There was a time in the not-toodistant past when educators viewed pencils with erasers as crutches for lazy students. In the following years, other advancements like calculators and spellcheck raised similar concerns. Now a new trend has found its way from the Web into the classroom. Call it "webspeak"or "slanguage" ... English purists call it a big problem.

But Kevin Leander, associate professor of language and literacy at Peabody College, isn't so sure."Often what happens in education is that there's a huge overreaction to any kind of technology. But literacy and technology have always been tied together in one way or another, ever since papyrus and scrolls."

In slanguage, the writer uses abbreviations and shortcuts as a matter of course. It is especially rampant in text messaging, where space is limited."See you later"becomes "CUL8R."And "NALOPKT,"Leander's favorite, is "not a lot of people know that."

Certainly, slanguage is not absolutely correct-- but is it wrong? "Surface level correctness is often the feature people focus on when they think about literacy," says Leander. "So they become more concerned that someone can spell correctly rather than the fact that the person actually has ideas to communicate."

Leander believes some of the expressions will end up in the dictionary one day.

"One study talked about how children who send lots of text messages demonstrate increased levels of phonetic awareness and linguistic creativity. From that, one could say that texting on mobile phones makes writers better because they are experimenting with language."

It's easy to imagine that crossword puzzles have existed for centuries--that they were an amusing diversion for crusading knights or monks killing time between illuminating manuscripts. But they've been around for less than a century, having first appeared in the New York World in 1913.What started as a fad quickly became an accepted component of newspapers around the country, the notable exception being The New York Times,which viewed the puzzles as unworthy pastimes. In 1942 the Times broke down and finally published its first Sunday puzzle. That puzzle quickly became the standard by which others are judged.

For those who create puzzles, having one published in the Times is quite an accomplishment-- one achieved by Byron Walden, BA'85, with just his second submission. Walden, who teaches math at Santa Clara University, started making his own puzzles about seven years ago.

"A lot of people in the 'numbers' professions do crossword puzzles," he says. "I see the words as algebraic objects.To me, it's about manipulating the letters as opposed to something like poetry where you're thinking of words as whole units and trying to put them together." Puzzles printed in The New York Times follow strict guidelines and rules. The puzzles get progressively more difficult during the week, with Saturday's being the most challenging. Walden also is a regular contributor to The Onion, which started running puzzles last year.Most puzzle writers submit on a freelance basis and, says Walden, people who make a living creating crossword puzzles number in the "low dozens."

Walden typically creates harder puzzles, sometimes with a theme, sometimes without. He spends six to seven hours on each creation.

"I always like little phrases that have strange letters in them. Someone working the puzzle might think,'Nothing could go there,' and then once they get it, they think, 'Oh yeah, of course.'"

His favorite clue of all time: "pitched like a girl." The answer: "falsetto."

Patrick Alexander, BS'00, has won the 2007 Student Academy Award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the Narrative category for Rundown, a dark thriller about a television news reporter that Alexander wrote and directed as his thesis film at Florida State University.

Sam Friedlander, BA'00, made it into the top four on Fox Television's On the Lot, the Mark Burnett/Steven Spielberg reality show that pitted aspiring filmmakers against one another to win a development deal with DreamWorks Studios.

The 1968 Democratic National Convention was an iconic event in American history. Young Vietnam War protestors clashed with Chicago police while millions witnessed their battles on live television. Eight protestors were tried for conspiracy in a circus-like atmosphere.

A new film about the event, associate produced by Christopher Keene, JD'96, opened this year's Sundance Film Festival. Using archival footage, trial transcripts and animation, Chicago 10 brings the incident to life for a new generation of moviegoers.

Academy Award-winning director Brett Morgen dubbed the film Chicago 10 to include Bobby Seale, attorneys William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass, and the Chicago Seven defendants: Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, John Froines and Lee Weiner.

As a law student, Keene says, he gained tremendous respect for constitutional law after taking a course from James Blumstein, University Professor of Constitutional Law and Health Law and Policy."It opened my eyes to how lucky we are to live in this country. I'm a huge believer in the right to free speech and the right to protest."

