Vol. 17, No. 3Sept. 18, 1997

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

Wilmington News Journal, June 11. Wilmington provides $100,000 aid package for store. "City officials are teaming up with a local developer and a New Jersey businessman to build a 17,000-square-foot supermarket at 12th and Thatcher st reets. The yet-to-be-named store will become the city's fifth supermarket and service some of Wilmington's poorest Northeast neighborhoods. Members of the University of Delaware's urban affairs and public policy department have been studying the availabil ity of grocery stores in Wilmington since 1994. The study found a need for grocery stores in the city's Northeast, East Side and Southbridge areas; the new store will serve the Northeast and East Side. 'Having the presence of a supermarket in that area, I think it's going to be great,' said Stephanie McClellan, a University of Delaware graduate student who co-authored the study."

Wilmington News Journal, June 11. Government celebrates state's constitution. "Dignitaries representing the legislative, executive and judicial branches met in Legislative Hall for a festive remembrance of June 10, 1897, the day the c onstitution became law.... 'We all live in a spirit of trust and interdependence,' said Supreme Court Chief Justice E. Norman Veasey. That message became the heart of the keynote address by John A. Munroe, Delaware's pre-eminent historian. A retire d University of Delaware professor, Munroe first brought down the house by quipping, 'Contrary to appearances, I was not here when the constitution was adopted.'"

Wilmington News Journal, July 26. Home buyer's market: Existing home sales are stagnant from low inflation and a boom in new construction. "James L. Butkiewicz, a University of Delaware economics professor, agreed that the curr ent economy doesn't favor sellers. But the old story of location, location, location still holds true. 'Some locations and neighborhoods are doing better than others,' he said. But given local market conditions and interest rates under 8 percent, 'If you see a house you like, now is probably a good time to buy,' Butkiewicz said."

Wall Street Journal, July 28. RMI Titanium Co. (Niles, Ohio)-Dana J. Johnson was elected a director of this maker of titanium products, increasing the board's size to 10. Ms. Johnson, 47 years old, is dean of the College of Business a nd Economics and a professor of finance at the University of Delaware."

Philadelphia Magazine, August. Philly File: The Art of Fact: A Historical Anthology of Literary Journalism edited by Kevin Kerrane and Ben Yagoda. "This important collection assembled by two University of Delaware English and j ournalism profs (Yagoda is also a contributing writer to Philadelphia) present the signature literary form of the past 40 years as it has long needed to be presented...."

The New York Times, Aug. 2. To the Editor: Equality Is a Given/Re 'Neanderthals on the Run' "The unity of humanity is a basic finding underlying all of modern anthropology, shared by all the leading hypotheses on our recent evolutiona ry history. One does not have to accept the 'Out of Africa' hypothesis to embrace the fundamental notion of human equality. Karen R. Rosenberg, Newark, Del., July 29, 1997. The writer is an associate professor of anthropology at U. of Delaware."

Baltimore, Afro-American, Aug. 2/Berkeley, Calif., Tri-City Post, Aug. 6/Oakland, Calif., San Francisco Post and Richmond Post, Aug. 6. Later criminal behavior and drug use reduced by drug treatment in prison.< /I> "Comprehensive treatment of drug-addicted prison inmates, when coupled with post-release aftercare, reduces the probability of their being rearrested by 57 percent and reduces the likelihood they will return to drug use by 37 percent. In a study just published in the Journal of Drug Issues, researchers at the University of Delaware's Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies found that within 18 months after release from prison, 54 percent of untreated drug-addicted inmates had been rearrested and 84 percent had returned to using drugs. By comparison, of the individuals receiving drug abuse treatment during their prison stay and in aftercare programs, only 23 percent had been rearrested and 53 percent had used drugs again."

West Chester, Pa., Daily Local News, Aug. 3. Malvern center offers therapy through horses. "Thorncroft Therapeutic Horseback Riding Inc., located in the beautiful farmland of Malvern on 190 Line Road has been using horseriding for the rapy for mentally, physically and emotionally disabled children and adults since 1971. The center serves over 400 students a week, half of whom are handicapped.... The center has also done research on this type of therapy with the University of Delawar e and found that it is useful in physical and mental therapy."

Wilmington News Journal, Aug. 5. Ex-husband can't keep his promises. "Robin J. Palkovitz, a University of Delaware assistant professor who studies the role of the father in child development, says your children will begin to be lieve they are not important to their father if he continues to make commitments he doesn't meet. 'The couple, or the ex-couple, needs to come to some understanding as to how firm these commitments are and whether the child ought to be told about them or not. If the guy can't keep the commitments he's making, he'd be better off to show up unexpectedly.'"

Delaware State News, Aug. 6/ Delaware Capitol Review, Aug.11. Opposing predictions: Union chief says strike may last; UD professor believes it will end soon. "A Delaware labor expert says the pressur es caused by the United Parcel Service strike will likely force its quick resolution. Arthur A. Sloane-a professor of industrial relations at the University of Delaware, the author of a profile on former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa and a labor arbit rator-says he expects the strike will end either at the bargaining table or with governmental intervention.... But Denis J. Taylor, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 355-which represents approximately 5,000 members including De laware's UPS workers- disagrees. 'I'm not optimistic that it is going to be resolved in a short order fashion,' Mr. Taylor said."

