University of Central Arkansas

The UCA Shotokan Karate team, which has been a registered student organization for only one year, recently placed second in the nation at the 29th International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF) Collegiate and U.S. National Championships in San Francisco.

This was the first time the UCA team competed in the tournament, and its members -- Carissa Ganong, Jordan Haas, and Chris Willette -- picked up four individual event medals and two team medals. Their adversaries included students from 63 colleges and universities from 28 states, including Penn State University, LSU, Brown and Cornell. Penn State narrowly edged out UCA for first place in the team competitions.

"I am extremely proud of this team," said team coach J.D. Swanson, who also is a faculty member in UCA's biology department. "Making the finals in their first-ever appearance at U.S. nationals is a huge achievement! The finals event was electrifying with the whole audience supporting the underdog UCA team against a much more seasoned and experienced Penn State team."

All of the students on the team got their start in karate at the Group Exercise Classes provided by UCA's HPER Center, and anyone (regardless of his or her experience) is encouraged to join. "Ary Servedio and the HPER center staff have been very supportive, and we certainly would not have been able to achieve what we have done without them," Swanson said.

Swanson also was honored at the event as one of 11 recipients of the Meritorious Service award. It was presented to him by Sensei Teryuki Okazaki, the chief instructor of the ISKF and one of the few remaining living students of Gichin Funakoshi (the "father of modern Karate").

For more information about Shotokan Karateat UCA, contact Swanson at jswanson@uca.edu, or come to one of the group exercise classes held in the HPER center.

Ten young women will compete for the title of Miss University of Central Arkansas at the 2008 Miss UCA Scholarship Pageant this Friday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall.

This year's contestants are: Leslie Bagwell, Ashlen Batson, Rachel Brown, Melissa Davis, Alicia Haflich, Jessica Marie Norris, Ashley Quinn, Cassie Jo Sanderlin, Sarah Jane Slocum and Abby Joan Taylor. The winner of the 2008 Miss UCA Pageant will compete for the title of Miss Arkansas this July 13-19 at the Summit Arena in Hot Springs.

The event is presented by Alpha Sigma Alpha Sorority and the Miss UCA Board of Directors. Doug Patchell will serve as master of ceremonies, and entertainment will be provided by Miss UCA 2007 Jamie Simpson, Miss White River 2008 Chanley Painter, the Ready Boys Band and A Cappella Mafia. The Phoenix Dancers of Alpha Sigma Alpha also will appear.

Each contestant will compete in Presentation & Community Achievement in a Private Interview, On-stage Question, Artistic Expression in Talent, Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit, and Presence and Poise in Evening Wear before a panel of five judges. The winner will receive a one-year tuition-and-fees scholarship to UCA and over $2,500 in prizes. Scholarships totaling $2,300 will be given to other winners during the pageant.

Tickets are $8 for the UCA community with a UCA ID and $10 for the general public. Tickets may be purchased in advance through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the box office will be open on Friday night from 6 to 8 p.m. Miss UCA Program Books will be on for sale for $5 and Miss UCA 2007 Jamie Simpson will be available to sign autographs before the pageant and during intermission. For more information, visit www.missuca.org.

The 13th Annual UCA Unplugged acoustic concert is scheduled for this Friday, Nov. 2 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the UCA Student Center Ballroom. The concert is a fund-raiser for the UCA emergency student loan fund and is sponsored by the UCA Division of Student Services and Student Activities Board.

UCA Unplugged will begin with a featured performance by Five Times August, a popular singer/songwriter from Austin, Texas who performs acoustic pop/rock music. His songs have been featured on several television shows including MTV?s Laguna Beach and CW?s One Tree Hill, among others. His latest album is titled "The Independent," and for more information and to listen to his music, visit www.fivetimesaugust.com.

Five Times August will be followed by 12 open mic acts by UCA students, faculty and staff, each of whom will perform two songs. Performances will be recorded by UCA Channel 6 for future broadcast in the Conway area. Individuals wishing to perform at open mic may contact Jack Gaiser at jackg@uca.edu.

Admission for UCA Unplugged is $1 for UCA students, and $5 for faculty, staff and general public. A UCA Unplugged XIII compact disc will be sold with all door and CD proceeds to benefit the UCA emergency student loan fund. Free coffee and desserts will be provided by ARAMark Campus Dining. Other groups assisting with UCA Unplugged include UCA Circle K Club, 80 Proof Club, and the UCA Resident Student Association. For more information about the event, contact Gary Roberts at 450-3416.

The highly popular Shaolin Warriors tonight return to UCA?s Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall for one performance at 7:30 p.m. as part of the UCA Public Appearances 2007-08 season.

The Shaolin Warriors performance is made possible in part by a Title VI federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education in support of UCA's interdisciplinary program in the study of Chinese language and culture. Students from Central Arkansas high schools who are studying the Mandarin Chinese language will attend the performance as guests of UCA. UCA also is expanding its exchange programs to several sites in China as part of its growing International Programs division.

Twenty-two Shaolin monks make up the Shaolin Warriors company. All study or have studied at the Shaolin Monastery in China?s Henan Province. According to their program information, "The Shaolin performers train in martial arts for several hours every day, perfecting the art of hand-to-hand and weapons combat. Each performer is required to achieve an extraordinarily high level of proficiency in each of the 18 traditional weapons and become a master of one. However it is the daily practice of seated meditation which enables the performers to sustain a demanding physical regimen."

Tickets range from $10 to $35 and can be purchased by calling toll-free 1-866-810-0012 or visiting www.uca.edu/tickets. Each UCA student may receive two free tickets as part of the UCA Benefits package. UCA students must present their valid UCA I.D. at UCA Ticket Central box office at the front of Reynolds Performance Hall, during regular box office hours.

For more information, visit www.uca.edu/reynolds.

The French clubs of UCA and Cabot High School tomorrow will present "Moli?re Than Thou" at 11 a.m. at Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased by contacting Phillip Bailey, Chairman of UCA's Dept. of World Languages, at 450-5645 or phillipb@uca.edu.

