Horizons

              W I N T E R 2 0 0 9 - 2 0 1 0
Alumni Magazine of the UNCG School of Health and Human Performance
NEW LAB OPENS for
STUDY of HEART HEALTH
Dance, Theatre and Music to Merge .................................... 3
Three to Form New School
Alumni News ....................................................................... 7
New Lab Opens to Study Heart Health ............................... 10
Dr. Joseph Starnes Researchs Exercise and Statins
Pilot Program Helps Rural Schools Deliver Services .......... 13
Faculty and Sta! News ....................................................... 14
WWW.UNCG.EDU/HHP
elcome to the new year!
As we begin the new
calendar year, we are
planning for an exciting future
in HHP! UNCG and HHP have
embarked on a new Strategic Plan
– one with exciting plans and goals
for all of us – spanning 2009-2014.
UNCG is committed to continuing
to develop itself as a leading
university, and you can read about it
at http://uncgtomorrow.uncg.edu/plan/
UNCGPlan.2009-2014.pdf.
All of us in HHP will be
challenged to contribute to these
goals. Planning is an ongoing
process at the School and
departmental levels. You can
see our specific goals at http://
www.uncg.edu/hhp/mission.html.
The HHP department heads,
associate deans and program
directors met Jan. 14 for an
all-day planning session. We
focused on activities to help us meet
our strategic plan – sort of an HHP
New Year’s resolution! Several projects
may interest you:
We are reorganizing the HHP
Office of Research, under the
leadership of Dr. Bill Dudley, Associate
Dean (http://www.uncg.edu/hhp/oor/). We
are increasing the allotment of research
grant funds (buyout funds) that this
office and departments each receive
to fund some exciting faculty research
projects. Dr. Dudley will work with
our HHP Faculty Assembly to form a
faculty research advisory committee.
This group will administer funds for
faculty research, grant writing help
and other scholarship that fosters the
work of our faculty.
We have an exciting distance
education program that I have
mentioned in previous Horizons. On
Jan. 1, we organized our departmental
distance work into a central HHP
W
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Dr. Celia R. Hooper
PAGE 3
Office of Academic Outreach, headed
by Dr. Jim Eddy, Head of Public Health
Education. Dr. Eddy, also our new
Director of Academic Outreach, is helping
all departments with their distance
education (online) projects, including
degree completion programs, graduate
certificate programs and professional
continuing education programs. This
office will have an open house soon and
project descriptions will be on our website
in February. One of our online guest
scholars this semester has been Dr. Linda
Brady, our chancellor!
We are continuing to support faculty
and graduate students in their teaching
missions. Many will be attending the Lilly
South teaching conference and additional
teaching conferences and workshops in
their own disciplines. The dean’s office
is partnering with the UNCG Teaching
and Learning Center (http://www.uncg.
edu/tlc/) to fund faculty for these projects.
Associate Dean Kathy Williams is working
with our instructional technologists (we
call them our teaching gurus!), Dr. Jane
Harris and Ms. Frances Clerk, who help
our faculty in best practices in teaching.
(http://www.uncg.edu/hhp/oaa/) They, along
with Mr. Bill Johnson, our Student Success
Coordinator, help students with career
counseling, life planning and study skills
for success. (http://www.uncg.edu/hhp/ssc/)
We continue our wonderful alumni
and friends support. They help us to
attract the best faculty and the best
students. This year we were able to award
approximately $80,000 to more than 50
students, in spite of the tough economic
picture. This year, HHP partnered with the
Department of Athletics to endow a new
scholarship award. With the leadership of
Dr. Kate Barrett, Professor Emerita, ESS,
and Ms. Pat Hielscher ’66, ’70 MSPE, the
Celebration of Women in Sport Award was
endowed. This award will be given for the
first time next year to a female athlete, with
preference given to a woman majoring in
a department in HHP! And, we are very
excited that we have a new HHP Alumni
Association, formed with the leadership of
Dr. Jo Safrit, ’57.
More than 150 people attended this
group’s kickoff on New Year’s Eve at the
Spartan Spot in the Greensboro Coliseum!
Dr. Safrit will be working with the UNCG
Alumni Association to form an executive
committee, develop bylaws and plan
events. All alumni are automatically
members – no dues are required. Watch
for our fun and educational activities.
Any alumni who would like to help
with this effort can call the dean’s office
and let us know.
We hope all of you have a good
beginning of the year. In HHP we will be
celebrating our staff with a We-Love-Our-
Staff Valentine’s luncheon at my home
in February. Our alumni association will
be sponsoring events on campus, and
our Office of Academic Outreach will
announce its open house soon. We hope
you can join us! Watch the HHP website
for news: http://www.uncg.edu/hhp.
