The Key December 2, 2011 Edition

COMMUNICATION

IS

A newsletter for UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends

THE December 2, 2011

CIRCLING

A Sunday fire that investigators blame on spontaneous combustion of peat moss heavily damaged a commercial greenhouse used to grow orchids on campus.

If not for Leon Bivens’ good timing and common sense, the blaze might have been tragic.

Bivens, who lives near the UMES campus, was out for a leisurely afternoon drive and traveling along College Backbone Road when he noticed the first hints of smoke coming from the greenhouse. After calling 9-1-1 and contacting campus security, the long-time physical plant director circled the complex to see if anyone was inside.

Bivens found two employees of U.S. Orchid Laboratory and Nursery Inc., which leases the greenhouse, in a warehouse-type office building adjacent to the structure. The two men apparently were unaware a fire might be spreading through the complex, Bivens said.

The state fire marshal’s office issued a preliminary finding Monday declaring spontaneous combustion of material used to grow and ship the exotic flowers as the

THE

WORLD

Fire heavily damages orchid greenhouse on UMES campus

FIRE / continued on page 3

Photo by Alverne Chesterfield

2011 UMES Winter Commencement

Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown

INSIDE

Winter graduation exercises at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore are Friday, Dec. 16, in the William P. Hytche Athletic Center. The 15th annual ceremony begins at 10 a.m.

UMES anticipates it will award approximately 240 degrees, including 35 master’s degrees and 10 doctoral degrees.

The commencement speaker is Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who is in his second term working alongside Gov. Martin O’Malley.

Since taking office in 2007, Brown has been the point person for the O’Malley administration on expanding and improving health care, helping victims of domestic violence and making higher education more accessible – especially for veterans of the conflicts in the Middle East who are looking to re-enter the civilian world.

Brown is a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, which makes him the highest-ranking elected official to have served in Iraq, according to a biography on the official state website for the lieutenant governor’s office.

A two-time Harvard graduate – including a law degree – Brown served in the Maryland General Assembly for two terms as a delegate from Prince George’s County and rose through the ranks to become majority whip. He is the father of two children and lives in Mitchellville.

Commencement guests are encouraged to be seated 30 minutes prior to the start of the student and faculty processional at 10 a.m. In keeping with tradition, the university’s Concert Choir and Wind Ensemble will perform.

No tickets are necessary. For more information, visit www.umes.edu/commencement.

Page 2 Signs of the Season PAC 14

Page 3 Q&A with Mrs. Neufville Boger Receives Award

Page 4 - 5 UMES Students Support HALO Thanksgiving Food Drive Cancer Walk

Page 6 Athletics

Page 7 MANRRS

Page 8 Ethnic Festival

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The Key / December 2, 2011

CIRCLING

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UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

Holiday memories and traditions

“My favorite holiday memory was last Christmas. My family had a surprise birthday for my grandmother and at the end of the party my parents had a conversation with me about returning back to UMES from the break. At the end of our conversation they surprised me with a car.”

Anthony Wise, a senior English major with a telecommunications concentration from N.J.

“My family tradition is that whoever has the newest edition to the family hosts the annual Christmas breakfast.

This years’ breakfast will be at my sister’s house.”

Candra Jackson, a sophomore rehabilitation services major from Baltimore, Md.

Where’s Dr. James Junker?

He’s third from the left on the back row. By day, James Junker is UMES’ pharmacy department chairman. In his spare time, he sings bass with the Salisbury Chorale, which Nov. 19 and 20 performed “Best of the Magi,” a holiday concert at Wicomico High School. Junker, who has been singing since childhood, finds the activity relaxing and rewarding.

Photo courtesy of Ritch Photography LLC

Neufville on being back at UMES

UMES Interim President Mortimer Neufville taped a 30-minute segment of “One-onOne” with cable TV show host Phil Tilghman. The segment can be seen on Public Access Channel – 14 on the Comcast system in Wicomico County the first week of December. Check the daily TV listings in The Daily Times or the “Programming” option online at www.PAC14.org.

UMES PEOPLE

The Key / December 2, 2011

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UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

Meet Masie Neufville, the interim president’s wife As the saying goes … “behind every great man there’s a great woman,” so “The Key” asked Masie Neufville to share some insights into returning to UMES after a 15-year absence. Among the things we learned: she’s a vegetarian, she likes to garden and she enjoys visiting with old friends.

to walk home and let me know she was okay.

What one book should every freshman read before enrolling in college?

I would recommend every freshman to read autobiographies and inspirational works, such as “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story” by Ben Carson.

How did you meet Dr. Neufville?

My school, the Teachers’ College, had a debate with his college, the School of Agriculture in Jamaica.

