auburn magazine spring 2013

A Life of CrimeNoir fiction writer Ace Atkins ’94

sets his sights on the Spenser detective series

In His Own Words

Retired athletics director David Housel ’69 looks

forward and back

SPRING 2013

SPORTS Reviving the Malzahn magic pg. 26

HISTORY ‘Lost Auburn’ lives on pg. 36

FEATURE Why is everybody so angry? pg. 44

Living SouthernJames Farmer ’04 knows

what you knead

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REWARD YOURSELFANDAUBURNSTUDENTS

The Spirit of Auburn credit card is made possible by the Auburn Spirit Foundation for Scholarships (ASFS), which is affiliated with Auburn University. This advertisement was paid for by the ASFS.For information about the rates, fees, other costs, and benefits associated with the use of these cards or to apply, visit www.auburn. edu/spiritcard and refer to the disclosures accompanying the online credit card application. This credit card program is issued and administered by FIA Card Services, N.A. Visa and Visa Signature are registered trademarks of Visa International Service Association and are used by the issuer pursuant to license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated and used by the issuer pursuant to license. BankAmericard Cash Rewards is a trademark and Bank of America and the Bank of America logo are registered trademarks of Bank of America Corporation.© 2013 Bank of America Corporation.

You love Auburn. Maybe you’re a graduate who fondly remembers your time on the Plains, or maybe you’ve always been a lifelong fan. You now have the opportunity to help the university that you hold dear and reward yourself at the same time.

You can choose from two new cash rewards cards that honor the tradition and spirit of Auburn University, both featuring iconic Auburn images.

Why should you consider one of these cards over others?• These cards contribute to Auburn’s scholarship fund, at no additional cost to you. You share the Auburn spirit by helping to provide academic scholarships, welcoming new students to the Auburn Family. To date, this program has generated more than $6.7 million for scholarships.

• And while you’re helping Auburn students, you automatically earn cash back on all your everyday purchases too – with no expiration on rewards. War Eagle to that!

For details or to apply, visit www.auburn.edu/spiritcard.

Get more cash back for the things you buy most.

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Grocery and gas bonus rewards apply to the first $1,500 in combined purchases in these categories each quarter.

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Heart of AuburnIf this January campus view looks unfamiliar, look for what’s missing. At the far right is the roof of the Auburn Alumni Center. Straight ahead: the corner of Funchess Hall. What’s missing on South College is the Heart of Auburn Inn and Hotel, which came down last month after a half-century to make way for a new shopping center, The Shoppes at The Heart of Auburn. Photograph by Jeff Etheridge

4 Auburn Magazine a u a l u m . o r g

S P R I N G 2 0 1 3

From the Editor

INTERIM EDITOR

Suzanne Johnson

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Shannon Bryant-Hankes ’84

ART DIRECTOR

Stacy Lipscomb

WEBMASTER Dylan Parker

UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHER

Jeff Etheridge

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Bradley Roberts ’13

DESIGN ASSISTANT

Courtney Collins ’13

ADVERTISING ASSISTANT

Allison Swindle ’13

PRESIDENT, AUBURN UNIVERSITY

Jay Gogue ’69

VICE PRESIDENT FOR ALUMNI AFFAIRS AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AUBURN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Deborah L. Shaw ’84

PRESIDENT, AUBURN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Bill Stone ’85

AUBURN MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD CHAIR

Neal Reynolds ’77

AUBURN MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD

Maria Baugh ’87 John Carvalho ’78

Jon Cole ’88 Christian Flathman ’97

Tom Ford ’67 Kay Fuston ’84 Julie Keith ’90

Mary Lou Foy ’66 Eric Ludgood ’78

Cindy McDaniel ’80 Napo Monasterio ’02

Carol Pappas ’77 Joyce Reynolds Ringer ’59

Allen Vaughan ’75

AUBURN MAGAZINE (ISSN 1077–8640) is published quarterly; 4X per year; spring, summer, fall, winter, for dues-paying members of the Auburn Alumni Association. Periodicals-class postage paid in Auburn and additional mailing offices. Editorial offices are located in the Auburn Alumni Center, 317 South College St., Auburn University, AL 36849-5149. Phone 334-844–1164. Fax 334-844–1477. Email: [email protected]. Contents ©2013 by the Auburn Alumni As-sociation, all rights reserved.

ADVERTISING INFORMATION Contact Suzanne Johnson at 334-844–1164 or [email protected].

POSTMASTER Send address changes to AU Records, 317 Sourth College St., Auburn, AL 36849–5149, or [email protected].