Education Week, Aug. 6. Teacher Corps Fine-Tunes Its Summer Training Program. "Since Princeton University graduate Wendy Kopp founded TFA [Teach for America] in 1989 to enlist volunteers to teach in districts where educators are sorel y needed, the nonprofit organization has been a lightning rod for complaints from many in the education establishment. Critics have charged that sending ill-prepared college graduates into some of the toughest jobs in education did little to help the fled gling teachers or their students.... Some experts remain convinced that no matter how efficiently the summer institutes are run, five weeks is not long enough to train new teachers. Though TFA has improved its training programs, said Frank Murray, an education professor at the University of Delaware, 'there's too much material now even for the usual four-year program.'"

Chronicle of Philanthropy, Aug., 7. Fund Raising. "The University of Delaware tries to entice donors to give money for construction projects by using its site (http://www.udel.edu) to show the progress of building effects. It h as cameras perched on nearby buildings so that every few seconds new construction pictures can be transmitted to the web page."

Chronicle of Higher Education, Aug. 8. Faculty Parallelism, Shifted Construction, and Network News. Editorial by Ben Yagoda, English, in which he explains how his investigation of the grammar used by ABC News in its slogan, "Th is has been a production of ABC News, where more Americans get their news than from any other source," may have influenced ABC's revision of that slogan.

Wilmington News Journal, Aug. 10/ Delaware State News, Aug. 11. Similar articles. Drug wars behind city shootings. Four low-income neighborhoods in Wilmington are in the grips of gunmen locked in a drug turf war that con tinues to escalate.... Carl Klockars, a University of Delaware criminal justice professor, said it appears that the fight over drug-dealing boundaries remains unresolved. 'The battle is still raging,' Klockers said, 'Think of it as a battle between two very well-armed countries. There's no shooting as long as the border issues are settled. But when it comes in dispute, that's when the guns start blazing.'"

Manhattan, Kan., Mercury, Aug. 10. After 300 million years, horseshoe crab's future bleak. From the Washington Post wire service. "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 number on some beaches are down 90 percent in five years.... '(They) watched the dinosaurs come and go. The only thing that ca n stop them is us,' said William R. Hall Jr., of the University of Delaware's College of Marine Studies."

Wichita, Kan., Eagle, Aug. 11/Chicago Tribune, Aug. ll. Prospect of hiring substitute workers heats up UPS strike. Knight-Ridder News Service. "...Arthur Sloane, a professor of industrial relations at the U niversity of Delaware, said he believes the threat of replacements is just a negotiating ploy. 'I don't think it is a very meaningful kind of statements,' he said Sunday. 'This is part of the grand game of bargaining.'"

Wilmington News Journal, Aug. 12. New approach figures meaning into math. "The math is taught by discovery rather than by drill, and it is taught as a composite of multiple strands- algebra, geometry, trigonometry- rathe r than as a year of this, a year of that. About 1,500 students will see it in their math classes this fall, according to Jon Manon, director of the University of Delaware's Education Research & Development Center."

The Delaware Wave, Aug. 13. Easter Seals program brings service for at-risk children into their home. "In July, Easter Seals began offering in home developmental services for children birth to 3 years of age whom the state agency has identified as requiring services because of disabilities or developmental delays....'By using developmentally appropriate activities, materials and equipment in a community setting, these services will support the children's inclusion into their community as well as allow parents and caregivers to carry over activities when the therapists or specialists are not present,' notes Michael Camel-McCormick, assistant professor at the University of Delaware's College of Human Resources, Education and Publ ic Policy, Department of Individual and Family Studies."

The Wilmington News Journal, Aug. 13/Delaware State News, Aug. 14. Similar articles. Technology centers get $4 million grant. "With an eye on the semiconductor industry it hopes to land, the state added bait to its hook Tuesday, announcing $4 million in grants for two Advanced Technology Centers.... The new Center for Nanomachined Surfaces at the University of Delaware will receive $2.8 million toward its goal of achieving the world's highest precision-polished, o r 'nanomachined,' photomask surfaces used in the semiconductor industry."

American Nurseryman, Aug. 15. NewsWatch. Industry Veteran Opens New Jersey Nursery. "After nearly 34 years in the nursery industry, Clark Brisby has achieved his goal: 'I always had a desire to own my own place, and it was finally rea lized.' In April, Brisby opened Hedgewick Gardens & Nursery, a wholesale nursery and garden center in Mahwah, NJ.... Brisby also sought advice on the most effective ways to display merchandise from Susan Barton, an extension specialist and reta il consultant with the department of plant and soil science at the University of Delaware in Newark. 'She really gave some professional feedback,' he said."

Chronicle of Higher Education, Aug. 15. Information Technology. "'Netsitter Kiosk Software,' controls public-access kiosks that run World Wide Web browsers allowing system administrators to limit the use of terminals in public areas; includes a screen saver that can be used to advertise campus events; and allows remote configuration of kiosks. Program can be used with popular publishing software. Developed at the University of Delaware, the software can be downloaded from the i nstitution's web site at no cost to colleges and universities."

--Compiled by Barbara Garrison