Dr. Celia R. Hooper, Professor and Dean
UNCG Class of 1974, MA
The first Girls in Sport Symposium drew nearly 150 athletes, coaches,
teachers and community leaders to UNCG in February 2009.
Dr. Maureen Weiss, co-director of the Tucker Center for Research on
Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota, was the keynote speaker.
Jointly sponsored by the Center for Women’s Health and Wellness and the
Department of Kinesiology, the symposium was designed to help promote the
positive development of girls and young women through sport and physical activity.
In addition to Weiss’ address, it included panel discussions with female athletes,
coaches, teachers and community leaders.
Teachers, Athletes Bene!t from Girls in Sport Symposium
From the Dean continued
WWW.UNCG.EDU/HHP
Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality
Management has a new department head.
Dr. Sevil Sonmez is a professor of tourism
management. She has a PhD from Penn
State University.
Her current research interests include the
role of leisure travel in disease prevention, the
epidemiological facets of tourism, and the links
between the health benefits of tourism and
destination sustainability.
Her work has been featured at conferences
and appeared in tourism and health journals.
Sonmez has lived and worked in diverse
areas including the United States, Turkey,
Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates. Before
joining UNCG in 2009, she served on the
faculties of Zayed University, the European
University of Cyprus, Emory University School
of Medicine, Arizona State University and Penn
State University.
SONMEZ TO LEAD RECREATION, TOURISM, AND HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Sonmez
he Departments of Theatre and Dance will
join with the School of Music to create
a new unit that will enhance UNCG’s
performing arts programs. The new organization
– tentatively called the School of Music, Theatre
and Dance – will create a “vibrant and thriving”
performing arts unit at the university.
Dr. John Deal, who is UNCG’s music dean, will
remain dean of the reconfigured school. Oversight
for Aycock Auditorium and the University Concert
& Lecture Series will be transferred to the new
school from the Division of Student Affairs.
Chancellor Linda Brady and Provost Dean
Perrin have appointed a committee to identify
and address the organizational and administrative
issues related to the transition.
Members of this transition committee include
Dance Department faculty members Jan Van Dyke
and Jill Green.
The initiative will rename UNCG’s School of
Music, which was founded in 1921. The effective
date for implementing the change is July 1, 2010.
Based on fall 2008 figures, merging the
three academic units will assemble a full-time
faculty of 88, who will teach an enrollment of
1,042 — 800 undergraduates and 226 graduate
students. The Department of Dance will bring 12
full-time faculty, 22 graduate students and 122
undergraduate majors to the reconfigured school.
This change has been discussed for several
years, most recently in 2007-08 by the Campus
Arts Committee, which brought in two consultants.
The committee and the consultants proposed
strategies to raise the visibility of the university’s
arts programs.
Combining the performance resources of the
School of Music and the Departments of Theatre
and Dance is expected to encourage new and larger
private gifts, essential for facility enhancements.
The HHP community will miss our academic
relationship with the wonderful students,
faculty and staff in the Dance Department, but
we are excited about our friends’ new venture.
And until new facilities are made available, the
Dance Department will physically remain in the
Rosenthal wing of the HHP Building.
Dance Department to Join New School of Music, Theatre & Dance
T
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PAGE 5
he Therapeutic Recreation and
Inclusive Networks (TRAIN) program
at UNCG has been named the best
new therapeutic recreation program by the
N.C. Recreation & Park Association. The award
was announced at a recent meeting of the
association’s Therapeutic Recreation Section
in Salisbury.
Led by Dr. Stuart Schleien, head of the
Department of Recreation, Tourism, and
Hospitality Management, and Kimberly
Miller ’98, MS ’01, TRAIN prepares under-graduate
and graduate students to become
Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialists with
expertise in ensuring the inclusion of participants
with disabilities in community recreation
programs and services.
As inclusion facilitators, they will help
recreation agencies welcome and accommodate
individuals of varying abilities into all programs.
They will serve an important role in increasing
the access citizens with disabilities have to
activities that promote health and wellness,
social relationships, and quality of life.
TRAIN is supported by a four-year, $761,000
grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Design work is under way on a planned renovation of the locker room
area in the Health and Human Performance building.
The $3.24 million project will include upgrades to the general use
locker rooms as well as the dedicated locker rooms for team sports.
Construction is expected to begin in 2010. The project, funded with
facilities fee reserves, includes a new layout for locker rooms, toilet and
shower facilities, and new mechanical, plumbing, electrical and HVAC
systems. The locker room infrastructure from the 1950s remained after
the 1989 renovation.
Clark-Nexsen Architects & Engineering of Raleigh has been hired
to design the project.
