Chancellor Honors 345 Years of Service

Regional Chancellor Karen A. White visited departments last week to present dedicated campus members with their Length of Service Award.

During a recent presentation, White said “As I look around campus, I am humbled by how much of our success we owe to our long-term faculty and staff. A large part of what makes USF St. Petersburg so special is due to the gift of their dedication throughout their careers.”

Campus faculty and staff can receive awards for every five years of service to USF. A few long-time campus members recipients are:

35 years of service:  Robert Fowler, PhD, professor of psychological science

                                Ramiro Rodriguez, law enforcement sergeant

                                Pearl Williamson, coordinator of administrative services

30 years of service: Signe Oberhofer, librarian                                

All award recipients will be recognized at the Staff and Faculty Appreciation Luncheon in January 2005.

>> See: Complete list of Length of Service Award recipients

Campus Celebrates GIS Day on Nov. 16

Learn how Geographic Information System, known as GIS, impacts your life daily during the GIS Open House Tuesday, Nov. 16 from 9 am to 4 pm in the CAC.

“GIS touches our lives daily,” Dixon said. This technology helps to solve problems related to the environment, health care, land use, business efficiency, education and public safety. The power supply directed to homes, the patrol cars and fire trucks that keep neighborhoods safe, and the delivery trucks on the road all function more efficiently because of GIS. This technology can also help businesses place ATMs and restaurants at more convenient locations, allow people to retrieve maps off the Internet and help farmers grow more crops with less chemicals.

GIS is a computer-based mapping tool that extracts information from a database about a place, such as streets, buildings, water features and terrain, and portrays it as visual layers. By seeing all of these features on one map, planners and analysts can better understand particular locations to make more informed decisions.

>> Read more

From HR: December Salary Bonus

Each eligible full-time faculty member, as well as A&P and USPS employee will receive a salary bonus of $1,000 less applicable taxes and withholding effective Dec. 1.  The warrant will be received on Dec. 3. 

Each eligible part-time faculty member, as well as A&P and USPS employee will receive a salary bonus payment prorated based on the full-time equivalency of the position, less applicable taxes and withholding, effective Dec. 1.  The warrant will be received Dec. 3. 

If you would like to shelter your bonus in an existing 403(b) account, please contact Gale Acierto-Ona in Payroll at Tampa at Gacierto@admin.usf.edu. Include your name, social security number and your annuity company(s) in the email.

If you have any questions please call Barbara Fleischer at 553-4115.

Share a Cultural Dish at the First Multicultural Feast

Celebrate campus diversity at the first annual Multicultural Feast Wednesday, Nov. 17 from noon to 2 pm in DAV130. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to prepare a dish of cultural significance to participate in the potluck feast with the Center for Multicultural Affairs. The event will include live Calypso music and belly dancing.

"The Multicultural Feast gives us the opportunity to connect with our USF
St. Petersburg community and our diverse backgrounds," said Monica White, coordinator of multicultural affairs. " What's better than food, friends and community?"

Immediately following the Multicultural Feast Professor Lisa-Ann Culp will continue the festivities with her presentation"Traveling to China and Hong Kong: A Multitude of Insights Gained Through a Fulbright-Hayes Summer Seminar."

Culp will discuss:

• Recent changes and challenges China faces with regard to its reformed and changing economy,
• Social effects on the Chinese people living in coastal cites and on the migrants coming from the Western provinces, and
• The impact of the new economy on education and the environment.
  

For more information, please contact White at whitem@stpt.usf.edu or 553-4845.

>> See: Event Brochure

Advisors Host Open House for Social Work Program

Current and prospective students are invited to a Social Work Open House, hosted by College of Arts & Sciences advisors, Monday, Nov. 15 from 1 to 2:30 pm in BAY204.

The Open House will include information on the Bachelor of Social Work entrance and major requirements and details about selecting Social Work as part of the Interdisciplinary Social Sciences major at USF St. Petersburg. During the Open House, guests can speak to advisors about acceptance to the program and about the field of Social Work.

For additional information, contact the advising office at 553-4726 or e-mail Bea Smith at bsmith@stpt.usf.edu.

>> See: Flier

Alumni Community Luncheon Moves Downtown

Meet USF Athletic Director Doug Woolard, USF Football Coach Jim Leavitt and Regional Chancellor Karen A. White at the Community Luncheon, hosted by the Pinellas County Alumni Chapter of the USF Alumni Association.

More than 90 tickets have already been sold to the Dec. 8 luncheon, from 11:30 am to 1 pm at the Hilton St. Petersburg. Staff and faculty from all three colleges have already purchased tickets that will give community members and alumni an opportunity to get an inside look at USF Athletics and USF St. Petersburg.

“I have enjoyed seeing this event grow during the past four years and I know that this will be our most successful yet,” said Gene Haines, Pinellas County Alumni Chapter president.

Tickets are $25 per person or $250 per table of ten and can be purchased by Dec. 3 at the USF Alumni Web site at www.usfalumni.net or by contacting Sue Bebernitz at 553-4561.  

The Hilton St. Petersburg is located at 333 1st St. South in downtown St. Petersburg. The luncheon is presented by the St. Petersburg Times.

>> See: Registration Form

Presentation Shares Florida's Little-Known Facts

Some of Florida's best kept secrets will be shared at an upcoming Florida Studies Program when Professor Kevin McCarthy, PhD, from the University of Florida presents, "Ten Little-Known Facts about Florida," Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 4 pm at the Williams House.

For example, Florida is the only state that has an endangered animal as its official state animal. Plus, the first space launch took place about fifty miles from Orlando, but not to the east, but to the west near Tampa.

Following McCarthy's presentation, a reception will be held to honor a select number of Friends of the Florida Studies Program.

