UNC Asheville Spring/Summer Magazine 2013

UNC asheville Volume 5, No. 2 路 Spring/Summer 2013

magazine

Inside: A View of Community Vitality Illuminating Campus After Dark Smarter Sustainability

Taking Shape: New Media Students Blur the Boundaries of Art and Technology

ponderings UNC asheville magazine

University of North Carolina at Asheville One University Heights Asheville, North Carolina 28804 www.unca.edu UNC Asheville Senior Staff Chancellor Anne Ponder

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs William K. Haggard Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations John Pierce Vice Chancellor of University Advancement Buffy Bagwell Senior Administrator for University Enterprises and Director of Athletics Janet Cone Chief of Staff Christine Riley Interim General Counsel Rich Kucharski UNC Asheville Magazine Staff Managing Editors Debbie Griffith, Amy Jessee Designers Nanette Johnson, Mary Ann Lawrence Contributing Writers Aaron Dalhstrom ’09, Jon Elliston, Hannah Epperson ’11, Mike Gore, Steve Plever, Eric Seeger, Melissa Stanz Contributing Photographers David Allen ’13, Mike Belleme, Luke Bukoski, Perry Hebard, Peter Lorenz, Matt Rose, Casey Toth ’16, Jameykay Young UNC Asheville Alumni Office Alumni Director Ann Martin UNC Asheville Magazine is published twice a year by UNC Asheville Communication and Marketing to give alumni and friends an accurate, lively view of the university— its people, programs and initiatives.

Contact us at magazine@unca.edu.

Address Changes: UNC Asheville Office of University Advancement Owen Hall, CPO #1800 One University Heights Asheville, NC 28804-8507 email hgarr@unca.edu 828.250.2303 UNC Asheville enrolls more than 3,700 full- and part-time students in more than 30 programs leading to the bachelor’s degree as well as the Master of Liberal Arts.

The university is committed to equality of educational opportunity and does not discriminate against applicants, students or employees on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, disabling condition or sexual orientation. © UNC Asheville/Office of Communication and Marketing, May 2013 unca.edu/magazine

With so much uncertainty throughout our country and the world, it is critical that the students we educate today have what it takes to be the creative and visionary leaders of tomorrow.

Jim Fox (second from right), director of UNC Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC), leads discussions for GroWNC.

provides elected decision Travel to Oklahoma City with makers with a “one stop” us as we check in on four of In this issue of UNC Asheville source of respected, objecour graduates who are workMagazine, you will come to tive and current information ing as TV news and weather know just a few of the UNC about our region’s economic experts there.

Meteorologists, Asheville students and graduconditions, ecological health curators, teachers, attorneys, ates who are breaking new and cultural traditions. This entrepreneurs, clergy, civic ground and taking on the tool—designed in cooperation leaders, doctors, writers, careers of tomorrow. with UNC Asheville’s National CEOs—UNC Asheville graduIn our New Media Department, ates are doing all this, and Environmental Modeling and faculty and students are blurAnalysis Center (NEMAC) more. ring the boundary between art —also helps draw new busiUNC Asheville is also continuand science by using technolnesses to the area. ogy to create art—digital works ing our exciting collaborations As a friend of UNC Asheville, within our own community. like that on our magazine’s you very likely have your own Learn how our Family Business cover, as well as videos and stories of UNC Asheville Forum is helping family busiabstract animations. graduates doing extraordinary nesses all across our region You’ll also hear about a recent meet the challenges of today’s things and changing the world. graduate of our Atmospheric Thanks for all you do to make economy while staying true Sciences program who is UNC Asheville the kind of to the traditions that made forecasting weather in farplace where this can truly their organizations great; or flung places like Russia’s Sea happen. visit the WNC Vitality Index, of Okhotsk and Singapore. a web-based product that

perry hebard

Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Jane Fernandes

A

t no time in our history “With so much uncertainty throughout our country and the world, has the Liberal Arts it is critical that the students we educate today have what it takes to been more important to the future of our economy be the creative and visionary leaders of tomorrow.” and our society. When I talk —Chancellor Anne Ponder with business and civic leaders around the state, they continue to tell me that their organizations need college graduates who can think critically, analyze data, solve problems creatively, work with people who are different from them, and adapt to the changing workplace...in other words, they need more liberal arts graduates.

UNC asheville Volume 5, No. 2 · Spring/Summer 2013

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magazine

on the cover 18 C r e a t i v e

Space:

T h e C o n s ta n t l y E v o l v i n g W o r l d o f N e w M e d i a

In the magical, marginal and multidisciplinary space of new media, students bring presidential personas and prehistoric creatures back to life, merging technology and art to create their careers.

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As the name suggests, New Media centers on innovation and the imagination. UNC Asheville faculty, students and graduates continue to shape this field, using technology to create art, as explained by New Media Director and Associate Professor Lei Han, pictured with senior Tim Koerber. Photo by Jameykay Young.

On the cover: Chris Gaffney’s digital quilt, designed in his Introduction to Media Applications class, exemplifies the continued evolution of new media.

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M o d e l i n g U n c e r ta i n t y

WNC communities turn to the National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center to make sense of complex data and plan for the future.

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Life

From study sessions to sporting events, UNC Asheville stays alive after sunset. See the photos that illuminate campus after dark.

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B e yo n d G r e e n : A S p e c t r um o f S us ta i n a b i l i t y

Students, staff and faculty put their energy into sustainability on campus, revealing a spectrum of smarter systems and habits.

departments 2 Around the Quad 10 Longitude & Latitude 17 Honor Society 28 Practically Speaking

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29 Go, Bulldogs!

30 Class Notes 36 In Retrospect

on the back F i n d i n g T h e i r Way: C a m p us S i g n a g e I n c r e a s e s A c c e ss i b i l i t y

the around Q UA D Making an Impact UNC Asheville contributes $268 million to region’s economy The latest economic impact report, released

By the Numbers: Economic Impact 2% Outside Visitors

3% Annual New Resident Attraction

$6.4million

$7.6 million

24% Graduate Education Premium* $64.1 million

57% Campus Operations $153.5 million

14% Student Spending $36.3 million

*increase in local earnings from bachelor’s or graduate degrees

Goodbye, Old Friend Iconic crab apple tree felled by strong winds High winds in December proved to be too much for one of the two crab apple trees that have served as gathering places on the Quad for generations of students. During winter break, the tree was split by 47 mph winds.

It was removed by groundskeepers in a solemn ceremony a few days later.

“This was a unique tree, a companion to so many people for so many years,” said Melissa Acker, UNC Asheville grounds superintendent and landscape director, who supervised the removal of the tree.

“We’re guessing it was planted when Lipinsky Hall was completed,” said Acker. That would date the tree to 1964. The other crab apple, closer to the entrance of Lipinsky Hall, remains. Both trees have shown the effects of age and have needed cables to support the weight of their limbs.

After the tree was split, a short ceremony was held to respectfully clear away the remains. “Usually we remove downed trees in the most efficient manner, so we can keep a road or path clear” said Acker. “But this tree is an old friend and won’t go straight into a chipper. We left it on the Quad for several days so people could see what happened to it when they returned after winter break.”

The groundskeepers saved all of the larger pieces of the tree so that they can be used in some meaningful way.

click it: Do you have an idea for how the tree’s remaining wood might be used?

Submit it at unca.edu/magazine/crabapple 2

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in April, quantifies the impact of the university on the Asheville region for fiscal year 2012.

Compared to the last economic impact study in 1995 (while adjusting for inflation), UNC Asheville’s total impact has increased by over $100 million to a total of $268 million. Local jobs supported amount to 2,592 individuals.

In all categories from campus operations, which includes faculty and staff spending, to new resident attraction, UNC Asheville has positively contributed to the region with significant effects from student spending and outside visitors. The report was authored by Tom Tveidt, research economist at SYNEVA Economics LLC.

Leadership Asheville Partnership builds community outreach Leadership Asheville, a leadership development organization, will join

UNC Asheville in the coming months, and transition away from its current status as an independent, nonprofit organization. The announcement was made following discussions between leaders of the two organizations and a vote by the Leadership Asheville Board of Directors.

For more than 30 years, Leadership Asheville has developed, connected and mobilized citizens through intensive programs and events focusing on community orientation and leadership development. More than 1,100 leaders from the business, nonprofit and education sectors have participated in the Leadership Asheville program.

Student Newspaper Grabs Top Awards The Blue Banner, UNC Asheville’s student newspaper, earned five awards from the N.C. College Media Association in February. The paper won best of show honors in the small newspaper category along with four other schools with enrollments less than 6,000 students.

Several students also took home individual honors.

Leadership Asheville will become a part of the University Advancement office and will be structured to complement other community outreach efforts, including the Family Business Forum and the division of Corporate and Foundation Relations. Through this new arrangement, both the university and Leadership Asheville will bring their talents and assets together to increase leadership capacities in the community.