TRAIN NAMED BEST NEW THERAPEUTIC RECREATION PROGRAM
T
LOCKER ROOM TO
UNDERGO RENOVATIONS
WWW.UNCG.EDU/HHP
Spartan men’s basketball has a new home court: the Greensboro Coliseum. In addition to enhancing
the student experience, the move is expected to help create a larger community fan base, increase alumni
participation and !nancial support, stimulate Greensboro’s economy and lead to greater regional and national
recognition for the team. To purchase tickets, call (336) 334-3250 or visit www.greensborocoliseum.com.
A NEW VENUE
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Vicki Simmons ‘75, MS ‘84 was named the 2008 Adapted
P.E. Teacher of the Year by the Physical Education
Association (PEA) of North Carolina Alliance for
Athletics, Health, Physical Education, Recreation and
Dance (NCAAHPERD).
Simmons has been an adapted physical education
teacher with Guilford County Schools for more than 10
years, spending the last four years at Gateway Education
Center. As the school’s 2008-09 Teacher of the Year, she
is an advocate for her students, many of whom have
multiple disabilities.
The award cited her creativity in finding ways to
adapt physical activities and to encourage inclusive
opportunities for students with special needs.
Simmons often invites individuals and
organizations from various levels to Gateway to help
them better understand the population for which they
develop regulations and policies.
Kathy Tritschler ’85 EdD was recently featured in the Fall
2008 issue of the American Association for Physical
Activity and Recreation newsletter, PAR for Life.
Tritschler is a professor in the Department of Sport
Studies at Guilford College in Greensboro. A former
Membership and Evaluation Council Chairwoman for
the AAPAR, she now serves on the Membership and
Evaluation Advisory Committee. She has authored
two textbooks and serves on the editorial board of the
Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science
journal, where she is the section editor for the Teachers’
Toolbox/Tutorials. Tritschler received her bachelor’s
degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison
and her master’s degree from the University of Arizona.
While earning her doctorate at UNCG, she studied with
Rosemary McGee, Professor Emerita.
Joan Hult ’58 has
received the 2009 Anita
Aldrich Distinguished
Alumni Award from
the Indiana University
School of Health,
Physical Education
and Recreation.
A scholar and
activist who helped chart
the course of equality for women
in intercollegiate sports, Hult is
widely recognized for her behind-the-
scenes work in Washington
to pass Title IX legislation that
gave women equal opportunities
in sports and academics at public
institutions. As a faculty
member at Concordia
College in Morehead,
Minn., Hult helped
establish the Minn-Koda
Women’s Intercollegiate
Conference, one of the
few such conferences in
its day.
She also is well
known for her comprehensive
understanding of the history of
women’s basketball, and wrote, A
Century of Women’s Basketball: From
Frailty to Final Four.
A professor emeriti at the
University of Maryland and author
of scores of articles and book
chapters in her field, Hult received
her bachelor’s of science from
Indiana University, her master’s of
education from the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro, and
her doctorate from the University of
Southern California, Los Angeles.
She is in the process of publishing
a second book about the history of
women’s athletics, has served as a
consultant to both HBO and ESPN,
and is part owner of an athletic and
sport consulting firm.
Alumna Honored for Work to Achieve Equality for Women in Sports
Photo: Indiana University
WWW.UNCG.EDU/HHP
Marge Burns
’46 died on
June 3. Burns,
who earned
a bachelor’s
degree in
physical
education
from Woman’s
College, lived in Greensboro. She
received the Distinguished Alumnae
Award from the School of Health
and Human Performance in 1991.
A golfer, Burns was an amateur
competitor and teacher for more
than 50 years. She holds an
unprecedented record of 10 N.C.
state amateur titles in the 1950s and
’60s and was named the Carolinas
Outstanding Amateur Athlete !ve
times. She quali!ed and played in
14 USGA Amateur Championships,
six U.S. Opens and nine LPGA Tour
events. She was ranked in the
Top 10 Women’s Amateur Golfers
by Golf Digest Magazine and was
inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall
of Fame and the N.C. Sports Hall of
Fame in 1984.
In 1976, she was the LPGA’s
National Teacher of the Year and,
over the years, taught many of the
area’s top female amateur golfers.
Dr. Jacqueline Cimorelli, professor
emerita in the Department of
Communication Sciences and
Disorders, died on Jan. 20, 2009.
Dr. Cimorelli joined the faculty in
1977 after receiving her PhD from
Penn State University. She served
as department head from 1992 to
2002, before retiring in 2005.
She authored, Language
Therapy: a Complete Cognitive
Therapy Program, and was co-author
of two signi!cant U.S.
