’ve gotten a lot better as a player. I’ve had the chance to spend more time with my teammates and friends.

I’ve also been able to be around my family a lot more. Just getting an opportunity to play with a great staff has made it worthwhile.”

His progress hasn’t gone unnoticed by his teammates, as fellow senior and team captain Jason Cook has seen Oher make major strides.

“He’s changed a lot in being more selfless and more for the team,” Cook

”

game. So you have a guy that is dependable to play week in and week out, and that’s big for the football team.”

Oher has grown as a football player both mentally and physically, but he understands there are still areas that he can improve on before he gets to the next level.

“I have to work on sticking in my technique, finishing and being more of a leader.”

Oher, who is the subject of The New York Times best-seller The Blind Side: The Evolution of a Game, did much more than just write another chapter in his story by returning to Ole Miss for his senior season: He improved it from cover to cover.

—Thomas McKee AR

Voting for the Coach of the Year is a snap and so is saving on your car insurance.

You could save hundreds of dollars a year on your car and home insurance. Call 1-888-798-5644 for a free no-obligation rate quote, and find out about the special group discount you could receive just for being an Ole Miss alum.* While youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re scoring savings, cast your vote for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year.

Last year nearly a million fans voted for the football coach they thought best demonstrated responsibility, integrity and excellence, on and off the field.

Be part of this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s action by visiting coachoftheyear.com/savings.

This organization receives financial support for allowing Liberty Mutual to offer this auto and home insurance program. *Discounts and credits are available where state laws and regulations allow, and may vary by state. To the extent permitted by law, applicants are individually underwritten; not all applicants may qualify. Coverage provided and underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and its affiliates, 175 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA. In Texas, coverage provided and underwritten

by Liberty County Mutual Insurance Company and its affiliates, 2100 Walnut Hill Lane, Irving, TX. A consumer report from a consumer reporting agency and/or motor vehicle report on all drivers listed on your policy may be obtained where state laws and regulations allow. Š2008 Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. All rights reserved.

Sports Accepting the Challenge sophomore from holland leads tennis team into new season

W

hen sophomore Karen Nijssen, a native of Holland, decided to continue her education and tennis career in the United States, she could have taken an easier road to success.

“

Most freshmen come into college tennis and work their way up the lineup as the years go by. Not Nijssen. She jumped right in, playing No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles, which meant she faced the other team’s best players every match.

I don’t feel extra pressure. I just try to do my best. If I play No. 1 or No. 6, I don’t care as long as I can win and help the team.

”

—Karen Nijssen

She accepted the challenge and excelled, earning All-SEC second team honors and a trip to the NCAA Championships in doubles. Nijssen was one of the top freshmen in the conference, making the All-Freshman team after going 6-5 in league play in singles and 8-3 in doubles.

“I didn’t know what to expect because I didn’t know how good the team was going to be or where I would fit in,” Nijssen says. “It was a lot of fun.

It was exciting to go to the NCAAs because all the best players in the nation were there. It’s good to see the top players and see how good you have to be to reach that goal.”

Now the focus is on a new season.

Let My Experience Work For You

Take advantage of the new low interest rates and let me help you find your home, second home, investment property, or land in Oxford!

Larry McCay

Let me define your search and find your perRealtor® fect choice. Call me for information on any 662-816-1667 Oxford area listings. larrymccay@cmrehomes.com

Phase II Starting at $169,500 over 1850 sq. ft.

2 car garage

The Highlands Oxford’s Premiere Lakefront Subdivision Call for a private tour

TUSCAN HILLS $207,000 1 mile from Oxford Square Garage, Granite, Covered Porch 36 A lumni R eview

Serveral unique homes to choose from 2 managed stocked lakes

Karen Nijssen

“We want to make the NCAAs,” she says. “We ended on a good note last season, and hopefully we can carry that over to this season. I am working hard every day to improve. I want to make the NCAAs in singles as well as with the team. It was fun to go with just the two of us, but it will be more fun to go with the entire team.

That’s my biggest goal.”

There is plenty of reason for excitement this season with the addition of talented freshmen Kristi Boxx and Gabriela Rangel, and transfers Connor Vogel and Pippa Reakes.

“Everyone has a great personality and adds something different to the team, whether it is on or off the courts,” Nijssen says. “We have a whole new team this year, and everyone has their own style of game, but we all connect.”

With senior Mimi Renaudin and junior Soledad Podlipnik as the only returning upperclassmen on this year’s team, Nijssen knows she will be counted on to provide leadership even as a sophomore. Whether that’s at No. 1 singles or anywhere else in the lineup, Nijssen says she’ll be ready.

“I played No. 1 [singles] two times last year, and it was fine. I don’t feel extra pressure. I just try to do my best. If I play No.1 or No. 6, I don’t care as long as I can win and help the team.”

With Nijssen leading the way, the Lady Rebels are looking forward to extending their season into the month of May. —Kim Ling AR

Winter 2009 37

Sports Where the Rubber Meets the Road ole miss students organize donation of shoes to kenyan athletes

A

thletes, students and fans of Ole Miss are hoping to help less fortunate athletes in Kenya race for their dreams. The Ole Miss Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) has established the “Rebel Reruns” shoe project, which will annually assist underprivileged Kenyan athletes in preparing for their athletic careers.

SAAC members collected shoes prior to the Ole Miss-West Virginia men’s basketball game in December. Fans were asked to bring new and slightly used shoes to donate.

Kenya native Barnabas Kirui, a senior on the Rebel track team, serves as coproject manager for the program. Kirui has captured five career SEC titles and won the 2007 NCAA championship in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

“This is a great project and a worthwhile cause,” says Kirui, the 2006-07 SEC Runner of the Year. “I understand the importance of proper equipment and how it can assist with your athletics training. This project will make a difference in the lives of young Kenyan athletes.”

Barnabas Kirui (left), co-manager of the “Rebel Reruns” project

Other project managers include Lindsay Doucett (women’s track), Rachel Kieckhaefer (volleyball), Emily Kvitle (volleyball) and Juliana Smith (women’s track). Senior Associate Ath-

letics Director Derek Horne serves as the adviser.

Ole Miss SAAC has partnered with FedEx to assist with shipping the shoes to Nairobi, Kenya. AR

ss Case...

From our Expre y casseroles,

Whether you’re new to “Ole Miss” tradition or returning to familiar surroundings...

Legends of “tailgating in the Grove” are repeated in football circles across the country...

It’s historical... it’s traditional... it’s Ole Miss!

We offer full-service tailgating... all you need is a ticket.

our man Enjoy one of uffles s, breakfast so hot appetizer me, ho ke ta ready to e. and entrees bake and serv

Additional Services We provide a complete line of services including: Tables, Linens, Folding Chairs, Canopy Tents, Coolers, Ice, Bottled Water, Flatware, Plates and Napkins.

lection of - a wide se Everyday order” s, “made to fresh salad s, Hot & hilly Steak Hoagies, P hes and a variety wic Cold Sand pastries from our le ib st si of irre se. ” bakery ca y il a -d “fresh We reserve the right to change menu items and services as necessary

711 North L amar, Oxford - www.oxfordcatering.com - 662-236-0001 - (fax) 662-236-3866 38 A lumni R eview

High Cotton

Let’s Hear it for the Boys baseball team ranked sixth in preseason by baseball america

B

aseball America ranked the Ole Miss baseball team sixth nationally in its preseason rankings announced in January.

The ranking represents the third straight poll to feature the Rebels in the preseason top 25 this year. (Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Base-

Ole Miss is coming off a sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2008, when the Rebels traveled to the NCAA Coral Gables Regional and defeated 12thranked Missouri to earn a berth in the Regional Championship game, then lost to No. 1 Miami to end the season. It was the fourth straight season the Rebels advanced to compete for at least a Regional Championship, making the Rebels one of only six schools to achieve that feat over the past four seasons.

The Rebels posted a 39-26 record in 2008 and advanced to the championship game of the SEC Tournament for the second time in three seasons.

Returning for the Rebels this season is a bevy of players, including three who were drafted in the 2008 MLB Draft but opted to return to Ole Miss for their senior season. Among those returning are righthanded pitcher Scott Bittle, catcher Brett Basham and outfielder Logan Power. Bittle is a preseason All-America selection and candidate for the Brooks Wallace Award, while Basham was the Coach Mike Bianco top defensive catcher in the SEC last season ball Writer’s Association also named the and Power is the top returning hitter on Rebels to their preseason rankings earlier the team. this year.) 2009 marks the sixth straight The Rebels open the home portion of season that Ole Miss has been ranked in their schedule on Tuesday, Feb. 24, against the preseason.

Central Arkansas. AR

Luxury condos ½ block off Oxford’s Square.

Prices starting at $385,000 Club Room, Garage Parking, Rooftop Terrace, Units with Private Balconies and Viking Kitchens

Edinburgh Place

2 Bedroom, 2 bath condos 0.3 miles from Campus. Prices starting at $99,900 Swimming Pool, Gated Entrance, Totally renovated units

Provence Park

Freestanding condos off Frontage Road.

Prices starting in the low $300,000’s Swimming Pool, Gated Entrance, Community Shuttle Service, Units with private garages, Pine floors, High Ceilings and Balconies

www.guestrealty.com

Call any Guest Realty agent at our THREE Oxford Office locations: 1721 University Avenue 234-5600 119 Heritage Drive 234-5611 1300 Van Buren Avenue 234-5624 Winter 2009 39

arts &

Culture Larry Brown and the Blue-Collar South edited by Jean W. Cash and Keith Perry, foreword by Rick Bass, 240 pages, $50 (Hardcover), ISBN: 1934110752 Larry Brown is widely regarded as one of the foremost authors of modern Southern literature. This novel is a collection of essays that consider the writer’s entire oeuvre, placing it in the contexts of Southern literature, Mississippi writing and literary work about the working class.