Chancellor Anne Ponder commented, “Leadership is the essential catalyst that brings a liberal arts education to life. This alignment with Leadership Asheville affirms our shared responsibility to address the most pressing issues in our region, while enhancing our natural connection with businesses in our community as Asheville’s university.”

click it: thebluebanner.net

Letter From an Alumnus Dear Chancellor Ponder, I want to send my thanks to you and to the university for all the wonderful experiences and opportunities I received at UNC Asheville. Today I received my acceptance letter to the University of Bristol in the U.K. to pursue a research Ph.D. in history focused on the late medieval period. When I came to UNC Asheville, I started as a classics student, jumped to philosophy, left for a little while and came back to complete my B.A. in history. During that time, I built amazing relationships with students and professors.

While I may have bounced around a bit, I learned things from each of these departments that were integral to my acceptance. If it weren’t for the command of Latin that I gained under Dr. Mills and Dr. Stewart, my love for the medieval mind that I learned in Dr. Wilson’s classes, my experience with medieval history under Dr. Traboulsi and the historical method with Dr. Pierce, and especially the unique experience of working with manuscripts as a paleography intern with Drs. Wilson and Holland—if I had missed any one of these opportunities, I do not believe I would be a Ph.D. candidate now.

UNC Asheville is a small school. What it lacks in size and resources it makes up for in a faculty that goes above and beyond the call of duty to provide amazing opportunities for education and real academic experience for their students. I do not know of another university that offers so much to its undergraduate students. It is a real blessing to have such an amazing university right here in our backyard. Thank you for your work as Chancellor, and thank you for safeguarding everything that makes UNC Asheville so unique and amazing.

Sincerely, Groce Scot Robinson Class of 2009 3

the around Q UA D Storm Trackers Citizen scientists assess hurricanes from the safety of their computers As Superstorm Sandy was thrashing the

eastern United States in late October, hundreds of citizen scientists from around the world were contributing to a UNC Asheville project to analyze the intensity of tropical cyclones across history.

Chris Hennon, associate professor of atmospheric sciences, is leading a project to analyze trends in tropical cyclones over a 30-year period, using the web-based Cyclone Center,

the first citizen-science project to analyze these storms. Along with collaborators Ken Knapp of the National Climatic Data Center, and Paula Hennon, Carl Schreck, and Scott Stevens of the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites, Hennon hopes to involve participants on campus and in the greater Asheville area and beyond.

perry hebard

“We have nearly 300,000 hurricane images from around the world,” said Hennon. “By collaborating with the public, we hope to perform more than a million classifications in the coming months, something that would take a team of analysts over a decade to accomplish. We’re hoping to do it in a year or less.”

The Cyclone Center was developed by the Citizen Science Alliance and went live in midSeptember. It has since logged nearly 200,000 individual classifications by more than 2,000 people around the world.

Chris Hennon, associate professor of atmospheric sciences (right), and student Rob David review hurricane images on CycloneCenter.org, where citizens can contribute to research on these storms.

Want to try your hand at tropical storm classification? Log on to Chris Hennon’s tropical cyclone project at cyclonecenter.org

National Recognition for UNC Asheville UNC Asheville continues to rank highly in national guidebooks and magazines

“One of the best education bargains in the country” —The Fiske Guide to Colleges

One of the “Top 100 Best Buy Colleges” —Forbes

One of the “Best Value” public colleges —The Princeton Review

“The sixth lowest in average debt among graduates” —Kiplinger’s Personal Finance The seventh best public liberal arts college in the nation —U.S. News & World Report, Best Colleges 2013

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“A top 100 Best Values in Public Colleges” —U.S. News & World Report, Best Colleges 2013

Presidential Performance UNC Asheville Singers take center stage at the White House Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson

For most students, winter break plans involve family

time, food and relaxation. For 25 UNC Asheville students, the holiday break included a trip to the White House and the opportunity to shake the hands of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.

The UNC Asheville Singers, led by Assistant Professor Melodie Galloway, have a tradition of taking a ninehour bus ride to Washington, D.C., each year to sing at the White House and at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

But this year was different, and culminated in a private performance for the president and first lady.

“This was the best experience I’ve had on a trip to D.C.,” said Joe Tracey III, a senior vocal performance student.

“Getting the opportunity to meet and sing for the president and first lady was such a memorable moment, and made my final trip with the group incredible.”

The Singers have made six holiday trips to the White House.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama greet the UNC Asheville Singers in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House.

Making the grade again UNC Asheville reaffirms accreditation After a multi-year planning process, UNC Asheville

has received a reaffirmation of its accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

Courtesy of Mary Lynn Manns

“This is a very gratifying moment for us,” said Economics Professor Bruce Larson, who chaired UNC Asheville’s working group on reaccreditation. “We saw the reaffirmation process as a chance to put plans in place to further develop the critical thinking skills of our students. This will make UNC Asheville’s already excellent academic experience an even better one in the coming decade, and we’re glad the SACS commission approves of our strategy.”

Students introduce Inquiry ARC on campus.

UNC Asheville developed a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) called Inquiry ARC, which focuses on critical thinking and active learning experiences. Mary Lynn Manns, associate professor of management and accountancy, chaired the QEP leadership team.

Lorena Russell, associate professor of literature and new QEP chair, is leading implementation.

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Try talking about data analysis to most people—especially massive amounts of scientific data—and you’ll get the glazedeye look that folks get when they check out of a conversation.

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But not when Jim Fox, director of UNC Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC) talks about it. Fox’s energy and enthusiasm make data relevant in ways you’d never imagine. “We are bringing government, private citizens and business together to have conversations about land use, water and other things. Our conversations are not just about data; they are about viewpoints and shared values,” he explained.

Fox and his team of scientists, designers, communicators, UNC Asheville alumni and student interns know that data for data’s sake doesn’t excite most people. Data is but one consideration in the decision-making building blocks process NEMAC uses to solve problems. Other considerations include looking at values and an uncertain future using models. Once all factors are considered, it’s time to take action.

“We help groups share viewpoints and take action, accepting responsibility and assigning resources. When we do that, we can really effect change,” he said.

Effecting change is what NEMAC is all about. The group collects incredible amounts of scientific data and translates the data into electronic visualizations and computer models.

Why? To help communities make more informed decisions about things that impact quality of life—heady, complex things such as disaster recovery, climate change, water quality, energy conservation and land use planning.

By Meliss

Created in 2003, NEMAC’s steady growth is a testament to the staff’s expertise and problem-solving capabilities. The growth is also due to increasing awareness of the center’s value. There are more than two dozen robust projects completed or in progress now.

“Demand for our services is up because people understand more about us now,” noted Fox. “We’re also having more success bringing disparate shareholder groups together to work on shared values.

What we really do is help people connect the dots.”

The Western North Carolina Vitality Index is a recent example of a tool developed by NEMAC that serves many different groups. The index reports on the 27 counties of Western North Carolina. It is used to help protect the region’s natural resources, promote healthy growth via development and planning, and preserve the region’s heritage and culture. Other uses include helping strengthen

a S tanz

CHARTING THE FUTURE. Jim Fox (right),

director of NEMAC, shares the GroWNC Preferred Scenario Growth Concept with NEMAC student intern Caroline Ketcham (far left) and UNC Asheville alumna Sealy Chipley.

Luke Bukoski

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public health and improving and expanding the area’s economic activity and influence.

“We are conducting scenario planning workshops using the index that takes what we now know and looks at trends that can create new futures. Our objective is to help organizations

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Began collaboration with the USDA Forest Service / Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center (EFETAC)

Partnered with the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI)

Began partnership with the City of Asheville

Opened the RENCI Engagement Site in the Grove Arcade in downtown Asheville, in partnership with RENCI and the City of Asheville

Developed the Western North Carolina Vitality Index with the Mountain Resources Commission, the USDA Forest Service and the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area

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look at various options and avoid future shock,” said Fox. Originally developed as a WNC Report Card on Forest Sustainability for the USDA Forest Service, this online index morphed into its current iteration through collaboration with the Mountain Resources Commission, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and the USDA Forest Service. Fox helped get funding for the project in his role as head of the Technical 2003 Received initial NEMAC funding from U.S. Advisory Council of the Mountain Department of Energy and others Resources Commission.

Groups as diverse as Duke Energy, the Asheville Board of Realtors, the N.C. Department of 2006 Environment and Natural Resources and the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina are providing additional funding and 2007 Partnered with NOAA’s National Climatic using the index. NEMAC staff Data Center members are currently taking the technology on the road, helping other organizations such as Landof-Sky Regional Council benefit 2009 from the information.