LETTERS Auburn Magazine welcomes readers’ comments, but reserves the right to edit letters or to refuse publication of letters judged libelous or distasteful. Space availability may prevent publication of all letters in the magazine, in which case, letters not printed will be available on the alumni association website at the address listed below. No writer is eligible for publication more often than once every two issues. No anonymous letters will be accepted. Auburn Magazine is available in alternative formats for persons with disabilities. For information, call 334-844–1164. Auburn Magazine is a benefit of membership in the Auburn Alumni Association and is not available by individual subscription. To join, call 334-844–2586 or visit the association’s web-site at www.aualum.org.

[email protected]

Auburn University has always been a place where tradition means something, where the tangible connections with those who came before help center us in the present and lead us into the future.

It doesn’t really matter whether it was in the 1940s or ’50s or ’70s when we started rolling the trees at Toomer’s Corner; the cel-ebrations became every bit as much a tradi-tion as saying “War Eagle” in greeting or holding the Auburn Creed deep in our hearts. We know the spirit behind our tradi-tions can’t be damaged, but it still hurt when the trees around which our important moments often centered were poisoned.

The news is official now. Despite mam-moth efforts on the part of the horticultur-ists on campus, the oaks at Toomer’s Cor-ner are dying. They will be removed later this spring to make way for a temporary structure that fans will be able to roll in the fall and, later, the placement of new, fully grown oaks.

But not before A-Day. On April 20, we will roll the oaks one final time.

After the A-Day game (and a chance to get a sneak peek at Coach Gus Malzahn’s re-vamped Tigers football team), Auburn fans are invited to Toomer’s Corner for a celebra-tion of Auburn Spirit and Auburn Family. Roll the oaks, take photos, enjoy live music, and take a stroll around downtown.

Game time had not been confirmed when this issue of Auburn Magazine went to press, but additional information can be found on Page 14 of this issue, and updates provided at www.auburn.edu/oaks.

We have another goodbye to impart in this column. For the past seven years, Au-

burn Magazine editor Betsy Robertson has used this space to share her perspectives of life on the Plains, as seen from a third-floor perch in the Auburn Alumni Center.

At the end of December, Betsy left Au-burn for a position as a national account representative for Lane Press (which does such a wonderful job of printing the maga-zine you hold in your hands). Although Lane is headquartered in cold, snowy Ver-mont, Betsy will be able to work from the Atlanta area and be nearer her family.

In 2007, after almost 15 years in New Orleans as editor of the magazine at Tulane University (and before that, almost ten years at Rice University in Houston), I met Betsy at an editors’ conference in Chicago. I was heading into my third year of rebuild-ing in a city still reeling from Hurricane Ka-trina, and my ears perked up at the news that Auburn Magazine was looking for an associate editor. Six months later, I returned to my home state of Alabama and came to work at one of the most awesome places on earth. (Or is that “AUsome”?)

Even as we all bid Betsy farewell and wish her the best in her new position, I’m honored to be able to step into the editor’s spot on an interim basis. You’ll always find my office door open, both literally and vir-tually, so I hope you’ll share your story ideas, accomplishments, news and opinions as we move forward.

War Eagle—and I’ll see you at the corner on April 20.

Fond farewellsSUZANNE JOHNSONInterim Editor, Auburn Magazine

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This is Service.

This is Marian.

Congratulations to Honors College senior Marian Royston on being awarded one of the nation’s most selective fellowships, the Mitchell Scholarship, to study in Northern Ireland next year. Only 12 students in the U.S. are selected annually for the fellowship that is based on scholarship, leadership, and a commitment to community and public service. She will pursue a master’s degree in leadership for sustainable rural development at Queens University Belfast.

Marian said, “Entering Auburn, I knew I wanted to prepare myself to positively influence the lives of others living in rural towns like my hometown of Roanoke, so I decided on a career in public interest law.”

Marian started at Auburn with several academic scholarships and continued to receive accolades and prestigious scholarship awards throughout her career. She has participated in the Appalachian Community Development Alternative Spring Break; she is a mentor with the Macon County Youth Development Initiative; and last summer she was a Living Democracy Fellow in Hobson City, Alabama’s first African-American municipality.

To learn more about Marian’s contributions, visit our website:

www.auburn.edu/thisisauburn

This is Auburn.

This is Scholarship.

7a u a l u m . o r g Auburn Magazine

Spring 2013

F R O N T

4 From the Editor

A couple of goodbyes, and a hearty hello.

8 The First Word

Readers sound off about what they’d like to see us do more—and less—in Auburn Magazine.

10 College Street

Auburn’s new Poultry and Animal Nutrition Center is a feed mill for the future; the city meets the forest; and a general returns to the Plains.

