UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 1, Page 1
September 5, 1996
Alison Award presented during fall Convocation

     The University of Delaware offically welcomed members of the
Class of 2000 to campus on Tuesday, Sept. 3, at New Student
Convocation.
     University President David P. Roselle greeted the new students
and reminded them that the next time they are gathered together as a
class will be four years from now, when they will be on the brink of
the new millennium and will no doubt be told to grasp the challenges
that lie ahead at the start of a new century.
     "Let me fast forward that commencement address for you," he said.
"Seize the opportunities that lie before you today and for the next
four years. Make it your challenge now to make a difference today and
for the next four years."
     Honored during the ceremony was Donald L. Sparks, Distinguished
Professor and chairperson of the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences
with a joint appointment in the Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering.
     Sparks received the $6,000 Francis Alison Award, given annually
to a faculty member who demonstrates excellence in scholarship and
teaching and has had a notable influence on both students and
colleagues. Faculty Senate President Marian L. Palley, professor of
political science and international relations, joined Roselle in
presenting the award.
     "This is, indeed, a magnificent honor, which I shall always
cherish," Sparks said. "There are many persons who have played an
integral role in my career at the University of Delaware and whom I
should acknowledge and thank for their support. I am indebted to the
administration at this great University for providing me with a
wonderful environment in which to teach and to conduct research. I
have also been fortunate to have worked with a remarkable group of
undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral and research
associates and visiting scientists. Their beautiful and noble research
has been a constant source of inspiration and pride. In fact, the most
satisfying aspect of my academic career has been the advisement and
mentoring of graduate students. I am also exceedingly grateful to my
family, especially my wife, Joy, for their encouragement and
understanding."
     Also addressing the class was Provost Mel Schiavelli, who told
the gathering, "The University of Delaware-www.udel.edu on the World
Wide Web-is now your academic home, your alma mater."
     Schiavelli urged students to be open to the breadth of
experiences possible in their college years, to recognize their gifts
and to celebrate the talents of others, to find mentors and to follow
their passions by choosing majors they enjoy.
     Schiavelli, who opened his remarks with 16 words-like "Cyclone,"
"Rattler," Mean Streak" and "Steel Phantom"-was greeted with a hearty
response when he asked the gathering what those words represented.
     "Roller coasters!" was the enthusiastic response.
     "...This year, 1996, the year you enter the University of
Delaware, is the International Year of the Roller Coaster," Schiavelli
said. "And, as if that isn't enough to ponder, you represent the last
class to graduate in the 20th century and the first to live your adult
lives fully in the 21st. A roller coaster ride and beginning your
college career have a few things in common...."
     "First, there is great anticipation. That long, slow ride up the
first, steep incline could be likened to the admissions process, or
even to the ride to Newark for move-in day last weekend. The latter
analogy is true, particularly if you came on Interstate 95," he said.
     "Next to come is a predictable, but none-the-less surprising,
drop with its accompanying exhilaration. We can liken that drop to
your first semester on campus. We know it's coming- tomorrow classes
will begin-but we don't really know what it will be like to be a
student at the University of Delaware," Schiavelli continued. "Making
new friends, finding your way around campus, higher expectations from
your teachers, anxiety about whether you'll make it through and then,
at the end of the semester, just like at the bottom of that first dip,
immense relief and considerable exhilaration.
     "Then, it starts again," he continued. "Anticipation of the next
hill, knowing that it will not indeed, if we understand the laws of
physics, be as steep or as fast or as exhilarating as the first.
     "But, there the analogy fails us. Your University experience
certainly won't be all downhill after the first semester. In fact, the
ride of your life is about to begin. Welcome! "
                                                          -Beth Thomas