Community Celebrated at Festival

People of all ages converged upon campus to join in the celebration of literacy and the joy of reading at the 13th Annual St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading, hosted by USF St. Petersburg.

The event provided campus members and the community to meet and mingle with literati including Carl Hiassen, Candace Bushnell, R. L. Stine and Sue Ellen Cooper.

The festival featured a variety of events for guests and there were several celebrity readers and panel discussions throughout the day. For more information on the success of the event, please visit the Festival of Reading Web site at http://www.festivalofreading.com/.

See: Festival of Reading Photo Gallery

Survey Provides Info on Student Engagement

As USF St. Petersburg celebrates 40 years of excellence, we continue to make every effort to maintain and improve the quality of life in our close-knit community. In accordance with this, students will be invited to participate in the National Survey of Student Engagement or NSSE (pronounced Nessy.)

NSSE is designed to obtain information from scores of colleges and universities across the country about student participation in programs and activities in relation to their academic success. 

"We hope it will help to validate what we already know about our campus and if not, it will identify things we need to change," said Liza Stewart, director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness.

The results will enable USF St. Petersburg to identify aspects of college experience in and out of the classroom that need improvement. They will also provide a comparison of the response of our students to the response of students from colleges and universities across the country.

The survey will be mailed in February 2006 to 225 freshman and 225 seniors of USFSP chosen at random to participate. Follow-ups will be in March and again in April with the final results published some time in August of 2006.

"If the survey becomes part of our internal learning process, we can improve the education experience of students who attend USF St. Petersburg," said Diane McKinstry, director of the Academic Success Center.

In an effort to raise the level of awareness and overall success for the impending survey, a mascot will start appearing at events and places around campus like student government meetings, the Waterfront pool and much more. Stay tuned for future sightings!

For more information on the survey, please contact Diane McKinstry at 553-4076 or Liza Stewart at 553-4744.

Minority Business Conference is Tomorrow

Attend the Minority Business Development Conference sponsored by the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce and the USF St. Petersburg. The free conference is held at the Poynter Institute, located at 801 Third Street South.

Sessions during the event include learning tracks covering Marketing Secrets, Franchise 101: Finding Your Right Niche and The Unwritten Rules in Business. During lunch, guests can enjoy a presentation by keynote speaker Trudy Bourgeois, acclaimed facilitator and author of Her Corner Office.

As the final event of the conference, the Midtown Survey Results will be presented at 2:30 pm by Ron Hill, PhD, dean of the College of Business. The survey probed customers and business owners with questions in order to determine the most needed services that would help neighborhood businesses.

Ethics Bowl is Good Experience for Students

The Southeastern Regional Ethics Bowl is Saturday, Nov. 5 from 9 am - 6 pm. In a debate-style competition with one moderator and three judges per room, teams will be encouraged to foster a constructive ethical dialogue while examining dilemmas of every day life to find the best solutions.

"Students will learn to stand by their beliefs and convictions by participating," said Rhia Dodd. "Getting exposure to ethical situations helps students to work on critical thinking skills they can use in every day experiences."

Dodd, a philosophy major, is a graduate assistant who developed and wrote the case studies that will be used by 16 teams from 13 schools in the competition. Topics for the cases range from Memory Relieving Drugs to Hazing to Drug Laws and Financial Aid.

Located in Davis Hall and Steidinger Auditorium, the competition is sponsored by USF St. Petersburg, Eckerd College and St. Petersburg College and is open to the public. Parking for the event is available in LOT 2, directly in front of Davis Hall and is free for participants and spectators.

Workshops with Career Options
With many different opportunities and programs available to college students, it is sometimes difficult to choose a major let alone a career choice. The Counseling and Career Center is offering a series of workshops to offer students direction for their future.

These free workshops, led by Sara Leslie, can help students clarify their interests to help establish career goals. Students can attend one of two remaining workshops scheduled Nov. 4 and Nov. 18 from 10 – 11:30 am in BAY 227. For more information and to RSVP please contact the Counseling and Career Center at 553-4422.

Reception for Florida Historian

The Florida Humanities Council invites campus members to attend a reception featuring noted USF St. Petersburg professor and Florida historian, Gary Mormino, PhD, Duckwall Professor of History. The reception is Wednesday, Nov. 9 from 6 – 8 pm at the Governor’s Club in Tallahassee.