Author Rick Bass contributes an introduction that pays homage to his contemporary and friend. Bass writes, “I have always found a great affinity with Larr y’s keen regard for a certain rightness of things, his respect for the fitted elegance and sophistication and just plain mystery of a wilder, farther nature so much older than our own.”

Jean W. Cash (PhD 83) is professor of English at James Madison University and author of Flannery O’Connor: A Life.

Fresh Frozen by Darden North, MD, 312 pages, $26.95 (Hardcover), ISBN 0977112632 In this third medical thriller by award-winning author and practicing physician Darden North (BA 78, MD 82), human reproductive tissue becomes a fatal commodity. In Fresh Frozen, a young policeman and his tormented wife fail miserably to produce a family, finding themselves outcasts in the renewed baby boom sweeping the United States.

However, there is one last hope for them: a catalog of human embr yo and egg donors peddled by a woman whose standards are easily dismissed for the right price.

40 A lumni R eview

Pursuing their futile attempts to become parents has nearly cost the wife her life and pushed the couple to the brink of bankruptcy.

This purported last chance for Wesley and Carrie Sarbeck to satisfy their place as parents in Middle America unknowingly tosses them in the midst of a grisly murder plot, the world of Hollywood celebrities and a heist of freshly frozen human embryos.

North is a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist who lives in Jackson, where he practices medicine at Jackson Healthcare for Women, PA. He and his wife, Sarah “Sally” Buckner Fortenberry (BA 79), have two children.

Lantana by Caroline Herring, CD, Signature Sounds Records, $17.98.

Caroline Herring (BA 92, MA 98) confidently returns to the forefront of the American roots music scene with her new album “Lantana,” released on Signature Sounds Records. The Mississippiborn, Atlanta-based singer/songwriter took the producing helm for the first time on the new record, co-producing with longtime collaborator Rich Brotherton (Robert Earl Keen).

After making a name for herself in Mississippi as band member and cofounder of the now renowned “Thacker Mountain Radio” music series, Herring moved to Austin, Texas.

She won Best New Artist at both the 2002 South by Southwest Austin Music Awards and also from the Austin American-Statesman.

Though Herring had established herself as an authentic, original voice, she paused to focus on marriage and motherhood as she continued to tour and play festivals nationally and internationally.

Mourning Sarah: A Case for Testing Group B Strep

by Theresa Huttlinger Vigour, 148 pages, $29.95 ( Pa p e r b a c k ) , I S B N : 1846192641 “A tragic story, clearly told,” writes Jane Plumb, c h a i r m a n o f Gro u p B Strep Support, UK. “Huttlinger Vigour shares the confusion, pain and devastation she and her family experienced around the time of her daughter, Sarah’s, birth and early death from potentially preventable group B strep infection. Many who have suffered similar losses will draw comfort from this book, knowing that they aren’t alone.

Thankfully, as she outlines, measures are now in place in the U.S. that ensure most group B strep infections in babies are prevented there. In the UK, we’re yet to achieve this, though we continue to campaign for such measures to be introduced.

Perhaps were the decision makers to read this book, it would happen sooner.”

Theresa Huttlinger Vigour (87) is a freelance writer, adjunct instructor of English and a creative writing teacher. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism, a master’s degree in English, and a Master of Fine Arts in creative nonfiction writing.

Information presented in this section is compiled from material provided by the publisher and/or author and does not necessarily represent the view of the Alumni Review or the Ole Miss Alumni Association. To present a recently published book or CD for consideration, please mail a copy with any descriptions and publishing information to Ole Miss Alumni Review, Ole Miss Alumni Association, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677-1848. AR

Travel planner 2009

A

lumni and friends of the university enjoy traveling together.

For 2009, the Alumni Association is offering some spectacular trips.

Alumni and friends obtain group rates and discounts.

All prices are per person, based on double occupancy. Airfare is not included. For a brochure or more information, contact the Alumni office at 662-9157375. You also can find these trips listed on the Ole Miss Alumni Association’s Web site at <www.olemissalumni.com>.

Gibraltar Rock 42 A lumni R eview

Voyage of Discovery: Galapagos Islands Feb. 27-March 7, 2009 Join in the journey of a lifetime to the Galápagos Islands aboard the M.V. Santa Cruz and discover a region unmatched in its beauty and its role in the history of natural science. Here, you can walk among 400-pound tortoises, nearly touch spiny-backed iguanas, and snorkel in crystal clear waters alongside sea lions, dolphins and tropical penguins.

This unique itinerary also includes time in mainland Ecuador. Also offered is a six-night Post-Program Option to Peru’s

legendary “lost city” of Machu Picchu and the historic cities of Lima and Cuzco.

—$3,195 Cruising the Canary Islands April 7-15, 2009 Journey along sea routes once plied by Phoenician triremes and Roman galleys to the sun-washed Canary Islands.

Discover the exotic allure of cosmopolitan Casablanca, stroll through the lanes of imperial Rabat and explore the storied British Crown Colony of Gibraltar, “Gateway to the Mediterranean.” Throughout your voyage, travel

aboard the exclusively chartered M.S. Le Diamant, a deluxe vessel that provides a memorable small ship experience. You may enhance your travel experience with an exclusive Madrid Pre-Program Option and a post-program option featuring the Moorish monuments of Granada and Seville.—$2,795 River Life along the Waterways of Holland and Belgium-MV Heidelberg April 10-18, 2009 Celebrate the spirit and beauty of springtime on this spectacular journey along the waterways of Holland and Belgium aboard the delu xe M.V. Heidelberg.

Cruise past centuries-old windmills and charming canal-lined villages as Holland’s tulips burst into full spring bloom.

Discover picturesque Old Dutch towns like Volendam, Middelburg and Delft; explore the well-preserved medieval Flemish cities of Bruges and Antwerp; and visit Holland’s most famous windmills at Kinderdijk. Throughout the program, enjoy specially arranged educational presentations and cultural activities. Travelers are also invited to join a special two-day Amsterdam pre-program option.—$2,495 Tuscany/Cortona May 6-14, 2009 Tuscany is celebrated for breathtaking natural beauty, magnificent Renaissance art and architecture, superb cuisine and some of Italy’s most charming people. Its historic hilltop towns are living postcards where ancient ramparts encircle colorful piazzas, elegant Etruscan fountains, stately pa lazzos and bustling cafés.

Explore the myriad fascinations and f lavors of this spectacular region from medieval Cortona. Travel past Etruscan tombs and through the gorgeous hill country while indulging your senses in the beauty and simplicity of the land, dense with olive groves and vineyards, cypress and pine.—$2,495 Cruising the Baltic Sea and Norwegian Fjords May 26-June 7, 2009 In the tradition of ancient Viking mariners, sail across the Baltic Sea under sunlit northern skies to experience the magnificent beauty of Norway’s fjords, the cul-

Dutch Amsterdam

tural rebirth of the Baltic States and the imperial riches of St. Petersburg on this special voyage. From the medieval treasures of Riga, Tallinn and Gda´nsk, to the unrivaled artistic heritage of St. Petersburg, Russia, delve into the region’s fascinating historical legacy. This customized itinerary encompasses numerous cultural enhancements, including a special early opening tour of the world-acclaimed Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, and features accommodations aboard the deluxe M.S. Le Diamant, one of the world’s most celebrated small cruise ships.

A pre-program option in the Hanseatic city of Bergen, Norway, and a two-night Stockholm post-program option also are offered.—$6,295

Village Life in the Italian Lake district june 6-14, 2009 Savor “la dolce vita”—the sweet life—in Italy’s legendary Lake District for one week while discovering the renowned art, magnificent architecture and storied history of a region whose beautiful and romantic alpine setting has inspired some of Western civilization’s greatest creative minds from Virgil to Hemingway. While spending seven nights in the lakeside village of Cernobbio in the charming Hotel Regina Olga, explore the rich historical and cultural heritage of Lombardy and the Lake District through educational lectures, meetings with local citizens and specially arranged guided tours. You will also learn the secrets to preparing authentic Italian cuisine durWinter 2009 43

ing a hands-on culinary class and meal at the Centro Studi Alberghiero Casnati cooking school.—$2,795 Ukraine and Romania June 23-July 6, 2009 On this journey, you’ll gain a full understanding of the historical and political events that led to Ukraine’s independence while immersing yourself in the lifestyle and landscapes unique to the region. The voyage will take you from Kiev—where you’ll walk alongside locals, see the lush landscapes that inspired Alexander Pushkin, taste local cuisine, hear renowned musicians, visit two UNESCO World Heritage List sites and be entertained by native Cossacks—to Bucharest. It’s a trip overflowing with education, exploration and enjoyment.

Accommodations include 10 nights aboard the M.S. Dnieper Princess and a two-night stay at the Athenee Palace Hilton in Bucharest, Romania. Entertainment includes performances by the Ukrainian National Choir, Black Sea

Naval Fleet Ensemble and a folklore group.—$2,295

Amsterdam pre-program option is also available.—$3,195

Great Journey through Europe June 26-July 6, 2009 Immerse yourself in the cultural and scenic treasures of Europe’s heartland on this unique cruise and rail itinerary tracing the Rhine River from the North Sea to the Swiss Alps. Board the deluxe M.S. Amadeus Princess in Amsterdam and travel upstream for five nights through Holland, Germany and France.

