The Auburn University Bookstore will be collecting new dog toys until Thursday, July 2, to be donated to the Lee County Humane Society. The basket is located near the doors to the concourse. For more information, contact Margaret Hendricks at mhendrm1@auburn.edu.
Students are invited to participate in a tennis tournament organized by the International Student Organization on July 9 and 10. The tournament will be held on the tennis courts at the Student Activity Center and will begin both days at 5:30 p.m. To register, please fill out the registration form found on the ISO website at www.auburn.edu/iso, or send your name and e-mail address to Volkan Barim at vfb0001@auburn.edu. The last day for registration is July 7.
Nominations are being accepted until tomorrow, June 30, for the 2009 Pamela Wells Sheffield Award, sponsored by the Auburn University president’s office and athletics department and coordinated by the Office of Alumni Affairs. The annual award recognizes women who show extraordinary service and commitment to the university and the Auburn family. For nomination guidelines, see http://www.aualum.org/awards/pamela-wells-sheffield.html.
Michelle Murphy, director of the Miss Auburn University scholarship program, was recently named the 2009 Pageant Director of the Year for the Miss Alabama pageant. She received this honor on June 6 during the finals of the Miss Alabama pageant at Samford University. There are 47 preliminary pageants and corresponding directors for 2009, and the Director of the Year title is the top honor awarded by the Miss Alabama pageant organization each year. Murphy was recognized for her hard work and dedication to her students.
Students can still sign up for summer Auburn University community courses. Beginning in July, classes will be available in investment basics, calligraphy, jewelry design, floral arrangement, ACT/SAT prep, ballroom dance and Texas two-step. There are also introductory workshops in belly dance and tai chi. Finally, the boating safety course has been rescheduled for the first week in August to allow those interested to meet license requirements before Labor Day
weekend. For more information or to register, visit our Web site at http://www.auburn.edu/cconline%20 or call our office at (334) 844-5101.
Leaders of and advocates for cultural and historical organizations across Alabama will meet at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at 10 a.m. June 25 for a summit on the future of the arts and humanities in the state. Participants in the "Advancing Our Cultural Imprint" summit will discuss what the arts and humanities bring to civic life and the impact of current economic conditions on their viability and future. Charles McCrary, president and CEO of Alabama Power Company and a member of the Auburn University Board of Trustees, will present the keynote address. The summit will bring together directors, curators and board members of Alabama museums, historical sites, performing arts centers, libraries and other institutions in public education, culture, the arts and the humanities. In addition to McCrary, speakers will include Ed Bridges of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Al Head of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, T.C. Coley of the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center, Gail Andrews of the Birmingham Museum of Art, Shirley Spears of Sylacauga's B. B. Comer Memorial Library and Alabama Humanities Foundation Director Robert Stewart. Anyone interested in arts and humanities is invited to attend. Registration is $20 and includes lunch. To register, go to this link or call the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities at 844-4946. To read more, see the Auburn Report.
In fall 2009, Academic Support will offer a one-credit-hour class for Auburn students who are military veterans, active duty, National Guard or reserves. The course, UNIV 1050-VTR (CRN 18017) Success Strategies, will be taught by David DiRamio, an assistant professor in the College of Education who has experience working with students with military experience. With a focus on helping students make a successful transition from military service to the university setting, the Success Strategies course is intended to help deepen students’ understanding of the learning process and the role higher education plays in shaping their lives. The course, held from 4 to 4:50 p.m. on Mondays, aligns with the Auburn University Veterans’ Learning Community. Students interested in the Success Strategies course should contact Chris Wyckoff in Academic Support at (334) 844-5972 or by e-mail at wyckoct@auburn.edu. For more information on the course and becoming a part of Auburn’s Veterans’ Learning Community, log on to
www.auburn.edu/administration/business_office/finaid/veterans-affairs.
The summer fruit and vegetable season is well under way, obvious by the ever-expanding selection of locally grown produce and other products at The Market at Ag Heritage Park. Among the items expected this week at the market are Asian vegetables, Auburn University pond-raised shrimp, baked goods, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupes, goat cheese and soaps, grass-fed beef, honey, plants, peaches, squash, stone-ground grains, tomatoes and much more. The market is open to the public from 3 to 6 p.m. each Thursday from now until Aug. 27. It is located at the corner of Lem Morrison and Donahue drives in Auburn; the entrance is on Donahue Drive near the Alfa Farmers Pavilion. For more information, call 844-2783, send an e-mail to mjcreamer@auburn.edu or visit the market’s website at www.ag.auburn.edu/themarket.
