Gaudeamus

Wired librarian Wendy Juniper attended the Computers in Libraries conference, March 9-11 in Washington, D.C. She heard talks on library web design, federated searching, reference service, emerging information technologies (blogging and instant messaging), and electronic resources management.

Wendy also has become faculty advisor for WRMC, the College radio station, where she has a show at 1:00 p.m. Tuesdays. It’s fueled by her CD collection from the late ’90s: indie and pop by the Pixies, Pavement, Modest Mouse, Jesus & Mary Chain, Death Cab for Cutie, Zero 7, and Wilco.

Fellow librarians Dorothy Glew and Beth Fuchs attended the Association of College and Research Libraries National Conference, April 7-10 in Minneapolis. (Despite the latitude, they said the weather was quite pleasant.) They were joined by 4,000 academic librarians from every state and 15 countries. New technologies, methods for library instruction, and fresh ideas for promoting library resources and services were among the topics. Adam Smith, Google product manager, took part in a panel about Google Scholar and Google Print, with librarians weighing in on both sides of the usefulness of these new information projects.

John Black, assistant professor of English, paid a flying visit to the 40th International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 5-8 at Western Michigan University. He presented a paper on “Tradition and Transformation in the Cult of St. Guthlac in Early Medieval England.” (Guthlac, the subject of one-half of John’s dissertation, was a warrior-saint of Anglo-Saxon England.) The conference brings together thousands of international medievalists, including (John says) the occasional saint.

Jan Crooker, adjunct in art, has a solo show, “Life Lessons,” through May 29 at the Rehoboth Art League in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. She began painting these still-lifes when her son was involved in the invasion of Iraq. He is out of the U.S. Air Force now, though his wife still has two years to go.

After serving on the board of trustees of the Bethlehem YMCA for nearly 2½ years, Michelle Schmidt, assistant professor of psychology, has been elected to the executive board. She’ll serve a three-year term as vice president. In the meantime, she will continue to run a parent advisory board for the Y’s child-care center and serve as board liaison to child-related programs.

Ann Stehney, vice president for planning and research, spent two days at the National Science Foundation as a reviewer for the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program. This is her second year as a review panelist. Initiated in 1997, this program awards support to potential scientists, engineers, and educators with interdisciplinary backgrounds, deep knowledge in chosen disciplines, and the technical, professional, and personal skills to become leaders and creative agents for change.

Robin Kani and Lawrence Wright, artist-lecturers in music (flute and trumpet, respectively), received an award for outstanding achievement in the performing arts from the Allentown Arts Commission during the 17th annual Arts Ovation presentation April 28. Robin and Larry were honored for their work in the Allentown Symphony, Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, Pennsylvania Sinfonia, and Bach Festival Orchestra.

Also, a lifetime achievement award went to Ronald Demkee, artist-lecturer in music (tuba) and conductor of bands and the wind ensemble while James Barnes is on sabbatical. Ron’s award recognizes his long service and commitment to the Allentown Municipal Band, one of the oldest such organizations in the country.

Susan Scholtz, associate professor of nursing, presented “Expressive Writing: Minimizing Threats Inherent Within Clinical Education” to the 10th international biennial Neuman Systems Model Symposium, April 21-22 at the University of Akron. Susan had given a poster presentation on her expressive writing research at the 2004 Annual Summit of the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association and Pennsylvania Organization of Nurse Leaders, October 23 in Hershey.

Joel Wingard, professor of English and director of the writing program, has been elected to a three-year term on the executive committee of the Philadelphia Area Writing Program Administrators, which has members from Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey.

House Calls

April Vari, dean of student development and co-director of the Leadership Center, defended her dissertation for her D.Ed. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She will be a doctor after IUP’s spring commencement.

Welcome Aboard!

Admissions officer Brion Morro ’97 and his wife, Sherry, are the parents of Jillian Rachel, born April 24. Jillian’s big brother is Zachary, 2.

Errare humanum est

In an item about Camie Modjadidi, field coordinator for the Education Department: She was a member of a review team for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, not the U.S. DOE. (Editor’s fault for using federal agency acronym. Editor also inserted Section 504 into the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, which does not have that many sections.)

Also, Dawn Ketterman-Benner, director of women’s athletics, points out that three of the Fulbright scholars mentioned in the April 26 InCommon—Julie Anderson ’05, Courtney Rice ’01, and Marianne Zwicker ’99—were members of the women’s tennis team.

Photo: John Kish IV

Car and Driver: Those students picked up by a limousine April 26 at the Career Center were the lucky winners of CEO for a Day, in which they told Jack Bailey about their poverty and despair and he gave them a washing machine. Oops, wrong program. During the Careers in Banking event February 23, Joseph Oppold ’06, Linda Nguyen ’07, and Christine Hrichak ’05, as well as Victoria Piccone from Lafayette College, were selected to shadow a banking CEO for the day. Here are Linda and Christine and the long, long limousine that took them to work.

Moravian Theological Seminary has honored two alumni for their careers.

• Rev. Charles W. Eichman ’48, ’51 received the 2005 John Hus Award for his ministry to youth and leadership in local organizations. A pastor to Moravian congregations from Alaska to Coopersburg, he is now retired but still serves as a consulting pastor to College Hill Moravian Church.

• Emily B. Wallace ’94 (M.A. in pastoral counseling) received the Bishop Edwin W. Kortz Pastoral Counseling Award for her work in North America and Africa. Her husband, physician Ned Wallace, received an honorary doctorate from the College in 2004 for his work as the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem’s medical missioner to Swaziland, where he has set up a series of AIDS clinics. Emily has accompanied him on his African travels, raised their two daughters in missions and camps, and provided counseling and schooling for indigenous people in their missionary territory.

N.B. Faculty should return or renew library books by June 1. Also, they should update the status of all reserve materials from the current semester.