Keene's legal training has proven useful in film production, which involves negotiating agreements, making contracts, and gaining rights to intangible property.While working on Chicago 10, "I tried to find every photo and frame of footage related to this subject and negotiated for the right to include all of it in the film," he says.

Keene's first foray into show business came during his second year at Vanderbilt when he interned with Creative Artists Agency's music division in Nashville. "It showed me how much fun it would be to work in that world."

After stints with a Los Angeles law firm and the Endeavor talent agency, Keene was hired by Morgen to be associate producer for The Kid Stays in the Picture. A biopic about the rise, fall and rise again of legendary Hollywood movie producer Robert Evans, the film garnered numerous critical accolades, including three Best Documentary awards and recognition as one of the 10 best films of 2002.

As head of the Archer Norris law firm's entertainment practice, Keene has leveraged his film contacts to build a client list of actors, writers, directors, producers, publishers and media financiers.

"I feel privileged to have the opportunity to help people I admire create great work," he says. "It's a wonderful way to spend a career."

Chicago 10 is scheduled for release in theaters in February 2008 to coincide with the event's 40th anniversary.

Musical explorers the Kronos Quartet will take the stage at Ingram Hall on March 14, 2008, at 8 p.m. as part of Vanderbilt's Great Performances series to perform Sun Rings, an evening-length, multimedia work in 10 movements that will feature choirs from the Blair School of Music. The piece, commissioned for Kronos by NASA and others, has been performed in London, San Francisco, Calgary,Tucson (Ariz.) and Boston.

Bill Ivey and Steven Tepper, director and associate director, respectively, of the Vanderbilt Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy, had worked with ArtsJournal.com and conference organizers to create the blog. For two weeks leading up to the conference, 12 bloggers jumpstarted discussion about the upcoming session's topic with their postings, in hopes of preparing conference attendees for the live blogging session June 21. The blog can be accessed at www.artsjournal.com/league.

"This was a chance to see if audiences could engage more deeply in the conversation if they had the opportunity to react, post questions and note potential contradictions in the middle of listening," says Tepper.

Muhammad Yunus, PhD'71, has been called many things: visionary, world leader, Nobel Prize winner. Now there's a new addition to the list: rock star. Yunus has teamed with the European musical duo The Green Children in support of their efforts to promote micro-credit, education and health care.He even makes an appearance in a music video, which can be viewed at www.thegreenchildren.org. To date, the group has raised more than $450,000, which will be used to build an eye hospital in Bangladesh.

Mel Ziegler is the new chairman of the studio art department at Vanderbilt. Ziegler had served on the University of Texas-Austin faculty since 1997.He was a member of the City of Austin Arts Commission from 2000 to 2006 and is known for his site-specific public art. Ziegler's body of work in collaboration with late artist Kate Ericson is the subject of a major exhibit at the Kansas City Art Institute through October, which then moves to the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati from Nov. 10 to Jan. 13, 2008. Ziegler and Ericson worked together on major projects for the Seattle transit system and the historic district of Charleston, S.C.

Visual Arts

At first glance, the basement of Sylvia Hyman's home looks much like any other clay artist's studio. A shelf running along the wall holds jar after jar of oxides, silicates, fluxes and other materials used in the preparation of ceramic glazes. A large kiln sits in one corner, and two long work tables stand in the middle of the room. One of the tables holds a seemingly random stack of books: an art history volume, a suspense novel titled Danger Music, a copy of Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat. A crossword puzzle book sits nearby, on a neatly arranged breakfast tray.

Peer more closely, though, and you'll do a double take: These aren't books at all. They are made entirely from clay.

The art of Sylvia Hyman,MA'63--masterful trompe l'oeil sculptures--uncannily mimics objects from real life.Whether taking the form of books, boxes, baskets, printed scrolls, letters or playing cards, each piece skillfully deceives the eye.

To succeed as art, trompe l'oeil painting and sculpture must do more than simply replicate an object or scene. In Hyman's case, her ceramic works convey playfulness and joy, mixed with sly consideration. For her these sculptures operate on a number of levels, but one central conceit is the idea of communication.

"My first ceramic trompe l'oeil works were done for fun," she explains.