In the course of his 85-minute one-man play, Timothy Mooney seduces the audience with a complexity of language that is a sensual delight. Parading through the best loved plays of France?s history, "Moli?re Than Thou" reinvigorates Renaissance theatre, the court of Louis XIV, and the vision which generated some of the most beloved plays of all time.

Mark W. Bland, assistant professor of Biology, has published an article entitled "In Defense of the Lecture" in the current (Nov-Dec) issue of The Journal of College Science Teaching. Bland also will be presenting a paper entitled "Teaching Evolution: Effective Strategies That Minimize Conflict" at the upcoming National Association of Biology Teachers conference in Atlanta on Nov. 30.

Mark Spitzer, assistant professor of Writing, recently had his essay "Some Messy Nessie Garmyths and Other Distortions" accepted for publication in the Black Warrior Review.

UCA will hold its Health Career Fair for all health-related majors this Wednesday, Oct. 31 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom.

The ONE Campaign, Politico.com and the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) today hosted the first ever ONE Student | ONE Vote forum, an unprecedented rally to motivate students to become politically active global citizens. In an hour-long exchange of ideas among students, policy experts and political leaders during ONE Student | ONE Vote at UCA, students were inspired to become more involved in global issues and encouraged them to demonstrate their activism in the November 2008 election and beyond.

Panel members included UCA President Lu Hardin; State Senator Gilbert Baker; author and national security expert Jeffrey Laurenti of the Century Foundation; Dr. Elaine Fox, a professor with great knowledge of Central America and the needs in that region; and UCA students Emily Daniel and Brooks Cato. Jim VandeHei, executive editor and co-founder of the Politico, moderated the discussion which took place at the UCA conference center.

"As students walked in to the event today, they knew we would participate in a discussion about global issues. I don?t think they anticipated how much they would be inspired to take what they learned and share with other students on campus,? said Lu Hardin, President of UCA.

American Management Corporation CEO Steve Strange didn?t get another autographed baseball for his birthday. Instead he got a gift that will keep on giving.

AMC employees and business partners chipped in and established an endowment for the Insurance Department at the University of Central Arkansas. The Stephen L. Strange Sr. Excellence in Insurance Endowment Fund will provide scholarships to students enrolled in UCA?s College of Business and pursuing a degree in insurance.

?Steve?s birthday is later this month, and this year being his 65th birthday, we wanted to do something extra special. Several of our business partners also joined us in helping get this scholarship started, and we appreciate their help as well,? said Chief Financial Officer David Grimes. ?Steve was instrumental in helping UCA start a program in insurance, so we thought establishing a scholarship in his name for that program would be very fitting.?

The endowment has already reached $30,000. Scholarships will be awarded from the fund beginning next fall.

Stonington Insurance Co., one of AMC?s major business partners, donated $10,000 to the endowment. Katherine Lessman, a representative with the company, said, ?AMC has been a valued partner to us, and the generosity of Steve and others like him make people?s dreams possible.?

President Lu Hardin called Strange one of the most remarkable individuals he knows, saying his business success is the result of his vision and tenacity. ?It is a great honor that a scholarship has been established in his name so UCA students will have an opportunity to make their own success stories,? he said.

UCA Vice President of Advancement and Development Kelley Erstine applauded the employees of AMC for endowing a scholarship in honor of their CEO. ?I don?t think Steve could have been presented with a more meaningful gift on his birthday, based on his strong financial support over the years to UCA. We are grateful to Steve, AMC and their business partners for this endowment,? Erstine said.

For more information on donating to the Stephen L. Strange Sr. Excellence in Insurance Endowment Fund, contact the UCA Foundation at (501) 450-5288 or toll free 1-800-981-4426.

The University of Central Arkansas recently announced the establishment of a new scholarship fund aimed at assisting students studying in the College of Business.

The Conque Family Scholarship Fund was established by UCA Head Football Coach Clint Conque and his wife, Angele.

?Athletics is a big part of our life, obviously, but so is academics, and we wanted to show that by establishing a scholarship to benefit the academic side of the university. We chose to support students studying in the College of Business because our oldest son earned a degree from that college, and wanted to show our appreciation for the education he received. This was our way of giving back and we?re proud to support UCA?s Centennial Campaign,? Angele said.

"I am grateful to Coach Conque and his family for setting up the Conque scholarship," said UCA President Lu Hardin. "This sends a strong message from our football coach about the value of academic success."
The Conques give annually to the fund and plan to endow the scholarship. Once the fund reaches endowment level, it will be permanently established with the UCA Foundation and only the interest from the gift will be used for support.

Until the fund reaches the endowment level, the Conques are annually awarding a $1,000 scholarship. ?While we are excited about endowing our scholarship, we also wanted to give students some assistance as quickly as possible. That?s why we decided to go ahead and award the scholarship while we build the endowment,? Angele said.

The Conque?s hope others will support their efforts to endow the scholarship fund. ?It would be so great if some of the former players decided to join us in building up this scholarship fund. I think it is a great opportunity to give back,? Angele continued.

?I am grateful for Coach Conque, Angele and the boys? support of the College of Business and especially their commitment to UCA?s first capital campaign,? said Vice President of Advancement and Development Kelley Erstine.

For more information on donating to the Conque Family Scholarship Fund, contact the UCA Foundation at (501) 450-5288 or toll free 1-800-981-4426.

The Log Cabin Democrat newspaper in Conway recently reported in an editorial about UCA's impressive showing in a statewide survey about attitudes toward major universities in Arkansas:

"Arkansas State University's Center for Social Research recently surveyed 415 registered voters across the state. ... The survey focused on four universities University of Central Arkansas, ASU, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville and University of Arkansas-Little Rock.

"Across the board, the university that garnered the best results was UCA. From familiarity with the school to its academic performance to its marketing, UCA scored higher than the other schools, markedly in some areas.

"That is truly a testament to the hard work put in over the years by many dedicated faculty, staff and administrators.

"Among the findings:

"Nearly 37 percent of respondents gave UCA an 'A' grade as an academic institution. About 35 percent gave UA-Fayetteville the same grade. The number falls significantly to ASU (26 percent) and UALR (20 percent). Combining 'A' and 'B' responses, UCA earned 80 percent of responses, about the same as UA-Fayetteville and ASU but significantly ahead of UALR.