After the dinner, he offered to take my chair to the debate room. Upon returning to his school, we started corresponding by mail. Upon graduation, we were married. (The girls’ team’s lead debater was Thelma Thompson.)

What is one of your favorite books?

Alexander McCall Smith, “The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency” What bit of advice would you offer every senior before graduation?

Try to get an internship with the government or business to get experience that will ultimately lead to a professional career.

How long have you been married?

48 years. We will celebrate our anniversary Jan. 12th.

Photo by Jim Glovier

When did you know things clicked and that he was the “one.”

After I graduated from Teachers College, Mort would travel a whole day’s journey by bus to see me. I realized he was kind and thoughtful.

How would you describe UMES now compared to when you were between 1983 and 1996?

UMES has grown, especially in enrollment. The campus is more beautiful and spacious. The university is a big part of my family. It’s like coming back home.

Your daughter, Tisha, was working near Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001; describe that day: My heart was pounding; I kept praying for my daughter’s safety. I tried calling her phone several times and was not able to get in touch with her.

Luckily … she lived three miles from where she worked, so she was able

What can you share about Dr. Neufville that might not be common knowledge?

He enjoys cooking. Our relatives are always excited to have “Uncle Morti’s” jerk chicken, roast fish or fried dumplings.

HRM chair receives award Dr. Ernest Boger, chair of the Department of Hotel and Restaurant Management, received the Tom Staed Award at a recent luncheon of the Hotel and Lodging Association of Volusia County, Fla. “Boger was chosen because of his long-standing commitment to hospitality and education,” said Bob Davis, president of the association.

Prior to coming to UMES, Boger, a Tampa native, was the head of the Department of Hospitality Management in the School of Business at Bethune-Cookman University. He was the first black graduate of the University of South Florida.

Boger is currently CEO of the consulting company, VIP Hosts Internationale Inc. He continues his contributions to the hospitality industry on Delmarva through his memberships in the Salisbury Rotary, Salisbury Sister Cities, Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Commission and the Maryland Life Magazine board.

Dr. Ernest Boger

FIRE / continued from cover

source of the fire.

An estimated 50 volunteer firefighters from two counties responded to the blaze and kept it from spreading to other structures.

"We're very fortunate there were no injuries," said Ronnie Holden, vice president for administrative affairs. "We want to thank all those volunteer firefighters who came so quickly and put out the fire. It's impressive to watch them do their job in such a professional and efficient manner."

Motorists traveling along U.S. Rt. 13 as far away as Pocomoke City and Fruitland reported seeing a plume of thick, black smoke.

UMES built and owns the 116,000 square-foot greenhouse that

occupies about 2½ acres east of the Center for Food Science and Technology. It opened in early 2000 and since 2005 has been leased to U.S. Orchid as part of the university's economic development strategy of serving as a start-up business incubator.

The Rural Development Center at UMES was instrumental in bringing the greenhouse project to campus, where U.S. Orchid's operation involves growing 50 different varieties of orchids - most of them the Phalaenopsis variety. The company sells potted orchids to wholesalers from New York to Atlanta and beyond, according to the Rural Development Center.

Holden estimated the replacement cost could be nearly $6 million. No decision was imminent about whether the structure could be salvaged and refurbished, or should be demolished and rebuilt.

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SCHOOL NEWS

The Key / December 2, 2011

The Key / December 2, 2011

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UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

For a Worthy Cause Campus organization sponsors walk for pancreatic cancer

Campus Life gives to homeless UMES students and the Office of Campus Life observed November as National Homeless Awareness Month.

Over 30 student organizations began the month by going door-todoor on campus to collect donations for Hope And Life Outreach (HALO), a Christian-based, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the homeless in Wicomico County and the surrounding area.

From Nov. 1 through 11, a little over $1,000 was raised “because of our student organizations’ tireless efforts,” Qiana Drummond, assistant director, Campus Life said.

Ta-Sha Watkins, a member of Alpha Nu Omega sorority, the topcontributing campus organization to the effort, said, “It didn’t matter if we raised the most, we just wanted to help a good cause.” She said it was

surprising to see how many people were willing to give even if it was a small amount, because “we’re college students and don’t have a lot of money ourselves or to give.”

Watkins hopes the money will “help people who need it for food, clothing and items for the holiday.”

To bring awareness to the plight of the homeless, Campus Life sponsored a panel discussion “The Faces of Homelessness” Nov. 17 with representatives from HALO. “Those who attended the discussion, especially the students, were moved by the presentation by one of HALO’s success stories, a client, who just a week before, was homeless. She now has a job and a place to live,” Drummond said.