"In the 1960s I made dancing banana skins and partially eaten fruits on brightly colored, glazed plates. Then in the 1980s I made some porcelain birthday cakes, fortune cookies and cantaloupes for gag gifts. The more serious works that began in the '90s--expanding on the idea that fortune cookies carry concealed information--started with scrolls that imitated diplomas and certificates.

"Now my work has grown to encompass the myriad ways that humans communicate, not only through language, but also with signs and symbols such as musical notes, maps, drawings, diagrams and puzzles. I'm enthralled by the way that humans, through the centuries, have devised ways to convey thoughts by making marks on stone, papyrus, clay, paper, etc."

For Hyman, achieving precision and detail in her works is the result of a constant learning process. "Almost every piece I make involves trial and error. Sometimes I have to remake parts of a sculpture or even rethink the whole arrangement of the various parts as my works become more complex."

Hyman's art was the subject of an exhibit at Nashville's Frist Center for the Visual Arts, which ran through Oct. 7.

Hyman turns 90 this year, and the Frist show was only the most recent honor in an energetic career that has seen her work travel the globe, with exhibitions on three continents. Her ceramic pieces sit in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, and nearly a dozen other institutions.

"Sylvia has kept herself young and engaged in the world of art in a way that transcends generations," says independent curator and arts writer Susan Knowles, BA'74, MLS'75, MA'86.

"She has been a great role model for other artists here because she stands up for herself as an artist, she's interested in what's happening creatively in Nashville, and she's willing to give her time to things she feels are important. She has a real sense of justice and fair play."

(A longer version of this article was originally published July 15, 2007, in The Tennessean.)

Their Own Receive Them Not: African American Lesbians and Gays in Black Churches
(Pilgrim Press)
by Horace L.Griffin, MA'93, PhD'95.

"Their Own Receive Them Not cuts through the Gordian knot of homophobia in the Black Church with compelling, substantive arguments," comments Sylvia Rhue, director of religious affairs and constituency development for the National Black Justice Coalition in Washington, D.C. "This groundbreaking work has the potential to move hearts and minds toward the more loving and inclusive community for which we have been praying."

Speechless: The Erosion of Free Expression in the American Workplace
(Berrett-Koehler),
by Bruce Barry, professor of management and sociology.

While Americans are protected from censorship by the government, no laws exist to protect free speech in the workplace. In Speechless, Bruce Barry guides readers through the crucial roles of law, convention and culture in limiting free speech in the workplace. He argues that freedom of speech in the workplace is excessively and needlessly limited, and advocates changes to law and management practices that would expand and protect employee rights without jeopardizing employer interests.

In hip-hop music and videos, young black women are consistently portrayed as sexually insatiable vixens willing to debase themselves for the privilege of even the shortest ride on the music industry party train. Despite the lack of respect, young black women play an enthusiastic part in hiphop culture, as do youth of all races who continue to make hip-hop a worldwide phenomenon.

Tracy Denean Sharpley-Whiting-- Vanderbilt University professor, young black woman, former model, feminist and hip-hop fan--researched this paradox and responded with Pimps Up, Ho's Down: Hip Hop's Hold on Young Black Women. The book, published by New York University Press, offers an insightful look into the strip clubs, groupie culture, and other aspects of hip hop that have given a voice to the disenfranchised while raising troubling questions about what those voices are saying and doing.

"As disturbing as I find some of what's going on around gender in hip-hop, there are also things we need to celebrate," says Sharpley-Whiting, who is a professor of African American and diaspora studies and professor of French. "It's a cultural art form. It's the soundtrack of black life in the United States, and it's absolutely astonishing that it became such a cultural force globally.

"We have to revel in that kind of creativity coming from such a marginalized group."

The book paints a complex portrait with one constant: Black women are always at the bottom of any pecking order.

"That doesn't mean I find hiphop depressing," says Sharpley-Whiting. "I find the state of gender and race relationships depressing. Just because aspects of hip-hop may be misogynistic and sexist does not mean that misogyny began with hip-hop.Hip-hop just happens to be the youth culture of the moment and therefore takes the wrath on a lot of issues."

