Did You Know?


News and Events Graduation ECU Home Page News Releases Medical News Sports News "The ECU Report" Campus Experts Area Maps Area Motels Send Mail	Did You Know? EASTERN FOLKLORE - The ECU Folklore Archive is marking its 30th anniversary with the publication of a new edition of its listing of legends, agricultural customs, maritime beliefs, women's culture, folk and healing traditions in the eastern counties. The indexed listing covers 29 counties and gives brief descriptions of 488 collections, indicating "the rich variety of folk life traditions" found in the coastal region. During the past three decades, the Folklore Archive has been a growing resource of original field research by students in the English department's folklore courses. Contact: Folklore Archive Director Karen Baldwin, 328-6726. HELLO BIG GUY! - He stands 13-feet tall, weighs more than 6,000 pounds and expects to be a prominent fixture at football and basketball games on campus. It's ECU's new bronze pirate and it will be unveiled Oct. 23 before the Homecoming football game with Tulane. The art work, commissioned by Irwin Belk, stand near Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and Minges Coliseum. It has been described as a "wonderful collaboration between academics and athletics," and a unique learning experience for ECU art students. The new pirate was designed and constructed by Jodi Hollnagel, an ECU visiting artist. OLD YELLOW - More than 100 rare and fragile old maps, many showing parts of North Carolina in the 19th century, have undergone special treatment and repair at ECU's Joyner Library. The treatment included the repair of tears, the removal of residue from old tape, additional cleaning and encapsulation in clear mylar. North Carolina Collection director Maury York said the maps are now usable by the public for the first time in many years. Among the maps are an 1877 watercolor of Perquimans County, a blueprint of a Davidson County gold mine, an 1862 U.S. Coast Guard Survey of Oregon Inlet and an 1850 survey of the Pasquotank River. Several scarce maps of Greenville are undergoing treatment. Contact: Maury York, Joyner Library N.C. Collection, 328-6601. LEARNING ANYWHERE - The School of Industry and Technology is involved in a $4.6 million project to help adults gain access to distance-learning opportunities. The project, named "On-line Wireless Learning Solutions" (OWLS), is a partnership between ECU and Ericsson Wireless Internet Solutions in the Research Triangle Park. In this program, ECU will coordinate the development of more than 40 undergraduate and graduate courses suitable for adults who can work at home with desktop computers or on-the-go with tiny portables and no access to telephone lines. Part of the funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Education's "Learning Anytime, Anywhere Partnerships" program, announced last week by Vice President Al Gore. Contact: Dr. Barry DuVall or Dr. Dave Hillis, School of Industry and Technology, 252-328-4861 or 4147. BARRIER ISLANDS - Geologist Stan Riggs is among the state's experts on the Outer Banks and shorelines. Dr. Riggs and colleages have studied how the barrier islands have changed and documented areas that are more suseptable to storm damage than others in a book "The North Carolina Shore and Its Barrier Islands," published in 1998. Contact: Stan Riggs, Department of Geology, 328-6379. SCHOLARSHIPS - East Carolina University annually awards over $546,000 in new scholarships and awards to high school graduates who enroll at ECU. The awards ranged from $500 to $30,000 and were provided by individual donors and from profits generated by the ECU Dowdy Student Stores. The top award, given for academic performance, is the University Scholars Award that pays recipients $30,000 for four years of college study. Three awards are given annually. In addition, ECU gives the East Carolina Scholars Award for $20,000 the Alumni Honors Award for $10,000. A selection committee of staff and faculty judge the contenders through interviews and from applications that include test scores, references and personal essays. FACILITIES - ECU's facilities services department has received the top award from the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers. "The Award for Excellence in Facilities Management" recognizes the department's high quality in terms of its overall goals, organizational structure, resources, policies, communication and planning that help to maintain campus buildings and other property. Contact: George Harrell, Facilities Services, 328-6858. TOP ADVISER - The National Academic Advising Association has selected ECU professor Holly Mathews as one of the nation's top academic advisers. Dr. Mathews, an anthropology professor, is one of 24 advisers to be honored with a certificate of merit in nationwide competition. The recipients received their awards at the association's national conference in Denver. Contact: Holly Mathews, Department of Anthropology, 328-4839. HURRICANE IMPACT - East Carolina University has completed a study on the impact of 1998's Hurricane Bonnie and has found that the evacuation costs for this storm were more than $46 million. According to the study produced by ECU Regional Development Services and the Departments of Sociology and Economics, the businesses in eight coastal counties suffered the greatest economic impact from the storm. The average cost or loss of revenue to each of 1,740 firms impacted by the voluntary evacuation order was estimated at $17,593. The total evacuation costs for the businesses were $30.6 million. A total of 48,102 households evacuated during the storm. The number represents just over 26% of all the coastal households. The cost incurred by homeowners in leaving their property and staying elsewhere was estimated to total $15.5 million or about $323 per household. The study was prepared by ECU for the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety Division of Emergency Management. Contacts: John Maiolo, principal investigator and research director, 252-328-4838 or 974-0813 or Albert Delia, ECU Regional Development Services, 328-6650. NEW BUILDINGS - In addition to the site preparation for the