Disembark in Basel, Switzerland, and travel overland by road and rail to the pristine alpine resort of Zermatt, nestled beneath the craggy peak of the Matterhorn, and the beautiful lakeside town of Lucerne. During your stay in Switzerland, experience the soaring majesty of the Alps on three of Europe’s most spectacular rail journeys—the Gornergrat Bahn, the Glacier Express and the Mt. Pilatus Railway—and enjoy two nights in Zermatt in a chalet-style hotel and two nights in Lucerne in a deluxe hotel. A special

Ireland/Ennis Aug. 21-29, 2009 Set on Europe’s outskirts against the waves of the Atlantic Ocean is a rare land—the legendary Emerald Isle. Begin your exploration in Ennis, County Clare, and travel to the ancient Burren and windswept Cliffs of Moher. Visit Bunratty Castle, the most complete and authentic medieval castle in Ireland, then continue to Bunratty Folk Park, whose recreated 19thcentury village provides insight into the life of bygone days. Cruise to the Aran Island of Inishmore and marvel at the cliff-side fortress of Dún Aengus. Appreciate the country’s epic literary heritage at Coole Park in County Galway, with its beech tree bearing W.B. Yeats’ initials and the 16th-century tower of Thoor Ballylee, where he resided. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore Ireland, a captivating island of legend and history, lively villages and peaceful countryside.—$2,395 Celtic Lands Aug. 22-Sept. 2, 2009 Embrace four millennia of Celtic history on this remarkable 12-day voyage aboard the deluxe, exclusively chartered M.S. Le Diamant. Cruise around the misty, legend-haunted islands of Scotland and along the verdant coasts of southern England and northern France. Experience the stark beauty of Scotland’s Hebrides; admire the elegant architecture of Edinburgh; observe the enduring Celtic heritage of Northern Ireland and Wales; and revel in the historical charms of the Cornish port of Penzance. In Normandy, France, admire the soaring grace of MontSt-Michel and stroll along the historic beaches where Allied forces landed on D-Day. We also invite you to enhance your travel experience with an exclusive pre-program option in Dublin and/or a post-program option in Paris, the romantic “City of Light.” —$5,195

Mont-St-Michel 44 A lumni R eview

Ancient Wonders of the Western Mediterranean Sept. 11-21, 2009 Join in an expedition to the heart of the Mediterranean, and experience the grand colosseums, spectacular temples and ruined cities of the classical world

on this 11-day voyage aboard the exclusively chartered deluxe M.S. Le Diamant.

Cruise along the stunning coasts of the French and Italian Riviera, and marvel at Michelangeloâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s David in Florence, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cradle of the Renaissance.â&#x20AC;? Sail in the wake of Roman galleys, medieval mariners and the sleek triremes of Phoenician sea traders to the ancient port of Sicily. You will also tour the fabled Oracle of Delphi, one of the most sacred sites in ancient Greece, and walk the hallowed grounds of Gallipoli.â&#x20AC;&#x201D;$3,995 Village Life in Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cotswolds Sept. 20-28, 2009 Time has passed with an unusually gentle hand over the rolling hills and small villages of Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cotswolds, a delightful region of lush pastoral landscapes, medieval castles and deep-rooted cultural traditions. On this exclusive sojourn, immerse yourself in the heart of the English countryside and discover this regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s enchanting natural beauty and priceless historic treasures. Throughout your stay, enjoy charming accommodations at the Queenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hotel; a splendid 150-year-old example of Regency-style architecture situated

amidst immaculately groomed gardens of Cheltenham. Also, to further enhance your enjoyment and understanding of the Cotswolds region, this carefully planned itinerary features a full program of lectures and presentations about regional art, history and culture.â&#x20AC;&#x201D;$2,795 Island Life in Ancient Greece Sept. 27-Oct. 5, 2009 Discover a region acclaimed for its fascinating history, stunning natural beauty and deep-rooted cultures on this distinctive weeklong voyage across the Aegean Sea through the Greek Isles and to Turkeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historic coast. Explore Greeceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most fabled islands, including Santorini, renowned for its pristine beaches. Stroll through the ruins of Ephesus, and sail in the wake of Achilles, Odysseus and Agamemnon to legendary Troy aboard the exclusively chartered M.S. Le Diamant, one of the finest ships to cruise the eastern Mediterranean. Enhance your understanding of the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history and cultures through educational lectures and a comprehensive series of excursions. You are also invited to join a two-night preprogram option in the ancient Greek cap-

ital of Athens and/or a two-night postprogram option in Istanbul, crossroads of East and West.â&#x20AC;&#x201D;$2,995 Seine River Oct. 2-10, 2009 Explore the tranquil beauty, fascinating history and rich artistic heritage of the French province of Normandy while cruising on the Seine River aboard the intimate, five-star M.V. Cezanne from the historic port of Rouen to the splendid French capital of Paris. Enjoy excursions to the provincial capital of Rouen, renowned for its exquisite cathedral; Claude Monetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s house and studios in Giverny; and Auvers-sur-Oise, where Vincent van Gogh spent his final days.

Also visit the Normandy Beaches where Allied Forces landed on D-Day in June 1944, and savor regional specialties like Camembert and Calvados. Conclude in Paris, one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most romantic cities, and stroll through the streets of the legendary bohemian neighborhood of Montmartre, where artists and musicians like Pablo Picasso and Django Reinhardt once lived and worked. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;$2,695 AR

4_RNa aUV[T` P\bYQ `aN_a 4_RNa aUV[T` P\bYQ `aN_a dVaU aUR _VTUa ]NV_V[T dVaU aUR _VTUa ]NV_V[T

Nancy NancyKimball KimballMellon, Mellon,Vice VicePresident President â&#x20AC;&#x201C;â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Wealth Wealth Management Management 100 North Tampa Street, Suite 3000 100 North Tampa Street, Suite 3000 Tampa, Tampa,FL FL33602 33602 (813) (813)227-2030 227-2030 www.fa.smithbarney.com/nancymellon www.fa.smithbarney.com/nancymellon nancy.k.mellon@smithbarney.com nancy.k.mellon@smithbarney.com

INVESTMENT INVESTMENTPRODUCTS: PRODUCTS: NOT NOTFDIC FDICINSURED. INSURED. NO NOBANK BANKGUARANTEE. GUARANTEE. MAY MAY LOSE LOSE VALUE VALUE

ŠŠ 2008 Citigroup Global Markets Barney is is aa division division and andservice servicemark markofofCitigroup Citigroup 2008 Citigroup Global MarketsInc. Inc.Member MemberSIPC. SIPC.Securities Securitiesare areoffered offeredthrough throughCitigroup Citigroup Global Global Markets Markets Inc. Inc. Smith Smith Barney Global Markets Inc.Inc. andand itsits affiliates trademarks and and service servicemarks marksofofCitigroup CitigroupInc. Inc.and and Global Markets affiliatesand andis isused usedand andregistered registeredthroughout throughoutthe theworld. world.Citi Citiand and Citi Citi with with Arc Arc Design are trademarks SMSM CitigroupGlobal GlobalMarkets MarketsInc. Inc.and andCitibank Citibank its its affiliates, andand areare used and registered affiliates, used and registeredthroughout throughoutthe theworld. world.Working WorkingWealth Wealth isisaaservice servicemark markof of Citigroup Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Citigroup areare affiliated companies under thethecommon affiliated companies under commoncontrol controlofofCitigroup CitigroupInc. Inc.

Winter 2009 45

News alumni

Leading the Way new alumni association board members dedicate their time to helping ole miss Jimmy Brown (BBA 70) oversees banking operations in the Nor th Mississippi region for Regions Financial Corporation. He has served 33 years with Regions, a top bank-holding company headquartered in Birmingham with $144 billion in assets, operating more than 2,000 branches in 16 states.

Brown joined Regions in 1975, serving as a community bank president and commercial lender. He then became regional executive for North Mississippi before assuming his current duties in 1995.

Brown serves on the Rust College Board of Trustees and has previously served on the Ole Miss Alumni Association board of directors and the Mississippi Bankers Association executive committee.

Kimsey O’Neal Cooper (BSPh 94) of Carthage is district pharmacy supervisor for Walgreens in Flowood. She is vice president of the Mississippi Pharmacists Association and legislative chair for the Magnolia Professional Society.

O’Neal Cooper also is a member of t h e E a s t C e ntral Community College Board of Trustees, the Leake County Chapter of the Boys and Girls Club board of directors and the Ole Miss School of Pharmacy board. She was inducted into the M-Club Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003 and named an SEC 46 A lumni R eview

Great in 2005.

While at Ole Miss, she was an AllSEC basketball player and a member of Alpha Kappa Sorority. She was named Miss Ole Miss in 1990.

Mayo Flynt (BBA 87) is president of AT&T Mississippi. He serves on the boards of directors for Momentum Mississippi, the Mississippi Technology Alliance, the Mississippi Partnership f o r Ec o n o m i c Development, the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership, United Way of the Capital Area and the Mississippi Museum of Art. Flynt is also a member of the Jackson Downtown Rotary Club and the board of directors and the board of governors of the Mississippi Economic Council. While at Ole Miss, he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Mayo and his wife, Renee, reside in Jackson with their daughters, Sarah and Olivia.

Mary Elizabeth Ford (BAEd 60) has been a full-time volunteer with the city of Pascagoula’s Community Development Office since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. At that time, she retired as vice president for tanker operations from GAC, a worldwide shipping company.

