Briefly Speaking

University committees seek members

Faculty members interested in serving on a University Committee is encouraged to write to Malcolm Getz, chair of the Faculty Senate, 312 Kirkland Hall, by Monday, Feb. 26. The committees are: Academic Computing and Networks; Animal Care; Campus Security; Faculty and Staff Benefits, I.R.B.; Behavioral Science, I.R.B.; Health Sciences; Jean and Alexander Heard Library; Officer Education Advisory; Religious Affairs; Status of Women and Minorities; University Research Council; and the Vanderbilt Community Giving Campaign. The Faculty Senate is also taking nominations for the Honor Council Board of Advisers and the Promotion and Tenure Review Committees for both the University and the Medical School.

Faculty Senate accepting nominations

The Consultative Committee of the Faculty Senate is accepting nominations for the Harvie Branscomb Distinguished Professorship and the Thomas Jefferson Award. The Harvie Branscomb Distinguished Professorship Award is made annually to a full-time, regular faculty member (without restriction to age, rank or school), for distinguished accomplishment in furthering the aims of Vanderbilt University. The purpose of the award is "to recognize, and thereby to encourage in others, that combination of talents and achievements, which we identify as desirable in the University faculty member." The Thomas Jefferson Award is made annually "for distinguished service to Vanderbilt and through extraordinary contributions as a member of the faculty in the councils and government of the University." Faculty members in all schools are eligible. The deadline for nominations is Monday, Feb. 26. Persons who wish to nominate a colleague should send a one-page statement presenting reasons and, if possible, a curriculum vitae to Christine Scannaliato, secretary, Faculty Senate, 312 Kirkland Hall.

IMPACT speakers target White House

The 2001 IMPACT Symposium will bring David Gergen, presidential adviser, to campus Feb. 19 and political consultant James Carville, Feb. 20 to discuss the topic "Will the White House Ever be the Same?" Both events are at 7 p.m. in Langford Auditorium. Students, faculty and staff are admitted free with Vanderbilt I.D. Tickets are $3 for the general public. For more information, contact Christina Wilson at 269-3192 or christina.c.wilson@vanderbilt.edu.

Noted author speaks at Writers Series

Judith Ortiz Cofer will read from her work Monday, Feb. 19, in Wilson Hall Room 126 at 8 p.m. as part of the Gertrude Vanderbilt and Harold S. Vanderbilt Visiting Writers Series. She is the author of many books of poetry and prose, including Woman in Front of the Sun: On Becoming a Writer, The Line of the Sun, a novel, Silent Dancing, a collection of essays and poetry, and The Latin Deli: Prose and Poetry, winner of the Annisfield-Wolf Book Award. Her collection of short stories, An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio, was named a Best Book of the Year by the American Library Association and awarded the first Pura Belpre medal. She is the Franklin Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Georgia, and also is the Gertrude Vanderbilt and Harold S. Vanderbilt visiting writer for 2001.

Rec Center invites faculty and staff

The Vanderbilt Student Recreation Center will be sponsoring a Faculty and Staff Free Day Thursday, Feb. 22 from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. For more information, contact Jen Mayer at 343-8185.

Racecar on display at VU vs. UT game

Members of the community will have an opportunity this weekend to view up close the racecar that carried Vanderbilt's colors into last week's Daytona NASCAR Busch Series opener. Beginning an hour before the noon tip-off of the Vanderbilt-Tennessee men's basketball game Saturday, Feb. 24, the black-and-gold No. 28 Monte Carlo will be on display across the street from Memorial Gymnasium in Lot 28 at the corner of 25th Avenue and Vanderbilt Place. It will remain on display for two hours after the game. Members of the Baker Racing team, including owner and Vanderbilt alumnus Gary Baker and driver Brad Baker, will be on hand before and after the game for photographs and autographs. The Vanderbilt Bookstore will sell related merchandise in the parking lot and in the gym.

'Dores win first 2 on new diamond

The Commodore baseball team won their first two games on the new Charles Hawkins Field at the McGugin Center. Other notable firsts include: first opponent, Belmont University; first batter, Belmont's Charlie Cordin; first VU hit, Rob Bedwell; first stolen base, Kevin Geshke; first run scored, Ulises Cabrera-Valenzuela; first RBI, Worth Scott; first pitcher to throw a strikeout, Steven Faulkner; first winning pitcher, Steven Faulkner; first pitcher to record a save, Jeff Little. Phase two of the construction project is set to begin after the conclusion of the 2001 season, and will include a brick-and-iron grandstand with 2,000 chair-back seats.

Sophomore wins on 'Hollywood Squares'

Christina Marie Maple recently won $1,500 on the game show Hollywood Squares during the show's annual college tournament. Maple, whose episode aired Feb. 16 on UPN, said she had a great time flying out to Los Angeles and meeting other college students and celebrities. She is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Science and is majoring in East Asian Studies and German.