"About a third of respondents correctly identified UCA's 'Center of Learning' motto. One in four knew UA-Fayetteville's research university slogan, and only about one in 10 recognized ASU's 'Powering Minds' or UALR's 'Where Excellence Has Many Faces' mantra. ...

"These survey results [seem] to bolster UCA's credibility as a school where students (and their parents) get value for their dollars."

Terry Wright, professor of Writing at UCA, will open UCA's College of Fine Arts and Communications Arts and Presidency Series for 2007-08 with a poetry reading this Sunday, Oct. 28 in the Clinton Presidential Center's Garden View Room in Little Rock.

Wright, a writer and visual artist, will read from his nearly-finished book of poetry, "The Confrontations," during the approximately hour-long multi-media presentation set to start at 3 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

Wright is the author of five books of poetry, including "What the Black Box Said." Wright's work has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including "Rolling Stone," "McSweeney's," "Slipstream," "Sequoia," "Puerto del Sol," and many others. He received an Individual Artist Fellowship in Poetry from the Arkansas Arts Council in 2002. He is the only Arkansas writer to receive both the Poetry and the Fiction Prize from WORDS - The Arkansas Literary Society.

Victor A. Puleo, Jr., CFP?, assistant professor of insurance and risk management in UCA's College of Business, was selected as an Exam Content Specialists to work alongside the Council on Examinations to review all the questions and cases proposed for the November 2007 CFP? Certification Examination. CFP Board's CFP? Certification Examination requires full integration of knowledge covered in CFP Board's 89-subject financial planning topic list and is designed to evaluate one's ability to apply a comprehensive understanding of financial planning to real-life financial planning situations. Score results for the July 2007 CFP? Certification Examination were recently released to exam takers. The 2-day, 10-hour exam was conducted at 50 sites nationwide. 1,180 (51 percent) of the 2,307 individuals who sat for the exam in July received a passing mark. Over 55,000 professionals in the U.S. hold the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER? certification. The CFP Board is the professional regulatory organization for those who hold the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER? certification."

The following University College faculty members made presentations at last month's Arkansas Association of Developmental Education (ArkADE) Annual Conference in Little Rock: Carl Olds, "Beat Not the Poor Desk: A Different Approach to Facilitating Student Writing"; Elaine Tomlinson Corum, "Harnessing the Power of Multiple Intelligence Theory in the Developmental Writing Classroom," and "Infusing Asian Studies into the Developmental Reading and the Developmental Writing Classrooms"; Cindi Edwards and Mary Woods, "Intermediate Algebra: Different Teaching Approaches -- Does it Really Matter?"; and Debbie Bratton, "Using SmartBoard Sympodium and MyMathLab in a Traditional Algebra Course".

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe today will convene a town hall forum with students at the University of Central Arkansas to discuss education and government.

The town hall forum will take place at 2 p.m. in the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center on the UCA campus.

Beebe will make opening remarks, but most of the time will be devoted to answering student questions. UCA President Lu Hardin will moderate the Q&A session.

Corey Oliver, a UCA alumnus and adjunct faculty member, this week won the 2007 Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award for his work as a teacher at Bob Courtway Middle School in Conway.

The award includes an unrestricted financial prize of $25,000. Up to 100 educators across the country are being recognized for their outstanding work with the awards at surprise ceremonies this fall.

Michael Milken, co-founder of the Milken Family Foundation, helped present the surprise award at a ceremony at Courtway Middle School.

In addition to that event, all Milken National Educators will be recognized at a national gala and awards ceremony in the spring. National Educator Award winners also become members of the Milken Educator Network, a coalition of educators who provide expert resources and serve as partners to network members and policymakers as they help cultivate and expand innovative programs in their classrooms, schools and districts.

Oliver, an eighth-grade English teacher, received both his bachelor?s and master?s degrees from UCA. He received his National Board Certification in 2006 and belongs to the National Council of Teachers of English and the Arkansas Council of Teachers of English and Language Arts.

In recommending Oliver to be named a Milken National Educator, his principal, Jerry Whitmore, said that Oliver's "strengths are really his teaching techniques. He knows how to get and keep the interest level of his students; he knows how to keep them engaged and on-track. ? He is just a great teacher ? [who] teaches from the heart."

Mary H. Mosley, associate professor of Reading/Literacy Education in UCA's Early Childhood and Special Education Department, has been selected by the Corporation for National and Community Service in Washington, D.C. to serve as a peer reviewer for national service learning and community service projects. Mosley will work with a panel of reviewers during October and November.

An article by UCA professors Ling T. He (Economics and Finance Department) and Chenyi Hu (Computer Science Department) entitled, "An Application of Interval Methods to Stock Market Forecasting," just appeared on the Journal of Reliable Computing, Volume 13, Number 5 / October, 2007, pp. 423-434.

Raymond-Jean Frontain, professor of English at UCA, delivered a lecture titled "Peter McGehee and the Erotics of Gay Self-Representation" at the University of Saskatchewan in conjunction with the establishment of the McGehee archives there. While on campus, Frontain introduced a university production of McGehee's "Beyond Happiness" and led a "talk-back" with the audience following the performance. He was also interviewed on film for a documentary on McGehee being prepared for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Frontain's research on MeGehee, who was born in Pine Bluff in 1955 and died of AIDS-related causes in Toronto at age 35, has been supported by a grant from the UCA University Research Council.

The University of Central Arkansas on Thursday will join with the ONE campaign to host the first-ever ONE Student | ONE Vote event to discuss ways to power the 2008 election and rally presidential candidates around issues such as extreme poverty and global disease.

Jim VandeHei, executive editor of Politico, will moderate the conversation. Panel members include UCA President Lu Hardin; author and national security expert Jeffrey Laurenti of The Century Foundation, and UCA professors and students. Other college students from around the nation will provide questions for the panel using text messaging capabilities. The event, which will take place at 1:30 p.m. in the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center on UCA's campus, is open to the public.