new Science and Technology Building, there are three other project underway that are funded through self-liquidating funds. The largest of the three projects is the $18.5 million renovation of Jones Residence Hall and includes the construction of a central cooling plant for air conditioning uses on College Hill. Also, there is the $10.6 million strength and conditioning center near Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and Minges Coliseum and a $2.9 million materials warehouse on Dickinson Avenue to serve the central campus and the School of Medicine. Contact: The ECU News Bureau. FLORIDA ARTIFACTS - Charles Ewen, an ECU anthropologist, is the co-author of "Hernando de Soto Among the Apalachee: The Archaeology of the First Winter Encampment," published by the University Press of Florida. The book is about the discovery and excavation of de Soto's only known campsite from around 1539 during his explorations through territories now included in 10 states. Located in downtown Tallahassee just blocks from the Florida capitol, the campsite was rescued from developers. Ewen's book was recently placed on the recommended reading list of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society as "a nearly unique combination of professional archaeology, contemporary politics surrounding it, and an astute awareness of the vast public interest in the past." Contact: Charles Ewen, ECU Archaeology Laboratory, 328-6905. INTERNET #2 - East Carolina University has joined the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID) seeking to reinvent the Internet to benefit science and research. UCAID is a collaborative effort by schools, industry and government to build a high-speed successor to the popular Internet which has become too busy and slow in moving large chunks of data. The work of this organization has spawned Internet2 that lets scientists share data and collaborate better across large distances. Jeffrey Huskamp, ECU's chief information officer, said ECU's membership "will offer us new opportunities to collaborate with and participate in national initiatives and programs that were previously unavailable to us." Contact: Jeff Huskamp, ECU Computing and Information Systems, (252) 328-6401. ALCOHOL FREE - The East Carolina Panhellenic Council, the organization governing campus sororities, has passed a resolution to only co-sponsor events held on fraternity property that are alcohol- free. The resolution takes effect in the fall of 2000. Amanda Garner, a past president of the council, said the organization didn't want the tragic events blamed on alcohol at other campuses to occur again. "We hope this resolution will show the administration, faculty and students of this campus and other campuses that we are aware of the current issues involving alcohol across the United States," she said. Contact: ECU Panhellenic Council, 328-6824. JOHN GLENN'S TEACHER - Dr. James Batten, who taught education at ECU for many years, was one of astronaut John Glenn's instructors when Glenn was preparing for his original mission in space for NASA's "Mercury" program. Batten, a former naval navigator, taught celestial mechanics to Glenn and the other six astronauts. In 1982, Batten received an honorary doctorate from the University of Arizona for his role in space technology. FISHY SOUNDS - Many of the most common fish in North Carolina's coastal waters are noisy little critters, especially when it comes time to choose a mate. A group of researchers at ECU say that about half of the top 20 or so commercially harvested fish species regularly produce "purring," "drumming" and "knocking" sounds when mating or fighting. The ECU Sciaenid Acoustics Research Team, with the aid of a hydrophone, has recorded and analyzed the sounds made by red drum, spotted sea trout, weakfish, silver perch, oyster toadfish, croaker and shrimp. The researchers report that the fish sounds can be used to track the locations where fish spawn. This information, they believe, could help fishery managers protect over-fished, commercially valuable species and their habitats. The research team includes professors Joseph Luczkovich of the Institute for Coastal and Marine Resources (328-1847), Hal Daniel of the Department of Biology (328-6895), Mark Sprague of the Department of Physics (328-1862), and several graduate students. The research team has an Internet site with the sounds included. VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP - Helen Parke of the ECU Science and Mathematics Education Center helped to develop an electronic field trip that takes young people on a tour of a coastal North Carolina estuary. The first tour was conducted last fall when the students logged on with their school computers to an ECU Internet site that took them to the Rachel Carson Reserve, an uninhabited island near Beaufort. Science educators showed live "streaming" video of plants and wildlife and answered questioned. The field trip was a cooperative project between ECU, the N.C. National Estuarine Research Reserve, PCS Phosphate, Marine Grafics, Carteret County Schools and the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. Contact: Dr. Helen Parke, Science and Mathematics Education Center, (252) 328-6885. STORE LUNCHES - The country store lunch is part of the culture of the rural South and ECU English professor Jerry Leath Mills writes about it in a recent issue of "Southern Cultures" magazine. "The beauty of this meal," said Mills, "lies partly in its simplicity -- everything needed in the way of place setting are a knife blade and a knee to balance cans on." The author goes on to tell how hunters, fishermen, farmers and traveling men enjoy the nutrition of a meal that combines the four major food groups: "fat, sodium, sugar and dirt." And these foods can be enjoyed at the store or "off the tailgate of a truck somewhere beside a dirt road." So what's on the typical menu? Canned pork and beans, Vienna sausages, potted meat, deviled ham or sardines are among the favorites. Side dishes might include pickled eggs in beet juice, a wedge of yellow hoop cheese and pickled pig's feet, commonly known as "trotters" or "mudgrips.". And don't forget the saltine crackers and perhaps