She serves as a board member of the Gulf Coast Symphony and the Mississippi Heritage Trust, and is the commissioner for

the Mississippi Gulf Coast Heritage Area.

Ford’s community activities include service as chairman of the Pascagoula Historic Preservations Commission, Pascagoula Main Street board, Pascagoula Strategic Plan steering committee, Jackson County Historical Society board, Pascagoula Port Advisory Group, Propeller Club and Pilgrimage Garden Club.

Mary Donnelly Haskell (BM 81) met her husband, Sam Haskell, at Ole Miss, where she majored in music and was a c t i ve i n t h e ater. The couple m ove d t o L o s Angeles, where he became the Worldwide Head of Television for the William Morris Agency and Mary developed a successful film and television career. She has appeared in more than 20 television movies and has had recurring and guest starring roles on shows such as “Sisters,” “Touched By an Angel” and “7th Heaven.” She also co-founded My Songs, a children’s music company, and has recently recorded two Christian albums: “Inspired: Standards—Good for the Soul” and “Power of the Cross.”

George Hilliard (BBA 77) is the president of and a partner in the Memphis independent insurance agency Pete Mitchell and Associates, Inc. Hilliard is also past president of the Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) Association of Tennessee. The

association recognized him as their 2008 Agent of the Year, the association’s highest recognition of a member, acknowledging both professional and personal accomplishments.

While at Ole Miss, he was a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Hilliard and his wife, Malinda, have three children. They attend South Germantown Road Church of Christ in Memphis.

Jetson G. Hollingsworth (BA 98) is an attorney with Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Cannada, PLLC, where he has practiced since 2001. While at Ole Miss, he was a member of the Sigma Chi Frat e r n i t y. He i s

currently a member of several professional organizations and committees, including the Hinds County Bar and the National Association of Bond Lawyers.

Hollingsworth serves on the boards of directors of Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Mustard Seed, Inc., and the Central Mississippi Ole Miss Alumni board. He and his wife, Mamie (BA 98), have three children and live in Jackson. They are active members of First Presbyterian Church.

Dr. Gene Norris Howell (BS 75) is a dentist in the Ripley Fa m i l y D e n tal Clinic. He is past president of the Mississippi District One Dental Association and former member of the Board of Trustees for the

Mississippi Dental Association, a position he held for eight years. He currently serves on the Ole Miss College of Liberal Arts alumni board.

Howell is also past president of the Rotary Club, president of the Tippah Country Hospital board and local chair of the American Cancer Society, where he received two Lifesaver awards.

Howell is married to Lynne Thomas Howell (BA 74, MBA 76).

Larry Leo Johnson (BBA 63, MS 64) is a retired public affairs vice president o f B e l l So u t h .

A Vietnam veteran, he has served as chair of the advisory b o a rd f o r t h e School of Business Administration and has

GOAL: 24,000 ACTIVE MEMBERS Only you can help your Ole Miss Alumni Association reach this important milestone!

Make your Alumni Association the strongest in the SEC and the nation by renewing your alumni membership each year and encouraging classmates, friends, neighbors, fans and Ole Miss supporters to also join and remain active.

Even fans who didn’t graduate from Ole Miss can join as Associate Members with full benefits.

Single Membership __$40 Annual __$800 Life __$850 Life Plan ($170 x 5 years) Joint Memberships __$50 Annual __$995 Life __$1,050 Life Plan ($210 x 5 years)

Last Name: ________________________First:_______________________ Middle Name: __________________Maiden Name: ___________________ Address: ______________________________________________________ City, State, Zip, Country: ________________________________________ E-mail: ________________________Phone:_________________________ Window Decal Preference: Inside _____

Outside _____

Go online to renew your membership and update your contact information at <www.olemissalumni.com> or fill out this form and mail to Membership, Alumni Association, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677. Phone 662-915-7375 CODE: REV Winter 2009 47

News alumni

been a guest lecturer under the Otho Smith Fellows program. He served on UM’s Commitment to Excellence Campaign committee and on The Inn at Ole Miss campaign steering committee. He and his wife, the former Rita Parks, are members of the First Baptist Church of Jackson. Johnson was president of the student M-Club and vice president of Sigma Chi. He has two sons, Rick (BBA 90) and Scott (BE 93). e d i t h K e l ly Green (BBA 73) is founder of Kelly Green Enterprises, LLC, which invests in real estate and food and beverage franchises. In 2003, she retired from FedEx Express, where she was vice presi-

dent and chief sourcing officer.

She is on the boards of Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc., the University of Tennessee Medical Group and Paragon National Bank. She was the founding chair of the Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy and was inducted into the Ole Miss Alumni Hall of Fame.

A native of Oxford, Kelly-Green holds an MBA from Vanderbilt University and is a Certified Public Accountant. She is married and has three children and one grandson.

the Mississippi Wholesale Distributors Association and the Pierce Foundation. Also active in Rotary, he is a Paul Harris Fellow. While at Ole Miss, he was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity. He is married to the former Penny Palmer (BAEd 82, MEd 83). They have three children and one grandson.

randy lonG (BBA 80, JD 83) is the president of Long Distribution-Corinth, a supplier of grocery, snacks and related products to convenience stores in Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama. He serves on the boards of directors for Commerce National Bank in Corinth, the Boy Scouts of America-Yocona Area Council,

alwyn h. luCKey (BA 82, JD 85) of Ocean Springs is the senior partner in the law firm Luckey & Mullins, PLLC, and CEO of the Marsh Island Companies, a privately held real estate investment company. Luckey serves on the executive board of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Carnival Association and the lead-

Distinctively personalized banking with a touch of southern hospitality ®

www.southbank.com 48 A lumni R eview

106 Courthouse Square Oxford, MS 662-234-5888 714 Jackson Avenue Oxford, MS 662-234-8614

ership board of the Boys & Girls Club of the Gulf Coast. He serves as an elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Ocean Springs.

While at Ole Miss, he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order and served in the Student Body Senate. He is married to the former Jeanne Carter (BAEd 83), and they have two children, Laurel and Taylor. susan mCClure mays (BAccy 81) is a program management adviser for FedEx Global Travel in Memphis. Mays began her career at FedEx in 1986 after working in public accounting for three years and earning her CPA certification.

Mays, a native of Sardis, is a third-

    

generation graduate of Ole Miss and a third-generation member of the Alumni Association board of directors. While at Ole Miss, she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority and numerous academic honorary societies.

She received her master’s degree from Vanderb i l t Un i ve r sity. She is married to William T. “Tad” Mays Jr. (BBA 81), and they have two sons, Will and Taylor.

ViCtor h. “hu” meena (BSHPE 80) serves as president of Cellular South, Inc., which provides wireless service to all of Mississippi and parts of four Southeastern states.

over 25,000 ft2 of flexible event space conference room & classrooms business center advanced audio-visual systems 282-seat auditorium

    

Prior to joining Cellular South, Meena served as the general manager of Southland Systems of Mississippi, Inc., a long-distance telecommunications service provider. Meena serves as chairman of the board of the Associated Carrier Group, a wireless device purchasing cooperative made up of more than 20 wireless carriers.

Meena is married to Ashley Creekmore Meena, and they have three sons: Victor Matthew, Wade Albert and Lee Creekmore. The Meena family is active in First Presbyterian Church of Jackson. dennis w. miller (BBA 78) is chief executive officer, director and share-

banquet seating to 750 outdoor terrace catering kitchen fully ADA-compliant broadband internet access

Only one mile from the historic Oxford Square, fine dining, hotels, eclectic shopping & historic treasures. Ò Ô Sophisticated little OxfordÕ is waiting for you... what are you waiting for?Ó - National Geographic Traveler

Book your event at the Oxford Conference Center.

Call 662-232-2367 or visit www.oxfordcvb.com for details.

winteR 2009 49

News alumni

holder in the Jackson-based law firm of Watkins Ludlam Winter and Stennis, PA. He serves on the board of the St a t e C a p i t a l Group, a worldwide association of independent business law firms, and as an officer and director of the Mississippi Tennis Association and the Tri-County Community Tennis Association. A native of Gulfport, Miller is married to the former Cheryl Stewart (BBA 80). They have two children, Montgomery and Madeleine, and live in Madison.

Markeeva Morgan (BSEE 01) manages the Continuous Risk Management and Independ e n t Te c h n i cal Assessments Team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. While at Ole Miss, Morgan was a

H

member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, the university Judicial Council and Ole Miss Ambassadors. He also was inducted into the Ole Miss Student Hall of Fame.

Morgan received the 2007 Outstanding Young Alumni award. He and his wife, Shaquinta, also an Ole Miss engineering alum, reside in Madison, Ala., and are members of First Missionary Baptist Church of Huntsville. They have one daughter, Mallory, and are expecting their second child in March 2009.

Robert S. Shaw Jr. (BAccy 81, MAccy 82), a cofounder of Paragon National Bank in Memphis, serves as its president and CEO. He currently serves on the boards of directors for the Memphis chapter of the March of Dimes and the Woodland Presbyterian School.

He is an elder of Woodland Presbyterian Church.

Shaw, a certified public accountant, previously served on the faculty of the

A SSISTED L IVING

•

Mid-South School of Banking and is a graduate of the American Bankers Association National Commercial Lending School. He and his wife, Vickie Wills (BSHPE 82), have three daughters, Martha, Sarah and Rachel.