Department of Education grants
among many other publications and
accomplishments. Widely regarded
as a master teacher and champion
of both students and faculty, she
in"uenced the discipline of speech
language pathology on state and
national levels.
Memorial contributions may
be directed to: The Dr. Jacqueline
M. Cimorelli Scholarship in
Communication Science and
Disorders, Attn: Sharon Storm
Brown, 430 HHP Bldg., P.O. Box
26170, Greensboro, N.C. 27402-6170.
Dr. JoAnne Thorpe ’85 EdD died
Jan. 15, 2009. She was 77.
Thorpe had served as
chairwoman of the physical
education department at Southern
Illinois University – Carbondale,
where she coached volleyball
and worked to support Title IX
legislation.
Born in Tampa, Thorpe
graduated with honors from Florida
State University, before earning a
master’s degree at the University of
North Carolina and a doctorate from
Texas Woman’s University.
Thorpe also was involved with
pet therapy, taking her two dogs to
hospitals and nursing homes twice
a week. “She was very outgoing and
could easily speak to people of any
age,” said her friend Pam Dickens.
“That was what always amazed me.
She could talk to kids, she could talk
to the elderly. There was nothing
that she couldn’t break through.”
In Memoriam
PAGE 8
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Dr. Catherine Ennis ’77 MS, a professor
of teacher education and curriculum
in the department of Kinesiology,
received the Distinguished Alumni
Award. Before joining the faculty at
UNCG, Ennis taught undergraduate
and graduate teacher education courses at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University
of Maryland-College Park, with a focus on preK-12
curriculum theory and development. Recently, she
completed a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the
National Institutes of Health to design, evaluate and
disseminate a science-based approach to elementary
physical education. She received her PhD at the
University of Georgia.
ETHEL MARTUS LAWTHER ALUMNI AWARD
In addition, five alumni were honored with the Ethel
Martus Lawther Alumni Award. They are:
James Worsley ’00, ’03 MS is the recipient
from the Department of Recreation,
Tourism, and Hospitality Management.
James is general manager of the
East Park District of Mecklenburg
County Parks and Recreation. He
has developed therapeutic recreation programs for
the homeless and received the 2007 N.C. Recreation
and Park Association Young Professional of the Year
Award and the 2006 Community Service Award from
A Child’s Place. He has also received awards from
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America, and the N.C.
Recreation and Park Association and the National
Association of County Park and Recreation Officials.
Dr. Laura Tallant ’98 MA is the
recipient from the Department
of Communication Sciences and
Disorders. Tallant is an audiologist
with The Ear Center of Greensboro
and has been involved with the clinical
education of area audiologists. Her work with adult
implant patients has contributed to the Adult Aural
Rehab Therapy Group at UNCG.
Dr. Sherry Salyer ‘92 is the recipient
from the Department of Kinesiology.
She has served as president of the
North Carolina Alliance for Athletics,
Health, Physical Education, Recreation
and Dance. She also has been co-investigator
on several funded grant projects at
UNC Chapel Hill.
Dr. Ellen Essick ‘84, ‘86 MEd, ‘04 PhD
is the recipient from the Department
of Public Health Education. She is the
national school employee wellness
manager for Alliance for a Healthier
Generation. The Alliance is a joint
partnership between the American Heart Association
and the William J. Clinton Foundation. She served
as president of the Eastern Trial HIV Consortium in
2000-03. NCAAHE honored Dr. Essick in 2005 with
the College/University Health Educator of the Year
Award. She has held faculty positions at UNCG,
Greensboro College, Guilford College and UNC
Chapel Hill. In addition, she has served as director
of prevention, adolescent outreach for the Triad
Health Project and has been a master trainer for
the N.C. School Health Training Center.
Ava Lavonne Vinesett ‘98 MFA is the
recipient from the Department of
Dance. She has taught internationally,
including a six-month residency in
Rio de Janeiro and Salvador da Bahia,
Brazil. She is a founding and lifetime
member of the Chuck Davis African-American Dance
Ensemble. Her other notable awards include the Duke
Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award and awards
from the Durham Arts Council.
School of HHP Alumni Honored at Reception
The School of Health and Human Performance honored six alumni at the annual Alumni Awards Reception in April.
More than 120 faculty, alumni and friends of the school joined the UNCG Chancellor and Provost at the event.
NEW LAB OPENS for
STUDY of HEART HEALTH
octors trying to help patients
take care of their hearts often
prescribe exercise and drugs known
as statins to lower cholesterol. The
combination is thought to be effective,
but it’s not exactly clear why.
PAGE 10
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D
PAGE 11
Dr. Joseph Starnes aims to find out – and
help adults make more informed decisions
about the health of their hearts.