a creme-filled oatmeal cookie or raisin cake for desert. Mills said the canned foods in most country stores have easy-to-open ring tops, but the occasional hard-to-open metal container can be pried open "with any heavy, pointed tool from the tool box in the back of the truck." Contact: Jerry Mills, ECU Department of English, 328-1539. WORLD RANKING - Robert Morrison, an ECU chemistry professor, competed in the 1998 International Triathlon Union World Championships in Switzerland and finished in 17th place among competitors in the 60 to 64-year-old age division. The triathlon is a race that involves swimming, cycling and running. Morrison qualified for the international competition by being one of the top 12 finishers in his age bracket at the United States meet in Florida last June. The World Championship match was held in Lausanne, Switzerland. MOST WIRED CAMPUS - ECU was the only public university in North Carolina included in a listing of the "most wired" on-line campuses in the United States based on the publication's 1998 survey. The list, compiled by Yahoo! Internet Life magazine and printed in the May 1998 issue, ranks ECU at No. 25 among the campuses that make heavy use of computer technologies for teaching and campus services. Duke University at No. 57 and Wake Forest University at No. 77, both private universities, were the only other North Carolina campuses on the list. Dartmouth College in New Hampshire was rated No. 1 nationally. DOCTORAL INSTITUTION - East Carolina University is designated as a doctoral institution by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. The UNC General Administration classifies universities according to the criteria used by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. ECU also meets the requirements of the Carnegie Foundation by awarding at least 10 doctoral degrees annually in three or more disciplines. The only other doctoral institution in the UNC system is UNC-Greensboro. UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University are classified as research institutions. BEST COLLEGES - ECU ranked eighth among leading regional public campuses in the South, according to the U.S. News and World Report 1997 Survey, "America's Best Colleges." The survey appeared in the magazine's Sept. 1 issue. SONIC PLAZA - Christopher Janney, the internationally-known sound designer who created interactive sound displays for such places the Spanish Steps in Rome, subways in Paris and Boston and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, was the designer of the Sonic Plaza at Joyner Library. Commissioned by the state as part of the Artworks for State Buildings program, the 300-foot Sonic Plaza at ECU includes a 12-foot water mist cloud that "dances" with the wind; a large water wall that plays a series of changing water mist patterns; a clock tower that signals the time with the likes of a rooster or a cannon; and sonic gates that use photo-electric cells to sense movement and to play soft tones from overhead speakers. Contact: Christopher Janney, PhenomenArts, Inc., Lexington, Mass., (617) 862-6413. WETLANDS EXPERT - The swamps and marshes of eastern North Carolina are the research grounds for ECU biologist Mark Brinson. Ever since he joined the faculty 28-years ago, Dr. Brinson has been sloshing through backwater wetlands to learn more about how these prominent features of the region figure into the ecological scheme of things. His findings have led to his recognition as an expert in the field and have brought him over a $1 million in research grants. He has consulted for state and national agencies, conducted site reviews for the National Science Foundation, and testified before U.S. Congressional committees. The ECU College of Arts and Sciences has awarded him recognition as a Distinguished Professor, and the ECU Board of Trustees gave Brinson a Lifetime Achievement in Research Award. Contact: Dr. Mark Brinson, ECU Department of Biology, 328-6307. EXPENSIVE MEDICINE - More than 30 percent of the people who take prescription drugs after age 65 have trouble paying for their pills, according to a new study at ECU. Sociologist Jim Mitchell and anthropologist Holly Mathews of the, collected information from 600 eastern North Carolina residents. They learned that many older adults have difficulty paying for their prescriptions and some of them resort to cost-cutting practices that are harmful to their health. Contacts: Jim Mitchell ( jmitchel@brody.med.ecu.edu ) or Holly Mathews, ECU Center on Aging, 919-816-2793. REGIONAL SURVEY - A survey of residents in eastern North Carolina shows widespread concern over water pollution and the region's hog industry. The study, conducted by the ECU Survey Research Laboratory, questioned 998 residents in 41 eastern counties. Bob Edwards, a sociology professor, said the telephone survey asked residents to rank trends in the region that pose the greatest risk to quality of life. He said pollution of the rivers and sounds ranked the most negative followed by hog operations and industrial plant closings. Higher state and local taxes ranked a distant fourth. The survey also asked for opinions about the things that have a positive benefit on the region. The widening of roads and the strict regulations of hog farms were tied as having the most positive impact while the development of the Global TransPark ranked a distant third. Contact: Bob Edwards, Department of Sociology, 328-4863. MALL ATTRACTION - The Cupola Plaza at the west end of the campus mall is patterned after the cupola that once adorned ECU's old Austin Building. Old Austin, one of the campus's first structures, was torn down in the 1960s to make room for the Fine Arts Center (School of Art). Alumni and Friends of the ECU contributed money to build the double-sized replica of the cupola that has become an ECU landmark. WEEKEND STUDENTS - ECU's Weekend University offers adults with full-time jobs an opportunity to complete an undergraduate degree on weekends. The Weekend University reflects a growing trends among colleges and universities to provide greater educational services to non-traditional students. Contact: Dr. Robert Denney, 328-6488. Return to the News and Events Page

