Author: Brynn Boyer

As a state employee, please remember you can take advantage of the discounts on this page: http://www.dhrm.virginia.gov/employeediscounts.html.

Employee Banking Opportunities and Discounts:

To view the list of participating financial institutions, visit: http://adminfinance.umw.edu/hr/benefits/banking-information/.

UMW: A Great Place to Work:

Click on the link below to see a highlight of the major benefits and perks available to you just for working at UMW!

http://adminfinance.umw.edu/hr/benefits/benefits-of-working-umw/

The Center for International Education is happy to announce the installation of a new wayfarer’s sign on Campus Walk in front of Lee Hall. The sign provides distances from UMW to various global cities, many of which are popular study abroad destinations. It’s part of the Center’s “You Can Get There from Here” campaign, designed to raise awareness about education abroad opportunities and contribute to the internationalization of our campus.

Several of University of Mary Washington’s digital initiatives, including ds106, the newly minted Digital Studies Minor, and Domain of One’s Own, were featured in an article this past Monday in the Free Lance-Star titled “UMW Gives Credit to the Digital World.”  The article celebrates the brave new digital world emerging at UMW, driven by a legacy of projects in the digital arena that’s been happening at UMW for almost a decade.  It is truly encouraging to see the UMW community recognized locally for its pioneering work in the digital arena.

We wanted to use this week’s entry to point out a very good article written by author and Duke University professor Dan Ariely entitled   “How To Turn Consumers Green.”  In the article, Ariely examines why even though studies show that, as a majority, people are altruistic and put the happiness and well-being of others (future generations in the case of environmental concerns) above their own, they often have difficulty aligning their behaviors with their intentions.  As illustrated in the following excerpt from the article:

“Information clearly isn’t the problem in the sustainability realm. We are inundated with statistics on global warming, water conservation, fuel efficiency, and myriad other environmental concerns. This information is right at our fingertips, readily available and sometimes even shoved into our ear canals. Yet it doesn’t seem to get results. While we may be able to change beliefs through informational appeals, igniting action is a different story. If we want to influence behavior, we can’t assume that providing information will do the trick.”

The article goes on to suggest some very practical ways to adopt behavioral changes that will carry through over the long term, from making important environmental decisions during a major life event (such as buying a house) to using children as a motivating factor for making change (the article highlights how children were instrumental in anti-smoking and seatbelt campaigns).

Hopefully you will enjoy the article and learn some things you may not have thought about before.  If you have any suggestions for things we can all do differently each day to create more sustainable environments, please feel free to leave a comment or email me the idea to be featured in a future Tip of the Week.

The PCS Action Group members for the “Office Sustainability Tip of the Week” are Kevin Caffrey, Elizabeth Sanders, Robert Louzek, and Dre Anthes.

Last week’s Tip of the Week: Utilizing MS Office Folders to Save Paper

Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont has received a 100-year-old painting on long-term loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The painting, “In The Studio,” is the highlight of a special exhibition in Belmont’s Studio Gallery, along with two early studies for the painting and a related photograph.

In the Studio, (Gari Melchers and Hugo Reisinger), Gari Melchers (American, Detroit, Michigan 1860–1932 Falmouth, Virginia), 1912

Artist Gari Melchers painted “In The Studio” in 1912 at the peak of his career. The painting depicts the artist at his easel with prominent German businessman, art patron and friend Hugo Reisinger. Reisinger worked with Melchers on a number of cultural exchanges including contemporary art exhibitions between Germany and the United States. Reisinger’s son gave “In The Studio” to The Met in 1956.

Gari Melchers Home and Studio is a 28-acre estate and former residence of the artist Gari Melchers and his wife Corinne. The property, which is operated by the University of Mary Washington, is both a Virginia Historic Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. Located at 224 Washington St. in Falmouth, Va., a quarter mile west of the intersection of U.S. 1 and U.S. 17, it is open daily with an admission charge. The museum also serves as the official Stafford County Visitor Center. For directions and other information, call (540) 654-1015 or visit the museum website at http://garimelchers.umw.edu.

# # #

News release prepared by: Michelle Crow-Dolby