Zach Whalen, assistant professor in the Department of English, Linguistics and Communication, presented a paper at the recent Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts conference, held this year in Milwaukee, Wis. The presentation, “A Counterfactual Historiography of Three Game Platforms,” challenged the received metanarrative of game console generations. By way of a close reading of three less well-known consoles — Channel F, Vectrex and Virtual Boy — the paper explores the implications of an alternate history for video game devices.
Advice for Your Undergraduate Career from Beyonce (USA Today College)
D.J. Garcia Named Excellent Eagle Employee
Congratulations to D.J. Garcia, textbook manager of the bookstore, who has been selected as the Excellent Eagle Employee for the month of October. A parking spot of his choosing has been reserved for him until the end of the month.
Here is what one of his co-workers said about him:
“Most impressive is the quality of customer service that D.J. delivers, and the demeanor with which he delivers it during even the most demanding – and sometimes trying – of times. Keep Calm…Carry On is taped to his desk overhead. He lives that motto and more: Keep Kind and Carry On. Keep Consistent and Carry On. Keep Patient and Carry On. Keep Helpful and Carry On.
From August 22 –29, (following two 65-hour work weeks), there is a line at D.J.’s counter from store open until store close. Each person receives D.J.’s full attention; each person has their question answered, problem solved. Phone is ringing, emails are pinging in, textbook orders are changing, four people are calling his name at once; shipments are delivered to the wrong schools… Keep Calm, Carry On… Amidst it all, D.J. sets the bar for customer service at its highest level. He is smiling. He is making students smile. One has to see him in action to understand; in is an amazing sight. I will strive to bring my own customer service skills in line with D.J.’s!”
To nominate someone who you believe is an Excellent Eagle Employee, send an email to Priscilla Sullivan (psulliva@umw.edu) with Excellent Eagle Employee in the subject line. In your email, be sure to list the person’s name, department, work location (with the most convenient parking lot), and of course, the reason why you believe they should be recognized. Please spread the word to other employees about this wonderful opportunity to recognize a co-worker(s).
C-SPAN Brings Campaign Bus to UMW
The C-SPAN Campaign 2012 Bus rolled into Fredericksburg on Thursday, Sept. 27 and made a stop on UMW’s Fredericksburg campus. The stop was part of a four-day tour to five Virginia universities and colleges to speak to students and community members regarding their thoughts about campaign issues.
When the bus first arrived, Stephen Farnsworth, political science professor and director of the University’s Center for Media and Leadership Studies, was a guest on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal segment. Throughout the morning, students, faculty and staff toured the bus, tested their knowledge of American politics and shared their thoughts about the upcoming election. Short interviews with members of the UMW community are available at http://www.tout.com/u/cspanpolitics and may be used in upcoming C-SPAN programming.
Support National Student Day, 10/3
Support the second annual National Student Day on Wednesday, Oct. 3. More information is available in the attached flyer: https://eagleeye.umw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Student-Day.pdf.
Stop Hunger Now
Claudia Emerson Honored as Woman of Distinction
Arrington Distinguished Chair of Poetry and Professor of English Claudia Emerson was named one of seven “Women of Distinction” of 2012 by the Girl Scouts of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Emerson received the award during a ceremony on Wednesday, Sept. 26. The girl scouting review committee chose the “Women of Distinction” based on their ability to serve as examples of courage, confidence and character. Emerson’s award focused on her accomplishments in culture and communication.
Golda Eldridge Named Director of Leadership
The Division of Student Affairs is pleased to announce that Golda Eldridge has joined the team as Director of Leadership within the Center for Honor, Leadership and Service. Eldridge has extensive leadership and administrative experience within the United States Air Force and served for four years as department chair and professor of aerospace studies at Texas Christian University. He earned his bachelor’s in literature and history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, his master’s in educational leadership from Troy State University and his Ed.D. in educational leadership from Texas Christian University.
“Go Green” Grants Available from Eagle Dining
Eagle Dining would like to award over $2,000 from its “Go Green” Grant fund to support sustainability efforts in our campus community. We established the “Go Green” Grant fund last year by contributing $5 to the fund for each “Go Green” Commuter meal plan sold. We are now seeking applicants for the grants from UMW students, staff, faculty, or clubs in order to support your sustainability initiatives. For details on the grant process, or to get a copy of the grant application, go to the Eagle Dining website at www.umwdining.com
SharePoint Upgrade and EagleNet Revitalization
Information Technologies is planning several changes to IT systems aimed at improving the user experience and providing for more secure access to university data and collaboration resources. These changes will result in the replacement of EagleNet. EagleNet, built on the SharePoint 2007 platform, currently hosts the portal, Department sites, MySites, and the UMW Reporting Center. Moving forward, these functions will be moved into two separate platforms.
SharePoint 2010 will house Department Sites and the UMW Reporting Center. MySites will be eliminated for all users and SharePoint 2010 will only be accessible to faculty and staff. The primary goal of this project is to improve the security and functionality of SharePoint and the Reporting Center.
Information Technologies and Web Communications are working collaboratively to create a new site which will be accessible to all faculty, staff, and students. This site will include aggregation of important links to relevant UMW content / access to systems, as currently provided by Eaglenet. The proposed replacement would entail leveraging the UMW.edu platform to host this content for students, faculty and staff. The “mashup” site would aggregate custom channels and links, offer a pass-through to UMW systems, and allow for helpful items (like a link to the password-reset utility).
We will be communicating additional details about these projects later in the fall semester. Additional information will be posted at: http://technology.umw.edu/pmo/projects-and-initiatives/sharepoint2010/. If you have any questions in the interim, please contact Sean O’Brien, IT Project Manager, at sobrien@umw.edu or 654-1027.