Starnes, who earned his PhD at the
University of Massachusetts, arrived at
UNCG in August 2008 as the head of the
Department of Kinesiology. After 23 years
as a professor at the University of Texas in
Austin, Starnes and his wife wanted to get
closer to family and friends in their native
Atlanta. He was also looking for new
challenges as a leader and a researcher.
A little more than a year later, his new
cardiac metabolism lab is up and running.
He and a small team of student researchers
are digging into questions of “heart
metabolism and the adaptations that occur
in the heart as the result of exercise and
being on long-term drug therapy,” he
says. Starnes is starting with an intriguing
hypothesis: that exercise and statins help
protect the heart in different ways, making
both of them crucial to heart health under
normal and stressful conditions.
“Some people think they don’t need
to exercise because they’re taking pills,”
Starnes says. “Others think that they
can skip the pills because they exercise
a lot.” The truth might turn out to be
more complicated. Starnes’ research so
The Department of Exercise and Sport Science has a
new name: the Department of Kinesiology.
“Most departments comparable to ours are now
called kinesiology,” said Dr. Joseph Starnes, a professor
and head of the department. “We feel that now is the
time to change our name to one that is more universally
recognized. While our department is highly respected
for its rigorous program, the name Exercise and Sport
Science may have put us at a disadvantage in some
academic and professional settings.”
The word kinesiology is derived from the Greek
words kineis and logos. Kineis means to move; and
logos means to study. From its early years as a
profession devoted almost exclusively to the preparation
of physical education teachers and coaches, kinesiology
has grown into a multi-faceted academic discipline
centered on the study of physical activity.
The American Kinesiology Association – www.
americankinesiology.org – has taken a broad view of
kinesiology as “the academic field that studies physical
activity and its impact on health, human performance,
society, and quality of life.”
Kinesiology is the name now used for similar
departments at Penn State University, the University of
Texas, the University of Michigan and dozens of other
institutions across the country.
In 2006, the National Research
Council included kinesiology in
its classification of research-doctoral
programs.
“This new name reflects
our focus on the study of
human movement,” Starnes
said. “Whether our scholars
describe themselves as exercise
physiologists, sociologists or
pedagogiests, we are united in our efforts to enhance
the quality of individuals’ experiences with movement,
sport and exercise.”
The department has had a series of names that
reflect its evolution. In the decades that followed the
institution’s founding in 1891, the department was
known at different times as physical culture, physical
training and physical education.
In 1971, when UNCG created a new school, now
known as the School of Health and Human Performance,
physical education was one of its four original divisions.
The Department of Physical Education was renamed the
Department of Exercise and Sport Science in 1989.
ESS CHANGES NAME TO KINESIOLOGY
continued next page
PAGE 9
far indicates that exercise creates valuable
proteins in the heart that statins cannot
mimic. Similarly, statins create favorable
changes in the heart’s chemistry that exercise
cannot induce. Ultimately, individuals could
give their hearts added protection by taking
advantage of both.
Using rats as subjects, Starnes and his
team hope to have written up some initial
findings in early 2010, giving them enough
preliminary data for a grant proposal that
would expand the work. “We want to
understand how exercise and these drugs
interact and learn as much as we can about
what they can do and can’t do when it comes
to protecting your heart.”
In the meantime, Starnes is also running
another project, funded by the National
Institute on Aging, that explores the impact
statin drugs have on the lifespan of adults.
Statin drugs are prescribed widely by doctors
around the world. But they have only been
used since the 1980s and are now known to
have far-reaching effects apart from reducing
cholesterol. Using lab mice at three sites
associated with the National Institute on
Aging, Starnes is looking into their impact on
overall health and longevity.
“There are so many things that need to
be explored,” Starnes says of his passion for
the connections between physiology and
biochemistry. “It will take a long time to get
through all of the projects on my list.”
PAGE 12
fifth-grader listens
intently as his speech-language
pathologist
reads from a nonfiction book the
boy has chosen. The boy answers
“why�� and “which” questions
posed by the therapist and soon
will have to summarize the story
in detail.
What is unique is that the boy
and his therapist are hundreds of
miles apart. The session is part of a
TeleSpeech Therapy pilot program
that allows speech-language
pathologists at The University
of North Carolina at Greensboro
to help children in eastern North
Carolina via videoconferencing.
In some parts of North
Carolina, particularly rural areas,
school districts are struggling
to hire qualified speech-language
pathologists. TeleSpeech Therapy
has shown promise as an effective
way to deliver services in such
places.
“TeleSpeech has provided on-target
services for our students,”
a school administrator wrote in
a program evaluation. “Through
videoconferencing, rural school
districts are able to service students
with limited personnel resources.”