Student interns from UNC Published the Western North Carolina Report Card on Forest Sustainability Asheville are an integral part of with the USDA Forest Service Southern the Vitality Index project and 2011 Research Station many others. Billy Mills is in his Joined GroWNC project as original second semester as a data system consortium partner with the Land-of-Sky support manager and virtual server Regional Council intern. He is working to help move 2012 NEMAC servers to a cloud platform; he also provides day-to-day IT support.

peter lorenz

Forest Service’s Eastern Forest Environmental “It’s important that we get to work on live Threat Assessment Center, Western Wildland projects, and every staff member treats us with respect as part of the team,” he said. “While we Environmental Threat Assessment Center, NASA, do check in, there’s an expectation that we work the U.S. Geological Survey and Oak Ridge independently, be proactive and solve problems. National Laboratory. The partnership earned a national award from the Federal Laboratory ConThis directly relates to skills necessary in the sortium for Technology Transfer for cross-agency work place.” collaboration for efforts on this project.

Danielle Betke, another student intern and NEMAC’s main office is in Rhoades-Robinson computer science major, says she has learned more about what she enjoys in a job because she Hall on campus, but the center also has a downtown Asheville engagement site located in the works on many different projects. She hopes to Grove Arcade. Used as a technology showcase, find employment in software or web developthis modern facility includes a video conferencment after graduation. ing/virtual meeting space frequently used at no “It is incredibly rewarding working for NEMAC. It’s an invaluable experience that I will charge by NEMAC partners. 4 always appreciate,” she noted.

NEMAC is currently partnering with the City NEMAC’s Legacy at Locus Technologies of Asheville to work with Asheville’s historic African-American neighborhoods. The city is planning for the future, looking at transportation and job growth among other issues. To gather input from the people who may be affected, NEMAC staff members are facilitating the workshops and talking with residents. Using NEMAC to conduct these meetings is helping rebuild trust.

GroWNC is one of the latest NEMAC collaborations. It is a listening and planning process in a five-county WNC area that is developing strategies for economic competitiveness and job growth. NEMAC is working in collaboration with Land-of-Sky Regional Council and a planning and design firm to conduct Three recent UNC Asheville graduates have capitalized on their internships at community outreach and map the results. the university’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC) In an ongoing project called ForWarn, and are now working at Locus Technologies. Jeff Hicks ’08, Marion Wing ’10 and NEMAC collaborated with many partners to creRicky Shriner ’12 (right to left) were recruited to work at Locus by Todd Pierce ate an early warning forest disturbance monitor(far left), manager of the company and a former employee of NEMAC. Locus ing system. The collaboration includes the USDA Technologies is a worldwide environmental and energy information management company based in Silicon Valley with a newly opened Asheville office.

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inside UNC asheville

Adventures in Meteorology From the tropics to northern Russia, Jenny Hibbert ’09 puts her education into action

By Debbie Griffith It was in the Bay of Campeche on

the world’s second largest offshore oil platform installation barge that UNC Asheville graduate Jenny Hibbert realized she’d found her passion.

“This was the best experience of my life,” Hibbert says of her stint as resident weather expert on the crane barge Saipem 7000, a monstrous vessel with two towering cranes, each capable of lifting 7,000 tons. The barge installs large oil platforms, and it was Hibbert’s job to monitor and forecast tropical weather during the work.

Many lives depended on her.

Meteorology was not in Hibbert’s plans when she entered UNC Asheville in 2004 after graduating from Chapel Hill High School. She had lots of interests, but no one major seemed perfect for her. As she explained, “Turns out my mom knows me better than I know myself. She said, ‘You really should try meteorology.’”

“I’d had the idea of majoring in physics, but the prospect of so much math was scary. Dr. Doug Miller pulled me aside one day and told me, ‘Don’t let being afraid of the math be the reason you don’t major in meteorology. You can do this.’”

And indeed she did.

Photos courtesy of Jenny Hibbert

With a degree in atmospheric sciences, a concentration in climatology and weather forecasting and a minor in math, she now uses her diverse academic experiences every day. “I got endless support and encouragement. Dr. Huang taught me how to analyze maps. Dr. Hennon taught me all about global warming, and Dr. Godfrey taught me about storm chasing FROM SHORE TO SEA: Though a meteorologist by trade, Hibbert gained her sea legs aboard the Saipem on the Severe Weather Field Experience.

7000. At top, she sits in the crane operator’s chair. Next she boarded the Hallin Carlisle from the docks I think I would have fallen through the cracks if I had gone to a bigger university.”

in Russia (bottom). The gravity-based structure was towed from Vostochny to northern Sakhalin Island over 13 days at a speed of 3-4kts. Hibbert took in the view and progress from the helideck (opposite).

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[longitude&] latitude

But the crane barge in the Bay of Campeche wasn’t her most recent adventure in meteorology. After Saipem 7000 in the tropics, Hibbert volunteered for her next assignment a half a world away, where massive ice floes and strong tidal currents challenged her forecasting skills.

“We sailed from Vostochny, Russia, up to the oilfield offshore of the north side of Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk to install a gravity-based structure that could withstand the tide and severe weather of northern Russia. I was on a much smaller

vessel for this project and was offshore for about two months as one of only two Americans on board. I absorbed the other cultures I was surrounded by like a sponge. I love being in the culturally diverse setting of offshore vessels.”

So what’s next for this adventurous UNC Asheville grad?

“I have a million long-term dreams, some that are absolutely far-fetched like ‘go to the moon,’ and some that are as simple as ‘enjoy what you do,’” Hibbert said.

“I think making goals and dreaming big is And then...Singapore called. Hibbert one of the most satisfying thought games currently works in Southeast Asia as an I play with myself. There are still a million offshore marine meteorologist for Fugro, directions my life could go. I would like a worldwide company that collects and interprets data relating to the earth’s sur- to see Antarctica. I’d like to expand my face and sub-surface, working mainly with career outside of weather forecasting, perhaps buoy maintenance or oceanography the oil, gas and mining industry. or seismic data processing or offshore surveying...or maybe business school to get an MBA and move into management and mergers and acquisitions...or join the circus!”

I absorbed the other cultures I was surrounded by like a sponge. I love being in the culturally diverse setting of offshore vessels.”

—Jenny Hibbert ’09, atmospheric sciences major

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Night Photos by Mike Belleme and Casey Toth ’16

From academics to athletics, UNC Asheville’s campus comes alive after dark. When the sun sets, students can be seen sprinting into the night, settling into their studies and residence halls, and enjoying their favorite nocturnal activities.

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Overlook Hall

life

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Athletic Field

SKY VIEW: Opposite Page: Overlook Hall offers a spectacular view of the night sky.

Ten study-lounges feature floor-toceiling windows, some of which look out on the athletic fields, where students practice into the dark.

Left: The ultimate frisbee team trains at dusk.

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Highsmith Univer sit y Union Gameroom

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Dining Hall

Ultimate Frisbee pr ac tice

TABLE MATES: Above: Stephanie Sine picks up a game of pool in Highsmith University Union, where students can find ping pong, video gaming systems, board games and weekly tournaments.

Left: Alexandra Griffin dines after dark in Brown Hall.

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Overlook Hall room

NIGHTLY ACTIVITIES: By evening, some students settle into solitary activities. Above: Niki Duff studies in her residence hall. Right: Leah Wormack completes an experiment for her chemistry lab. Below: Music major Shane Burbage practices for his Aural Skills (ear training) class. Below Right: Warren Oliver creates a pottery piece. Below Opposite: Resident assistants, such as Zach Welsh, keep a calm watch, and night assistants monitor the buildings into the early morning hours.

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Zeis Hall CHemistry L ab

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Lipinsk y Hall Pr ac tice room

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7:30 p.m.

Owen Hall Pot tery studio

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Overlook Hall front desk

“Nearly Naked Mile” Starting Line at the statue of Rock y the bulldog

A SHARED CAUSE: Above: Students don their running shoes and little else for the “Nearly Naked Mile,” an annual tradition that features clothing donations to the Asheville Homeless Network with a lap around campus— in the rain.

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BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE: Students study hard and play hard, clocking hours in the library and on the court. Below: Dean Roland gets comfortable for an evening of studying in the library. Right: Basketball games at the Sherrill Center draw crowds from campus and the surrounding community.

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R amse y Libr ary

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SOUNDS OF THE NIGHT: UNC Asheville’s student-run online radio station broadcasts the beats every afternoon and evening, making sure that students and alumni can stay in tune with campus even if they aren’t up to see it. Their music and interviews echo from the Blue Ridge into the dark blue night.

L–R: Titi Adeniyi, Austin Smith and Drew Proctor.

(Photo by Peter Lorenz)

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Blue Echo R adio Station Highsmith Univer sit y Union

Sherrill Center

inside UNC asheville

Professional Honors and Service Recognitions Faculty, staff and students earn awards Richard Chess and Katherine Min of UNC Asheville’s literature faculty have been awarded prestigious honors. Chess was named Western Region Distinguished Poet by the North Carolina Poetry Society and its GilbertChappell Distinguished Poet Series. Min was named the winner of the Sherwood Anderson Foundation Fiction Award.

