Author: Brynn Boyer

Congratulations to Dan Quann, director of maintenance services, who has been selected as the Excellent Eagle Employee for the month of February. A parking spot of his choosing has been reserved for him through the end of the month.

Here is what one of his co-workers said about him:

“I recommend Dan Quann for his above-and-beyond prosecution of several recent incidents, including:

• Repair of steam line and water line leak between Brent Hall and Marshall Hall

• Clean-up following the Mason-Randolph fire sprinkler episode

• Flooding of Eagle Landing this past weekend

While his presence was not required during any of these repairs, Dan spent much of his personal time after hours and on two weekends to ensure that the repairs were completed as quickly as possible.”

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).

University of Mary Washington Associate Professor of English Gary Richards will discuss images of the U. S. South in Broadway musicals during an interview scheduled to air on the “With Good Reason” public radio program. The show, “The Gospel Roots of Rock and Roll,” will air beginning Saturday, Feb. 16.

Gary Richards

During the program, Richards will argue that despite the popularity of musicals like Porgy and Bess and Showboat, musicals with southern themes tend to have a negative view of the region and don’t reflect its diversity today. As part of the program, Longwood University professor Chris Kjorness will discuss the legacy of gospel musician and singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Richards, who serves as chair of the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication, is an expert on southern literature and culture, American fiction, contemporary drama and sexuality studies. His book Lovers and Beloveds: Sexual Otherness in Southern Fiction, 1936-1961 was named Choice Outstanding Academic Title in 2005. He has written several book chapters, including most recently “Everybody’s Graphic Protest Novel: Stuck Rubber Baby and the Anxieties of Racial Difference” in Comics and the U.S. South. His articles and essays have been published in Journal of American Studies, North Carolina Literary Review and Mississippi Quarterly, among other publications.

Richards earned a Ph.D. and an M.A. from Vanderbilt University and a bachelor’s degree from Trinity University (San Antonio). His understanding of various southern cultures draws in part on his years of residence in several major southern cities, including Dallas (1969-1987), San Antonio (1987-1991), Nashville (1991-1997), New Orleans (1997-2008), and now Fredericksburg.

“With Good Reason” airs weekly in Fredericksburg on Sundays from 1-2 p.m. on Radio IQ 88.3 Digital. To listen from outside of the Fredericksburg area, a complete list of air times and links to corresponding radio stations can be found at http://withgoodreasonradio.org/when-to-listen/.

“With Good Reason” is the only statewide public radio program in Virginia. It hosts scholars from Virginia’s public colleges and universities who discuss the latest in research, pressing social issues and the curious and whimsical. “With Good Reason” is produced for the Virginia Higher Education Broadcasting Consortium by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and is broadcast in partnership with public radio stations in Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Picking up right where we left off last semester, the “Office Sustainability Tip of the Week” is back!  If you’re new to this series, the “Office Sustainability Tip of the Week” is a weekly article featuring different ideas and suggestions that hopefully people will put into practice in order to create more sustainable office environments.  And sometimes, we like to look outside of the office as well.

Did you know January is the most popular month for joining a gym?  We indulge a bit more than we wanted to during those last few weeks of December, and then come January 1st, we’re making plans to join a gym, go seven times a week, and lose 40lbs in a month.  Obviously very achievable goals.  We know that you have probably already started to see results, so maybe now is the time to think about donating all those clothes you no longer fit into/no longer wear.  It is estimated that the typical American discards approximately 68 pounds of used clothing a year, resulting in two quadrillion pounds of clothing being tossed into our landfills every year.  Therefore, in addition to donating to those in need, donating your used clothes or items to charities is one of the easiest ways to help the environment.  You can also deduct your contributions from your taxes as you would a monetary donation.  Furthermore, you can start the new year off right by clearing clutter from your house.  Before you know it Spring will be here — so get a jump on that annual Spring cleaning!  Here are just a few organizations that accept clothing donations:

• American Red Cross  (collects clothes, paired shoes, handbags, linens, stuffed animals, small toys; will come to your home to collect any clean, wearable, unwanted clothing)
• Vietnam Veterans of America (Pick Up Please can pick up your donation within 24 hours in many areas; your donation of clothes, household goods, books, shoes, small appliances, electronics, and more make a big difference in the lives of America’s Veterans and their families. The items you donate generate the majority of the funding to support the local, state, and national programs of the Vietnam Veterans of America)
• The Salvation Army  (one of the more well known charitable organizations, you can go to their website to find a nearby location or schedule a pick-up)
• Dress for Success (The mission of Dress for Success is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life)
• Big Brother Big Sister Foundation (When you donate clothing and other items to the BBBS Foundation, the donations are sold in bulk at their own “Big B” thrift store and other stores. The net profits then go to BBBS mentoring organizations. During times of need, donations are given to families)

This article is not a means of officially endorsing any of the above organizations, but rather just giving the reader some suggestions of places to look into if you are considering donating clothes or other items to charity.  Of course, you can also donate locally — churches, thrift stores, homeless shelters, school clothing drives, etc.  Rappahannock Goodwill Industries contains a list of goodwill stores in the area that you can bring your items to donate.  The goal should simply be to DONATE your used clothes as opposed to throwing them out.  Help others, help yourself, and help the environment!  We know what you’re thinking (“But what if I gain weight back?  I may need those old clothes!”).  Don’t be such a pessimist!  We KNOW you’re going to keep that weight off, so it’s time to buy yourself some new threads and donate the old ones to charity!  And don’t forget — Faculty/Staff and Faculty/Staff secondary card holders (a spouse or partner) are eligible to use the UMW Fitness Center with a UMW ID Card.  Plan your work-outs around your work schedule and you’ll not only save money by avoiding high fitness center/gym fees, but you’ll also be helping out the environment by reducing the amount of car trips you make by going to another fitness center/gym.

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.

The UMW men’s basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. will celebrate Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day. The Eagles will host Southern Virginia University. All faculty and staff are admitted free of charge, and there will be a reception for faculty, staff and their families in the Eagle Lounge at halftime and after the game. The Eagle Lounge is located in the hallway of Goolrick, across from the main office. For more information, please contact Clint Often at 540-654-1743.

Mehdi Aminrazavi, professor of philosophy and religion, recently published a new book:

An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia: From the School of Illumination to Philosophical Mysticism, co-edited with S. H. Nasr. Vol. 4. London: I. B. Tauris, 2012.

http://www.ibtauris.com/Search%20Results.aspx?query=an+anthology+of+philosophy+in+persia

The fourth volume of An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia deals with one of the richest and least known periods of philosophical life in Persia, the centuries between the thirteenth century which saw the eclipse of the school of Khurasan and the sixteenth century which coincided with the rise of the Safavids.  The main schools dealt with in this volume are the Peripatetic (mashsha’i) School, the School of Illumination (ishraq) of Suhrawardi, and various forms of philosophical Sufism, especially the school of Ibn ‘Arabi, which had its origins in the works of Ghazzali and ‘Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani.  This period was also notable for the philosopher-scientists such as Nasir al-Din Tusi and Qutb al-Din Shirazi.