Earlier this year, the Anti-Virus Evaluation Committee recommended Sophos as Auburn University's anti-virus solution, replacing McAfee. As a result, the university purchased a four-year site license from Sophos. Last week, Auburn's contract and license with McAfee expired. The McAfee anti-virus program installed on your computer will continue to function, however, support for the product and product updates have ended. If you haven't already done so, please install Sophos on your computer as soon as possible. Sophos is available to Auburn students, faculty and staff free of charge. For instructions on downloading and installing Sophos, see this link. Assistance is available through your departmental information technology provider or the Office of Information Technology HelpDesk at helpdesk@auburn.edu.
As a reminder, students who have passed 101 hours or more at Auburn may purchase student football tickets tomorrow, June 16, beginning at 9 a.m. Please check the Tigeri web page through AU Access for the date that you are eligible to purchase tickets.
The Student Government Association will hold a blood drive tomorrow, June 16, in the Student Center ballroom from 10a.m.–3p.m.
There is a revised process for reserving the Haley Center Eagle's Nest and Haley Center lobby. The details can be found at https://fp.auburn.edu/facilities/haley. Reservation forms are listed on the left side of that Web page.
Two exhibitions of paintings by Auburn alumna Dale Kennington will be on view June 13–Sept. 26 at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. "Dale Kennington: Subjective Mythologies," installed in the Bill L. Harbert Gallery, features a series of five large-scale folding screens. Painted on both sides of their accordion-like surfaces, the screen's compelling images and distinctive forms beckon viewers' attention. In the adjacent Gallery C, Paintings, Past and Present, the museum has assembled a survey of works created by Kennington during the past 15 years. These paintings offer an enlightening view of the artist's path to her current work, with subjects ranging from alienation, self-image and race relations. Kennington will lead a workshop for high-school students July 29, from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Topics will include how to harness the creative process, working as a professional artist, and painting and drawing techniques. Space is limited, and the fee covers lunch and materials. Registration and $20 per student are due July 24. Call Andrew Henley at 844-8792 for details.
The AubieSat-1 research pico-satellite, designed and built by Auburn University students, recently received international frequency coordination approval from the International Amateur Radio Union in Geneva, Switzerland. As a result of this approval, this four-inch-on-a-side cube satellite weighing about 2.2 pounds will use it's onboard radio while in orbit to transmit its scientific measurements back to Earth. The first student-built satellite in the state, AubieSat-1 will produce carefully controlled radio waves that will travel through the Earth's atmosphere to then be measured and analyzed for transmission disturbances at Auburn University and other world-wide sites. Students at Auburn are designing and building the satellite plus the earth stations to control the satellite and receive and share the scientific data with other researchers.
For a limited time, the Auburn Alumni Association is selling authentic Toomer's Corner bricks for $100 each, with proceeds benefiting the organization's endowed scholarship fund. Workers recently excavated more than 1,000 of the red-clay pavers from under the twin live oak trees at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and College Street. In an effort to improve the live oaks’ health and continue one of Auburn's most beloved traditions—the rolling of Toomer's Corner after sports victories—the university has replaced the bricks with mulch and a pervious sidewalk that allows air, water and nutrients to reach the trees’ roots. Each brick sports a metal plate marked with the Auburn's interlocking AU logo and the words "Toomer's Corner." Bricks cannot be shipped but may be ordered online, by phone or by e-mail and picked up from the Auburn Alumni Center at the corner of College Street and Miller Avenue in Auburn. For more information or to order a Toomer’s brick, contact scholarship coordinator Toni Littleton-Rich at (334) 844-7420, e-mail mailto:tonilittletonrich@auburn.edu or visit the Web site at http://www.aualum.org/scholarships/toomerscornerbricks.html.