Councils and a Pushcart Prize. Min is assistant professor of literature and language at UNC Asheville.

North Carolina Poetry Society describes its new Western Region Distinguished Poet, Richard Chess, as an “award-winning much-sought-after teacher.”

In winning this award, Chess will be literary mentor to three student poets and one adult poet.

Katherine Min Richard Chess

The judges selected Min’s fiction “for its wisdom, its insight into human nature, and its fresh, surprising, yet unaffected language.”

Min is the author of the novel Secondhand World (Alfred A. Knopf, 2006) and many short stories published in numerous publications and anthologies. She has also won awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, fellowships from the North Carolina and New Hampshire State Arts

Chess is the author of three books of poetry, Third Temple (2007), Chair in the Desert (2000) and Tekiah (1994).

His poems have appeared in many journals as well as several anthologies. Chess is UNC Asheville’s Roy Carroll Professor of Honors Arts and Sciences and professor of literature and language. He also directs the university’s Center for Jewish Studies.

Chancellor Anne Ponder has been named a Fellow by the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC).

Ponder was among several higher education leaders to receive this honor. NCHC chooses Fellows based upon sustained contribution to honors education, including scholarly activities and leadership of national, state and local honors education organizations.

Ponder is a past president of the NCHC, which is the national professional association of colleges and universities with honors programs. She also founded and directed Elon University’s Honors Program during her first faculty appointment.

Ponder then held faculty and administrative posts at Guilford and Kenyon Colleges, and served for a decade as president of Colby-Sawyer College before becoming UNC Asheville’s sixth chancellor in 2005.

UNC Asheville won five awards for communications and marketing efforts, including a first-place Grand Award, presented at the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education district conference recently.

UNC Asheville’s branding theme, “Seriously Creative.”

CASE is a professional organization with more than 65,000 members representing 3,500 schools, including many of the largest and most prestigious in the region.

Macon Foscue ’13 was one of 17 students across the state to receive the 2012 Community Impact Award, given by the N.C. Campus Compact. The award recognizes college students who make significant, innovative efforts to address local community needs.

The honors came for the university’s coordinated communication and marketing campaigns using Macon Foscue 17

The constantly evolving world of new media

Written by steve plever

creative space

“

For a lot of kids, being an astronaut is a cool thing, but realistically, you could never be an astronaut. For me, the dream was to do special effects and Pixar movies, to make cool stuff with the computer, but realistically, most kids don’t end up doing that— it seemed kind of magical,” muses Ben Rosen.

The junior from Chapel Hill and a small New media students have created visugroup of other UNC Asheville New Media alization tools for the Biology Department’s students are now engaged in the magic of aquatic lab, and worked with the univer3D animation, bringing events of history sity’s National Environmental Modeling and back to life in virtual space, while getting a Analysis Center to make changes in climate leg up on a career. visible and comprehensible. They also added The students are part of Assistant interactive video and light components to Professor Christopher Oakley’s “Virtual the Dance Program’s fall performances, and Lincoln Project,” where they will create a created their own performance art. lifelike virtual Lincoln, who will deliver the Their work exemplifies new media in Gettysburg Address on the 150th anniverthe liberal arts context, where students are sary of that speech this November. encouraged to take risks, think critically The most exciting thing for Rosen is and collaborate across disciplines. getting an opportunity few students anyShifting landscapes where get—to work with very expensive “You can never find a perfect description of professional animation software. It was a new media because it is constantly evolvgift to the New Media Department from ing,” says Lei Han, director and associate a software developer who was sufficiently professor of new media at UNC Asheville. impressed by early versions of the Lincoln Even the department’s name has evolved, animation. Says Rosen, “This is software from the original, Multimedia Arts and that only huge companies can afford. So if you have experience with it as a student, Sciences, to New Media.

According to Associate Professor you’re already ahead of most other people Lorraine Walsh, “The landscape has shifted applying for animation jobs.”

REAL-WORLD MAGIC: Junior Ben Rosen runs through a range of facial expressions to calibrate the software that will be used in the 3D animation of the Gettysburg address. Video of an accomplished actor will be processed into a digital profile to animate the presidential persona. (Photo by luke bukoski) 18

UNC asheville M A G A Z I N E

“

When you figure out what you’re interested in, then you do your own things, and you have access to all these smart, professional people who’ve been through it all before.”

—Ben Rosen ’14, new media major

19

“

Being on the cutting edge,

you’re always adapting to new things coming out.”

—David Allen ’13, new media major

A FOOT IN MANY DISCIPLINES: David Allen ’13 invented the intra platform to create personal connections through electrical and computerized circuitry. When users touch the pads with their bare feet, a minute electrical current passes through their bodies and into the circuitry, allowing them to control sound, visuals and lighting in the room. Together they generate an environment of sights, sounds and feelings.

Project designers and participants (from left to right): Drew Glover, Kevin Boggs, David Allen and Hanna Trussler.

(Photos courtesy of David Allen)

enormously since I arrived here in 2002, and the recent changes have been largely due to mobile devices. The ‘new’ in new media was put there to allow for changes in technology that we can’t yet imagine.”

Walsh can remember when what is now the New Media Department was more akin to a seed of a department that needed space to grow. “My first year, it was decided we would be housed in a new building,” says Walsh, who chaired the department at the time when the program resided in both Karpen Hall and RhoadesRobinson. “It was exciting—I was able to build a vision for the program and have the facilities match that vision. I looked at how MIT had structured their program 20

UNC asheville M A G A Z I N E

and facilities, and that is reflected in our games, creative directors, artists and rooms in Zeis Hall now, with two rows of more. They also succeed in a variety of seats with a computer bank in the middle notable graduate programs at schools and a con­ference table where we can like Carnegie Mellon, NYU, Parsons, break away from the computers.”

University of California Santa Cruz, The program has grown to approxiBoston University School of Visual Arts mately 200 students taking new media and Pratt. Says Han, “Mainly, we are a classes each year, with between 65 and department using technology to make art.”

80 majors.

Expanding territory The curriculum currently encompasses web design and development; 2D As exemplified by Assistant Professor Curt Cloninger’s performance art classes, and 3D animation; interactive, video, new media certainly includes art that sound and performance art; installapushes boundaries. But much of the work tion, science visualization, robotics, and nanotechnology. Graduates work in many involves placing art at the service of other disciplines. It’s a mix of the avant-garde different jobs—as web designers, video and the functional, a turf shared by art, producers, designers of apps and video

science and business, and housed in North Carolina’s designated public liberal arts university.

“UNC Asheville is unique within the UNC system,” says Cloninger, “and within UNC Asheville, our department is in a kind of marginal space in between other more defined disciplines.”

And in that space, which overlaps with other disciplines, new media students can add artistic vision, design and hightech skills to non-art projects. This means that students are in high demand even before they graduate, as interns, with placements in Asheville newspapers and magazines, the National Climatic Data Center, USDA Forest Service, the Moog Foundation and the N.C. Arboretum, to name a few places.

“In this job market, any tool that you have is going to be helpful,” says Taija Tevia-Clark ’12. “Probably the most important thing I came away with is the ability to troubleshoot and problem-solve different technologies and programs... to work with scripts other people have created when there’s not a lot of documentation, working on my own or in a group. I gained a broad knowledge of different fundamental techniques for working with sounds and images.” TeviaClark, although now relocated to the West Coast, is doing web design for the

“

USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station right across the road from campus, where he interned as a student.

Getting serious

Beginning to acquire those tools involves introductory courses in digital design, computer and new media, web page and interactive design, motion media and more.

“New media overlaps science with coding, and it has web design and the creative freedom that I was looking for,” says David Allen ’13, who started as an engineering student. He became enamored with motion graphics, changed majors, and earned his new media diploma in December. He immediately landed a job in the university’s Communication and Marketing Office, with varied duties including video production and editing, web development and social media. “Being on the cutting edge, you’re always adapting to new things coming out,” he says.

Graduates excel in academia and industry. Gabe Clapper ’06, Greg Bliss ’06 and Michael Hill ’09 all completed master’s degrees at Carnegie Mellon.

Clapper is currently the user experience

CONCEIVED AND DEDICATED: Assistant Professor Christopher Oakley (below, tan jacket), creator of the Lincoln Project, works with students, including Hagen Carringer, to produce a 3D Lincoln with every facial contour and scar accurate. The team traveled to Gettysburg over spring break to digitally re-create the setting when virtual Lincoln redelivers his famous address on its 150th anniversary in November.

The animated Lincoln makes his first appearance on campus (below).

(Photos courtesy of Christopher Oakley) (Far left Photo by luke bukoski and David Allen)

The ‘new’ in new media was put there to allow

for changes in technology that we can’t yet imagine.”

—Lorraine Walsh, new media associate professor

21

“

Mainly, we are a department

using technology to make art.”

