Grain & Chaff

Key member

Elisa Campbell, publishing coordinator at the Office of Information Technologies, was honored May 25 by local and national officers of Phi Beta Kappa for her 10 years of service as officer and member of the campus chapter's election committee. Campbell was cited for her work as the editor of OIT's newsletter, her interest in preservation and conservation and her service as a member and chair of the Amherst selectboard. Campbell was elected to Nu Chapter as an undergraduate at UMass, where she later received her Ph.D. in English.

Advise and present

Karen Lederer, chief undergraduate advisor in the Women's Studies Program, has been selected to present a workshop at National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) national conference in Salt Lake City this fall. Lederer originally presented the workshop, "Non-Traditional Advising and Boundaries" at the NACADA Region I conference in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. in March, where it earned "Best of Region" honors. The best of region winners from the association's 10 regions are automatically accepted for presentation at the national meeting. Lederer's workshop is based on interviews she conducted during her professional improvement leave. NACADA's national conference is scheduled for Sept. 29 to Oct. 2.

Sternheim enshrined

Morton Sternheim, professor emeritus of Physics, was inducted May 2 into the Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Science Educators during the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Association of Science Educators. The honor is reserved for teachers, from the pre-kindergarten to college levels, who have distinguished themselves as dedicated, exemplary educators over a long period of time. About 60 other educators from across the state have been inducted since 1992.

Sternheim was recognized for his career in physics education and his service as director of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Teacher Education Collaborative (STEMTEC).

As the hall of fame announcement noted, "His interest and kindness to all his students is well known and he has done much to bridge the gap between the university and other teaching levels in our state."

Leading role

Classics professor Kenneth F. Kitchell, Jr. has been elected the 17th president of the American Classical League, founded in 1919 to foster the study of classical languages in the United States and Canada. Kitchell will take office at the close of the ACL annual institute on June 29 in Madison, Wisc. The league includes teachers of Latin, Greek and Classics on elementary, secondary and college levels. Kitchell is the third Amherst campus faculty member to head the ACL. Gilbert Lawall served as president from 1976-80 and the late Edward Phinney held the post from 1986-90.

Conference calls

The Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures was well represented at the 37th International Congress on Medieval Studies held last month at Western Michigan University. Participating in the conference were professor James E. Cathey, associate professor Robert Sullivan and master's student Shawn Boyd. Cathey presented a paper titled "Reading the Heliand" during a session devoted to the Old Saxon verse epic. During a session on "New Research in Medieval German Studies I," Boyd read a paper on "Sigfried as Ministerial: Evidence from Handschrift A of the Nibelungenlied." Sullivan represented the New England Medieval Conference at a session sponsored by the Medieval Academy of America. ... The Department of Nutrition made several presentations at the American College of Sports Medicine National Conference held May 28 through June 1 in St. Louis.

Stella Volpe, associate professor of Nutrition, discussed the effects of L-carnitine and calcium on weight loss in a mini-symposium entitled "Effects of Supplements on Endurance Performance and Fat Metabolism," which she also chaired. Volpe also chaired free communications sessions on dietary supplements and lipid metabolism. Graduate student Chris Mohr presented his research on the "Effect of Zinc Supplementation on Resting Metabolic Rate and Body Composition" and alumna May May Leung spoke about a study, "Effect of Peer Education on Sport Nutrition Knowledge in Middle School Children," of which she was the project manager.