Any solutions will involve changing society rather than stifling hip-hop's blunt articulation of what's going on, she says, adding, "I do urge young women to be more politically conscious about the choices they make and the opportunities they take."

Sharpley-Whiting is director of Vanderbilt's African American and Diaspora Studies Program and director of the William T. Bandy Center for Baudelaire and Modern French Studies.

The toddler entertainment market has exploded in recent years: Infants, toddlers and preschoolers in the United States watch an average of one to three hours of video media and television programming per day. But new research suggests parents should choose videos with high interactive content if they want their children to be educated as well as entertained by their time in front of the tube.

The findings were published in the May 17 issue of Child Development by Vanderbilt University psychologists Georgene Troseth and Megan Saylor.

"By age 2, children have figured out that other people are a primary source of information about the world, and they use social cues such as facial expression and where a person looks or points to gather that information. As a result, they are more likely to learn from a person on video whom they perceive as a conversational partner," says Troseth, an assistant professor of psychology in Peabody College. "In our study, if a video was not interactive, children were much more likely to dismiss the information being conveyed."

Troseth, Saylor, and research assistant Allison Archer conducted two experiments to better understand which type of video best engaged toddlers. In the first, they tested differences in learning from video and from face-to-face interactions among 24 2-year-olds. A woman on a TV screen told the children where to find a stuffed animal hidden in another room. She then gave a second group of children the same information in person. The first group of toddlers rarely found the stuffed animal, suggesting they didn't believe or listen to the woman on the screen. The children given the instructions in person usually found the toy.

In the second experiment, researchers used a closedcircuit video system to make the experience interactive. The woman on the screen could see, hear and respond to the children through conversation and games. After five minutes of interacting with the woman on the TV, children used the information she provided to find the hidden object.

Troseth and her colleagues believe the results indicate that because toddlers understand the difference between their "real" environment and what they see on videos, they are likely to dismiss information offered by someone on television unless that person is clearly interacting with them. This interaction can include tactics such as asking children questions, using their names, or referring to something they can see and touch in their real environment.

Troseth served as a consultant for Sesame Workshop on its new DVD series, which uses Muppet babies and caregivers to encourage and model good social interaction. She is a member of the Vanderbilt Learning Sciences Institute and an investigator in the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development

Illegal immigration is hurting African Americans, according to research by a Vanderbilt professor of law and political science. In Debating Immigration, a book of essays that Carol Swain edited and contributed to, she says African Americans are losing more jobs to illegal immigrants than other racial or ethnic groups; yet, low-income black workers don't have political input in the debate.

"African Americans have been left devoid of a strong black voice in Congress on a topic that affects them deeply, given their high unemployment rates and historic struggle to get quality housing, health care, education, and other goods and services," says Swain, citing a study conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center, which found high unemployment rates among African Americans and Hispanics were partly attributed to the large number of low-skilled immigrants in America.

"The greatest competition occurs among people at the margins of society, a multiracial group that includes poorly educated blacks, whites and Hispanics who compete against each other and against new immigrants for low-wage, lowskill jobs." Swain found that cuts in governmental programs like student loans make it harder for low-income African American students to train for higher-paying jobs.

The Congressional Black Caucus, Swain writes, does not list immigration reform as a legislative priority. Some lawmakers in the CBC have large numbers of Hispanic constituents in their districts, which may lead to a conflict of interest, she says.Unless big changes take place within the CBC, there will be no official black representation on the immigration issue, which she believes is hurting the African American community.

The study, led by senior author Joseph McLaughlin and Loren Lipworth, both cancer epidemiologists with the Vanderbilt- Ingram Cancer Center, documented the increased suicide risk. This risk suggests plastic surgeons should consider mental health screening and follow-up for women who seek breast implants.

Lipworth and colleagues performed an extended followup study of 3,527 Swedish women who underwent cosmetic breast-implant surgery between 1965 and 1993.

At an average follow-up of nearly 19 years, the suicide rate was three times higher for women with breast implants as compared to the general population (based on 24 deaths). The risk was greatest--nearly seven times higher--for women who received their breast implants at age 45 or older. The average age at the time of surgery was 32 years.