Auburn University recently acquired a letter documenting one of the more dramatic moments in American history: Robert E. Lee's surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. On April 9, 1865, Lee met with Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House. In a letter of the same date, Grant gave Lee the terms of surrender. The following day Grant apparently made a handwritten copy of the April 9 letter for posterity's sake, dating it April 10. "Before the days of copy machines, it was common practice to produce more than one handwritten copy of important documents," said Dwayne Cox, head of Auburn Libraries Special Collections. "In 30 years as an archivist, I have never received an item of greater significance." Auburn acquired the April 10 letter through the generosity of 1971 graduate James L. Starr. To read more, see the news release (http://wireeagle.auburn.edu/news/992 ).
Currently enrolled students may order 2009 football season tickets starting at 9 a.m. on the dates in the table below. Incoming freshmen and transfer students with no previous hours at Auburn will be eligible to order on July 14. Season tickets are available through the following time ticketing schedule. For currently enrolled students, the "earned hours" column is the number of hours that must have been completed at Auburn to order on that day. Ordering will start at 9 a.m. on the date that each student is eligible to order.
Date Earned Hours
June 16 101
June 17 82
June 18 73
June 19 64
June 22 51
June 23 45
June 24 41
June 25 36
June 29 23
June 30 16
July 6 15
July 7 14
July 8 12
July 9 1
July 14 0
To order, have all your accounts cleared with the bursar's office and have your student user name and password ready. Log on to AU Access, go to the TigerI tab and click on "order student season tickets." To ensure your order is confirmed, click on the "view order" link. Once you have placed your order, log out, go back into the system and click on "check order." Beginning with the 2009 season, Auburn students will use the Auburn Athletics/Auburn Ignited card in the place of student IDs for entrance to football games. Auburn Athletic/Auburn Ignited cards will be distributed at Camp War Eagle. All returning students and those students not attending Camp War Eagle can pick up their cards beginning Aug. 3 in the coliseum.
Auburn University-raised shrimp, cut flowers, oriental vegetables and an abundant supply of blueberries will be available this week at The Market at Ag Heritage Park, in addition to the plants, baked goods, stone-ground grains, honey, goat cheeses, soaps and other early-summer fruits and vegetables that have been available since earlier market days. The market is open from 3 to 6 p.m. each Thursday from now until Aug. 27. It is located at the corner of Lem Morrison and Donahue drives in Auburn; the entrance is on Donahue Drive near the Alfa
Farmers Pavilion. For more information, call 844-5887 or 749-3363, or visit the market's Web site at www.ag.auburn.edu/themarket.
The Washington, D.C.-based Council for the Advancement and Support of Education will honor Auburn Magazine with a pair of silver medals during the council's 2009 Circle of Excellence awards ceremony in July. The magazine, published by the Auburn Alumni Association, will be recognized in CASE's Articles of the Year category for a fall 2008 cover story on Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller written by staff writer Suzanne Johnson. Auburn Magazine will also be recognized in CASE's Periodical Staff Writing for External Audiences category. Both categories recognize superior writing, organization, careful editing, and creative story ideas and development among alumni magazines throughout the country. For a free trial issue, see www.aualum.org/magazine.
Mitchell Brown, assistant professor of political science in the College of Liberal Arts, has been selected by Auburn University to receive one of the 2009 Distinguished Diversity Researcher awards. The awards are given by the Research Initiative for the Study of Diversity and the Office of the Vice President for Research at Auburn. Brown's broad research agenda focuses on the empowerment efforts of marginalized communities. She is now working on a book about national advocacy organizations that work on behalf of women, African Americans and the homeless, focusing on their successes and what contributes to those successes in the post-Civil Rights era.
Auburn students, especially incoming College of Liberal Arts students, may be interested in CLA Reads!, a voluntary one-book reading program designed to help them develop a sense of community early in their Auburn student career. This year’s book is Lewis Nordan's “The Sharpshooter Blues” (Algonquin Books, 1995; ISBN 1-56512-182-1). It is a novel, similar to the works of William Faulkner, about a group of individuals coping with life in a small Southern town in the late 1950s. It involves crime, mental illness, shooting refrigerators and Wallace Stevens' poetry, showcasing Nordan’s writing as simultaneously hilarious and tragic. In addition to open CLA Reads! discussion sessions and an on-line Blackboard discussion that will begin over the summer, there will be lectures and panel discussions to discuss the novel in relation to Southern history, other Southern cultures, literary contexts, performance techniques and the music of Elvis. For more information about Nordan, who earned a PhD in English at Auburn, visit www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/nordan_lewis/.