Mormino will speak about his newly published book Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams: A Social History of Modern Florida. The book examines the major forces that drove the state’s transformation during the 20th century. For more information and to RSVP by Nov. 7, please contact Laurie Berlin at 553-3810 or lberlin@flahum.org.

Honors Program Presents Native American Author

Award-winning Native American writer Gabriel Horn will give a lecture on “The American Holocaust:  The Physical and Cultural Genocide of Indigenous Peoples” Thursday, Nov. 10 at 3:30 pm in DAV130.  The event, sponsored by the USF St. Petersburg Honors Program, is free and open to the public.

Horn, whose Native American name is White Deer of Autumn, is the author of numerous books including The Book of Ceremonies, Contemplations of a Primal Mind,  Native Heart: An American Indian Odyssey and Ceremony in the Circle of Life, a children’s book that has received the National Council of Social Studies Teachers Notable Children’s Trade Award.

One of the original American Indian Movement (AIM) teachers who helped to establish the AIM Survival Schools of the 1970s, Horn lectures nationwide on writing and the environment. Additionally, he has spoken at the new National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Horn also is an associate professor at St. Petersburg College who teaches writing, literature and Native American philosophy. For further information, please contact Greta Scheid-Wells at 553-4872.

Leadership Development Seminar

Discover the leader within at a Leadership Development Seminar presented by MBA candidates and business professionals including Cynthia Bean, PhD, USF St. Petersburg professor and Jaye Anne Terry, JD.

Held Monday, Nov. 14 from 5:30 - 9 pm in the Campus Activities Center, the evening includes dinner and will explore practices for successful leadership. Certificates of completion will be awarded at the end of the evening. Seating is limited.

For more information and to RSVP by Nov. 4, please contact Jaye Anne Terry at 553-4816 or jterry@stpt.usf.edu.

Campus Celebrates with Second Multicultural Feast

Celebrate campus diversity with the second annual multicultural feast Wednesday, Nov. 16 from noon - 2 pm in DAV130. Guests can learn about and enjoy foods from all over the world. There will be music, live dance and an abundance of food.

"This feast is a good opportunity for students to learn the importance of different countries while enjoying good fellowship," said Steve Marshall, interim coordinator of Multicultural Affairs.

Faculty, staff and students interested in bringing a prepared dish of cultural significance are asked to contact Steve Marshall at 553-4845 by Nov. 7.

UnBULLievable Tailgate Party

Cheer on the USF Bulls in a Big East game against the Cincinnati Bearcats Saturday, Nov. 19 at Raymond James Stadium.

Before the game, faculty and staff are invited to enjoy the UnBULLievable Tailgate Party, located in Lot 6 from  9:30 - 11:45 am. For this special event, guests will pay only $11 for wristband entry to the game and tailgate party, which includes a full plate meal, beer, soda and pre game activities with prizes and fun for all ages.

Tickets must be purchased in advance from the Athletics Ticket office at Entry 3 at the Sun Dome Monday - Friday from 9 am - 6 pm.  No tickets will be sold at the game. Faculty and staff season ticket holders may pick up a free wristband from the Athletics Office. For more ticket information, please call 1-800-GoBulls. For more information on the tailgate party, please visit the USF HR Web site.

Professor Emeritus Discusses Ecological Ethics

Attend a lecture in ethics led by Frederick Ferre, PhD, professor emeritus from the University of Georgia. The topic of discussion will be "Ecological Ethics in the Age of Globalism," Nov. 21 at 4 pm in DAV130.

Ferre will discuss how environmentalism has evolved from a campaign to beautify America into a science involving ethics and theoretical issues often discussed in professional journals and classrooms. He will examine environmental thinking, capitalist economics and the relationship to the political forces that dominate the global system.

For more information on this event, please contact Hugh LaFollette at 553-4830. For more information on the Frederick Ferre, PhD, please visit his Web site.

For the latest information from HR, visit: USF SP HR Web site

Check out the USF St. Petersburg Human Resource Web site to learn more about Open Enrollment, Health and Education Seminars and 2006 details of Health Insurance changes.

Hurricane may cripple vital bridges in Pinellas

St. Petersburg Times

Monday, Oct. 31

It's the waves that do the damage, [Robert Weisberg] said, as Hurricane Ivan, a strong Category 3 storm, demonstrated when it hit Pensacola last year. In its wake: rows of bridge pilings sticking out of Pensacola Bay, the remnants of Interstate 10 and U.S. 90, the main routes in and out of the city.

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