Suicide risk did not increase significantly for the first 10 years after implant surgery.However, the risk increased with time: 4.5 times higher from 10 to 19 years' follow-up and six times higher after 20 years.

Women with breast implants also had higher rates of death from mental disorders, including a threefold increase in deaths from alcohol and drug dependence. Several additional deaths, classified as accidents or injuries, might have been suicides or involved psychiatric disorders or drug and alcohol abuse as a contributing cause.

"Thus, at least 38 deaths (22 percent of all deaths) in this implant cohort were associated with suicide, psychological disorders, and/or drug and alcohol abuse or dependence," according to the researchers.

There was no increase in the risk of death from cancer, including breast cancer, among women with breast implants, reports Lipworth. Increases in deaths from lung cancer and respiratory diseases, such as emphysema, likely reflected higher smoking rates among women with breast implants.

Several epidemiological studies have also found an increased suicide rate among women with cosmetic breast implants. The current study provides extended follow-up data on a previous nationwide study of Swedish women with breast implants, more than doubling the number of deaths analyzed.

The increases in suicide and in deaths related to alcohol and drug dependence suggest that a "nontrivial proportion of women undergoing breast augmentation may bring with them--or develop later-- serious long-term psychiatric morbidity and eventually mortality," Lipworth and colleagues write.

Because the study includes only deaths, the true rates of psychological and substanceabuse problems among women with cosmetic implants are likely much higher. The researchers conclude, "Such findings warrant increased screening, counseling, and perhaps post-implant monitoring of women seeking cosmetic breast implants."

Winnter Reynolds may have within her body a clue to the legendary Hatfield- McCoy feud. The 11-year-old is a descendant of McCoys who harken from West Virginia and are, according to her grandmother, Goldie, kin to the family known for its long-running clash with the Hatfield family.

Winnter came to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt because of a tumor on her adrenal gland. Her grand-aunt and guardian, Rita Reynolds, had similar tumors removed at Vanderbilt a couple of years ago.Winnter's family has a theory about a connection between these tumors, which run in their family, and the famous feud carried on by their forebears.

"These tumors can send your moods up and down," Rita Reynolds says. "They diagnosed Winnter with attention deficit disorder, but I think it's the adrenal tumor that's been making her hyperactive at times."

Winnter's doctors say the theory that a genetic predisposition for adrenal tumors--caused by a genetic disorder called von Hippel-Lindau disease, which Winnter's family carries--is a possible explanation for why the feuding McCoy family members were so violent and angry.

"Adrenal tumors cause the release of massive amounts of catecholamines--chemicals like adrenalin," says Dr.Wallace "Skip"Neblett,MD'71, chair of the Department of Pediatric Surgery at Children's Hospital and Winnter's surgeon.

The Hatfield and McCoy feud took place in the mountain terrain of Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia.While some say it started over a pig, historians maintain it began when Southern-sympathizing Hatfields murdered a McCoy who had served in the Union Army.

That led to the first of many retaliations. In 1878 "Old Randall" McCoy thought he spotted one of his pigs being stolen by Hatfields. An ensuing string of accusations, botched trials and killings took place until the climactic burning of Old Randall's home and the murder of his son and daughter in 1888.

Before it was all over, 13 members of the families died violent deaths. There was no further violence after the deaths of the two clan leaders,Old Randall McCoy and Devil Anse Hatfield, in 1914 and 1921, respectively.

In 2002 a symbolic peace treaty was signed by Hatfield and McCoy descendants. Members ofWinnter Reynolds' family have attended Hatfield-McCoy reunions for years and have been swapping stories about their distant cousins all their lives.

"The theory is, maybe those early McCoys had these adrenal tumors as well and that's what helped to set them off," says Winnter's uncle, Frank Hankins.

"From the scientific point of view, the genetic condition the McCoy family has, von Hippel- Lindau disease, is associated with too much adrenaline and related compounds because of a condition called pheochromocytoma, a type of tumor of the adrenal gland," says Dr. Revi Mathew, associate professor of pediatrics and Winnter's endocrinologist.