This event and reception is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Danita Marie, Florida Studies program assistant, at 553-4872 or dmarie@stpt.usf.edu.

Fire Ants Lead to Understanding of Human Culture

More than 150 guests found out about research you don’t hear about every day: how ants can be used to understand human behavior.

Specifically, Deby Cassill, PhD, animal behavior biologist, studies ants’ individual behavior and the organizational structure of ant colonies to forecast human behavior and culture. At a recent colloquium, Cassill explained her unique research to a standing-room only crowd.

“I can do things with ants that you can’t do with humans and primates – that’s why I like studying them so much,” Cassill, an animal behavior biologist, said. “I have an entire universe in a little tray.”

>> Read more

>> See: Article in St. Petersburg Times

Baker Offers Insight to Government Class

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker addressed American National Government students and offered a window into local government and his role in the process.

“The best part about being Mayor is that you can actually watch the positive change and redevelopment in the city happen in a short time,” Baker said.

The Mayor said that since his 2001 election, his major projects have been public safety, economic redevelopment with an emphasis on the Midtown area, neighborhood redevelopment and school system improvement. He said he is really happy about Midtown’s success and his public school corporate partnerships program.

Professor Judithanne Scourfield McLachlan told Baker that most students in this course participated in presidential campaigns this semester and asked if there were student internships on the local level as well.

“I think interning on a campaign on the local level is the absolutely best way to get involved,” Baker said. “You can have a real impact on a candidate winning an election in a local campaign.”

I Am USF St. Petersburg: Paul Mitchell

USF St. Petersburg’s Department of Public Safety serves the campus community by providing a safe environment and by offering protection to people and property, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

An integral component of Public Safety are the police communications officers, commonly referred to as dispatchers – the voices at the other end of the telephone or radios – who are in constant communication with the police officers. Paul Mitchell is one of these voices.

“Dispatchers are responsible for the safety of the police officers.  And we are generally the primary liaisons between the campus community and the officers,” Mitchell said.  He said that the dispatchers take their role seriously, recognizing their key position in maintaining a safe, user-friendly campus.

>> Read more

USF Awards Classification Consultant Contract

USF has awarded a Classification Consultant contract to Ernst & Young, which will work with the university to set up a structured classification and pay plan for USF system-wide.

“USF has maintained the current plan but in an effort to create one of our own, we have hired a consultant to assist us in this project.  Hopefully what it will mean is more practical and updated classes and qualifications for establishing A&P and USPS positions,” Barbara Fleischer said.

In the next few weeks, Human Resources in Tampa will set-up a section on their Web site that will provide Classification Consultant Project updates.

USF Oceanographers: Fish sing through Hurricane

While legend records that Nero fiddled as Rome burned, University of South Florida College of Marine Science biological oceanographers David Mann and James Locascio have documented that during Hurricane Charley, fish in Charlotte Harbor that normally sing “love songs” while spawning sang their hearts out, and louder than ever.

The scientists, who regularly eavesdrop on the unique sounds fish make during spawning, went back to their recorded data after Charley’s fury and found the hurricane did not inhibit the nightly chorus of singing, love-struck fish. Fish sound levels on the evening of Charley - and for three days thereafter - were higher than the days prior to the storm.

“When Hurricane Charley passed directly over Charlotte Harbor with 140 mph winds, we had a unique opportunity to document both the acoustic energy of the storm and to find out if the storm had an effect on the calling behavior of fish,” said Mann.

>> Read more

>> Hear Hurricane Charley underwater and Hear Chorusing Fish

Create Holiday Cards for Our Troops

Last year more than 50 campus members and friends helped to send one of the biggest donations across the country of holiday cards – more than 1,800 – to our military overseas. This year, more volunteers are needed to surpass last year’s impressive numbers.

Volunteer Services and Student Government are coordinating the effort and are asking for campus volunteers as well as family and friends to help sign cards for our troops. Project coordinates are also seeking donations of unused holiday cards.

“This is a big morale booster for the military,” said Barry McDowell. “The mail is sent to more than 1,000 bases, units, hospitals and ships across the United States and around the world.”

This project is scheduled for the week of Nov. 14. Interested volunteers may contact Barry McDowell, 3-4990 or mcdowell@stpt.usf.edu.

Campus Raises More Than $1300 to Help Local Animals

Fourteen members of the USF St. Petersburg community raised $1,314 for the SPCA of Pinellas County at the 14thAnnual Pet Walk, which will help local homeless and abused animals. The top team member, Jessie Oakley, raised $224.

USF St. Petersburg’s Tiger Team 2004 included: Keith White, Brett Jones, Bill Heller, Rebecca Jones, Jeanne Heller,  Ronda Litman,  Liza Stewart, John Stewart; Janet Blake with daughter Jessie Oakley, Barry McDowell, Sudsy Tschiderer with godson Aaron Aitchison, and an anonymous donor.

The Tiger Team said they would like to thank their campus supporters: Jim Schnur, Jean Ferguson, Tim Lane, Sharon Alomar, Kathryn Keistler and Marti Garratt.

Sizing up ants

Saturday, Nov. 6, 2004

St. Petersburg Times

Students swarm the classroom at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, searching for a chair, leaving stragglers to stand. They've come to hear a professor explain the "evolution of inequality and love."

Biologist Deby Cassill is going to answer life's questions by talking about fire ants.

>> See: Article in St. Petersburg Times

The USF St. Petersburg Calendar of Events can advertise to faculty, staff, students and the general public. Events may include lectures, conferences, ceremonies, concerts, sporting events, scholarship events, fundraising events and exhibits. 

The best way to submit your event is to use the central news submission form: http://www.stpt.usf.edu/news/submissions.htm