(I do) is for a purpose,” she said.

Harris inspired and motivated her campus group, the Caribbean International Club, to get involved. Last year, she said, members collected “star pledges,” where students could purchase a star for $1 and dedicate it in memory, or honor of, someone.

The club sold over 300 stars with proceeds being donated to the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.

“The Hirshberg Foundation was a site that was very helpful when my mom was diagnosed,” Harris said. Its signature event is the “Purple Power: Fight of Your Life” walk, which the Caribbean International Club will adopt this year and hereon.

“The director of development there, Karen Affinito, has been great helping us put the walk together,” Harris said. The UMES walk is Sat., Dec. 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Student Services Center courtyard.

Registration is on site. Call Monique PotterTirado, the club’s advisor, at 410-651-6436 for more information.

Chantelle Harris, president of the Caribbean International Club, lost her mother, Everett Marie Travers, to pancreatic cancer during her spring 2010 semester at UMES. The impact it had on her and her family motivated her to tell her story and raise awareness about a cancer people know so little about—one with the highest mortality rate of any cancer.

“For my family, it was very traumatic for my mother to be diagnosed in October and gone in February,” Harris said. Her sister, Natalie Travers, a 1996 UMES alumna, was the rock through it all, she said, for her and her brother.

Pancreatic cancer is far from forgiving.

Statistics claim that 94 percent of people diagnosed with the disease die within five years of diagnosis and 74 percent die within the first year.

Harris’ goal is increasing early detection through better awareness of the disease. “If I could give one family, or one person, that extra time that we didn’t have, then everything Photo by Valentine Anamelechi

Needy families receive holiday meals

Nearly 250 UMES volunteers swarmed the Student Services Center early Saturday, Nov. 19 to feed 300 needy families in Somerset County. This year organizers added the Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at SU to the effort, so that 300 families from Wicomico could also be feed.

The SSC game room is lined up with 300 cardboard boxes filled with items for preparing a complete Thanksgiving dinner. Food items were collected in donation boxes around campus and from contributions from local businesses

UMES students, Janayne K. Johnson and Vicente Hernandez, distribute the boxes filled with the makings for a complete Thanksgiving dinner to awaiting families in need.

Photos byJim Glovier

From left, UMES Office of Residence Life Area Directors Phillip Thomas and Clifton Harcum, spearhead the event which doubled its efforts this year—providing meals for 600 families in Somerset and Wicomico counties identified by area agencies and churches as needing help.

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The Key / December 2, 2011

ATHLETICS UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

HAWK TALK

Lady Hawks California-bound in search of volleyball crown

The UMES volleyball team is headed for Los Angeles this weekend to compete in the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Volleyball Championship tournament.

The Lady Hawks’ first-round match will be Friday evening (11 p.m. eastern time) against UCLA, the ninth overall seed. If they win, the Lady Hawks would play the winner of San Diego-Long Beach.

The volleyball team earned its way into the national tournament Nov. 19 by winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship for the first time in the 28 years the university has fielded a squad in the fast-paced sport.

Led by freshman Saitaua Iosia of Long Beach, Calif., the Lady Hawks defeated Florida A&M in a tough five-set match during the end-of-season tournament held at Coppin State University.

Iosia was the MEAC conference “rookie of the year” during the regular season and the 2011 tournament’s “most outstanding player.”

The Lady Hawks go into national tournament play with a 24-6 record and a 19-match winning streak. The team finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 (match) record.

During the Lady Hawks’ run to the championship, coach Don Metil notched his 200th career win since taking the UMES job in 2007. Metil is the 2011 MEAC coach of the year.

SCHOOL NEWS

The Key / December 2, 2011

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UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

MANRRS Chapter experiences successful year Ray Lockamy

Kenneth Hudson

Miriam Dorman

Student members of UMES’ Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences celebrated many successes and had unique learning experiences in 2011, said Corrie Cotton, chapter adviser and research assistant professor, Agriculture, Food and Natural Sciences.

The year began with Kenneth Hudson and Margo Wright, plant and soil science majors, studying abroad in Belize. Hudson worked with the Citrus Growers Association and Wright worked with the Belizean Agricultural Health Authority.

“It was a great experience learning about integrated pest management in a foreign country,” said Hudson, who traversed a daily route of orange groves checking traps and recording data on the number of Mexican fruit flies.

For Hudson, it was his first time traveling overseas. Visiting a foreign country, he said, was an “eye-opening experience” both on a professional and personal level.

