Volume 31, No.1
August 27, 1999
Contact: Terry Day (570) 662-4844
tday@mnsfld.edu
ASSISTANT PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTOR NAMED
Terry Day, sports director at WETM-TV in Elmira, has been named assistant director of Public Relations at Mansfield University. Dennis Miller, director of Public Relations at MU, made the announcement on August 5. Day’s first day at the university was August 16.
A committee comprised of faculty and staff conducted the search which was nationally advertised, Miller said. "We have a comprehensive and fairly intricate search process," Miller said. "Terry was the committee’s unanimous choice."
Bob Grissom, vice president and general manager at WETM said, "The major events in our area are sports events, from high school and college sports to the Frontier @ the Glen and the LPGA. Many of these represent stationwide efforts and Terry has been the cornerstone of the growth of our coverage." Grissom added "We’re grateful to have had Terry with us for 16 years. His work ethic is well known in the company and the region. His move to Mansfield is a good one for both Terry and the university."
Day will head the news bureau as well as write and edit several of the university’s primary publications, including The Updater, among other duties.
NEW GERTZMAN VOLUME PUBLISHED
Jay Gertzman's new scholarly work, Bookleggers and Smuthounds: The Trade in Erotica, 1920-1940, has been published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. Gertzman, a member of the MU English faculty for 31 years, spent 10 years on the research and writing of the book which studies the people and the systems involved in the banned book trade during the 1930s and '40s.
The study revolves around the thesis that there's a symbiotic relationship between the producers of erotica and the censors. "When something is banned," Gertzman says, "it creates a curiosity. "By banning sexual materials, censors create a demand for the very product they're censoring."
The work also studies the attitudes about Jewish people in the '20s and '30s "who were trying to make a living in areas that other people couldn't or wouldn't enter," Gertzman said. "One of these ways was printing."
Gertzman has authored books on D. H. Lawrence's works and the editions of Robert Herrick's poetry. A more detailed look at Bookleggers and the author will be published in the next issue of The Mansfieldian.
GRANT WILL HELP CREATE TECH CENTER
Mansfield University has been awarded $500,000 in federal funding that will allow for the construction of a technology center in Memorial Hall that will serve the Twin Tiers region. The announcement was made by Leslie Folmer, university vice president for development. "We picked Memorial Hall because it will be vacated when the student union is moved over to Alumni Hall," she said.
The $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education will be used to build the technology center and establish technology training programs for the region. Plans include training programs for area schools, business and industry, public and nonprofit agencies for community and economic development and the general public. Folmer said the technology center "is more for the public than the students." For example, a local industry would be able to use the center to train its employees on a certain piece of software used by the company.
"An informational technology learning center for the public, equipped with high technology instructional labs including networked computer work stations, overhead projection systems, and video-audio links to other sites would provide employers, employees, residents, and K-12 students and teachers the opportunity to increase their technological skills," reads a report submitted by U.S. Senator Arlen Specter. "Mansfield University would be especially suited to conduct such a demonstration." Specter worked to secure the funding for the technology center and is planning to help Mansfield University obtain additional funds.
WORTHINGTON EXHIBITION BEGINS GALLERY FALL SERIES
A one-man show by Tucker Worthington, starting August 30, will begin the fall exhibition series in MU’s University Gallery. The exhibit includes large oil paintings on canvas, drawings and preliminary sketches for paintings on display. The subject matter consists of realistic landscapes and figure studies.
Worthington served as the university’s graphic designer for 25 years before retiring in March 1998. He created the visual identity of the university through publications, print ads and other materials. Worthington also designed the university logo.
Worthington considers himself to be a self-taught realist. His interest in painting began while studying drawing with the painter Albert Gold. He lists his major influences as impressionists Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth, the drawings of Kathy Kolowitz and the American "ash can" school of painting. Worthington maintains a studio in Whitneyville, PA.
The exhibit will run through October 1 in the gallery, located on North Hall’s first floor. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. There will be a public reception for the artist on Sunday, September 12 from 2-4 p.m. in the gallery. The exhibit and reception are sponsored by the Fine Arts Committee and student activity fees.
Vernon Lapps, Communication and Theatre, was one of 20 contributors to a new handbook entitled, "The Producer's Guide," which will be distributed through The National Storytelling Network. The title of Lapps’ essay is "Artistic Vision."
Ira Newman, Philosophy & Liberal Studies, presented a paper on the philosophy of literature at the annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetics - Eastern Division held this spring at Towson University. The paper was titled "It's the Thought That Counts: Dissolving the Paradox of Compassion for Fiction."
Constance R. Sullivan-Blum (BA Anthropology & MU Outstanding Senior 1991) received the Kenneth Payne Prize for excellence in scholarship for her master’s thesis (SUNY-Binghamton 1998) from the Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists at the national Anthropological Association convention held in December in Philadelphia. Sullivan-Blum is a doctoral candidate in Anthropology at Binghamton University.
The football team reported to camp on August 16 with 74 players on the roster. The team kicks off the 1999 campaign by hosting West Liberty (WV) State at Karl Van Norman Field on Sept. 4.
The field hockey and cross-country teams also reported to camp the same week. The improving field hockey team will open its season at home against Mercyhurst on Sept. 1 while the men's and women's cross-country teams travel to SUNY-Brockport on Sept. 4.
A school record of 29 student-athletes were named PSAC Scholar-Athlete for the 1998-99 academic year. To earn recognition as a PSAC Scholar-Athlete, a student must maintain a 3.25 or higher cumulative Q.P.A. The standard is one of the highest conference Scholar-Athlete minimums in the country.
Softball record setter Kim Swarts and baseball standout Chris McGee have been named the 1999 Mansfield University Spring female and male Athletes of the Year.
"The more I learn the more I learn there's more to learn! Therefore, I believe
boredom is a state of mind one chooses over useful activity."
--Jan Bowman