Vol. 17, No. 2Sept. 11, 1997

A selection of items in the national and local media about the UniversityÐits faculty, staff and students:

Landscape Management, July 1997. Opening Shots, an editorial. "Doing business in the green industry this year will be greatly influenced by the cost of material and availability of good labor.... On the athletic turf front , budgets continue to be the big penalty managers face. To get the dollars you want, you have to get the people who hold the purse strings, 'to look at it from a safety standpoint and an aesthetic standpoint,' says Roger Bowman, [supervisor, facili ties management] of the University of Delaware."

Everett, Wash., Herald, July 12. Southern Cross' maps Bible Belt beginnings. "Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt by Christine Leigh Heyrman (Knopf, 336 pp., $27.50) tells how the Baptists, and to a lesser extent their ev angelical cousins, the Methodists, won supremacy in Dixie. Author Christine Leigh Heyrman, a history professor at the University of Delaware, concentrates on a period 200 years ago, but provides a study of the early forces that swelled into the inf luential behemoth known as the 'religious right' by the eve of the 21st century."

Delaware State News, July 18. Growing experience: Harrington welcomes youth with varying interests, from canning to growing. "Where once farmers were reluctant to think about no-till farming, there are now thousands of acres of no-til l land in production. Extension agents for the University of Delaware preached diversity, and now many farming operations are growing several different types of crops."

Delaware State News/Daily Whale, July 20. Smyrna Library to be run by town. "Mr. Jacobs said the library would pose 'minor additional costs' to the town. 'It's pretty much self-sufficient,' he said. Smyrna's library, like others in th e state, is funded by state, county and local funds. According to a University of Delaware study, the library received the lowest per capita local operating revenues in the state, $2.02, for fiscal 1993-1995."

Delaware State News, July 22. Lawmakers help Del. Libraries. "Efforts to improve Delaware's public libraries got a shot in the arm when lawmakers closed the 139th General Assembly session with a generous contribution for fiscal 1998.. .. Dr. G. Arno Loessner, a senior policy fellow in the University of Delaware's Institute for Public Administration, was hired by the state to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the state library system and make recommendations for the futu re. 'Higher-quality public library service statewide is the responsibility of individual Delawareans and the governments and non-governmental organizations which serve them,' Dr. Loessner concluded in his report."

Hamburg, Pa., Northern Berks Merchandiser, July 23. Cook Safely Outdoors. "The secret to safe and happy outdoor cooking? 'Keep hot foods hot, cold foods cold and everything clean,' says Dr. Kathryn L. Kotula, a professor of foo d science at the University of Delaware and scientific adviser to the National Broiler Council."

Wilmington, Dialog, July 24/Lewes, Cape Gazette, July 25/Delaware Coast Press, July 23. How long is food safe if the power goes out? "Prolonged loss of electric power can cause food to spoil without our eve n knowing that damage is occurring. 'Food stored in the refrigerator or freezer can deteriorate quickly when the power goes out,' says Dr. Sue Snider, Extension food and nutrition specialist at the University of Delaware in Newark."

The Wilmington News Journal, July 24. Make garden dreams come true...cheaply. "Several months ago, I got a fax from Sonya Edwards, asking for suggestions on 'affordable (cheap) ways to accomplish her dream yard, with limited money and time'.... One of Sonya's ideas was to offer her yard to agriculture or landscaping students for experimental designs. I called the University of Delaware's Plant and Soil Science Department to see if this was a viable option...Dot Milsom,[s ecretary, plant and soil science] who answered my call, explained that the department still provides a bulletin board on which business and individuals who need landscaping done can post their phone numbers."

Delaware State News, July 24. Fair visitors focus on indoor fun. "...organizers of the Delaware State Fair could think of no better time than a rainy day to celebrate their own farm exhibits... Richard E. Morris, dairy herd man ager at the University of Delaware in Newark, agreed with the Barn Tours education philosophy. 'Most people don't have any knowledge of cows. They don't grow up on farms anymore. Coming to the fair gives them an opportunity to see what hard work it is, an d understand a little more about the traditional American life,' he said."