—Lei Han, new media director

design lead at Microsoft; Bliss is now a designer at GlassLab, where he creates digital games that function as learning and assessment tools; and Hill is a designer at Richard Lewis Media Group, developing new media exhibits for major museums and visitor centers worldwide.

Jesse Michel ’10 has a web development and design business in partnership with computer science major Patrick Conant ’11. Wray Bowling ’09 works for a small company called Intuvoe, building e-learning courses and websites.

“Most clients don’t understand development or design and they’re not supposed to— that’s why they come to me,” says Bowling. “What becomes more important than what we actually do to get to the end product, is explaining how we’re going to put it together without talking about any of the technical parts.

Going to a liberal arts university gave me better communication skills.”

That view is echoed by Allison Callaway who was already working in marketing when she decided to pursue new media at UNC Asheville as a postbaccalaureate program. “I wanted to take my craft to a higher level—not just make

22

UNC asheville M A G A Z I N E

CREATIVE FIRES: Left: New media students added new elements to the annual “Everybody Can-Can” dance performance last November. Above: Chas Llewellyn ’11 re-animated the prehistoric sculptures of the late John Payne. (Left Photo courtesy of Lei han) (Right Photo by Matt Rose)

a living, but understand the theory and art behind design.” After two semesters of design classes, Callaway came away with a portfolio varied enough to land an art director position at an Asheville ad agency. She now lives and works in Dallas as senior art director for the American College of Education.

Finding direction

Amid all of the skill-building in new media is an emphasis on having an artistic mindset. “Many students coming into our program don’t really recognize themselves as artists,” says New Media Director Han. “Some see themselves as designers but not very many see themselves as artists. So the process is teaching students how to talk about

their work, articulate their thoughts and grow as artists, and feel comfortable being artists. We use critique as a regular class practice—public critique of each other’s work, so students can understand and develop a strong visual and verbal vocabulary essential to appreciating and practicing art and design in the fields of new media.”

For example, students will soon be experimenting with GPS trackers and skateboarders to create animation out of their motion patterns for an exhibit at the Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science and Art in Scranton, Pa. Associate Professor Walsh was invited by the museum to exhibit her work, and she leads the project, emphasizing the artistic, collaborative nature of it.

“I don’t know yet whether the anima­ tion will be representational or whether we’ll use software to represent the GPS data with visual patterns—this has been done with bicycles and taxis, and the results have been beautiful,” says Walsh.

“That uncertainty—making the discovery with the students—is part of the way I work. If we always knew the outcome, we wouldn’t have that sense of inven­tion.

And that’s how we truly create new things.”

Other faculty members celebrate the accident. Says Assistant Professor Cloninger, “I introduce the idea of ‘glitch art’ to students who’ve been really meticulous choosing the right typography—there’s a whole world which celebrates things that are more gritty texture-wise.”

Chas Llewellyn ’11 is one new media graduate who marries precision and grit.

With a strong background in computer programming, Llewellyn came to UNC Asheville to study interactive design and video, and experienced an unusual artistic awakening thanks to the River Arts District Studio Stroll, and an

introduction to the late John Payne in The Wedge Studios.

When Llewellyn saw Payne’s creations—sculptures of prehistoric creatures made of junk parts, animated by computer control—he was totally taken in. “The next week I went to a junkyard and started putting together parts,” says Llewellyn. Payne, then in the last year of his life, became Llewellyn’s mentor. And Llewellyn now makes his own creations in Payne’s former studio.

“My work is a juxtaposition, with well-thought-out use of computers to feed life into the chaotic and dirty mess of junk,” says Llewellyn. “On one hand is the computer work, very calculated, very clean, very technological. And on the other hand, raw, very human, downand-dirty craftwork using stuff from the junkyard, which is a very magical place in my mind.” 4

click it: To learn more, go to nm.unca.edu, and to view the video, go to unca.edu/magazine/newmedia

new media faculty  Lei

Han

Director and Associate Professor, was originally a successful designer and an art director in her native China.  Lorraine

Walsh

Associate Professor, was a senior designer for exhibits by the National Geographic Society, Smithsonian Institution and The Petrosains Science Discovery Center, and her own art is exhibited internationally.  Christopher

Oakley

Assistant Professor, was an animator for Disney, DreamWorks and EA Games, and is emblematic of faculty with a depth of “realworld” experience.  Curt

Cloninger

Assistant Professor, author of three books for new media artists, says his career as a new media artist and educator has roots in his days as a punk rocker.  Susan

Reiser

Associate Director and Lecturer, has private-sector background in software development, and she created visualization applications for Duke University’s Basic Arrhythmia Lab.

Left: Assistant Professor Curt Cloninger challenges his students to consider art in all its forms, including the generative creations of Travis Butler’s Rorschach machine. Participants include (from back to front) Travis Butler, Christina Jones and Rachel Roberts.

(PHOTO COURTESY OF LORRAINE WALSH)

23

A Spectrum of Sustainability In

a small office on the ground floor of the Highsmith University Union, a group of students meet to coordinate a campuswide recycling campaign.

Meanwhile, in a utility room in the renovated Rhoades Hall, an HVAC specialist from the Facilities Department meets with a contractor to monitor the still-new geothermal heating and cooling system.

And across campus, a student mixes compost made from campus food waste into the soil of a community garden located near W.T. Weaver Boulevard.

The signs are everywhere. Sustainability isn’t just an idea at UNC Asheville; it drives campus-wide habits and purchasing decisions, and it plays a strong role in planning how the campus grows. Sustainability, whether it is social sustainability, environmental sustainability or economic sustainability, is a subject that pops up in classes ranging from biology to economics. In fact, sustainability is a pillar of the university’s strategic plan and a part of everyday life on campus.

In the classrooms, professors from different disciplines across the university incorporate sustainability into their curriculums and courses. As Ed Katz, associate provost and dean of univer-

By Eric Seeger

sity programs, explains, “It is common now for courses in economics, literature, philosophy, health and wellness, and many other disciplines to engage and examine sustainability in a very multi-faceted way. The strategic plan helps us to focus on economic sustainability, social sustainability and environmental sustainability.”

Katz explained that sustainability goes beyond being green.

For example, the university has a goal of increasing its social sustainability standard by building a respectful, vibrant, responsible and inclusive campus community. And the university is committed to economic sustainability by setting a goal of increasing private funding so that it can fulfill its commitments to provide a top-quality education to generations of students and citizens of the state.

The strategic plan also challenges professors to look at their courses from a new perspective. Katz says faculty in programs that don’t normally cover sustainability began to look for ways to engage such issues in their courses. “In many cases, what resulted were innovative courses that brought new disciplinary perspectives to the complexities presented by sustainability in its many dimensions.”

Strategic Sustainability

Environmental Sustainability UNC Asheville takes a hands-on approach, with student-led initiatives, creative land use and gifted caretakers, who want the campus to grow strategically.

Social Sustainability

Economic Sustainability

Cultural Events and Special Academic Programs engage the campus community, extend learning experiences, and showcase the talents of students, faculty and staff.

Accountability becomes visible on system monitors in new and renovated buildings, where residents and visitors can track energy usage and take actions toward greater efficiency.

25

In many ways, the subject of sustainability meshes well with the university’s multidisciplinary curriculum. Spend some time with volunteers and interns at the Student Environmental Center (SEC), and you’ll meet undergrads majoring in subjects that seemed unrelated 10 years ago but are perfectly aligned today.

Take Melanie Bonds for example. Bonds is a junior pursuing a double major in environmental studies and economics. She’s also the coordinator for EcoReps, one of the Student Environmental Center’s biggest ongoing projects at this time. The program uses interns who live on campus to create sustainability and energy-efficiency campaigns within their residence halls.

Bonds notes that since most campus residents have only recently moved out of their parents’ homes, this is a crucial time for them to create smarter habits when it comes to consumption.

“We’re trying to communicate that saving electricity is not just about saving money,” she says. “It’s about understanding where your electricity comes from. That means coal, which means mountaintop removal.”

Lately, SEC has been deeply involved in increasing recycling across campus. Not content with just collecting bottles and cans, SEC members have connected with alumna-owned Charlotte Street Computers to recycle electronics such as old computers, phones, and printer cartridges. Their goal is to set up drop-off points in all the residence halls.

This isn’t the only recycling project SEC has handled. In recent months, they worked out a plan to collect compostable materials from the dining

hall. Some of the material is composted for use in the gardens across campus, and the rest is taken by Danny’s Dumpsters, a locally owned commercial composting company.

In Rhoades Garden (another project managed by SEC interns), the compost is used to teach students about gardening and food production. The garden hosts students and community groups like Kids at Work, an after-school program that introduces atrisk teens to the culinary arts.

Kristen Emery, a junior and one of the student directors, says the SEC’s list of ongoing projects runs a wide and sometimes unexpected spectrum.