Therapists at UNCG’s Speech
and Hearing Program sit in front
of a high definition camera with an
array of materials and peripheral
devices. The students face similar
cameras and a 38-inch television
monitor that allows them to see the
speech-language pathologists.
The pilot program is working
with rural school districts in
Perquimans and Northampton
counties to deliver treatment that
differs very little from face-to-face
sessions. A paraprofessional escorts
the children to and from therapy
and helps manage the on-site
materials, student behavior and
equipment.
TeleSpeech Therapy could
help deal with a rising demand for
services. The U.S. Department of
Labor has predicted an 11 percent
increase between 2006 and 2016
in the number of jobs for speech-language
pathologists, who
diagnose and treat communication
disorders.
Public schools were already
having a hard time filling vacancies
in 2006, according to a survey
conducted by the American
Speech-Language-Hearing
Association. The association which
has endorsed the use of TeleSpeech
Therapy when distance, impaired
mobility or a lack of specialists
creates a barrier to services.
The response to the pilot
program, now in its second year,
has been positive. Parents, teachers
and school administrators indicated
a high level of satisfaction in a
survey administered last year.
Students have been even more
encouraging. A first-grader
asked if she could watch
“TeleSpeech Therapy” on her TV
at home. Another student asked
if his treatment sessions could be
increased from twice per week to
every day.
A grant from the Department
of Education paid for equipment
for the TeleSpeech Therapy
Program.
Michael Campbell is the director of
the Speech and Hearing Program at
the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro and is an AP Associate
Professor in the Department of
Communication Sciences and Disorders.
He serves on the American Speech-
Language-Hearing Association Ad Hoc
Committee for Telepractice and is a
member of the American Telemedicine
Association Telerehabilitation Standards
and Ethics Committee.
A
Pilot Program Helps Rural Schools Deliver Services
By Michael Campbell, MS, MBA
A speech-language pathologist
and student participate in the
TeleSpeech Therapy pilot program.
PAGE 13
Dr. Leandra A. Bedini, a professor in the Department of Recreation, Tourism, and
Hospitality Management, has been elected into the Academy of Leisure Sciences. The
selection recognizes her outstanding contributions to the intellectual understanding
and advancement of the field.
Dr. Catherine Ennis, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology, was named the
2010 Alliance Scholar by the 25,000-member American Alliance for Health, Physical
Education, Recreation and Dance. She will deliver the Alliance Scholar Lecture and
make additional presentations at the group’s March 2010 annual convention. She is
the president-elect of the alliance’s Research Consortium. Her research focuses on
curriculum theory and development in physical education with specific applications to
urban schools.
Dr. Diane Gill, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology, received the 2009
Distinguished Scholar Award from The National Association of Kinesiology and Physical
Education in Higher Education. The award will be presented at the association’s 2009
National Conference.
Bill Johnson, the Student Success Coordinator in the School of Health and Human
Performance, was the opening speaker for the 2009 Golden Key International Honor
Society’s Regional Conference in Richmond. His speech was titled, “Wake up! Start Living
Your Dreams Today!” He also presented at the 2009 Lilly South Conference on College
and University Teaching.
Dr. Susan Phillips, an associate professor of audiology in the Department of
Communication Sciences and Disorders, has been accepted into the BRIDGES program.
The professional development program helps women in higher education strengthen
their academic leadership capabilities.
Dr. Stuart Schleien, a professor and director of graduate study in Recreation, Tourism,
and Hospitality Management, gave the keynote address at an international autism
seminar in Madrid, Spain. His presentation, for therapists and teachers, was titled,
“Therapeutic Recreation Programs for People with Autism: Practical Applications.” He
also made a second presentation to 75 people who have children with autism.
Two faculty members in the School of HHP have received Fall 2008 community-based
research grants from The Office of Leadership and Service-Learning. Dr. Sharon
Morrison, an associate professor and the director of the Undergraduate Program
in Public Health Education, received a grant for her project, “Assessing HIV-Related
Stigma in French-Speaking African Immigrant and Refugee Communities.” Joseph
Brown, a chef and an assistant professor in the Department of Recreation, Tourism, and
Hospitality Management, received a grant for his project, “Sanitation, Food Safety and
Hazard Prevention for Community Food Initiatives.”
PAGE 14 WWW.UNCG.EDU/HHP
PAGE 15
he American Speech-Language-
Hearing Association, has named
Dr. Robert Mayo a Diversity
Champion. Dr. Mayo is a professor
and chairman of the Department of
Communication Sciences and Disorders.
He was recognized during the
association’s fall convention Nov. 19-21
in New Orleans.