"It does produce hypertension, headache and sweating intermittently depending on when the surge of these compounds occurs in the bloodstream. I suppose these compounds could possibly make somebody very angry and upset for no good reason."

Last spring Winnter underwent surgery to remove a tumorous adrenal gland. Because von Hippel-Lindau can cause tumors in several organs during the span of a person's life, it could be the first of many surgeries.

Combine a mechanical arm with a miniature rocket motor, and the result is the closest thing yet to a bionic arm.Vanderbilt mechanical engineers have developed a radically designed prototype as part of a $30 million federal program.

"Our design is closer in terms of function and power to a human arm than any previous self-powered prosthetic device, and it weighs about the same as a natural arm," says Michael Goldfarb, the professor of mechanical engineering who is leading the effort.

The prototype can lift (curl) about 20 to 25 pounds--three to four times more than current commercial arms--and can do so three to four times faster. The mechanical arm also functions more naturally than previous models. Conventional prosthetic arms have only two joints, the elbow and the claw. The prototype's wrist twists and bends, and its fingers and thumb open and close independently.

The Vanderbilt arm is the most unconventional of three prosthetic arms under development by a Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) program. The other two are being designed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore who head the program. Those arms are powered by batteries and electric motors. The program is also supporting teams of neuroscientists at the University of Utah, California Institute of Technology, and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago who are developing advanced methods for controlling the arms by connecting them to nerves in the users' bodies or brains.

"Battery power has been adequate for the current generation of prosthetic arms because their functionality is so limited that people don't use them much," Goldfarb says. "The more functional the prosthesis, the more the person will use it and the more energy it will consume." Increasing the size of the batteries is the only way to provide additional energy for conventionally powered arms, and at some point the weight of batteries becomes prohibitive.

It was the poor power-toweight ratio of batteries that drove Goldfarb to look for alternatives in 2000 while working on another exoskeleton project for DARPA.He miniaturized the monopropellant rocket-motor system that is used by the space shuttle.His adaptation impressed Johns Hopkins researchers, so they offered him $2.7 million in funding to apply this approach to a prosthetic arm.

Goldfarb's power source is about the size of a pencil and contains a special catalyst that causes hydrogen peroxide to burn and produce pure steam.

The steam is used to open and close a series of valves. The valves are connected to the spring-loaded joints of the prosthesis by belts made of a special monofilament. A small canister of hydrogen peroxide that fits in the upper arm can provide energy to power the device for 18 hours of normal activity. The steam generated by the device is heated to 450 degrees Fahrenheit by the hydrogen peroxide reaction, so a concern about the device was the need to protect the wearer and others nearby from the heat. Researchers covered the hottest part with special insulating plastic that reduces the surface temperature.Hot steam exhaust is vented through a porous cover, where it condenses and turns into water droplets.

"The amount of water produced is about the same as a person would normally sweat from their arm on a warm day," Goldfarb says.

"DARPA has set a goal of developing a commercially available arm in two years," Goldfarb adds. "Because of our novel power source, the process of proving that our design is safe and getting regulatory approval for its use will probably take longer than that." If DARPA decides it cannot continue supporting the arm's development for this reason, Goldfarb says he is confident he can get alternative funding.

The board includes a minimum of 18 regional representatives, 10 representatives of the largest Vanderbilt chapters, and representatives from Vanderbilt schools and colleges. Rotation of board members, who serve four-year terms, is staggered.

The Alumni Association is now calling for nominations for representatives from:

• Region I: Nashville
• Region II: Tennessee, exclusive of Nashville
• Region III: Southeast (North Carolina to Mississippi inclusive)
• Region IV: Northeast (Virginia and Kentucky northward)
• Region V: West of the Mississippi River
• Region VI: Areas outside the United States (Asia)

Representatives from these Vanderbilt chapters will be selected:

Atlanta, Chicago, Memphis and New York. Representatives from the School of Engineering, Owen Graduate School of Management, School of Nursing, and the Blair School of Music also will be selected.

To find out more, visit www.vanderbilt.edu/alumni/alumni-association-board.php.