They include: having a beekeeping instructor visit campus, creating a DIY bike repair station, encouraging students to attend sustainability networking events around town, researching the effectiveness of the university’s shuttle bus system, and even having a student measure the brightness of electrical lights in order to help “de-lamp” areas that are using excessive electricity.

Smarter Buildings “Just because something is green, doesn’t mean it’s not economically viable as well,” says John Pierce, vice chancellor of finance and campus operations.

“We’re trying to communicate that saving electricity is not just about saving money. It’s about understanding where your electricity comes from. That means coal, which means mountaintop removal.”

—Melanie Bonds, EcoReps coordinator

peter lorenz

26

“The system is unique in that every dollar you spend on electricity moves four dollars worth of heat.

No other system does that—it’s hugely efficient and effective.”

—Alan King, facilities mechanical engineer

luke bukoski

“This university has certainly led the way and broken a lot of ground,” says Tom Baldwin, LEED certified facilities electrical engineer in the office of design and construction.

He also serves as adviser to the Student Environmental Center. He and other university staff have been working for two years on a new project to bring solar water heating to UNC Asheville. According to Pierce this is the first project of its type—solar thermal, funded by a third party—to be approved by state government.

“We’re still working through the details of it, but the idea is that we lease space on top of Overlook,” says Pierce. “Outside private investors who help fund the panels will receive the tax credits—we can’t get tax credits since we’re a public university. But by using investors, we can finance the addition of this type of technology and increase our sustainability profile.

This is where UNC Asheville is finding seriously creative solutions and proving to be thought leaders.”

With so many sustainability initiatives happening across the campus—and being developed across so many groups—the university is creating a Sustainability Council to better coordinate these efforts. The intent Find more projects from the is to keep stakeholders communicatStudent Environmental Center ing with each other about projects, at sec.unca.edu goals and findings. This prevents the duplication of efforts as well as creates opportunities for groups with similar goals to share ideas and best practices.

“What’s so cool about UNC Asheville is that since our resources are limited, we can’t just throw a lot of money at these ideas,” Pierce said. “We have to be creative in making these things work.” 4

“When those two things combine, you have a very powerful force.”

Take Overlook Hall, for example, the modern new residence hall that recently won a design award from the American Institute of Architects. The building features geothermal heating and cooling, motioncontrolled lighting to reduce energy use and a plan for solar water heating in the future.

Alan King, facilities mechanical engineer, says the state construction office had doubts about the building plans and shared horror stories of other geothermal systems that didn’t work properly. “But we did it in a thoughtful way, and it works for us,” he says. “The system is unique in that every dollar you spend on electricity moves four dollars worth of heat. No other system does that—it’s hugely efficient and effective.”

The geothermal field by Overlook Hall also will serve some neighboring residence halls. David Todd, director of facilities management and planning, says the goal is to bring maximum efficiency to the residence halls.

After all, the buildings are used 24 hours a day by more than 1,000 people.

Todd also points to the Rhoades Hall renovation as an example of building reuse done right. The project brought one of the oldest buildings to the forefront of modern efficiency standards. In the planning, the university decided against spending money to pursue a LEED certification, but rather focus on long-term performance and savings. Smart lighting systems and thermostats (connected to the campus’ first geothermal system) keep the building’s energy footprint small.

click it:

27

inside UNC asheville

Family Business Forum Finding leadership talent close to home

By Hannah Epperson ’11 Family Business Forum (FBF), founded 12 years ago

by Asheville native and local businessman George Groome, addresses issues and challenges specific to family-owned business in the Asheville region. Forum members include both large and small family-owned businesses that are searching for resources and an opportunity to discuss their shared challenges.

Imagine every family dinner doubling as a business meeting.

Most of us prefer to leave work at the end of the day; but for those brave entrepreneurs who work in a family-owned business, keeping job and family time in separate compartments isn’t so easy.

Cindy Clarke, executive director of UNC Asheville’s Family Business Forum, is working to make that a little easier. perry hebard

Members can access workshops and seminars on dozens of topics ranging from compensation and performance management to developing leadership talent in the family business.

The forum’s goal is to maximize the well-being of companies and to assist with transition planning for the next generation of family ownership.

“They offer amazing programs,” says Dini Pickering, great-granddaughter of George W. Vanderbilt and vice chairman of the board of directors for the Biltmore Company. “It’s relevant, compelling information that I can use immediately for what we’re working on with our family.”

The proximity also benefits business owners, who can take advantage of local programming, eliminating conference fees, hotel and airfare expenses, and time away from business and family.

MaryAlice Stickney Bell, vice president of finance, and James W. Stickney IV, president of Insurance Services of Asheville, speak with Cindy Clarke, executive director of the Family Business Forum.

click it: fbf.unca.edu

“The nuances of working with your brother who you’ve always had competition with, or working with your mother-in-law—those things are hard,” Clarke says. “You might not get along in the office, but you still have to sit down and have Thanksgiving dinner together.”

James Stickney IV, a UNC Asheville alumnus and president of Insurance Service of Asheville, says having the Family Business Forum on UNC Asheville’s campus couldn’t be more convenient. The Asheville native heads the business started by his father and works with his sister, nephew and son.

The impact of the Family Business Forum extends beyond business owners and their families.

“It is an excellent way to bring the business community to UNC Asheville,” says Clarke. “Once here, they experience our campus, continue their business education, and discover our best resource— the students.”

“They offer amazing programs. It’s relevant, compelling information that I can use immediately for what we’re working on with our family.”

—Dini Pickering, vice chairman of the board of directors for the Biltmore Company 28

UNC asheville M AGA Z INE

[

go,

]

bulldogs!

High Scorers Athletics Hall of Fame inducts two

By Mike Gore Former women’s basketball

player Vicki Giffin and former men’s soccer player Mike Roach were inducted into UNC Asheville’s 10th Athletic Hall of Fame Class on Feb. 22 at the Wilma M. Sherrill Center.

Vicki Giffin was a four-year starter for the women’s basketball program from 1993–97. She was the Big South Rookie of the Year in 1994. As a senior, Giffin was named Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Big South Player

of the Year. Giffin currently holds the single-season record for field goal accuracy, career record for free throws made and singlegame record for steals.

Giffin resides in her hometown of Coshocton, Ohio. She co-owns Vicklynds Conesville Store in Conesville, Ohio.

Mike Roach was a two-year starter for the UNC Asheville men’s soccer team. He played the midfield position when

Asheville won the 2001 Big South Conference regular-season title, and he was named the 2001 and 2002 Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men’s soccer.

Roach also was the first Bulldog student-athlete in the Division I era to be named to the Academic All-America first team.

Roach currently lives in Wake Forest with his wife, Carolyn, and daughter, Abigail. He is an attorney for Novozymes in Franklinton.

On the Track & Field Athletes and coaches compete in championships

click it:

Demko coaches in Spain

UNC Asheville women’s soccer coach Michelle Demko served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team when it won a four-nation tournament in LaManga, Spain, from Feb. 22 through March 4.

✮

Photo by Brett Whitesell

For the latest news, rosters and schedules for all UNC Asheville Division I teams, visit uncabulldogs.com.

✮

Track & Field Accelerates Indoors

The men’s and women’s track and field teams won three conference championships at the 2013 Big South Indoor Championships in February.

Milan Ristic and Sarah Gentry won their second straight indoor championships in their events.

Ristic won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.79 seconds, while Gentry captured the 800 meters with a time of 2:12.

The UNC Asheville women’s distance medley team set a Big South record with a time of 12:05. The foursome consisted of Kelsie Rubino, Anna Gelbach, Sarah Gentry and Melanie Kulesz.

✮

Ristic named to All-America team

Junior sprinter Milan Ristic earned second team AllAmerican honors by competing in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field championships at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

He is the first UNC Asheville track and field performer to ever qualify for this event.

He was one of just 16 sprinters to compete in the 60-meter hurdles, and he finished 13th overall with a time of 7.80 seconds.

29

1989 Jennifer Lynn Bracanovich has recently changed her first name to Alexandria.

Neal Wagner has been named assistant professor of information systems at Fayetteville State University’s School of Business and Economics.

1991

Drop us a line!

We love to hear from alumni—and so do your classmates! So be sure to send us your accomplishments, career moves, family news, fascinations and celebrations. Either log on to alumni.unca.edu or send an e-mail to alumni@unca.edu.

1972 James Richard Wynne is currently the senior review appraiser for the N.C. Department of Transportation in Asheville, where he has worked for 20 years. His service area includes the 17 Western North Carolina counties.

1980 Ann Smithwick is the director of Project Literacy in Danville, Va., where she lives with her husband, Gary Smithwick. Their daughter was recently married in Asheville.

1987 Kevin Lee Ashby has received the position of director of product development for Carson Home Accents in Pittsburgh.

30

UNC asheville M A G A Z I N E

Melissa Kay Church was recently named vice president of growth operations for Optum Inc. She lives in Wilmington with her husband, Patrick Lawton, and three children: Savanna, Grace and Ian.