ONE Student | ONE Vote is a series of campus conversations to energize, inform and activate young voters in the upcoming 2008 election. ONE Student | ONE Vote will not just create new voters in 2008; ONE Student | ONE Vote will create this generation?s newest, most politically-aware and effective global citizens. ONE Student | ONE Vote is part of ONE Vote ?08: Saving Lives, Securing our Future, an unprecedented non-partisan campaign launched by ONE to engage and energize U.S. Presidential candidates on issues of extreme poverty and global health, bringing high visibility for these issues into the U.S. political arena, along with commitments by each candidate to support real solutions.

ONE: THE CAMPAIGN TO MAKE POVERTY HISTORY is a new effort by Americans to rally Americans -- ONE by ONE -- to fight the emergency of global disease and extreme poverty. ONE is a coalition of millions of people and more than 150 of the nation's leading relief, humanitarian and advocacy organizations. For more information, please visit ONE.org.

UCA research students working in the neuroscience labratory of Biology professor Barbara Clancy have characterized a region of the brain that has never been mapped before, and today they will present their results at a State Neuroscience Conference in Little Rock, in advance of a presentation at the International Society for Neuroscience Conference in San Diego on Nov. 4.

Clancy and current UCA student Terri Teague-Ross will join with former UCA students Susan Lantz, Amanda Plummer, Debbie Soellner and James Hyde to present the work in San Diego. Hyde will travel from his current research lab at the Riken Brain Research Institute in Japan.

UCA Alumni Shannon Palmer, Pia Sellabos and Amber Fason participated in a second line of research that includes results from a study analyzed in collaboration with UCA Mathematics professor George Bratton. Bratton, who will also attend the international conference in San Diego, used a novel approach to evaluate an effect of anesthesia given at birth on behavior at late adulthood; such long-term effects have never been reported previously. The poster presentations are entitled "Ketamine therapy in newborn rats is associated with altered behavior in late adulthood" and "Mapping the subplate: Where does it lead us?"

Representatives from the Consulate of Japan in New Orleans today will visit UCA to talk about the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program, which offers new graduates and young professionals from around the world the opportunity to participate in international youth exchange; to assist with foreign language education in Japanese schools; and to promote better cross-cultural understanding.

They will hold an information session at 1:40 p.m. in Irby 208. For further information, contact Sean Hollender at seanh@uca.edu or visit http://www.neworleans.us.emb-japan.go.jp/en/events/jet_program.htm.

Today marks the beginning of a full week of events celebrating UCA's 2007 Homecoming.

More information, including an online reservation form, is available at www.uca.edu/alumni/homecoming.

A full schedule events is available by clicking below.

UCA's College of Business is ranked in the 2008 edition of The Princeton Review's "Best 290 Business Schools," which was released last week.

The Princeton Review compiled the lists based on its surveys of 18,000 students attending the 170 law schools and 19,000 students attending the 290 business schools in the books, and on school-reported data.

The Princeton Review has posted the ranking lists and information on how they are compiled at www.PrincetonReview.com, where the lists can be searched by school or by category.

UCA's Mu Theta Chapter of Lambda Pi Eta last Thursday inducted eleven new members during a ceremony that featured a keynote address by Sally A. Roden, Dean of Undergraduate Studies.

The inductees inlcuded: Sara C. Adams, Whitney Farris, S. Kate Fletcher, Katie Grant, Kara McGhee, Ashley Pettit, Brooke Pittman, Amy R. Ruple, Carmen Robinson, and Keri A. Sims. An honorary membership was also presented to Dean Roden in recognition of her history with the Department of Speech and Public Relations and generosity toward the Mu Theta Chapter.

Lambda Pi Eta is the official honor society of the National Communication Association. The Mu Theta Chapter was initiated at UCA in 2000 by the current faculty advisor Nelle Bedner. The current officers of the Mu Theta Chapter are President John Morris, Vice President of Communication, Ginny Moss, and Treasurer Justin Rusinowski.

Roy Whitehead, professor of business law, and Walter Block, an economics professor at Loyola University New Orleans, recently had their article, "Christian Landlords and the Free Exercise Clause: an Economic and Philosophical Analysis of Discrimination," accepted for publication in the Fall 2007 issue of the Oklahoma City University Law Review.

Mark Spitzer, assistant professor of writing, recently accepted an offer from Ahadada Books (Japan/Ontario) to publish his book of poetry entitled "Age of the Demon Tools."

UCA alumna Johnelle DeBusk Hunt will present the Centennial Lecture for UCA's College of Business Administration on Wednesday, Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. in Ida Waldran Auditorium at Main Hall.

Hunt, co-founder of J.B. Hunt Transport, attended the University of Central Arkansas from 1950 to 1951 where she majored in elementary education. After a year, however, she accepted J.B. Hunt's proposal of marriage and the couple wed in 1952.

In 1962, the J.B. Hunt Company, a campaign rice hull packaging company, opened its doors in Stuttgart, Ark. Johnelle has been an active and important partner, contributing to the company's development and success. She serves on its board of directors and as corporate secretary.

Today, J.B. Hunt Transport is one of the largest transportation logistics providers in North America and one of the largest truckload, dry-van carriers in the United States.

Hunt also is the Honorary Chair of "New Vision, New Century," UCA's centennial fundraising campaign. She received the UCA Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2003.

Barbara Clancy, an associate professor in Biology at UCA, today is presenting an invited seminar at the University of Memphis entitled, "Of Mice and Monkeys and Men ? What Might Translations From Experimental Species Tell Us About Human Brain Development?"

Her talk will describe the value and implications of a model and website (www.translatingtime.net), published earlier this year in the journal Neuroinformatics, where brain development can be "translated" from experimental species to humans. The site was developed with two former UCA undergraduates, Brandon Kersh and James Hyde, and with collaborators at Cornell University.

The web site has already been accessed almost 10,000 times by approximately 4000 visitors from universities, medical centers, and hospitals in 40 states and 31 different countries. The International Society for Neuroscience?s Neuroinformatics Committee recently accepted it to be linked from their national site.

UCA this weekend will host the 12th annual Arkansas State Flag Football Championship. The tournament is open to all two- and four-year universities and colleges in Arkansas. Forty-five teams will be competing, which represents significant growth since the tournament was founded in 1995 by Laura Monroe and David Dennis, who currently is UCA's Director of Campus Recreation.