Dr. Ralph B. Vance (BA 68, MD 72) is professor of medicine in the division of medical oncology at the UM School of Medicine, where he served as chief of staff of the University Medical Center and president of the Clinical Associates of the university.

He is a long-time American Cancer Society volunteer, having served as Mississippi Division president and the first president of the merged six-state MidSouth Division.

At Ole Miss, Vance was vice president of the Associated Student Body and inducted into the Student Hall of Fame.

Vance is married to the former Mary Douglas Allen and has a son, Brooks, and a daughter, Barrett. AR

A LZHEIMER ’ S /M EMORY C ARE

ermitage Gardens of Oxford is honored to be a longstanding and respected member of the Oxford community. We offer an uncompromising, high standard of living with all the warmth and hospitality of home, right here on our beautifully landscaped campus.

Here is what’s at the heart of our community: • Scheduled local transportation • 24-hour licensed nurses available • Exceptional gourmet dining • Medication management and • Housekeeping & linen service • Short-term and respite stays personal care • Cultural, social & recreational • And much more! activities Experience the lifestyle you deserve – don’t wait another moment!

C A L L T O DAY 50 A lumni R eview

FOR A

1488 Belk Boulevard • Oxford, MS 38655

662-234-8244

Pet Friendly

www.fivestarqualitycare.com

C O M P L I M E N TA R Y LU N C H

AND

TOUR!

Save the Dates young alumni weekend set for march 20-21

A

lumni and friends of the last 15 graduating classes (1993-2008) of Ole Miss are invited to the 2009 Young Alumni Weekend set for March 20-21, 2009.

The weekend provides an excellent occasion to return to Ole Miss and Oxford, as the Rebel baseball team will be hosting a three-game series with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Other weekend festivities include an off-campus party on Friday night and a Saturday night bash in the ballroom at the new Inn at Ole Miss featuring live music by ’80s tribute band The Breakfast Club.

Registration includes tickets to the

ballroom bash and the off-campus party. A package deal will be available that also includes a two-night stay in the newly remodeled Inn at Ole Miss (more information about the weekend is available at <www. olemissalumni.com>).

Many great changes have taken place on the Ole Miss campus in the past 15 years, and optional campus tours will be available on Saturday.

Call 662-915-7375 to reserve your space today, and save the dates March 20-21.

AR

At Last.... an affordable real estate opportunity in Oxford, MS. For information and availability, contact: Adam Quick, Project Manager Office: 662.513.0058

D L O S 5 6 2 R OVE Living Room

20’4” x 15’9”

Balcony

Bath #1

Bedroom #1

12’5” x 11’8”

Two Bedroom Unit 1100 Sq. Ft. Heated

Prices starting at $97,500

Condominiums

Prices are subject to change

www.themarkofoxford.com

so n Ja ck

N

Av

e.

6’0”

Bedroom #2

12’6” x 13’2”

Batesville 6

On Old Taylor Road

The University of Mississippi

MS HWY 6

MS HWY 7

Bath #2

lor R Tay d.

Dining Room

9’8” x 9’2”

adam@themarkofoxford.com

Old

Kitchen

Mobile 662.832.5051

6

7

1 mile South of Highway 6 21 Private Road 3057 Oxford, MS 38655

Winter 2009 51

News alumni

Life is a Highway For regional admissions counselors, attracting the best students to ole miss means hitting the road

W

hile some incoming Ole Miss students have been anxiously waiting their entire lives to step onto campus, many others face tougher choices about where they will go to college.

Throughout their junior and senior years of high school, they gather information. They consider academic options, location, housing, financing and other factors. For those students, the work of the Ole Miss recruiting team is especially important.

The process begins in fall, says Max Miller, associate director of enrollment services. Recruiters begin their year by ensuring that high-school counselors throughout the state have the latest literature—brochures, scholarship information and applications.

That leads to college fairs, when the recruiting team travels from town to town to tout the benefits of Ole Miss. At these fairs, recruiters can be competing for attention with as many as two dozen other colleges and universities.

52 A lumni R eview

Each of the eight high-school recruiters is responsible for a geographic region, and covering the entire area can mean lots of travel.

“It is quite a logistics operation,” Miller says. “They are gone for weeks at a time. It’s really a high-intensity semester.”

Alexis Williams (BA 00) is responsible for the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. She says that geography can sometimes be a challenge—for some students the distance seems too great. But the real key, she says, is getting students on campus.

“Once we get them here, we can sell them on it,” she says. “Once they come to campus, they fall in love with it.”

One such instance occurred this year when Williams recruited Ocean Springs High School student Dan McAndrews.

McAndrews had no ties to Ole Miss but, on his father’s urging, came to campus for a visit. Unfamiliar with Ole Miss, he was under the mistaken impression that little regard was given to coastal

residents. But a chance encounter with Chancellor Robert Khayat—a Moss Point native—changed his mind. He now plans to enroll in the fall.

Miller agrees that bringing students to campus is one of the recruiting team’s strongest tools because it reveals the unique and intangible quality that is the personality of Ole Miss.

“There are so many reasons kids come here,” says Miller. “But when you talk to a parent or a student who steps on campus, there is something about our personality that is very attractive to them. That personality is made up of a lot of different things—the way they are treated when they arrive, the look of the campus, the variety of our academic programs. All of that is what makes the difference.”

While recruiting in Mississippi is a top priority, the admissions counselors also travel to other parts of the country to find new students. Lately, Ole Miss has been attracting a lot of out-of-state students from Texas and Virginia.

Associate Director Jody Lowe (BA 96) has spent a lot of time on the East Coast, while Rebecca Bertrand (BA 06, MA 08) covers Texas.

“We try to focus where we think our opportunity is the greatest. It’s efficiency,” says Miller. “When we see these pockets of interest we try to provide a jump-start to the areas by visiting and making a relationship with the high schools.”

Though recruiters play a crucial role, recruitment is a campuswide job, Miller

says. “It is important for our students to talk to our faculty, to our senior administrators, to understand the facilities. So it’s not just our recruiters out there, it’s the whole campus that helps in that.”

To assist the counselors with information on prospective students, contact the Office of Enrollment Services at 800-OLE MISS (toll-free in Mississippi) or 662-915-7226 or visit their Web site at <www.olemiss.edu/admissions/>. AR

Regional Admissions Counselors

Karinlee Brister

Amiee Dickerson

Matthew Marks

Southwest Mississippi, Baton Rouge, La., and Georgia

Mississippi Delta

Greater Jackson area and central and north Louisiana

Rachael Shook

Sovent Taylor

Jason Welch

Northwest Mississippi, west Tenn- Northeast Mississippi essee and boot heel of Missouri

East central Mississippi and central Alabama

Alexis Williams

Rebecca Bertrand

South Mississippi, Florida, New Orleans and Mobile, Ala.

Texas

Winter 2009 53

News alumni

A Moment to Shine administrator named northwest community college’s alumnus of the year

T

homas D. Wallace (BAEd 78, MEd 79, PhD 02) demonstrates a profound love for college students and coll e g e l i f e . He has spent the majority of his career serving students at The University of Mississippi, but he began to define his career when he was a student at Northwest Mississippi Community Thomas D. Wallace College some

34 years ago.

Wallace returned to his beloved alma mater on Oct. 18 as Northwest’s Alumnus of the Year. He was honored during homecoming and alumni festivities that day.

After leaving NMCC, Wallace transferred to Ole Miss, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary education and his master’s in education administration. He taught in Oxford City Schools for five years. He served as a public school administrator for four years in Oxford, then two years in New Albany City Schools. He was named Union County Educator of the Year by Phi Delta Kappa in 1989.

Wallace returned to Ole Miss in March 1990 as assistant vice chancel-

lor for student affairs. He later served as associate vice chancellor, then as vice chancellor for student life.

Since July 2007, he has been an assistant to the UM provost with the responsibility of developing academic programs to enhance student retention. He also has been an associate professor in the School of Education since 2001, teaching educational leadership.

In 2002, Wallace earned his Ph.D. in educational leadership at UM. He recently completed classes from the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University and the Millennium Leadership Institute from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. AR

Your Window to Past•Present•Future • The Ole Miss Yearbook • Past yearbooks archived at e-yearbook.com

• The Daily Mississippian • theDMonline.com • Rebel Radio 92.1 FM • Discover Oxford and Ole Miss • •

at OleMissLiving.com NewsWatch – Channel 99 UMobile text messaging Breaking news, scores & MORE! 662-915-5503 (Office) 662-915-5703 (Fax) 201 Bishop Hall University, Mississippi 38677

olemiss.edu/depts/smc

54 A lumni r evieW

License to Invest affinity plates put money into scholarship endowments

I

n-state alumni looking for a way to give back to The University of Mississippi while simultaneously displaying their college spirit can purchase the official University of Mississippi affinity license plate. For an additional $50 a year—$32.50 of which returns to Ole Miss—alumni can show their pride in their alma mater.

Fifty-five percent of the funds UM receives from the affinity tags sold in Mississippi are invested in endowments that support Alumni Association Scholarships and Academic Excellence Scholarships.

The Alumni Association Scholarship was established in 1998 by the Ole Miss Alumni Association and renamed in 2007 in honor of the late Executive Director Emeritus Herb Dewees. Recipients of the Herb Dewees Alumni Association Scholarship must be full-time students who are lineal descendants of alumni of Ole Miss. Scholarships are based on scholastic ability and leadership potential. For more information about this scholarship, visit <www.olemissalumni. com/scholarships>.

The Academic Excellence Scholarships are awarded through the Office of Admissions and Enrollment Services.