Did You Know?

EASTERN FOLKLORE - The ECU Folklore Archive is marking its 30th anniversary with the publication of a new edition of its listing of legends, agricultural customs, maritime beliefs, women's culture, folk and healing traditions in the eastern counties. The indexed listing covers 29 counties and gives brief descriptions of 488 collections, indicating "the rich variety of folk life traditions" found in the coastal region. During the past three decades, the Folklore Archive has been a growing resource of original field research by students in the English department's folklore courses. Contact: Folklore Archive Director Karen Baldwin, 328-6726.

HELLO BIG GUY! - He stands 13-feet tall, weighs more than 6,000 pounds and expects to be a prominent fixture at football and basketball games on campus. It's ECU's new bronze pirate and it will be unveiled Oct. 23 before the Homecoming football game with Tulane. The art work, commissioned by Irwin Belk, stand near Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and Minges Coliseum. It has been described as a "wonderful collaboration between academics and athletics," and a unique learning experience for ECU art students. The new pirate was designed and constructed by Jodi Hollnagel, an ECU visiting artist.

OLD YELLOW - More than 100 rare and fragile old maps, many showing parts of North Carolina in the 19th century, have undergone special treatment and repair at ECU's Joyner Library. The treatment included the repair of tears, the removal of residue from old tape, additional cleaning and encapsulation in clear mylar. North Carolina Collection director Maury York said the maps are now usable by the public for the first time in many years. Among the maps are an 1877 watercolor of Perquimans County, a blueprint of a Davidson County gold mine, an 1862 U.S. Coast Guard Survey of Oregon Inlet and an 1850 survey of the Pasquotank River. Several scarce maps of Greenville are undergoing treatment. Contact: Maury York, Joyner Library N.C. Collection, 328-6601.

LEARNING ANYWHERE - The School of Industry and Technology is involved in a $4.6 million project to help adults gain access to distance-learning opportunities. The project, named "On-line Wireless Learning Solutions" (OWLS), is a partnership between ECU and Ericsson Wireless Internet Solutions in the Research Triangle Park. In this program, ECU will coordinate the development of more than 40 undergraduate and graduate courses suitable for adults who can work at home with desktop computers or on-the-go with tiny portables and no access to telephone lines. Part of the funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Education's "Learning Anytime, Anywhere Partnerships" program, announced last week by Vice President Al Gore. Contact: Dr. Barry DuVall or Dr. Dave Hillis, School of Industry and Technology, 252-328-4861 or 4147.