Deane Amyx, UCA's Intramural Director, is this year's tournament director. Ninety-five UCA flag football teams, with over 1,200 student participants, competed to represent UCA in the state championships, which will include teams from Arkansas State University, Arkansas Tech University, Henderson State University, Hendrix College, John Brown University, Ouachita Baptist University, Southern Arkansas University, UA-Fayetteville, UA-Medical Sciences, UA-Pine Bluff and UACC-Morrilton.

The Tuesday 7:30 p.m. performance of Alloy Orchestra, which composes and performs music for silent films, has been moved to East McCastlain from the courtyard of Short-Denney Residential College because of rain and wet conditions.

The UCA Debate team recently began its 2007-08 schedule with two UCA competitors posting winning records and advancing to elimination rounds at the 33rd annual Weevil Wars Debate Tournament sponsored by the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

Sophomores Angela Branch and Kenneth Savage and freshman Lewis Wharton participated in their first collegiate tournaments at the IPDA-sanctioned (International Public Debate Association) tournament. Savage had a 5-1 record in preliminary rounds and reached the octa-finals in the novice division, while Wharton went 4-2 in prelims and was a quarterfinalist in the varsity division.

"I'm very proud of the debaters," said coach Anthony McMullen. "They went to the tournament with little experience, but made up it for it with enthusiasm and hard work. I look forward to seeing how much better our team will become throughout the year."

The UCA debate team will next compete Nov. 9-11 at Louisiana State University at Shreveport. The team is coached by McMullen and Department of Speech and Public Relations adjunct instructor Mark Lowery. The debate team is an approved university activity of the Department of Speech and Public Relations.

IPDA promotes public forum debate, a format that uses public speaking skills and logic to build persuasive argumentation aimed at a general audience. IPDA (www.ipdadebate.org) focuses on enhancing education, rhetorical skill building and the development of fellowship. It is meant to apply critical thinking and oratorical skills in developing persuasive arguments with real-world applications on a broad range of interesting and timely topics.

Raymond-Jean Frontain, professor of English, recently took part with playwright Terrence McNally in a symposium on McNally's plays in the Theology and Theater program at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York City. Frontain was in New York to also attend the opening of the revival of McNally's "The Ritz." Most recently Frontain has published "Tuning the World: Traherne, Psalms, and Praise" in Re-Reading Thomas Traherne: A Collection of New Critical Essays, ed. Jacob Blevins (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 2007); "Registering Donne's Voiceprints: Additional Reverberations," John Donne Journal 26 (2007); and a theater notes column on McNally's "Some Men" in Gay and Lesbian Review (Sept.-Oct. 2007).

Paulette Bane, a graduate assistant in UCA?s English Department, recently presented at the 6th Biennial Feminism(s) and Rhetoric(s) Conference held in Little Rock. Part of Bane?s presentation, "A Space of their Own? Feminist Civic Discourse at Southern Universities," included a short film that featured fellow English graduate student Katie Evans as well as UCA faculty members Lynn Burley, Department of Writing, Wendy Lucas Castro, Department of History, Mary Ruth Marotte, Department of English, and Julia Winden Fey, Department of Philosophy and Religion.

Shoudong Feng and Tammy Benson, of UCA's Department of Early Childhood and Special Education, recently published their research titled "The Language Patterns of Preschool Children in the Computer Environment" in The Journal of Research in Childhood Education of the Association for Childhood Education International. The article described the language patterns of eight preschool students in a computer environment. Videotaped interactions at the computer center were analyzed to examine the nature of the verbal interaction that took place among peers. Using Halliday's functional framework, the authors found that regulatory was the most popular language pattern, followed by heuristic and representational. The results of this study reveal the scope and variety of preschool children's language in the computer environment and may help early childhood educators understand how preschool children use language to interact with each other.

Faculty, staff, and students are invited to participate in UCA's third annual "United Nations Day" luncheon and speech, which will take place on Friday, Oct. 26 at 11:30 a.m. in the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center. This year's event commemorates the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the U.N. after World War II.

The keynote speaker will be Jeff Laurenti, Senior Fellow and Director of Foreign Policy Programs at The Century Foundation in New York City. Laurenti also currently serves on the board of directors of the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Previous keynote speakers have included Ambassador Anne Patterson, U.S. Permanent Representative to the U.N., and Ambassador Pierre Prosper, U.S. Ambassador At-Large for War Crimes Issues.

The event is sponsored by the UCA Model United Nations (MUN) organization, Department of Political Science-AMUN program, Arkansas Committee on Foreign Relations (ACFR), and the Central Arkansas Chapter of the UNA-USA.

The luncheon is free, but RSVP to Mark Mullenbach, UCA Department of Political Science, at markm@uca.edu, by Monday, Oct. 22.

UCA's History Department and the College of Liberal Arts will host a lecture by Dr. Ken Hechler on Tuesday, Oct. 23 during X-period (1:30 p.m.) in Irby Hall 215.

Hechler earned a Ph.D. from Columbia in 1940 before serving in the Army in World War II. He was an advisor to President Harry Truman and held a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia for 18 years. While holding that office, he was the only member of the House to march with Dr. Martin Luther King in Selma, Alabama in 1965. He has published six books, his most famous being "The Bridge at Remagen," which was the basis for the cinematic film of the same name produced in 1969. Hechler has a number of personal connections with the State of Arkansas, and his most recent book, "Super Marine!" is about Arkansas native Orlando "Buddy" Jones.

Mike Gunter, a lecturer in Digital Filmmaking in UCA's Department of Mass Communication and Theatre, has been selected to have his short film, "The Cleaner," screened at the Indie Memphis Film Festival in Memphis from Oct. 19-25.

John Vanderslice, assistant professor of Writing, has had a short story selected for the anthology "The Best of The First Line, Volume 2," forthcoming in March 2008 from Blue Cubicle Press. The story originally was published in The First Line magazine, volume 5, issue 4 (2003).

In celebration of UCA's 100th anniversary this year, each UCA college is bringing a distinguished speaker to campus as part of the Centennial Lecture Series.