The scholarships are granted to entering freshmen based on academic merit and achievement.

For more information about Academic Excellence Scholarships, call the Office of Financial Aid at 800-891-4596 or visit <www.olemiss.edu/depts/financial_aid/scholarship types.html>.

The remaining 45 percent of the funds from affinity license plates are distributed to the “Preserve the Grove” fund. This fund is used to maintain the Grove and University Circle year-

round.

Ole Miss alumni and friends who live in Tennessee also have the opportunity to have an Ole Miss affinity license plate.

However, none of the funds from the Tennessee tag is returned to the university.

“Mississippians who purchase the Ole Miss car tag not only show their love for the university, but they also provide much needed resources for Ole Miss, which are used for student

scholarships and campus beautification,” says Alumni Association Director Tim Walsh. “I encourage more alumni and friends to purchase the Ole Miss tag so that we can blanket the state with our specialty license plate.”

Alumni Association Vice President Bill May, along with his wife and daughters, share Walsh’s enthusiasm about the license plate.

“Not only do we have an Ole Miss affinity license plate, we have five of them!” says May. “We want the world to know everywhere we drive that we are Ole Miss people … and very proud of it!”

Alumni interested in purchasing an Ole Miss affinity license plate for the upcoming year should contact their local tax collectors. AR

Winter 2009 55

News alumni

Class Notes Due to space limitations, class notes are only published in the Alumni Review from active, dues-paying members of the Ole Miss Alumni Association. To submit a class note, send it to records@alumni.olemiss.edu or Alumni Records Dept., Ole Miss Alumni Association, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS 38677-1848. Class notes may also be submitted through the association’s Web site at www.olemissalumni.com. The association relies on numerous sources for class notes and is unable to verify all notes with individual alumni.

’40s

W. Hinton AndReWs (BSPh 49) of Magnolia retired from The Corner Drug Store and moved to Miramar Beach, Fla.

’50s

d o RR A n C e Ault m A n (LLB 56), president of the law firm of Aultman, Tyner, Ruffin, Bell & Swetman, Ltd., in Hattiesburg, received an honorary Doctor of Laws at November 2008 graduation ceremonies at William Carey University.

JACk dunbAR (LLB 57) of Oxford was recognized for inclusion in the 2009 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the specialty of alternative dispute resolution, municipal and personal injury law.

56 A lumni r evieW

HubeRt H. mCAlexAndeR (BA 61, MA 66) released Strawberry Plains Audubon Center: Four Centuries of a Mississippi Landscape through the University Press of Mississippi. bARRy miCkey (BA 67) of Findlay, Ohio, was elected secretary of International Child Care, which provides health care and educational services to the children of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. dottie Pennington (BA 65) of Johnson City is serving a yearlong term as president of the Medical Alliance of the Washington-Unicoi-Johnson County Medical Association. eugene C. “gene” tullos (JD 66), now practicing in Raleigh, was inducted into the Jones County Junior College Sports Hall of Fame.

’60s

JoHn s. bullARd (BA 75) spent 10 days covering Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana and Tropical Storm Hanna in South Carolina for Fox News Channel.

He is president and director of photography for Lip Flap Productions, Inc., a television production company. mARk A. CHinn (JD 78) of Chinn & Associates in Jackson was selected for the third year in a row as one of only six Mississippi family law lawyers for inclusion in “Mid-South Super Lawyers.” m. dAvid eAst (BSPh 78) of Covington, La., accepted the position of medical director of the Hospitalist Program at the Louisiana Medical Center and Heart Hospital in Lacombe. ellen HARtmAn (BA 73), head of Weber Shandwick’s Atlanta office, received the Paul M. Lund Public Service Award at the recent national con-

’70s

Na-Ann Watts

On Paper alumni print directory announced

T

he Ole Miss Alumni Association has partnered with Harris Connect to provide a print directory of Ole Miss alumni. University of Mississippi Alumni: Today 2010 will be the most complete and up-to-date reference available of more than 101,000 Ole Miss alumni worldwide.

Harris Connect is the largest print directory publication company in America, specializing in alumni directories and the data needs involved with a project of this sort. Working in partnership with Harris, the Alumni Association will begin sending out questionnaires in April, giving you and your fellow alums the opportunity to update

vention of the Public Relations Society of America.

JoHnny mAttox (BAEd 73, MCS 74) of Blue Mountain was recently named the Outstanding College Science Teacher by the Mississippi Science Teachers Association. tReniA Reynolds (BAEd 75, MSP 78) was named the 2008 Outstanding School Clinician by the Mississippi Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

CARol bRoCk (BAccy 85) joined Pinnacle Trust as an operations specialist.

Before joining Pinnacle Trust, she worked in the financial industry in the Atlanta area. In 2005, Brock received the Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership.

J. PAtten bRoWn iii (BA 88) opened the law Offices of Pat Brown, in Hartford, Conn., and New York, N.Y. mARk byRne (BA 81) was awarded the BASS Federation Nation of Washington 2008 Media and Public Relations award in October 2008. elizAbetH J. FutRell (JD 81) was selected as one of the 2008 Women of the Year by New Orleans CityBusiness.

’80s

and verify your profiles for inclusion in the directory. Residence and business information, as well as e-mail addresses, will be included to facilitate networking among alumni.

You will also have the chance to vote on your favorite cover and to submit a photo and essay.

When contacted, please take a few moments to verify that we have complete and accurate information. This new publication promises to be a comprehensive reference guide to the Ole Miss family, and will be available as both a classic, library-quality book and as a CD-ROM. Thank you in advance for your help and cooperation. AR

sCott kimbRougH (BAccy 82) was promoted to first vice president at Trustmark National Bank in Jackson. He previously served in corporate accounting and strategic sourcing at Trustmark. ken monRoe (BA 87) of Lavaca, Ark., was elected to the board of directors of Associated Industries of Arkansas. kim obeRkRom nelson (BE 86) of Tullahoma, Tenn., retired as lieutenant colonel from the United States Air Force after 20 years of service. She now serves as deputy director for business development in Huntsville, Ala., for Delta Solutions and Strategies, a woman-owned small business.

’90s

leRoy d. PeRCy (JD 96) opened his own law office, Percy Law Firm, PLLC,

for all your real estate needs

Whether you’re looking for a new home or a football getaway..

Realtor Assoc. & licensed in MS & TN

703A Hwy 6 East Batesville, MS 38606 662.816.7458 cell 662.236.3733 fax naannwatts@aol.com

in Oxford.

JonAtHAn bAHm (BA 02) of Leland is a social studies teacher and assistant football coach at Leland (Miss.) High School.

Ro b y n A . C R A W F o R d ( B A 0 2 ) joined Strategic Financial Partners’ Memphis office as a financial services

’00s

Winter 2009 57

News alumni

Good Connection

alumni association unveils new web site

T

he World Wide Web is a constantly evolving medium. In an effort to keep up with that evolution, the Ole Miss Alumni Association has launched a thoroughly redesigned Web site that provides members with the latest news, photos and information from the association.

With a more user-friendly interface and a wide array of available information, the revamped Web site allows you to easily renew your membership, update your contact information, and learn about the goals and mission of the Alumni Association online. You’ll also find up-to-date information about club events, reunions and other alumni functions.

An added feature of the site allows association members to sign up for an e-mail forwarding account that gives them an @olemissalumni.com account while keeping their existing e-mail account.

Video, photo galleries and a history section also highlight the site. Please visit the all-new site at <www.olemissalumni.com>.

AR

HERE’S YOUR LICENSE TO BRAG! Now you can sport the official University of Mississippi license plate!

For an additional $50 a year — $32.50 of which returns to Ole Miss for educational enhancement — you can purchase this “license to brag” about your alma mater. When it’s time to renew your license plate, simply tell your local tax collector you want the Ole Miss affinity license plate. It’s an easy way to help your University.

This particular tag is available to Mississippi drivers only. Some other states, however, offer an Ole Miss affinity license plate. Check with your local tax collector for availability.

58 A lumni R eview

representative.

John L. Fuller (BA 04) joined the Corporate Securities Practice of Bass, Berry & Sims law firm in its Nashville office. weddings Maureen Courtney Burke (JD 87) and Paul Davis Speyerer, Sept. 6, 2008.

Frances Renee Hilton (BSHEC 91) and John James, June 21, 2008.

Lenaee Hope Kirk and Ricky Harold Thompson, Sept. 2, 2008.

Rebecca A. Latil (BBA 06) and Christopher J. Mills, Aug. 30, 2008.

Amanda Jill Murphy (BA 01) and Matthew L. Black, Sept. 20, 2008.

Dawn DiAnne Owen (BBA 01) and Christopher Lee Graham, Nov. 8, 2008.

Victoria Marie Thomas and Brian Walker Sanderson (BBA 95, JD 98), Nov. 8, 2008.

Randi Dianne Wilkins (BBA 05) and Tyler Woodrow Jones (BBA 04), Aug. 23, 2008. births John Warner IV, son of Michelle Allen Alford and John Warner Alford III (BBA 88), Sept. 17, 2008.

Lindsey Claire, daughter of Heidi Austin and John Stephen Austin (BBA

95), Feb. 22, 2008.

Carter Remington, son of Jill Emerson Bell (BAEd 06) and William Joel Bell (BE 98), Aug. 27, 2008.

Parker Elizabeth, daughter of Jennifer Lee Bolton and Dewitt Lamar â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chipâ&#x20AC;?

Bolton III (JD 03, MBA 04), Aug. 23, 2008.