1992 Rosemary McGillan works as the executive vice president of health and social marketing at Porter Novelli in Washington, D.C. Anthony Parrish is currently working as an operations research analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense in Afghanistan.

1993 Allison Cando Simpson lives in Greensboro with her husband, Shannon, and their child, Echo.

1994 Treva Ratcliff Cross is a senior financial analyst for Thermo Fisher Scientific in Asheville.

1988

1995

Phyllis Penley Patton is a real estate broker with BeverlyHanks South.

Marilyn Jannell Bennett and her husband, Steve, welcomed the birth of their daughter in

the fall of 2011. They live in Hendersonville.

Dr. William Ross Bryan and his wife, Mary, welcomed a daughter, Lottie Harrell Bryan, in November.

Mary Blair Ogburn lives in Sylva with her husband, Jon, and their child, Sam. Jon is a selfemployed carpenter and roofer.

Mary is a naturalist and a field biologist at a small nonprofit nature center.

1996 John Jump and Jeannie Jump welcomed a baby boy, John Jump, in June. Additionally, John recently completed his CPCU and has been named regional operations manager for SafeCo Insurance.

Melissa Mohlere teaches English literature and composition at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

David Nanney was hired in October as a neuroscience account manager for Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc. in Gastonia.

1997 Greg Boswell and his wife, Elena, welcomed their first daughter, Juniper, in October 2010. In August 2012, Greg took a new job as an environmental specialist for Florida Power & Light Co. Lisa Cutshaw moved to the San Francisco Bay area and is working to establish her landscape architecture practice.

Deborah Hart-Serafini is working as the public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Muscat, Oman.

Kenn Hoover sold his business and retired in 2006. He is now a full-time RVer.

1998 Jonathan Byers is the director of counseling at Chapel Hill High School.

William S. Davis is the manager of science communications for the UNC Chapel Hill Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

1999 Al Donaldson and Helena Donaldson ’02 welcomed a daughter, Greer Knox, in January.

2000

2002

Courtney Skillman Dozier and her husband, Nicholas, live in Wake Forest. They are expecting twins in April.

Margarita Talavera married Juan Carlos Riestra. They recently welcomed a baby girl, Sophia. Margarita also is currently working as the investment officer at International Finance Corporation in Managua, Nicaragua.

Jamie Hicks Hauser and John Hauser ’99 welcomed a baby boy, Aaron Caleb, on Dec. 11, 2012.

2003

2001 Jesse Dail received the Stacy Covil Environmental Health Specialist of the Year award from the Environmental Health Section of the N.C. Public Health Association in 2012.

Rima Renee Cole and Jesse Cole welcomed twins, Tanner and Cooper, in February. They live in Baker, Fla. Megan Fazekas married Adam King on Oct. 13, 2012. They currently reside in Durham.

Carly Gramer appeared on Jeopardy! Dec. 14, 2012.

On Jan. 20, she married Imar DaCunha Jr. They reside in Orlando, Fla. Tom Malschaert recently returned to Asheville after residing in Brussels, Belgium, for 10 years.

2004 Kevin Barry Rice and Cara Rice welcomed their second child, Amelia Paige Rice, into the world on Feb. 14, 2012.

Jeremiah Shelton and Amy Shelton welcomed the birth of their second child in November.

membership has its privileges Did you know membership in the UNC Asheville Alumni Association is a gift of the university to its graduates?

Here are some of the perks of being a member:

4 Alumni Regional Events—The Alumni Association

alum

n

.ed a c n u i.

u

hosts regional events in Asheville, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Raleigh, the Triad, Washington, D.C., and other cities.

4 Career Services—Alumni receive lifelong access to the

Career Center. Schedule an appointment for help with career planning, resume writing and interview skills.

4 Alumni Newsletter—Each month the Alumni

Association sends out an electronic newsletter to keep graduates informed about what’s happening at the university and with their fellow alumni.

Visit alumni.unca.edu to check out other benefits and perks for members of the Alumni Association.

Become a fan on Facebook (facebook.com/uncaalumni) or follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/uncaalumni) to stay up-to-date on UNC Asheville.

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ta k i n g O k l a h o m a c i t y b y s t o r m : a l u m n i c o v e r n e w s a n d w e at h e r at KO C O

By Debbie Griffith

They call it the “epicenter of severe weather”: Oklahoma City—where tornadoes, firestorms, hail storms and blizzards make for exciting television news.

That’s why four, yes four, UNC Asheville alumni ended up at television station KOCO in Oklahoma City, covering life-threatening weather and forecasting future storms in time to save lives.

Joining the crew of UNC Asheville alumni at the station are Chief Meteorologist Damon Lane ’05, Weekday Morning Meteorologist Brad Sowder ’06, and Weekend Morning Meteorologist Danielle Dozier ’07—all proud graduates of UNC Asheville’s renowned Atmospheric Sciences Department.

Folger, the elder of the alums, grew up in Monroe and worked all over the southeast after graduating, including stints at radio and TV stations in Forest City; Harrisonburg, Va.; New Bern, Dallas and Jacksonville, Fla. He majored in mass communication at UNC Asheville and fondly remembers professors who to this day influence his work. “I remember one professor, Catherine Mitchell, who constantly reminded us about what she called ‘gross factual errors’—or GFEs. If you had even one GFE, you failed. I took that to heart, and I always try to have no GFEs in my reporting.”

Photo courtesy of KOCO

“We didn’t really know each other at UNC Asheville,” said Paul Folger ’92, the station’s weekday evening news anchor. “But this is probably one of the most competitive markets in the industry, so people at the top of their professions want to be here because this is Tornado Alley, and breaking news is important and exciting.”

“This is probably one of the most competitive markets in the industry, so people at the top of their professions want to be here...” – ­ Paul Folger ’92 Damon Lane, a native of Washington, Meteorologist Brad Sowder joined D.C., worked as “Abilene’s Favorite KOCO in November 2012. He previously Meteorologist” in Abilene, Texas, before worked at a station in Colorado Springs, joining the station in 2009. Former Colo., and was chief meteorologist for students and professors might remember KJCT News 8 in Grand Junction, Colo. him as Damon Smuzynski, his legal name He’s an award-winning weatherman, when not on TV. who describes himself as both a weather nerd and a tech junkie, and loves Meteorologist Danielle Dozier is from covering severe weather and the latest Chesapeake, Va., where she became developments in forecasting­—a passion interested in weather at a young age. he found at UNC Asheville’s Atmospheric Dozier also worked in Abilene before Sciences Department. joining the Oklahoma City alumni group in 2011. She helped produce and edit an AP-award-winning 30-minute weather Above, L–R: Brad Sowder ’06, Damon Lane ’05, show during her stay in Texas.

Paul Folger ’92 and Danielle Dozier ’07

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UNC asheville M A G A Z I N E

Shannon Siemens is the assistant director of membership for the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Va.

2005 Rebecca Piatt Batson and Nathan Batson were recently married and live in Arden.

Trina Vazquez completed a master’s degree in business from the University of Tennessee in December.

2007 Sarah Davis lives in Texas and works as an environmental consultant for Jim Clary and Associates.

Krista Dourte and Brian Miller Charlotte Claypoole works at welcomed their son on March Meredith College in Raleigh as a video and multimedia designer. 24, 2012.

Danielle McClennan and Andrea Desky ’08 founded a video marketing and production company based in Asheville called Link’d Video. Danielle is the director of production and Andrea is the creative director.

Robert Wilson graduated from East Tennessee State University’s College of Nursing accelerated BSN program in December. He has secured an RN position with Mountain States Health Alliance at Sycamore Shoals Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit.

2006 Kimberly Hart and Walter Hart ’04 welcomed a daughter, Airely Evans Hart, into the world in February.

Irene Valerio Navarrete works at Vanderbilt Medical Center as a statistician/database analyst working on operations and quality improvement.

Ethan Shepherd married Lydia Roberts ’08 in May 2012.

Melissa Clark Shipman lives in West Jefferson.

2008 Lily Avery completed a master’s degree in social work from UNC Chapel Hill in 2012. She works as a case manager in the UNC Center for Transplant Care.

Ezra L. Cates is a graduate research assistant at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Jeffrey Decristofaro received a master’s degree in liberal arts from UNC Asheville in December 2011.

Mary Catherine Mills is employed with Guilford County Schools as a high school science teacher.

Franklin E. Morgan published his second novel, The Devil’s Despair, in August. It is Christian fiction about a modern-day Job. Elyse Rolfe and Dietrich Rolfe welcomed their son, Corbin, on Dec. 23, 2012. They live in Raeford.

Nicole Saunders is the coordinator of student activities and also serves as the Gamma Phi Beta regional coordinator at Johnson

& Wales University in Charlotte.

She was appointed block booking coordinator for the National Association for Campus Activities South for 2013.