UCA's College of Liberal Arts will present one of the leading philosophers of our time, Dr. Martha Nussbaum, on Thursday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at Ida Waldran Auditorium in Main Hall. Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, appointed in the Law School, the Department of Philosophy, and the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. She is also an associate in the Classics Department and Political Science Department. She is the author of thirteen books and she holds thirty-two honorary degrees from universities around the world. Her research and writing covers a broad range of subjects: philosophy and literature, ancient philosophy, liberal education, social and political issues and philosophy of law. Her book on liberal education, "Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Liberal Education," is widely regarded as the primer on educating for global citizenship in a diverse world. It won the Ness Book Award of the Association of American Colleges and Universities in 1998, and the Grawemeyer Award in Education in 2002. Her most recent work, "Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America?s Tradition of Religious Equality," will be published in February 2008.

The title of Nussbaum's address at UCA is "The Assault on Liberal Education: Global Citizenship in an Era of Profit-Making." A reception will follow her presentation in the Mirror Room in McAlister Hall.


The day after Nussbaum's lecture, former UCA President Jefferson Farris Jr. will present the Centennial Lecture for UCA's College of Health and Behavioral Sciences on Friday, Oct. 26 at 4 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall on the UCA campus.

Farris was UCA's sixth president and served from 1975 to 1986, when he became president of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. He earned a bachelor's degree from UCA in 1950 and later served nine years as a UCA department chairman and six years as dean of UCA's College of Fine and Applied Arts and Sciences. During his tenure as president of UCA, he opened the $3 million Center for Teaching and Human Development (known today as Mashburn Hall) and the $2 million Doyne Health Sciences Center.

Dwayne Coleman of UCA's English department last week presented a paper at the Southeast Medieval Association Conference in Spartanburg, S.C. The paper was entitled "'Lette Hym Seke Other Bookis': Malory?s Use of Sources in the Composition Process."

Also last week, at the 31st annual meeting of the West Viriginia University Conference on Film and Literature, Wayne Stengel of UCA's English department presented the paper "Marlon Brando -- The Last Laugh," analyzing Brando's entire film career, but concentrating on the excellence of his performance in his first film role in Fred Zinnemann's "The Men," as well as the greatness of his acting in the seldom seen, highly political film by Gilo Pontecorvo, "Burn."

Hui Wu, associate professor of writing, last week served as a featured speaker at the national Conference on Feminisms and Rhetorics in Little Rock. Her speech, "Whose Feminism Is It: Behind Western Rejections of Post-Mao Chinese Literary Women's Essays," focused on the Chinese concept of "human" and pointed out that mainstream Western feminist theories built on gender binaries might put women in other cultures under study at stake due to the neglect of the specific cultural contexts where women live their material lives.

Coming off its impressive victory on the road against 19th-ranked Sam Houston State, the UCA Bears play Thursday night at home against Texas State.

The game will be televised at 7 p.m. on Fox Sports Southwest, which reaches 6-8 million homes in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

The Bears are hoping for a capacity crowd at Estes Stadium to support them in this crucial conference matchup. Tailgating will begin that afternoon.

Two familiar faces on the UCA campus are moving into new roles.

Melissa Goff, currently director of institutional research, is UCA's new director of admissions. Before coming to UCA, Goff worked for the Arkansas Department of Higher Education (ADHE) from 1988 to 2005, spending the first seven years in Planning & Research, where she was instrumental in creating, initiating, and building the comprehensive statewide Higher Education Information System that currently produces data research on high school and college students, academia, funding and higher education personnel. For the remainder of her ADHE career, Melissa had oversight for the state's $50 million financial aid budget and varied programs. In that capacity, she developed strong relationships with the state's high school counselors, legislators and other student leaders, and developed marketing and recruitment programs to assist students in attending college. Because of her strong background in both the areas of institutional research and student recruitment, she will have oversight of both institutional research and admissions.

Penny Hatfield, who has served as director of admissions for the last seven years, is now development director for UCA's College of Fine Arts and Communication. Hatfield has been at UCA since 1986, when she arrived as director of public appearances, a role she held until 2000. Hatfield also ran the UCA phone-a-thon for seven years and assisted with Homecoming and Half-Century Club events. "I'm very excited about my new role and the opportunities it creates both for me and UCA," Hatfield said. "I'm looking forward to developing a new skill set, although I will miss working with the admissions staff. Dean Rollin Potter and the CFAC staff have welcomed me with open arms, and we are going to work hard, have fun and promote fine arts and communication throughout the state and region."

John Hutchcraft, a 1975 graduate of UCA, will receive the inaugural Buddy Harding Award during halftime at the UCA football game on Thursday night.

The award, which will be presented annually to a UCA alumnus for Arkansas high school coaching excellence, is named in honor of Rush "Buddy" Harding, Jr., who graduated from UCA in 1951. Harding spent over 30 years at Clarendon High School as a coach and administrator. He is a member of the UCA Sports Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. The award is sponsored by Harding's UCA fraternity, Sigma Tau Gamma.

Hutchcraft was a four-year letterman in basketball at UCA, where he set career marks in scoring and rebounding. He has been head coach at Guy-Perkins for the past 30 years, and he has lead both the Thunderbirds? boys and girls basketball teams to multiple state championships, including the 1984 girls overall title. He also has captured state titles in softball.

UCA archivist Jimmy Bryant recently earned the title of Certified Archivist (CA) from the Academy of Certified Archivists, making him the first certified archivist in the history of UCA. Bryant first qualified to take the Academy's certification exam and then passed it in Baton Rouge.

There are very few certified archivists in Arkansas, and Bryant's accomplishment makes UCA one of only two four-year universities in the state with a certified archivist as its archive director.

Michael Cunningham, who won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award for his novel "The Hours," will appear at the University of Central Arkansas on Oct. 16.

As part of UCA's Artists in Residence program, Cunningham will read from his works and take questions at 7:30 p.m. in Stanley Russ Hall Room 103. A book signing will follow. The event is free and open to the public.

Cunningham will also hold an informal master class with UCA creative writing students on campus Wednesday morning, Oct. 17.