Katherine Caswell, daughter of Lacy Bobo Carpenter (BBA 98) and Preston Caswell Carpenter Jr. (BAccy 98, MAccy 01), July 17, 2008.

Charles Hyde VI, son of Carolyn Butler Davidson and Charles Hyde Davidson V (BA 97), Sept. 5, 2008.

Jack McNeil, son of Carole Kloha Elliott (BAEd 94) and Steven Elliott, Aug. 20, 2008.

L i b by K a t h e r i n e , d a u g h t e r o f Heather Hartfield Foster (BBA 05) and Robert Dolton Foster (BBA 05), Aug. 27, 2008.

Meena Caroline, daughter of Cassie Martin Fountain (BSFCS 02) and Stephen W. Fountain (BBA 02), Aug. 2, 2008.

Ansley Grace, daughter of Johnna Norman Garner (BAccy 00, MAccy 02) and Andrew Vernon Garner (BAccy 97, MAccy 98), April 4, 2008.

Hugh William V, son of Elizabeth Minor Gates (BSW 00, JD 05) and Hugh William Gates IV (BBA 04, BA 04), April

The Next Harry Potter?

Alum Helps create a new adventure series

Where families live and memories are made.

Kitchens by

J

aclyn Cannon (BBA 01) is co-founder and managing director of The Jacabee Code, a new multimedia, historically themed adventure series for children ages 6-12. Set to launch in 2009, Jacabee comprises a book series, television series and computer games. All elements of The Jacabee Code will integrate learning and play experiences while emphasizing adventure, art, positive values, literacy, reading and history. The new company is based in Atlanta, where Cannon lives with her husband and son. AR

Old Hwy 7 North Oxford, MS 662-234-3211 www.elliotlumberinc.com Jaclyn Cannon

Winter 2009 59

News alumni

Making the Grade Journalism faculty member receives national accreditation

J

ournalism instructor Robin Street (BA 75, MA 85) has completed the national Accreditation in Public Relations exam, earning the APR designation administered by the Public Relations Society of America.

Street joins fewer than 30 public relations professionals in Mississippi and about 5,000 nationally who have earned the APR designation. Candidates for the APR designation must prepare a written portfolio and make a presentation to a panel of judges. If they pass the review, candidates then take a four-hour test. Less than half of those who go through the process earn accreditation.

Street’s accomplishment “is yet another marker in our department’s journey to combine the professional world with the academic world, which I believe is the best combination to prepare students for the marketplace,” says Samir Husni, chair of the Department of Journalism.

Street joined the UM faculty in 1990. AR 12, 2008.

Micah Joseph Jr., son of Meta Poole Ginn (BA 02, JD 05) and Micah J. Ginn (BA 96), Oct. 13, 2008.

Mary Murphy, daughter of Julia Johnson Hudson (BAEd 95) and Robert R. Hudson (BSHPE 93), Aug. 1, 2008.

Howard Povall, son of Amanda Lewis Hyneman (BPA 94) and Brian Hyneman (BBA 94, JD 98), Oct. 18, 2008.

Luke Andrew Wayne, son of Heidi A. Love and Jeffrey L. Love (BS 83), Oct. 1, 2008.

C a d e n Jo s e p h , s o n o f C h r i s t y Eubanks Madden (BA 94) and Daniel Joseph Madden, Sept. 12, 2008.

Peter John, son of Michele Moll Markow (BBA 02) and Peter J. Markow III (BBA 06), April 3, 2008.

Lynlee Merrill, daughter of Bonnie Morris Nance (BSES 99, MS 01) and Rob Nance, Sept. 15, 2008.

Caroline Elizabeth, daughter of Beth Nickel and Jason P. Nickel (BA 99), Oct. 1, 2008.

William “Liam” Strong and Phinizy “Phin” Davis, sons of Mary Ann Connell Percy (MA 01, JD 07) and LeRoy D. 60 A lumni R eview

Robin Street

Percy (JD 96), Oct. 6, 2008.

Emery Ellen, daughter of Margaret Biddle Pitcock (BSPh 98, PharmD 00) and James Jacob Pitcock (BSPh 97, PharmD 99), Sept. 24, 2007.

Edward Maxwell, son of Krista N. Sanders (BBA 91) and Edward L. Sanders (JD 90), June 24, 2008.

Meredith Ann, daughter of Christie Cammack Slaton (BBA 93) and Jason M. Slaton, Oct. 3, 2008.

Carter Pearce “Tate” Jr., son of Cassie Anderson Smith (BA 96) and Carter Pearce Smith (BAccy 95), Oct. 2, 2008.

James Smith, son of Ellen Brinkley Street (BBA 00) and Stuart Pleasant Street (BBA 98), Aug. 4, 2008.

Frances Claire, daughter of Melissa Kahlstorf Sutherland (BA 00) and Thomas McCurry Sutherland Jr. (BBA 01), Sept. 23, 2008.

Elise Patricia, daughter of Jennifer Dudley Tippett (BM 95) and Jerry P. Tippett Jr., May 22, 2008.

Reece Walters, son of Courtney Wages Tomlinson (BSN 02, MSN 06) and Scott Matthew Tomlinson (BA 03),

March 5, 2008.

Hollis Margaret and Anderson Corder, twins of Sara L. Trammell (BSFCS 02) and Scott A. Trammell (BBA 01), July 25, 2008.

Grayson James, son of Krissy A. Vanderburg and James Brandon Vanderburg (BA 99), Oct. 17, 2008.

In Memoriam 1920s Audrey Blockstrom Kinzer (BA 29), Oct. 25, 2008 1930s Rebecca McCormick Barbour (BSC 37), Oct. 31, 2008 Margaret Sartor Cox (BSC 37), Oct. 11, 2008 Christine Murphree Gates (38), Sept. 26, 2008 Elizabeth McGehee Watt (BA 35), Sept. 16, 2008 1940s Stephen Ellis Allen Jr. (LLB 47), Oct. 11, 2008 John C. Beard Jr. (MedCert 42),

Winter 2009 61

News alumni

Gone Bowling Alumni and friends enjoy a variety of activities revolving around the rebels’ victory in the 2009 cotton bowl

Alumni and staff at the Cotton Bowl Classic Big Play luncheon

Chancellor Robert Khayat visits with Ole Miss coeds during the New Year’s Eve party.

The Lexington Brothers perform at the New Year’s Eve party.

Ole Miss alumni and friends pause for a photo during the Alumni Association’s New Year’s Eve celebration.

Nov. 23, 2007 Curtis Van Breland (LLB 49), Oct. 21, 2008 Lampkin Herbert Butts Sr. (LLB 48), Sept. 5, 2008 Michael Byrnes III (40), Sept. 21, 2008 Mary Cleland Carter (BSC 44), Oct. 14, 2008 Edward Bradley Childress (BSC 40), Sept. 27, 2008 62 A lumni R eview

James Robert Flautt Jr. (MedCert 42), March 3, 2008 Frazier Earl Fyke Jr. (BS 44), Sept.

21, 2008 William Warren Gillis (BS 42), Oct. 16, 2008 Clyde G. Huggins Jr. (BBA 49, JD 69), Oct. 29, 2008 Cecil Pellon Morris (BSHPE 48, MA 50), Aug. 30, 2008 William H. Newton Jr. (BSC 41),

Sept. 13, 2008 William F. Riley (LLB 49), Nov. 2, 2008 Edna Avent Shellabarger (40), Sept.

18, 2008 Francis Bigelow Stevens (BA 42, LLB 51), Sept. 2, 2008 Juanita Rivers Stevens (BA 44), May 14, 2008 Hugh Hudson Thomasson (BA 49), Oct. 11, 2008

No Place Like Home

new speech and hearing clinic director follows in father’s footsteps

T

he new director of the Speech and Hearing Center at The University of Mississippi is following in his father’s footsteps.

Brad Crowe (BA 96, MS 98), son of longtime communicative disorders professor Thomas A. Crowe, who retired in 2002, took over the clinic in fall 2008 after six years of working in speech pathology in Georgia.

“It was a goal of mine to eventually end up at the UM Speech and Hearing Center. I wouldn’t trade my experiences in Athens for anything, but it is good to be home,” says the younger Crowe, who also is

teaching at the university in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

His goals for the future of the Speech and Hearing Center are many.

“I would like to see us have the capability to offer physical therapy and occupational therapy to our clients, when needed,” he says. “I would also like to see us expand our services in the treatment of individuals with sensory needs.” AR Brad Crowe

234-8648 Alumni Owned And OperAted Winter 2009 63

News alumni

Trauma Insight JAMA accepts paper for publication

M

Dr. L. Ray Matthews

orehouse Medical School Assistant Professor of Surgery L. Ray Matthews (BA 85, MD 89) has co-authored a paper on trauma surgery, “Traumatic Diaphragmatic Rupture with Intrathoracic Liver Herniation,” that was accepted for publication in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“The diaphragm is a muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen. Trauma patients can rupture this muscle, which results in abdominal organs being in the chest,” Matthews says of his paper. AR

Joel P. Walker Jr. (BBA 48, LLB 50), Sept. 17, 2008 Charles Harry Young (BSPh 49),

Oct. 30, 2008 Joseph S. Zuccaro (LLB 49), Sept.