Amy Zarbock owns and operates Ithaca To Go, a restaurant delivery and marketing firm in Ithaca, N.Y.

2009 Kelly Carroll is director of historic preservation for Landmark West, a nonprofit that works to achieve landmark status for individual buildings and historic districts on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Elizabeth Culatta is pursuing a doctorate in sociology at the University of Georgia.

Katie Henderson graduated from Berkeley Law School in May 2012 and works as a public defender in Richmond, Calif.

Shanna R. Peele and her husband welcomed the birth of their son in April 2012.

Groce Scot Robinson has been accepted into the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom to pursue a research Ph.D. in history focused on the late medieval period.

Melissa S. Rodgman works at Duke University in the Community Education Program.

Robin Kimberly Serne and her partner, Eason Burke, own North Cove Mushrooms in Brightwood, Va. Jordan Skowronski has finished his work for UNC Chapel Hill and started a master’s degree

program in occupational therapy at Washington University in St. Louis.

2010 Wendy Acosta-Evans teaches foreign language at Asheville School.

Benjamin Scott Alexander recently began a job at Enka High School as a Latin teacher.

He is continuing his education at the University of Georgia pursuing a master’s degree in Latin. He married Sara Bernardi ’11 in 2011.

Ashby Brame graduated from East Carolina University with a master’s degree in business administration. She is sales and marketing manager for Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Asheville.

Charlotte Law is moving to Vietnam to teach English.

Erin Matthew Ryan is working at the Madison Early College High School in Mars Hill in the Social Studies Department.

Grant Waters is working at Maurepas Foods in New Orleans.

2011 Mary Ellen Dendy works at Elly Wells Marketing + Project Management in Asheville as a project manager.

Elizabeth Milks works in human resources at NC State University.

Aaron Tauber and Miriam Tauber are expecting their first child in April 2013. They live in South Florida.

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Serena Vonkchalee was accepted into the physiology graduate program at NC State University last fall, and is continuing to work in Quintiles’ Global Sales Department in Raleigh.

2012 Larren Beach and Robert Williams were married in June.

She works with Burke County public schools as a Spanish teacher.

Jessica Comolli Blatzer recently married and is working as a wellness director at Carolina Village in Hendersonville.

Ashton Bode moved to Denver and works in human resources at WellDyne.

Amy Burke is pursuing a master’s degree in counseling and student affairs at Clemson University, where she expects to graduate in May 2014.

Ellen Garcia is a sourcing specialist at Headway Workforce Solutions.

P i c k i n g a W i n n e r : U N C A s h e v i l l e a l u m a n d m a n d o l i n m a e s t r o M i k e Gu g g i n o b r i n g s h o m e a G r a m m y Awa r d w i t h S t e e p C a n yo n R a n g e r s

By Jon Elliston

When the Steep Canyon Rangers snagged their second Grammy nomination earlier this year, UNC Asheville alumnus Mike Guggino ’01, the band’s mandolin player, didn’t exactly get his hopes up. “We thought we had a chance to win, but you don’t ever think you’re actually going to win,” he said. “So when they called out our name, it was surreal.”

the road 200 days a year now. It’s been like this since we started playing with Steve [Martin], because we’re basically trying to have two bands, two careers.

We have a completely different show with Steve.”

Though they’ve garnered a Grammy, Guggino and his bandmates are hardly resting on their laurels. “I think a lot The Steep Canyon Rangers won this of people think that after you win a year’s Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Grammy you just sit around and drink Album for their 2012 release, Nobody cocktails and celebrate,” he says. “The Knows You. The award caps off years of cool thing was that we went right into mounting successes in their own right. the recording studio the next week and But the band’s popularity really spiked got back to work. It felt right — like it was when a collaboration began a few years exactly what you should do: You should ago with comedian/banjoist Steve Martin. go back in and immediately try to beat the last thing you did, and try to win the In March, during a rare mid-tour trip Grammy next time, too.” to his hometown of Brevard, Guggino recounted the whirlwind life of a touring The band’s next album, recorded by the bluegrass band. “It’s been crazy for most renowned producer Larry Campbell, is of the past three years. We’re probably on slated for release early this fall. In the

While his time as a history major at UNC Asheville in the late 1990s can seem a world away from the bustle of the bigtime music business, Guggino remembers it well and fondly. “I studied a lot of Appalachian history, which is obviously related to bluegrass, and that’s why I studied it,” he says. “I had teachers in that department that I loved, and I just had a great experience.”

There was plenty to learn outside the classroom, too. “I spent many an hour on the quad playing music with friends, just jamming and picking,” Guggino recalls. “There were a lot of banjo, guitar and fiddle and mandolin players, and we found each other pretty fast and stuck together. It was a great time.”

“I studied a lot of Appalachian history, which is obviously related to bluegrass, and that’s why I studied it. I had teachers in that department that I loved, and I just had a great experience.”

–Mike Guggino ’01

Photo courtesy of Mike Guggino

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meantime, Guggino and bandmates will be back on the road for a tour with both Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, who’ve recorded a new album together.

UNC asheville M A G A Z I N E

Jacob Hagedorn and Annelise DeJong were married on May 26, 2012. They live in Sri Lanka, where Annelise holds her Fulbright Scholarship.

Heidi Hendrix works as a technical staffing services recruiter for Belcan in Denver.

Nola Louise Jackson is now attending Lenoir-Rhyne University in pursuit of a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling.

Cindi Miller recently left her assistant volleyball coaching position at Winthrop University and will be taking the position of assistant volleyball coach at East Carolina University.

Margaret Neal works for Festiva Hospitality Group in the finance department as the bankruptcy specialist.

Justin Lynn Reid is currently living in Norman, Okla. He works with Weather Decision Technologies, where he develops meteorological software solutions for domestic and international clients.

Kari Slagle currently resides in Canton, Ohio.

Taija Tevia-Clark works as a federal contractor for the USDA Forest Service, doing web design in Olympia, Wash.

ALUMNI DEATHS Aylett Irving ’40, October 2012 Thomas G. Stepp ’59, October 2012 Lela A. Minnick ’92, December 2012 Blake Becker ’06, October 2012

Making your gift count through scholarships Giovanni Figaro knows how to account for his studies.

“

From learning about the causes of what The Asheville native spends that time some are calling the Great Recession balancing the books and tutoring in Macroeconomics, to discussing the students at his high school. The financial deep and complex wisdom of Lao Tzu support means he can concentrate in Humanities, to learning the foreign on his academics, giving back to the language of Finance, I have really community and preparing for his career. enjoyed the diverse yet comprehensive “When I graduate in 2015, I think I’ll be learning experience at UNC Asheville.” able to handle any situation,” he says.

The accounting major’s experience “I’ll be able to crunch the numbers, but includes Honors classes and substantial I’ll also be able to communicate the financial support through the Laurels value of what I’ve learned.”

Scholars program—UNC Asheville’s largest scholarship, which is awarded to Want to learn more about supporting the most academically high-achieving scholarship students at UNC Asheville? freshmen.

Visit unca.edu/giving.

“Generous donors have afforded me the opportunity to be creative with my studies and my extracurricular time,” he says.

Rebecca H. Smith ’12, December 2012 35

in retrospect Picture This

We’ve searched our photo archives to bring you a glimpse from the past, but we need your help identifying the individuals who have danced their way through classes, worn their love of the Bulldogs on their sleeve (or their shirt), and made the campus more picturesque.

Give it your best shot and take a moment to identify the people in the photos or to tell us more about your time at

click it: Submit your comments at unca.edu/magazine/retrospect

UNC Asheville. The winner will receive a UNC Asheville sweatshirt. (And while the photos may be old, the sweatshirt will be new).

UNC Asheville Photographs, D.H. Ramsey Library, University Archives

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UNC asheville M AGA Z INE

“The engineering is awesome, I’ve always wanted to be an engineer, but what surprised me is just how ridiculously fun my humanities courses have been. It opens up your mind to intellectual challenges.”

Gus Tabaileh UNC Asheville Junior

This is today’s liberal arts.

He’s a junior at UNC Asheville, but he’s already nailed a full-time job as an engineer more than a year before he gets his diploma.

“Gus” Tabaileh is studying mechatronics at UNC Asheville, a joint program with NC State University that is a robust mix of hard science and the liberal arts. Its graduates have the technical skills to create new devices like robotics as well as the communications skills to explain the devices to almost anyone.

From intellectual challenges to robotics to high-paying jobs.

That’s the power of today’s liberal arts.

Se riously Cre ativ e Visit us at www.unca.edu

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Finding Their Way

Visitors to campus gain a clear sense of direction and place thanks to new signage at UNC Asheville. The directional signs, branded banners and other wayfinding displays define and identify the campus perimeter, help visitors navigate to and around campus, provide simple and clear information and enhance ADA accessibility. Photo by Luke Bukoski