BARRIER ISLANDS - Geologist Stan Riggs is among the state's experts on the Outer Banks and shorelines. Dr. Riggs and colleages have studied how the barrier islands have changed and documented areas that are more suseptable to storm damage than others in a book "The North Carolina Shore and Its Barrier Islands," published in 1998. Contact: Stan Riggs, Department of Geology, 328-6379.

SCHOLARSHIPS - East Carolina University annually awards over $546,000 in new scholarships and awards to high school graduates who enroll at ECU. The awards ranged from $500 to $30,000 and were provided by individual donors and from profits generated by the ECU Dowdy Student Stores. The top award, given for academic performance, is the University Scholars Award that pays recipients $30,000 for four years of college study. Three awards are given annually. In addition, ECU gives the East Carolina Scholars Award for $20,000 the Alumni Honors Award for $10,000. A selection committee of staff and faculty judge the contenders through interviews and from applications that include test scores, references and personal essays.

FACILITIES - ECU's facilities services department has received the top award from the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers. "The Award for Excellence in Facilities Management" recognizes the department's high quality in terms of its overall goals, organizational structure, resources, policies, communication and planning that help to maintain campus buildings and other property. Contact: George Harrell, Facilities Services, 328-6858.

TOP ADVISER - The National Academic Advising Association has selected ECU professor Holly Mathews as one of the nation's top academic advisers. Dr. Mathews, an anthropology professor, is one of 24 advisers to be honored with a certificate of merit in nationwide competition. The recipients received their awards at the association's national conference in Denver. Contact: Holly Mathews, Department of Anthropology, 328-4839.

HURRICANE IMPACT - East Carolina University has completed a study on the impact of 1998's Hurricane Bonnie and has found that the evacuation costs for this storm were more than $46 million. According to the study produced by ECU Regional Development Services and the Departments of Sociology and Economics, the businesses in eight coastal counties suffered the greatest economic impact from the storm. The average cost or loss of revenue to each of 1,740 firms impacted by the voluntary evacuation order was estimated at $17,593. The total evacuation costs for the businesses were $30.6 million. A total of 48,102 households evacuated during the storm. The number represents just over 26% of all the coastal households. The cost incurred by homeowners in leaving their property and staying elsewhere was estimated to total $15.5 million or about $323 per household. The study was prepared by ECU for the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety Division of Emergency Management. Contacts: John Maiolo, principal investigator and research director, 252-328-4838 or 974-0813 or Albert Delia, ECU Regional Development Services, 328-6650.

NEW BUILDINGS - In addition to the site preparation for the new Science and Technology Building, there are three other project underway that are funded through self-liquidating funds. The largest of the three projects is the $18.5 million renovation of Jones Residence Hall and includes the construction of a central cooling plant for air conditioning uses on College Hill. Also, there is the $10.6 million strength and conditioning center near Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and Minges Coliseum and a $2.9 million materials warehouse on Dickinson Avenue to serve the central campus and the School of Medicine. Contact: The ECU News Bureau.

FLORIDA ARTIFACTS - Charles Ewen, an ECU anthropologist, is the co-author of "Hernando de Soto Among the Apalachee: The Archaeology of the First Winter Encampment," published by the University Press of Florida. The book is about the discovery and excavation of de Soto's only known campsite from around 1539 during his explorations through territories now included in 10 states. Located in downtown Tallahassee just blocks from the Florida capitol, the campsite was rescued from developers. Ewen's book was recently placed on the recommended reading list of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society as "a nearly unique combination of professional archaeology, contemporary politics surrounding it, and an astute awareness of the vast public interest in the past." Contact: Charles Ewen, ECU Archaeology Laboratory, 328-6905.

INTERNET #2 - East Carolina University has joined the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID) seeking to reinvent the Internet to benefit science and research. UCAID is a collaborative effort by schools, industry and government to build a high-speed successor to the popular Internet which has become too busy and slow in moving large chunks of data. The work of this organization has spawned Internet2 that lets scientists share data and collaborate better across large distances. Jeffrey Huskamp, ECU's chief information officer, said ECU's membership "will offer us new opportunities to collaborate with and participate in national initiatives and programs that were previously unavailable to us." Contact: Jeff Huskamp, ECU Computing and Information Systems, (252) 328-6401.

