Volume 2/Number 1

1999

Heard on the Mall

Blue Hens migrate to Bioshpere 2

Three University students left the familiar setting of Newark for a spring semester in Biosphere 2. The environmental studies program is offered in conjunction with Columbia University. Originally built in the Arizona desert for research purposes in 1991, Biosphere 2 (Earth being Biosphere 1) is a self-sustaining ecosystem, housing five "biomes"--a desert, a marsh, a savanna, a rain forest and an ocean.

The UD students, with 70 other national and international students, took part in an academic program called the Earth Semester. All members of the University's Honors Program, the three students who participated were Jordan Green, AS 2001, from New City, N.Y.; Roscoe Leslie, AS 2000, from Laurel, Del.; and Rebecca Crooker, AS 2000, from Fogelsville, Pa.

The students all took the same classes, which met four days a week. Field trips to Mexico and California also were part of the program, and students conducted hands-on research and fieldwork.

Whether wrestling with other mascots or kidnapping the cheerleaders from an opponent, UD's mascot regularly wins giggles and cheers from fans. But, in January, YoUDee's performances landed the lovable Blue Hen in second place nationally at the Universal Cheerleaders Association's annual mascot competition, held in Disney World.

YoUDee beat out everyone but Aubie, the Auburn University tiger, which was the first-place winner last year as well. The Kentucky Wildcat came in third, followed by Sparty, the Trojan warrior from Michigan State. Cam the Ram from Colorado State University took fifth.

At the national competition, YoUDee presented a skit in which an ailing patient needed a shot of school spirit to revive.

Two years ago, YoUDee came in seventh in the national competition and last year placed 10th.

It is considered an honor to be asked to participate. Selection of participants is based on videotapes submitted by the mascots for a preliminary UCA screening.

Also taking honors at the national competition were the UD cheerleaders, who placed third in the nation, and the UD dance team, which placed fourth.

For alumni who find themselves missing Vita Nova's epicurean cuisine, instructional cooking videos may be just what the chef ordered.

The staff of the Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management has produced a video series that not only will enhance cooking knowledge, but also will entertain. All of the items in the video are served at Vita Nova, the student-run restaurant located on the second floor of the Trabant University Center.

HRIM executive chef Joe DiGregorio says each video consists of recipes and instructions on how to prepare appetizers, entrees and desserts.

The set of three tapes, priced at $30, was directed and edited by Brian Schmidt of University Media Services and was shot during the summer in the demonstration studio in the Trabant University Center.

Call Vita Nova at (302) 831-0500 for more information.

Tapping into various cultural and historical venues, the well-received exhibit of the works by influential African-American photographer Prentice Herman Polk, which originated at the UD Gallery at Old College, is on a two-year touring schedule.

"Through These Eyes: The Photography of P.H. Polk" celebrates the centennial of the birth of the important artist who taught photography at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama from 1928 to 1938.

Alumni can see the exhibit on display at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, Ala.; Iowa State University Museum, Ames, Iowa; the Atlanta History Center; the Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery at Fisk University, Nashville; the Anacostia Museum of the Smithsonian Institution; the Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis; the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Ala; and the Art Gallery of the University of West Florida, Pensacola.

A photographic essay of Polk's work and an excerpt from the gallery's exhibition catalog is included in a recent issue of The Crisis, the magazine of the NAACP.

Alums across the country had a chance to see three UD students with C-H-A-R-M-E-D L-I-V-E-S compete on the popular TV game show Wheel of Fortune during the show's College Week in May. Ryan Hughes, BE '99, from Ellicott City, Md., Tony Rodriguez, EG 2001, from Toms River, N.J., and Laurie March, AS 2000, from Bel Air, Md., all had a chance to spin the wheel, buy vowels and solve puzzles.

Their odyssey started in March when Wheel of Fortune producers visited campus looking for contestants. More than 500 students lined up at the Perkins Student Center for a chance to win one of 200 pre-audition interviews. Of those 200, approximately 50 were called back in early April and asked to take the next step in the audition process in Philadelphia. Hughes, Rodriguez and March won the final spots and appeared on the show on different nights of College Week.

Media attention isn't all that new to any of the three contestants. Rodriguez was selected to appear last summer in a special edition of Cosmopolitan magazine, called "All About Men". March has modeled for Teen People magazine and in advertisements in the University of Delaware Messenger. Hughes also has had his share of fame and fortune while at UD as viewers learned when Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajack revealed that Hughes served as the UD mascot, YoUDee, for four years.

While there is no information available on Rodriguez' win, Hughes, who went on to play the grand prize game in his round, won $6,750 in cash and $4,000 worth of Philadelphia Phillies merchandise.

As part of that prize, he will throw out the first pitch at the Sept. 29 Phillies game. Had he but known that S C R _ _ _ _ _ _ stood for "scrapbook," he would have taken home $25,000 on the spot.

March won a total of $9,700 by knowing the phrase, "Fun In The Sun."

Playing for the grand prize, had she but known the phrase "Skip It," she would have won a brand-new car.

"Now all I hear from my friends is 'skip it,'" March said. "They're always saying, 'Hey, Laurie, are you going to class or are you going to skip it?' 'Are you going to go to dinner or are you going to skip it?'"

March and Hughes, who both had professional mascoting jobs this summer, had no specific plans for spending their money. March pondered hosting a "Wheel of Fortune Party" for her friends, spending l0 percent of her winnings in a crazy way and investing the rest. Hughes contemplated putting his winnings toward a car--after all he'll be needing one to get him to that Phillies game where he throws out the pitch.