During the past two decades, Mayo
has mentored more than 200 students
of color in the fields of communication
sciences and disorders, allied health,
medicine, dentistry and the arts.
“I have worked with Robert Mayo
at two universities, for a total of almost
20 years, and I continue to learn from
him and admire him in his mentoring of
students,” said Dr. Celia Hooper, dean of
the UNCG School of Health and Human
Performance, who also worked with Mayo
at UNC Chapel Hill. “He helps them
learn the culture of the university and
how to negotiate academic waters. He
has a special passion for those who are
underrepresented and helps them with
dedication and humor.
“Robert is in his sixth year at UNCG,
and it is no accident that the student body
in our Department of Communication
Sciences and Disorders is among the most
diverse in the country. Robert Mayo has
helped make that possible, one student at
a time.”
In 2004, Mayo developed the Research
Mentoring Program, an inter-institutional
initiative between UNCG and two
historically black colleges and universities
with the goal of enhancing opportunities
for students of color to gain admission
to graduate and professional schools.
Last academic year, he encouraged five
undergraduates and six graduate students
to submit papers for the 2009 National
Black Association for Speech-Language
and Hearing convention in Atlanta. All 11
students presented at the convention; two
received awards for their scholarship.
His recent research has focused on
public perceptions of communication
disorders and differences – specifically,
stuttering, voice disorders and dialects.
Additional research has focused on public
awareness of stuttering across cultures
and modifying attitudes toward persons
who stutter.
Mayo received his bachelor’s degree
from George Washington University, his
master’s from The Ohio State University
and his doctorate from Memphis
State University (now the University
of Memphis). He completed a NIH
postdoctoral fellowship in craniofacial
anomalies at the University of North
Carolina Craniofacial Center.
T
Mayo Honored for Diversity Work
NORTH CAROLINA NEWSPAPER SPOTLIGHTS
ALUMNA’S PASSION FOR YOGA
Mary Lou Buck ’59 wanted a break from the stresses
of motherhood when she took her first yoga class
in the early 1970s. She ultimately found a lifelong
passion – and a pioneering role in her community.
The Charlotte Observer recently published
a lengthy profile of Buck, a physical education
major who studied and taught yoga for years
before opening one of the city’s first private yoga
studios in the 1990s. A mother of three and an avid
swimmer and hiker, Buck told the Observer that
her athletic pursuits earlier in her life readied her
for fully grasping and sharing the art of yoga. “I
was used to movement,” she said. “I had the body
knowledge and I felt prepared and could keep my
students safe.”
With its focus on inner balance, yoga was not
well understood or appreciated by most Americans
when Buck first took it up. But its popularity, she
said, has soared over the past 10 years, attracting
millions of adherents in the United States.
“A lot of people have come to yoga to deal
with stress; they want to exercise but want
something a little more spiritual,” she said in the
Observer.
ALUMNUS QUOTED IN NPR STORY
ABOUT EDUCATION
The leader of the Washington D.C. schools is
looking increasingly to rookie teachers to help in
her educational reform efforts.
Brian Betts ’89, a principal in the Washington
D.C. school system, recently hired a number of
new teachers himself. He was interviewed about
this in a national story for NPR in March.
As principal of Shaw Middle School at Garnet-
Patterson in Washington D.C., Betts selected the
entire faculty when he took over the school in 2008.
WWW.UNCG.EDU/HHP
Dr. Linda Buettner, a professor in the Department of Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality Management, has received
a $7,500 grant from The Brookdale Foundation Group to help those with early stage memory loss.
The grant supports the creation of the ARROW Club, an innovative program that provides therapeutic and
educational activities at the North Campus of Gateway University Research Park in Browns Summit.
The program is designed to serve those with mild memory loss, which could be caused by Parkinson’s, brain
injury, early stage Alzheimer’s or mild cognitive impairment. Participants will learn techniques to help cope with
memory loss and will practice mental and physical exercises that can help delay related symptoms and problems.
Recreational therapy faculty and students in the School of Health and Human Performance, as well as local public
and non-pro!t agencies, are helping start the program and will continue to play a central role.
In other activities, Buettner recently gave a lecture about memory loss. The lecture, “It’s never too early, it’s
never too late, to provide therapy for memory loss,” highlighted Buettner’s research on interventions to alleviate the
symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. It was sponsored by Friends of the UNCG Libraries.
Professor Receives Grant for Memory Loss Program
PAGE 16
continued next page
PAGE 17
He hired 28 rookie teachers out of 35. He
told NPR he wants experienced teachers
to serve as anchors and mentors for the
younger teachers, and he also wants
newer educators who are eager to be
measured on their students’ success.
