University of Central Arkansas

This November, UCA will host the world premiere of The Scarlet Letter, Lori Laitman's opera adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's literary masterpiece.

Laitman, an acclaimed American composer, has teamed up with award-winning American poet David Mason to create the opera, which was commissioned by UCA. The world premiere performances will take place on Nov. 6, 7 and 9 at UCA's Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall.

Robert Holden, co-director of the UCA Opera Theater, developed the idea for the commission. "We are beginning a commissioning project for new operas based on classic American literature," Holden said. "In The Scarlet Letter, Lori Laitman and David Mason have created something spectacular that should become part of standard operatic repertoire."

UCA English professor Michael Schaefer this summer was interviewed by National Public Radio about Stephen Crane's classic novel, The Red Badge of Courage.

Schaefer discussed Crane's background, as well as the tortured feelings of the novel's main character, Henry Fleming.

U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln selected two UCA students, Preston Weyland of North Little Rock and Lee Ann Blackwell of Wabbaseka,to be summer interns in her Washington, D.C. office.

Lincoln's Summer Internship Program provides students the opportunity to learn about the federal government and the nation's legislative process.

Mark Spitzer, assistant professor of writing, recently had his "Garfish Ode" accepted by The Oxford American. His essay "In Search of Massive Missouri Gar" was accepted by Rougarou.

Holly Smith, a 2008 summa cum laude graduate of UCA, recently was awarded a NASA Workforce Development Fellowship valued at $6,500 through the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium for her project entitled, "Noise and Vibration Reduction in Ventilation Systems." Her work was conducted at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Tex. during ten weeks this summer.

Smith plans to begin work toward her Doctorate in Acoustics at Pennsylvania State University. While at UCA, she investigated the acoustic properties of a low pitch sound source with Dr. William V. Slaton. The pitch of the sound produced is dependent on the shape of the acoustic resonator; in this case a large volume connected to a short open tube. Sound is produced via thermal interactions between the air and a porous ceramic substrate located in the tube that supports a temperature difference. At sufficiently large temperature differences, the system will spontaneously produce loud sound with no moving parts! The phenomenon that generates sound using heat in this manner is known as thermoacoustics. Previous work in thermoacoustics has focused on resonators that were straight pipes, similar to organ pipes or flutes, which support a different array of resonance frequencies from that in Smith's work.

Shannon Cleveland, a sociology major at UCA, received a $6,000 scholarship The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars to complete an internship in Washington D.C. this summer.

The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars is an independent, nonprofit organization serving hundreds of colleges and universities by providing selected students challenging opportunities to work and learn in Washington, D.C. for academic credit. During her 10-week internship in an executive branch agency, Cleveland earned six hours of academic credit.

UCA executive chef Robert Hall was among the elite staff preparing food for athletes at the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

He kept an account of his experience on a blog located at http://uca-olympicchef.blogspot.com.

Hall also was recently featured by Weight Watchers in an article entitled "Olympic-Style Eating: Feeding the Olympians." He shares his cooking tips and even some recipes. Check it out at http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=58311.

UCA senior Ashlen Batson won the 2008 Miss Arkansas pageant in July. Also, UCA graduates Chanley Painter and Sarah Slocum finished as second runner-up and third runner-up, respectively.

Batson succeeds 2007 Miss Arkansas Katie Bailey, who is currently enrolled as a graduate student at UCA.

UCA quarterback Nathan Brown was named a third-team preseason FCS All-American by The Sports Network on Friday.

The Bears were also ranked No. 25 in the nation in the FCS Coaches Preseason Poll, following their No. 22 ranking in The Sports Network poll earlier in the week.

Willard Peveler, assistant professor of exercise science, recently released a book through McGraw-Hill Publishing titled, "The Complete Book of Road Cycling and Road Racing."

John Watt, Associate Professor of Management, recently had a paper, "Organizational Change Cynicism: A Review of the Literature and Intervention Strategies," published in the Fall 2008 edition of the Organization Development Journal (ODJ). The ODJ seeks to enhance the capacity for practitioner-scholar dialogue, and promotes principles and practices of organizational development and change. A recent study reported that the ODJ is the single most frequently cited organizational development publication.

The University of Central Arkansas moved up two places from its ranking last year in U.S. News and World Report's annual "America's Best Colleges" edition.

According to the new rankings released today, UCA is ranked number 54 among the "Top Schools" for Master's degrees in the South, which places it in the top tier of schools. Last year, UCA was ranked number 56 in the category.

The rankings are based on a variety of factors, including freshman retention rate, class size, the percentage of full-time faculty, and acceptance rate. More information is available at http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/.