12, 2008

BKD is the top-tier U.S. CPA and advisory firm that delivers its experience and service with a deep understanding of your business, your

1950s Myron L. Arrington (BA 51), Nov. 1, 2008 Charles Barton Barrack Sr. (BBA 54, MBA 59), Oct. 2, 2008 Jerry Beaird Barrier (BBA 54), Oct. 3, 2008 Martha Stephens Cofield (BAEd 57), Sept. 29, 2008 Colleen Sylvia Dean (MA 57), Aug. 1, 2008 William Fields Galtney Sr. (50), Nov. 1, 2008 James A. Gibson (BS 50, MedCert 52), Sept. 15, 2008 Ralph Wilborn Gordon (BAEd 59), Oct. 16, 2008 Ann Crowson Henry (BBA 50), Aug. 4, 2008 Robert Gene Hickerson Sr. (58), Oct. 20, 2008 Joseph Ellis Joseph (BBA 58), Oct.

Visit LiveInTheSouth.com for acreage, equestrian properties, B&B’s, second homes and to view all MLS listings in Oxford, Jackson and Vicksburg

needs and what it takes to improve your business performance. Learn more at www.bkd.com.

Jackson Jackson Oxford

601.961.0486 601.948.6700 662.236.1711

PAM POWERS ABR, CRB, CRS

601-831-4505 (cell)

PamPowers@LiveInTheSouth.com

64 A lumni R eview

Great Chemistry chemical engineering alum receives international award

T

ake an ambitious high-school graduate. Add a rigorous chemical engineering degree program at The University of Mississippi. Mix in more than three decades of outstanding professional and research activity in the chemical process industry.

Combine these elements and you have B.J. “Billie” Sanders (BSChE 60), the most recent recipient of the prestigious W.J. Kroll Zirconium Medal, established in 1975 by ASTM International (originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials) to recognize outstanding achievement in the scientific, technological or commercial aspects of zirconium production and utilization.

B.J. Sanders

The 26th person to be honored with the Kroll Medal, Sanders worked for 36 years at Monsanto Company and Sterling Chemicals prior to his retirement in 1996. He was recognized for his work in identifying and describing uses of zirconium alloys in the chemical process industries.

“Zirconium alloys have evolved as the material of choice for containing the very corrosive process streams,” he says. “I was instrumental in developing corrosion performance data and fabrication techniques for zirconium resulting in growth for its use from a few bolts in the first plant to about 350,000 pounds in the latest plant.” AR

The Enclave Phase II $

INSIDE OXFORD, INC. the design firm

New Location On The Oxford Square

Oxford, Mississippi (662) 234-1444

169,500 @1800 sq. ft.

Ivy Hill

207,000 @1950 sq. ft.

$

Call Wil Matthews Oxford, MS 662-832-1266 www.cmrehomes.com

Winter 2009 65

News alumni

Business Is Good

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;07 grad makes move to financial services

N

. Channelle Johnson-Rodenberg (BPS 07) has joined MidSouth Business Group in Germantown, Tenn., as a financial services representative. A former paralegal, she is a member of Memphis Bar Association, National Federation of Paralegal Associations and a board member of the Memphis Paralegal Association.

MidSouth Business Group is an office of MetLife. AR

N. Channelle Johnson-Rodenberg

22, 2008 John S. Logan Jr. (BBA 50), Oct. 5, 2008 James B. Lowe (51), Oct. 14, 2008 Eric Donald Malone (BBA 56), Sept.

12, 2008 Mary Wright Marshall (BAEd 52), Oct. 21, 2008 Martha Biggs McCoy (BAEd 50), June 29, 2008 Charles Norris Montgomery Jr. (BBA 50), Sept. 22, 2008

66 A lumni R eview

William O. Moss (BSHPE 50), July 10, 2008 Edmund Berkeley Nance (BBA 57), Oct. 20, 2007 John D. Quinley (BBA 50), May 14, 2008 Gordon Arnold Scoper (BSPh 58), Sept. 11, 2008 Edwin Demar Shropshire Jr. (BA 52), Feb. 4, 2008 Catherine Huggins Sitzes (BSHPE 51), March 13, 2008

Buren Steve Smith (MD 59), Sept.

13, 2008 John Day Stewart Jr. (BSEA 51), Sept. 10, 2008 Howard W. Stringfellow Jr. (BSCvE 51), Aug. 23, 2008 Walter M. Turner (MA 59), July 30, 2008 William V. Westbrook Jr. (BBA 50), Sept. 2, 2008 Samuel Carmon Woolvin II (MedCert 52), Feb. 19, 2008 1960s James Wheeler Deese (BA 63, JD 65), March 3, 2008 Mae Moore Frantz (MA 69), Sept.

12, 2008 Gerald L. Jones Sr. (BA 65), Sept.

13, 2008 Dennis Michael Landry Jr. (BSPh 64), Oct. 25, 2008 James Pan-Shyong Lee (MS 67), Jan. 16, 2008 Edward Whelan Miller (MEd 64), Sept. 23, 2008 Billy Wayne Ralph (BBA 60), June 24, 2008 James Robert Sims (BAEd 63, MEd 67), Oct. 4, 2008 Elzy Jonathan Smith Jr. (LLB 60), Sept. 28, 2008

Edwin A. Sory (BSHPE 67), Sept. 7, 2008 Coy Williams Storey (BAEd 67), Nov. 3, 2008 Robert M. Wilson (MD 66), Oct. 8, 2008 1970s Karol Winterrowd Canfield (BAEd 74), Feb. 10, 2008 Kimberly Sturgis Cooper (BA 78), Sept. 8, 2008 Gary Paul Dickerson (BAEd 75), Sept. 26, 2008 George William Ebeling Jr. (MCS 71), Nov. 8, 2007 Paula Pitts Evans (BA 74, MBA 75), Oct. 18, 2008 Bradley Harold Fournier (BA 70), Aug. 12, 2008 Melvin Douglas Green (MEd 77), March 11, 2008 George Edward Guerieri Jr. (BBA

78), Sept. 30, 2008 Edward Tulon Holder (BSEE 77), Sept. 30, 2008 Lavenia Allen Jarrard (BA 70), Oct. 15, 2008 Rosa Hall Kent (MA 71), Oct. 27, 2008 Barbara Tackett McNeil (MBEd 75), Feb. 18, 2008 Henry Lee Savage (MCS 71), Sept.

3, 2008 Lester Adam Shipley III (BA 76), Oct. 16, 2008 Gary Allen Shute (BSCS 75), Oct. 3, 2008 Alfred J. Spencer (BBA 79), Oct. 5, 2008 Richard Louis Theobald (BBA 75), Feb. 6, 2008 1980s Michael A. Brumley (MD 89), Sept.

24, 2008

Ernest Eugene Hughes Jr. (BBA 88), Aug. 29, 2008 Mary Elizabeth Lake (MD 88), Sept.

24, 2008 Charles Kenneth Medlin Jr. (JD 88), Aug. 28, 2008 Walter Avery Mixon (82), Oct. 6, 2008 Gretchen Welsch Pumphrey (JD 82), Sept. 22, 2008 1990s Charles Thomas Taylor (BA 95), Oct. 27, 2008 2000s Anthony Charles Barnes (MEd 05), June 26, 2008 Jonathan Scott Duttweiler (07), May 20, 2008 Matthew Van Hatcher (08), Nov. 2, 2008 Jackie Lamon Johnson (BAEd 04,

Fine Dining Overlooking the Historic Oxford Square

Banquet Rooms for up to 100 Wedding Receptions Rehearsal Dinners

110 Courthouse Square • Oxford, MS 662.234.2659 www.downtowngrill.net Mon.-Wed. 11-9 • Thurs.-Sat. 11-10 Closed Sunday Winter 2009 67

News alumni

Dedicated

MEd 06), Nov. 1, 2008 Faculty and Friends Beverly Ferrell Alman, March 24, 2008 Charles W. Arneson Jr., Sept. 1, 2008 James Edward Boyd, Sept. 29, 2008 Irene Covington Geiger, Sept. 9, 2008 Nina Bunch Goolsby, Oct. 7, 2008 Forest B. Greer, Nov. 1, 2008 Pamela L. Heck, Oct. 3, 2008 William Henry Holman Jr., Oct. 6, 2008 Lore Schweizer Kavyas, Sept. 12, 2008 Lyman A. Magee, Sept. 24, 2008 Lois Hicks Martin, Sept. 26, 2008 Joe W. McMullin, Oct. 21, 2008 Bobby Steve Moore, Sept. 29, 2008 Elaine Wilcox Phillips, Sept. 4, 2008 Mary Haney Windsor, Oct. 30, 2008 William Henry Wright, June 26, 2008

Hot Breakfast Plate Lunch Salad Sampler Open Tuesday-Saturday 7:30 am-2pm and Sunday 11am-2pm Available for Private Parties

Taylor, MS 236-7900 Come make a day of it Tour the Southern Living House and have lunch!

68 A lumni R eview

Alum honored with building name

E

d Grisham (BAEd 69, MEd 70, EdD 80) was honored in May with the dedication of the Dr. Ed Grisham Physical Education Facility at Thompson High School in Thomson, Ga., where Grisham served as the superintendant of schools of McDuffie County (Ga.) for 13 years.

Grishamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s professional experience also includes stints as principal of Calhoun High School in Calhoun, Ga., principal of W.P. Daniel High School in New Albany and principal of Lafayette Elementary School.

During his tenure in McDuffie County, his leadership resulted in significant school facility improvements, comprehensive strategic planning and systemwide reorganization.

Ed Grisham

Grisham and his wife, Linda, (BAEd 69, MEd 71) recently moved back to New Albany. They have two children, John and Beth, and two grandchildren. AR