ALCOHOL FREE - The East Carolina Panhellenic Council, the organization governing campus sororities, has passed a resolution to only co-sponsor events held on fraternity property that are alcohol- free. The resolution takes effect in the fall of 2000. Amanda Garner, a past president of the council, said the organization didn't want the tragic events blamed on alcohol at other campuses to occur again. "We hope this resolution will show the administration, faculty and students of this campus and other campuses that we are aware of the current issues involving alcohol across the United States," she said. Contact: ECU Panhellenic Council, 328-6824.

JOHN GLENN'S TEACHER - Dr. James Batten, who taught education at ECU for many years, was one of astronaut John Glenn's instructors when Glenn was preparing for his original mission in space for NASA's "Mercury" program. Batten, a former naval navigator, taught celestial mechanics to Glenn and the other six astronauts. In 1982, Batten received an honorary doctorate from the University of Arizona for his role in space technology.

FISHY SOUNDS - Many of the most common fish in North Carolina's coastal waters are noisy little critters, especially when it comes time to choose a mate. A group of researchers at ECU say that about half of the top 20 or so commercially harvested fish species regularly produce "purring," "drumming" and "knocking" sounds when mating or fighting. The ECU Sciaenid Acoustics Research Team, with the aid of a hydrophone, has recorded and analyzed the sounds made by red drum, spotted sea trout, weakfish, silver perch, oyster toadfish, croaker and shrimp. The researchers report that the fish sounds can be used to track the locations where fish spawn. This information, they believe, could help fishery managers protect over-fished, commercially valuable species and their habitats. The research team includes professors Joseph Luczkovich of the Institute for Coastal and Marine Resources (328-1847), Hal Daniel of the Department of Biology (328-6895), Mark Sprague of the Department of Physics (328-1862), and several graduate students. The research team has an Internet site with the sounds included.

VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP - Helen Parke of the ECU Science and Mathematics Education Center helped to develop an electronic field trip that takes young people on a tour of a coastal North Carolina estuary. The first tour was conducted last fall when the students logged on with their school computers to an ECU Internet site that took them to the Rachel Carson Reserve, an uninhabited island near Beaufort. Science educators showed live "streaming" video of plants and wildlife and answered questioned. The field trip was a cooperative project between ECU, the N.C. National Estuarine Research Reserve, PCS Phosphate, Marine Grafics, Carteret County Schools and the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. Contact: Dr. Helen Parke, Science and Mathematics Education Center, (252) 328-6885.

STORE LUNCHES - The country store lunch is part of the culture of the rural South and ECU English professor Jerry Leath Mills writes about it in a recent issue of "Southern Cultures" magazine. "The beauty of this meal," said Mills, "lies partly in its simplicity -- everything needed in the way of place setting are a knife blade and a knee to balance cans on." The author goes on to tell how hunters, fishermen, farmers and traveling men enjoy the nutrition of a meal that combines the four major food groups: "fat, sodium, sugar and dirt." And these foods can be enjoyed at the store or "off the tailgate of a truck somewhere beside a dirt road." So what's on the typical menu? Canned pork and beans, Vienna sausages, potted meat, deviled ham or sardines are among the favorites. Side dishes might include pickled eggs in beet juice, a wedge of yellow hoop cheese and pickled pig's feet, commonly known as "trotters" or "mudgrips.". And don't forget the saltine crackers and perhaps a creme-filled oatmeal cookie or raisin cake for desert. Mills said the canned foods in most country stores have easy-to-open ring tops, but the occasional hard-to-open metal container can be pried open "with any heavy, pointed tool from the tool box in the back of the truck." Contact: Jerry Mills, ECU Department of English, 328-1539.

WORLD RANKING - Robert Morrison, an ECU chemistry professor, competed in the 1998 International Triathlon Union World Championships in Switzerland and finished in 17th place among competitors in the 60 to 64-year-old age division. The triathlon is a race that involves swimming, cycling and running. Morrison qualified for the international competition by being one of the top 12 finishers in his age bracket at the United States meet in Florida last June. The World Championship match was held in Lausanne, Switzerland.