PROFESSOR TALKS ABOUT PET THERAPY
IN PARADE MAGAZINE
When Parade magazine wrote a story
about pet therapy, they turned to one
of the national experts in the field – Dr.
Linda Buettner at the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro.
Buettner, a professor in the
Department of Recreation, Tourism, and
Hospitality Management, was quoted
Sept. 6 in the magazine’s story, “The Dog
Who Changes Lives.” The story detailed
how pet therapy can help nursing home
residents, special needs students and
even children learning to read.
“Part of the magic is the
unconditional bond between therapy
dogs and the people they visit,” Buettner
told Parade. “It doesn’t matter if you have
disabilities, can’t read well, or are old
and sick — the dog loves and comforts
you anyway.”
Buettner’s research has shown that
working with therapy dogs can improve
both the moods and engagement levels
of apathetic nursing-home residents.
“These people normally refused to do
anything,” Buettner says. “But during the
visit, they came to life.”
Dr. Denise Tucker, a professor in the Department of
Communication Sciences and Disorders, has published her !rst
mystery novel, Keeping House: A Madame President Mystery. The
House Mysteries is a series of seven mysteries, each one taking
place in a famous house, villa, or castle around the world. As the
!rst book in the series, Keeping House features the White House
and the rise of America’s !rst female president. The cover of the
book was painted by Greensboro artist Richard Phillips, whose
wife, Dr. Susan Phillips, is also a member of the Communication
Sciences and Disorders faculty. The campus of UNCG is featured in
the beginning chapters of the book, with a scene set outside Aycock Auditorium and the
Weatherspoon Gallery. Keeping House is published by Bluewater Press in Florida and can
be purchased at the Web site www.bluewaterpress.com or at Amazon.com. You can follow
the series at the author’s blog at www.thehousemysteries.typepad.com.
Doug Risner ’88, ’90 MFA, has written a book, Stigma
and Perseverance in the Lives of Boys Who Dance. The book
“investigates the competitive world of pre-professional Western
concert dance training and education in the U.S. as experienced
and lived by boys and young men, an under-represented
population in the !eld,” according to a press release on the
book. “Dance, its training and social meanings, has a rich history
and long-time associations with gender and gender roles
in world culture. While dance in some cultures is seen as an
appropriate activity and valid vocation for males, the dominant
Western paradigm positions concert dance as a predominantly ‘female’ activity and art
form. Through theoretical and narrative approaches, this book illuminates the highly
gendered professional dance world as evidenced through the minds and bodies of 75
male adolescents and young adults. The study’s substantial social implications about
gender, homophobia, sexual orientation, gendered bodies, and child culture will appeal
to multiple readers in dance, arts education, and gender studies.”
Michael F. Scotto ’89, the Facilities and Communications
Manager in the School of Health and Human Performance, has
published an allegorical work, Devon Dibley & His Golden Key. The
book has an ethical message and is aimed at young adults. The
story follows the adventures of students at a private boarding
school in England as they explore an underground world of
tunnels and rooms created by an old professor. Young Devon
Dibley has discovered this hidden world and has come across a
key that will unlock the tunnel that may hold the answers to the
others. Each new discovery has meaning beyond what meets
the eye. The students are confronted with images from nature, mythology, astronomy
and literature - but they must interpret the images they encounter as individuals and
simultaneously learn to depend on each other. Weaved into the story are references and
allusions to pop culture, history and the author’s life, including places in Greensboro and
a name or two from UNCG’s history. The book is available through Amazon.com.
THREE WITH HHP TIES PUBLISH BOOKS
Media Mentions continued
Honors Banquet
Awards $82,000
Jessica Shamberger (left),
2008 recipient of the Marge
Leonard Scholarship, poses
with Gladys and Richard
Redner during the banquet
last year. She was also among
those honored at this year’s
banquet.
The School of Health and
Human Performance held its
2009-10 Honors Banquet on
Oct. 29 in the Cone Ballroom.
The School gave awards
totaling $82,000, at the event.
This newsletter and recent issues of Horizons can be
viewed online at www.uncg.edu/hhp/horizons.
LAWTHER LECTURE FEATURES MARTHA GRAHAM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
The 35th annual Ethel Martus Lawther Lecture, held on Oct. 20, featured Janet Eilber, the artistic director
with the Martha Graham Dance Company.
Founded in 1926, the company is the oldest, most celebrated modern dance company in the world. It
now presents the classic Graham repertory and new choreography in its home city of New York and on tour,
featuring an international roster of today’s most talented dance artists.
The lecture series is named for the late Ethel Martus Lawther, who was dean of the School of Health and
Human Performance for 43 years.
PAGE 18