To nominate an alumnus or alumna, please use the online form at www.vanderbilt.edu/alumni/aabodnom.htm, or print out the form and submit it to:

Alumni Association Board Nominating Committee VU Station B #357735 2301 Vanderbilt Place Nashville,TN 37235-7735

Fax nominations to 615/343-1412, or e-mail alumni@vanderbilt.edu.

Hurry! The nominations deadline is Jan. 31, 2008.

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Gaynelle Doll

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Donna DeVore Pritchett

Editorial

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Phillip Tucker

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Bonnie Arant Ertelt, BS'81

Class Notes and Sports Editor
Nelson Bryan, BA'73

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Cindy Thomsen

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Daniel Dubois
Steve Green

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Susan Striepe
Keith Wood

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Julie Turner

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Lacy Tite

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Vanderbilt Magazine is published three times per year by Vanderbilt University from editorial and business offices at the Loews Vanderbilt Office Complex, 2100 West End Ave., Suite 820, Nashville, TN 37203. Phone: 615/322-1003.
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Please send address corrections to Gift Records Office, Vanderbilt University, VU Station B #357727, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37235-7703. Vanderbilt Magazine is printed by Lane Press in Burlington, Vt.

Opinions expressed in Vanderbilt Magazine are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the magazine or the university administration. Vanderbilt University is committed to the principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action.

Copyright 2008 Vanderbilt University

The Alumni Interviewing Program (AIP) allows undergraduate applicants to request interviews with alumni who live in their areas. Students contact alumni directly via e-mail to request and arrange for these interviews, and interview reports are submitted to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions afterward. More than 1,600 alumni participated in the program this year, interviewing more than 2,000 prospective students.

Alumni volunteers also helped promote Vanderbilt by attending college fairs nationwide. Although representatives from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions attend as many college fairs as possible, they rely on alumni to help represent Vanderbilt when they cannot. This year alumni staffed information booths, answered questions about Vanderbilt, and encouraged prospective students to complete information cards, therefore enabling Vanderbilt to have a presence at more college fairs.

If you are interested in learning more about the AIP, visit our Web site at www.vanderbilt.edu/admissions/AIP.To volunteer for college fairs in your area, please contact Angelo Lee in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions for more details by e-mailing arc@vanderbilt.edu.

Take three best friends forever. Let's make them blonde, with Southern accents. One night over a dinner of martinis and mini-burgers, the trio happens upon an idea that grows into an international success story--Passport Panties.Turns out tiny pieces of lingerie equal big business.You can find them in more than 350 stores around the world.

Identical twins Kim Howard Willson, BS'02, and Mary Kay Howard Bowden, BS'02, along with Morgan Harbin (a University of Alabama graduate), are the blondes behind the business. These young women aren't just the creators of the product ... they are the brand.A travel and airline theme is carried out in every aspect of marketing--from the packaging to the flight-attendant uniforms the three wear at trade shows. Their Web site (www.passportpanties.com) opens with an animated pink airplane emblazoned with the name "Air Force Blonde."Their goal is to grow the business into a full lingerie line all marketed under the umbrella company MMK Brands. Body shapers are the newest offering, and others are planned to follow.

Being in the intimate apparel business has its quirks, says Willson.

"Because of the type of product, our customers seem to think they can tell us all about their personal lives. Sometimes we think,'We're not doctors--we're just designing underwear.'"

In 2005 Katharine Carroll was beginning her career as a professional cyclist. She just missed a top-10 finish in her first race, the Athens Twilight Criterium, and then placed fourth in the Joe Martin Stage Race. Just two years later--a very short time in the cycling world--she won both prestigious events.

"Once I got that first win, it all started to click," she says. "You have to learn to win. It was a mental change, and I felt I could win every race after that."

Carroll's success caught the eye of the U.S. National team, which selected her to train in Europe last summer. She raced in the mountainous regions of Spain and Italy, getting a taste for competing with the world's elite cyclists. In September, competing in France and Holland, she won one stage of the Tour Cycliste Féminin International Ardèche.

With several victories under her belt and a sponsor in place, Carroll can concentrate on her next goal--making the U.S. Olympic Team. She says 2008 is a long shot, but don't be surprised if you see her sporting the red, white and blue on the streets of London at the 2012 Summer Olympics.