MOST WIRED CAMPUS - ECU was the only public university in North Carolina included in a listing of the "most wired" on-line campuses in the United States based on the publication's 1998 survey. The list, compiled by Yahoo! Internet Life magazine and printed in the May 1998 issue, ranks ECU at No. 25 among the campuses that make heavy use of computer technologies for teaching and campus services. Duke University at No. 57 and Wake Forest University at No. 77, both private universities, were the only other North Carolina campuses on the list. Dartmouth College in New Hampshire was rated No. 1 nationally.

DOCTORAL INSTITUTION - East Carolina University is designated as a doctoral institution by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. The UNC General Administration classifies universities according to the criteria used by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. ECU also meets the requirements of the Carnegie Foundation by awarding at least 10 doctoral degrees annually in three or more disciplines. The only other doctoral institution in the UNC system is UNC-Greensboro. UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University are classified as research institutions.

BEST COLLEGES - ECU ranked eighth among leading regional public campuses in the South, according to the U.S. News and World Report 1997 Survey, "America's Best Colleges." The survey appeared in the magazine's Sept. 1 issue.

SONIC PLAZA - Christopher Janney, the internationally-known sound designer who created interactive sound displays for such places the Spanish Steps in Rome, subways in Paris and Boston and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, was the designer of the Sonic Plaza at Joyner Library. Commissioned by the state as part of the Artworks for State Buildings program, the 300-foot Sonic Plaza at ECU includes a 12-foot water mist cloud that "dances" with the wind; a large water wall that plays a series of changing water mist patterns; a clock tower that signals the time with the likes of a rooster or a cannon; and sonic gates that use photo-electric cells to sense movement and to play soft tones from overhead speakers. Contact: Christopher Janney, PhenomenArts, Inc., Lexington, Mass., (617) 862-6413.

WETLANDS EXPERT - The swamps and marshes of eastern North Carolina are the research grounds for ECU biologist Mark Brinson. Ever since he joined the faculty 28-years ago, Dr. Brinson has been sloshing through backwater wetlands to learn more about how these prominent features of the region figure into the ecological scheme of things. His findings have led to his recognition as an expert in the field and have brought him over a $1 million in research grants. He has consulted for state and national agencies, conducted site reviews for the National Science Foundation, and testified before U.S. Congressional committees. The ECU College of Arts and Sciences has awarded him recognition as a Distinguished Professor, and the ECU Board of Trustees gave Brinson a Lifetime Achievement in Research Award. Contact: Dr. Mark Brinson, ECU Department of Biology, 328-6307.

EXPENSIVE MEDICINE - More than 30 percent of the people who take prescription drugs after age 65 have trouble paying for their pills, according to a new study at ECU. Sociologist Jim Mitchell and anthropologist Holly Mathews of the, collected information from 600 eastern North Carolina residents. They learned that many older adults have difficulty paying for their prescriptions and some of them resort to cost-cutting practices that are harmful to their health. Contacts: Jim Mitchell ( jmitchel@brody.med.ecu.edu ) or Holly Mathews, ECU Center on Aging, 919-816-2793.

REGIONAL SURVEY - A survey of residents in eastern North Carolina shows widespread concern over water pollution and the region's hog industry. The study, conducted by the ECU Survey Research Laboratory, questioned 998 residents in 41 eastern counties. Bob Edwards, a sociology professor, said the telephone survey asked residents to rank trends in the region that pose the greatest risk to quality of life. He said pollution of the rivers and sounds ranked the most negative followed by hog operations and industrial plant closings. Higher state and local taxes ranked a distant fourth. The survey also asked for opinions about the things that have a positive benefit on the region. The widening of roads and the strict regulations of hog farms were tied as having the most positive impact while the development of the Global TransPark ranked a distant third. Contact: Bob Edwards, Department of Sociology, 328-4863.

MALL ATTRACTION - The Cupola Plaza at the west end of the campus mall is patterned after the cupola that once adorned ECU's old Austin Building. Old Austin, one of the campus's first structures, was torn down in the 1960s to make room for the Fine Arts Center (School of Art). Alumni and Friends of the ECU contributed money to build the double-sized replica of the cupola that has become an ECU landmark.

WEEKEND STUDENTS - ECU's Weekend University offers adults with full-time jobs an opportunity to complete an undergraduate degree on weekends. The Weekend University reflects a growing trends among colleges and universities to provide greater educational services to non-traditional students. Contact: Dr. Robert Denney, 328-6488.

Return to the News and Events Page