The Wilmington News Journal, July 25. State scrambles for black teachers: Delaware trying to recruit, but it's at a disadvantage. "Colleges, school systems and the state are trying to change that by bringing minorities into the teachi ng fold. The University of Delaware, for example, offers a program that helps minority students prepare for careers in elementary and special education."

Hazleton, Pa., Standard-Speaker, July 28. Practice of quilting alive and well. "'Today's quilting groups represent continuity and shared experience between women's lives in the 19th century and our own,' said Patricia J. Keller , a curator and doctoral candidate in the History of American Civilization at the University of Delaware."

Delaware Today, August Helping Hands. "From New Castle to Sussex County, senior volunteers have become the veritable backbone of nearly all non-profit agencies.... Seniors can also mentor younger business colleagues, adds John C. C avanaugh, a professor of gerontology and life span development at the University of Delaware. 'The corporate sector is starting to bring people back on a consultant basis after they retire,' he says.... Volunteerism spans economic boundaries, though i t's not always as easy for low-income retirees to donate their time, according to Kate Conway-Turner, a psychology and individual and family studies professor at University of Delaware.... Conway-Turner and Cavanaugh agree that there's more human c apital in Delaware that needs to be tapped."

Delaware Today, August Cool School: Local institutions offer a tremendous variety of classes for self-improvement and fun. "...the University of Delaware's Academy of Lifelong Learning (for people 55 and older), spend six weeks surveying the history, geography, production and symbolism of traditional oriental rugs.... Are you a fan of music? The University of Delaware Division of Continuing Education offers courses on the tradition of ballad and folksong in America...."

The Washington Post, Science, Aug. 4. Ugly Horseshoe Crab May Have a Future to Match on Delaware Bay. "Fishermen have discovered a market for the crabs as bait for a growing eel fishery, and suddenly one of ocean's great survivors is floundering. In the Delaware Bay, home of the largest concentration of Atlantic horseshoe crabs, its numbers on some beaches are down 90 percent in five years. The simple fact that the crab has survived so long makes it deserving of people's respect--and perhaps their protection, said William R. Hall Jr. of the University of Delaware's College of Marine Studies. '[They] watched the dinosaurs come and go. The only thing that can stop them is us,' Hall said."

Bethany Wave, Aug. 13. MALS degrees in southern Delaware take new approach. "Since 1988, the University of Delaware has offered its Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS) degree in southern Delaware to meet the needs o f mature students seeking intellectual challenges. Those in search of knowledge for its own sake, in an area of their individual choosing, have found the MALS program beneficial."

Bethany Wave, Aug. 13. Ornamental IPM aids in greening of Delaware. "[David] Baker, an undergraduate entomology and plant pathology major at the University of Delaware, is in the midst of an integrated pest management (IPM) internship funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as part of a national initiative.... 'The green industry is important both locally and nationally,' says Dr. Dewey Caron, UD Cooperative Extension entomologist and Baker's supervisor. 'It is enjo ying a percent annual growth. Through our IPM program, we can advise members of the green industry on appropriate and timely control measures that will keep their plants healthy.'"

Delaware Coast Press, Aug. 13. Students can enjoy reading. Pat Moeller, coordinator of the University of Delaware's Reading Studies Center, which offers classes for students in grades K-12 who need help with reading, spe lling and writing, says there are lots of things families can do to make reading fun."

Delaware Coast Press, Aug. 13. Time is now to prepare for a great school year. "Elementary students who want to get a jump on a great school year can still do several things now to prepare, according to Jeanne Geddes-Key, direc tor of the College School, a school for children with learning difficulties, at the University of Delaware."

Entertainment Weekly, Aug. 22-29. Books: The Week. Review of The Art of Fact: A Historical Anthology of Literary Journalism edited by Kevin Kerrane and Ben Yagoda [both English]. "This far-flung and irresistible collecti on includes Stephen Crane on life among New York City derelicts; Joan Didion on L.A. when the lethal Santa Anna wind blows; Rosemary Mahoney on venturing into a lesbian bar in Dublin....but then the whole book is full of nonfiction knockouts."

--Compiled by Barbara Garrison