“It humbled me and made me realize not to want for a lot of things,” he said. “It taught me to be content with what I have, because they don’t have a lot of the resources and things that we have in the U.S.” The department helped students line up some unique summer internship experiences out-of-state. Crystal Adams was an intern at the U.S. Forest Service in New Mexico. Isaiah Adams interned with the Fish and Wildlife Service in Iowa. Luke Lee, the May 2011 Most Outstanding Student award recipient in the School of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, interned at Dow AgroSciences LLC in Indianapolis, Ind.

Internships nearby included: Devinn Esberry, Natural Resources Conservation Service; Charlotte Thompson, World Outlook Board in Washington, D.C.; and Richard Stonebraker, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in Frederick, Md. In September, Miriam Dorman, a general agriculture major studying plant and soil science, won second place in the research poster competition at the 2011 American Society for Horticultural Science annual conference in Waikola, Hawaii.

Dorman’s research was on beneficial microorganisms with horticultural crops—something that could help greenhouse growers, nursery owners and landscapers.

“It centers on the overall reduction of chemical fertilizer and irrigation inputs, which would benefit the environment,” Dorman said. She is looking to “help others go green” in her career. Following graduation, she plans to attend the University of Hawaii at Manao to earn a master’s in tropical plant pathology.

Ray Lockamy, a sociology major, took first place honors in the written essay contest at the MANRRS annual Career Fair and Training Conference in Overland Park, Kan. MANRRS prepares students from minority racial and ethnic groups for leadership roles through mentoring, networking and the exchange of ideas among members, Cotton said.

“The experiences of these MANRRS members are examples of how well our students enhance their professional development,” Cotton said.

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The Key / December 2, 2011

UMES celebrates International Education Week with ethnic festival and debate

Photo by Valentine Anamelechi

UMES representatives pictured, from left, are: Dr. Anthony Jenkins, vice president for student affairs; Jacklyn Claxton, speaker and an agricultural trade specialist; Dr. Sarah Acquah, director of the Center for International Education; and Dr. Mortimer Neufville, interim president.

Baruch Volkis of Israel, a graduate student in toxicology, shares ethnic food with a festival goer.

Chang Liu of China, a junior in accounting, displays items from her country for curious passerbys.

Celebrating the Journey THE UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND

EASTERN SHORE A RICH HISTORY OF PROVIDING EDUCATION ACCESSIBLE TO ALL… SPANNING THREE CENTURIES.

Learn more about us this fall by visiting www.UMES.edu/125

The Center for International Education at UMES observed the 12th annual International Education Week, Nov. 13 through 18, with an ethnic festival and debate.

Representing more than 50 countries, international students from the university hosted an ethnic festival featuring an exhibition of cultural artifacts, demonstrations of dancing and modeling in traditional country attire, and sampling of authentic foods.

Guest speaker Jacklyn Claxton presented “The Role of the Private Sector in the Feed the Future Initiative and African Agriculture.”

Claxton, a UMES agricultural trade specialist, works under an agreement with the USDA. She is assigned to USAID. Claxton received a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and two master’s degrees as a David L. Boren Graduate Fellow in Kenya.

The university’s International Student and the Student Government associations held a debate on the topic, “Should Study Abroad Be Considered as an Institutional Requirement for Graduation?”

“International Education Week gives us the opportunity to celebrate connections with people far and near,” said Dr. Sarah Acquah, director of the Center for International Education at the university. “The current economic dilemma reflects the urgency of providing our youth the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the competitive global economy.”

UMES has nearly 200 international students. Some of the countries they represent are: Antigua, Argentina, Bolivia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Canada, Cameroon, Chad, China, Congo, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Ghana, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Korea, Malawi, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Switzerland, Trinidad, Tobago and Togo.

“I have had the opportunity to create relationships with students and staff from different parts of the globe,” said Daniel Muchai, a UMES senior who grew up in Nairobi, Kenya. “This has allowed me to be more aware of the importance of diversity, which will help me to succeed after graduation.”

International Education Week is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Education designed to promote Global Education in the U.S. and abroad to encourage global competency and competitiveness. This year’s theme was: “International Education: Inspiring Students Locally to Succeed Globally.”

During the 2010-11 academic year, nearly 724,000 international students studied in the U.S. The KEY is published by the Office of Public Relations in the Division of Institutional Advancement.

Editors Gains B. Hawkins, Vice President for Institutional Advancement William Robinson, Director of Public Relations Gail Stephens, Assistant Director of Public Relations Ashley Collier, Public Relations Assistant Design by Debi Rus, Rus Design, Inc. Printed by The Hawk Copy Center 410-651-7580 / 410-651-7914 fax / www.umes.edu Submissions to The KEY are preferred via email. All copy is subject to editing.

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The Key is written according to the Associated Press stylebook.