Cunningham earned his bachelor of arts degree in English literature from Stanford University and his M.F.A from the University of Iowa. He published his first novel, A Home at the End of the World, in 1990 and Flesh and Blood in 1995.

Cunningham's other work includes a nonfiction book, Land's End: A Walk Through Provincetown, and Specimen Days (June 2005). His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The Paris Review, and other publications. His story ?White Angel? was chosen for Best American Short Stories 1989, and another story, ?Mister Brother,? appeared in the 2000 O. Henry Collection.
Among his other honors are a 1982 Michener Fellowship from the University of Iowa, a 1988 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a 1993 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 1995 Whiting Writers Award.

The Artists in Residence program is funded through UCA's arts fee and administered by the College of Fine Arts and Communication.

"In Their Words," the interactive World War II exhibit now on display at AETN's headquarters on the UCA campus, is just one facet of a comprehensive oral history project directed by UCA graduate Gabe Gentry.

Gentry and his team have conducted nearly 400 hours of oral archival interviews with World War II veterans in Arkansas. UCA history professor Dr. Roger Pauley has worked as a project historian for "In Their Words" and the current exhibit.

Gentry also directed and co-produced "Their Journey," a documentary that accompanies the "In Their Words" project. "Their Journey" follows 47 Arkansas World War II veterans to Washington, D.C. to see the memorial built in their honor, and its premiere coincided with the premiere of the Ken Burns' epic "The War" on PBS.

The exhibit is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in AETN's atrium at Donaghey and Beatrice Powell Street. You can also experience the oral history archive being showcased and expanded by AETN at www.intheirwords.org.

AETN, a statewide public television network with five analog and six digital transmitters located throughout the state, has been located on the UCA campus since 1966. While the two entities are not officially affiliated, UCA President Lu Hardin and AETN Executive Director Allen Weatherly have expanded the long-term partnership. Weatherly was recently elected in a nationwide vote to the PBS Board of Directors.

Victor A. Puleo, Jr., CFP?, assistant professor of insurance and risk management in UCA's College of Business, presented a paper titled, "Financial Planning Internships: An Analysis of For-Credit Internships at CFP Board Certified Undergraduate Programs," at the 2007 CFP Program Directors Conference in Seattle. Over 160 dedicated financial planning educators, including CFP Board staff and Board of Directors members, attended the conference. The conference provided presentations and discussions on all aspects of providing a quality financial planning program, as well as updates on the status of CFP? certification in the U.S. and around the world. The paper is co-authored with John Bratton, a professor of insurance and risk management at UCA, and Nancy Scott, who received her MBA from UCA's College of Business in 2007.

The award-winning Oxford American magazine, which makes its home on the UCA campus, celebrates the diversity of American music and storytelling in its 2007 Music Issue, which hits newsstands nationwide this weekend.

The Music Issue, which includes a CD abounding with 26 musical surprises, covers a wide range of subjects. Sheryl St. Germain tells us how it is to be in that number that misses New Orleans. Sean Wilentz delivers a fly-on-the-wall account of the making of Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde in Nashville. Columnist Roy Blount urges for the return of yodeling. Harper's staffer Bill Wasik writes on the blogosphere phenomenon. Acclaimed novelist Fredrick Barthelme writes of his days in the 1960's as the drummer for the cult art-noise band, Red-Crayola. Sam Stephenson writes about Thelonius Monk's final gig in his home state of North Carolina in 1970. And more.......

"Every year we try and do something special with the music issue and CD," says Editor Marc Smirnoff, "Thus year, with the exception of a few big names, we wanted to get into the undercurrent of celebrating lost and unjustly forgotten musical superstars. If people recognize right off the bat most of the names we're covering in this year's edition we kind of failed at our mission."

The Oxford American is a quarterly magazine published by the nonprofit Oxford American Literary Project at UCA. Founded in 1992, it bills itself as "The Southern Magazine of Good Writing." The magazine received the National Magazine Award in 1999 and 2003.

The unveiling of the Conway Community Mural will highlight the first Conway ArtsFest at Simon Park downtown on Saturday. The theme of the festival is "Uniting Campus and Community," and officials from UCA and Hendrix College have worked with community leaders to plan the event, which will highlight arts opportunities in Conway.

The mural is a historically-themed, 26 x 36 foot piece on the south side of Conway City Hall facing Simon Park. It celebrates the relationship between Conway?s educational institutions and the city and is spearheaded by Morton Brown, a UCA alumnus now based in Pittsburgh, who is one of UCA's College of Fine Arts and Communication?s artists in residence this fall.

The UCA Pinnacle Brass will open the day?s activities at noon. The mural dedication ceremony will take place at 12:30, followed by an afternoon of family-friendly, interactive activities:

1-1:45 p.m. - Hendrix College Theatre Arts and Dance: Anansi Does the Impossible, an interactive performance based on an African folktale, on the Simon Park Lawn;
1-3:45 - UCA Shorts: a Selection of Short Films by UCA Faculty and Students; district court building (west of Simon Park across the railroad tracks);
2-2:45 - Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre: Shakespeare in the Park; a comedic three-man version of Romeo and Juliet; onstage, Simon Park;
4-5 - Chamber Music Concert featuring Cross Town Trio (UCA and Hendrix): Jackie Lamar (UCA), Karen Griebling (Hendrix) and John Krebs (Hendrix); vocal ensemble consisting of Suzanne Banister (UCA and Hendrix) and Joanne McDade (Hendrix), with Carol Anthony (UCA); UCA Pinnacle Brass, at Reves Recital Hall inside the Trieschmann Fine Arts Building at Hendrix College;
5-6 - Reception, Reves Recital Hall inside the Trieschmann Fine Arts Building at Hendrix College.
There will also be sidewalk chalk available for young artists to use throughout the day. A shuttle bus will be available to transport patrons from downtown to the Hendrix campus.

"Conway is a vibrant city, filled with artists and arts educators teaching at our colleges," said Dr. Rollin Potter, dean of UCA's College of Fine Arts and Communication. "The ArtsFest is our first organized effort to bring the campuses together to present a series of arts events and forms of recognition. It should be a rewarding day, filled with ways to enjoy Conway's artists and our community."

For more information, visit www.artsinconway.com.

The Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award is again up for grabs, and your vote will help determine if UCA Football Coach Clint Conque walks away with the honor as the coach who best exemplifies responsibility and excellence on and off the field.

According to Liberty Mutual spokesman Tony Rotondi, "College football coaches are tremendous role models to their student-athletes, undergraduates and alumni, and their on- and off-campus communities at-large. We?re looking for college football fans to help us find the coaches who have achieved success on the field without compromising the highest set of standards in sportsmanship, integrity, ethics, citizenship, and academics."

This year?s Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year honors will go to one coach in each of the four NCAA divisions. Log onto www.coachoftheyear.com before Nov. 27 to vote for Conque, and be sure to share your thoughts on why he?s the most responsible Football Conference Subdivision, FCS (formerly D1-AA) coach in America.

The Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award will be presented Dec. 29 on ABC. Each winning coach will receive a substantial cash award to support his civic and charitable activities, as well as scholarship funds to be donated to the alumni association of the winning coach?s school. Fan input counts, so show your UCA Bear pride!

Two UCA chemistry professors recently received the largest pure research grant ever awarded by the National Science Foundation to UCA.

The NSF will give Patrick Desrochers and Richard Tarkka of the UCA Department of Chemistry a three-year research grant totaling $252,041 for their collaborative project entitled, "Reactivity, Spectroscopic, and Sensing Properties of Nickel Complexes on Solid Organic Supports," which will combine the expertise of their respective labs: nickel coordination chemistry (Desrochers) and polymer/combinatorial methods (Tarkka). They will develop new polystyrene-based anchors for nickel so that the unique properties of this metal can be utilized in applications that include protein purification, sensors for amino acids and ammonia, and catalytic processes. These anchored nickel materials will be reusable and therefore recyclable, improving their utility and reducing their operating cost.

This award is also funding the acquisition of state-of-art research equipment, including an oxygen/moisture-free glove box and an ultraviolet/visible diffuse reflectance attachment (DRA). In addition to allowing light absorption measurements on the solids developed for this project, the DRA can also record light absorption properties of other solids like leaf surfaces, cell cultures, and paintings. The DRA makes the measurements without damaging the sample.

Another significant outcome of this work will be the training of the UCA undergraduates in chemical research, a tradition for this department, making these students competitive in graduate science programs nationwide.

The UCA Accounting Department and the Theta Lambda Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi (the national honors organization for accounting majors) last week hosted the annual Meet the Firms event, a networking opportunity that offers Beta Alpha Psi members the opportunity to meet and learn more about firms that hire accountants. Sixty-four students attended and 20 firms were represented, including BKD (the largest accounting firm in Arkansas), three of the Big 4 global accounting firms, and six firms from central Arkansas. Five government agencies also were represented, including two state and three federal agencies. Five companies also attended, including the world's largest company, Wal-Mart. In total, these firms brought 48 representatives, 23 of whom were UCA alumni.

Also last week, Phi Beta Lambda, a student organization in UCA's College of Business, hosted the District V Future Business Leaders of America State Conference in the Farris Activity Center. There were 1444 total attendees, including 1367 Members, 73 Advisors, and four guests. Phi Beta Lambda is the collegiate division of Future Business Leaders of America. FBLA-PBL is a non-profit educational organization for students preparing for careers in business, entrepreneurial or business-related fields. PBL is one of the largest professional collegiate associations in the nation with over a quarter of a million members and the first Arkansas chapter was established in 1958 at UCA. Phi Beta Lambda provides opportunities for students to develop strong leadership skills, attend professional skill building workshops, build networks with business leaders across the state, and compete in business-related events at both the state and national levels.

Kim U. Hoffman, assistant professor and director of public administration in the Department of Political Science, recently was appointed secretary for the Southeastern Conference for Public Administration (SECoPA). SECoPA is the largest regional organization of the American Society for Public Administration, an organization dedicated to the education and practice of public administration. Prior to assuming the role of secretary, Hoffman served as a member of the SECoPA board.

J.D. Swanson, assistant professor of biology, this week gave an invited presentation at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The talk, based on his research, was entitled, "Making the most of a prickly situation: Insights into the early development of the Rubus Prickle."

Demetri Martin of The Daily Show and Seth Meyers of Saturday Night Live will headline the UCA Homecoming Comedy Show on Friday, Oct. 26.

Presented by the UCA Student Activities Board and the UCA Centennial Committee, the show will begin at 8 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall on the UCA campus.

Student tickets are only $10 with a UCA ID, and tickets for the general public are only $15. All tickets can be purchased at the Reynolds Box Office daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., or online at www.uca.edu/tickets. For more information, call 501-450-3235.

Registration begins this week for children's classes at the new UCA Community Language School location in Little Rock.

The expansion to Little Rock will start this fall with Chinese classes for children on Mondays at the Thompson Branch Library on Rahling Circle in West Little Rock. Spanish, French, German and Japanese will be added in the spring, and adult language classes will also be offered in Little Rock if there is sufficient enrollment.

The program on the UCA campus has been very successful, with class offerings for children in Chinese, Spanish, French and German, as well as adult sections of German and Japanese.

Registration forms are available at www.uca.edu/wlan (click on the Community Language School link). Tuition is $100 plus a $25 registration/materials fee for the ten-week course. For more information, contact Dr. Phillip Bailey, chair of the Department of World Languages at 450-3168 or Sera Streiff-Vena, Community Language School director, at 450-3201.

UCA's College of Education has announced the first call for candidates for the new Ph.D. in Leadership Studies. Applications for spring admission to the program will be accepted through Nov. 1.

An informational session about the Ph.D. in Leadership Studies will be held tonight at 6:30 p.m. in Mashburn Hall, room 103. This session will provide an opportunity for dialogue about the program, and to answer questions or clarify issues. If you are unable to attend, or for more information, please contact Lisa Daniels via phone (501-852-2606) or e-mail (ldaniels@uca.edu).

In order to raise awareness of International Banned Books Week and the questions it raises about freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and academic freedom, members of the UCA English faculty this week are holding a public reading of banned books in the courtyard between Irby Hall and the library every day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Readers and books will shift each half-hour.