16 Research

University researchers hit the ice in Antarctica; senior adults benefit from talking avatars; a better base for boosters.

20 Roundup

What’s happening in your college? Check it out.

22 Concourse

The Auburn Tigers get ready for the national championships—the Auburn Flying Tigers, that is.

F E A T U R E S

30 Southern StyleJames Farmer is everywhere these days, stirring up recipes for a better home and garden from the pages of Southern Living to the studios of NBC’s “Today” to the shelves of your local bookstore.

26 Tiger Walk The face might not be new, but the return of Gus Malzahn brings a new energy and renewed expectations for Auburn football. Also: Wheel-chair basketball rolls on.

B A C K

49 Alumni Center

The year in review for the Auburn Alumni As-sociation. Plus: Auburn Clubs recognition and Tiger Trek plans.

52 Class Notes

56 In Memoriam

64 The Last Word

A young mother hugs her daughters a little tighter after the De-cember events at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.

There’s nothing more Southern than a light, fluffy buttermilk biscuit made by hand, and James Farmer’s not afraid to dig in.

Cadets at Auburn train depot around 1901

How does his garden grow? From a green-thumb beginning in landscape design, James Farmer ’04 has branched out into all aspects of living well, Southern-style. Meet a Renaissance man of flora, fauna, furnishings and food.

Towering through the trees

Women’s tennis got off to a strong start in January.

Tiger Trek is around the corner.

On the cover

by jamie creamerphotograhy by helen norman

36 Lost AuburnA trio of historians go in search of the images and stories in danger of disappearing beneath fading memories and the perils of progress. The result? A new book that celebrates the Auburn of old. by suzanne johnson

44 Fear and LoathingBlame it on the economy, politicians, the media, big business—or even the weather. Whatever the cause, there’s no doubt about it: everybody’s downright angry these days.by suzanne johnson


L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R

The First Word

THE TOPIC What would you like to see more (or less) of in Auburn Magazine in the coming year? Lend your voice to our long-range planning efforts. Share your thoughts on all things Auburn: Write Auburn Magazine, 317 South College St., Auburn, AL 36849, or email [email protected]. Mentor memories As a student in the early 1980s, I worked for David Housel in Auburn’s sports information department. He was my mentor much like Shug Jordan was his.

I know how much the Iron Bowl meant to David. I was walking out of Legion Field with him a couple of hours after the incredible 21-17 win against Alabama—when Lawyer Tillman scored on a reverse with less than 30 seconds left.

David regularly said he didn’t care who won on the field as long as we (the sports information department) won in the press box. But that wasn’t always true, especially on that day.

I was celebrating our third win in five years against our rivals from Tuscaloosa. David was very emotional and reminded me “that was only the

seventh win against Alabama in the last 28 years,” and I could tell how much that particular victory meant to him.

Three years later I hugged David—and everyone else I could find—while ankle-deep in toilet paper at the intersection of Magnolia and College after the 1989 Alabama game, our fourth victory in a row against the Tide.

The rivalry has shifted since that night in 1986, with Auburn winning 15 of the last 27. And, in my opinion, David had a lot to do with that.—Jeff Stumb ’86, Hampton Cove, Ala.

Auburn Magazine: More, and less

Each quarter the Auburn Magazine staff sends out an email survey to a random sampling of Auburn Alumni Association members asking you, our readers, what you want to see in the magazine. Of what things would you like to see us cover more—or less?

In the surveys sent out following the Fall 2012 and Winter 2012 issues, which mailed in August and November, survey respondents told us they’d

like to see more Auburn University history and tradition—a lot more.

Although not as heavily mentioned, areas in which you’d like to see more articles include stories about fellow alumni, campus news, Auburn Club activities, and athletics.

Areas that survey respondents thought we cover more than they’d like include faculty research and social issues with Auburn connections—although in both categories the majority of respondents felt the coverage was about right overall.

Not everyone who receives the magazine, of course, receives the surveys, and we’d love to hear from more of you as we look at our editorial calendar for the coming year and start important discussions about what our articles, writing, pho-tography and design will look like over the next few issues.

What would you like to see us doing more often? What could you live without? Email us at [email protected], and lend your voice to our discussions.


Situated on the charming campus of Auburn University, just a short walk from quaint, historic downtown Auburn.

AN AUBURNTRADITION

241 South College Street • Auburn, Alabama 36830Direct: 334-821-8200 • Fax: 334-826-8755 • [email protected] • www.auhcc.com

Individuals & Groups, Alumni, Family & Friends, Meetings, Conferences & Special Events


C A M P U S N E W S

COLLEGE STREET

Gen. Ron Burgess,

a 38-year U.S. Army

veteran who spent much

of his career in the

upper levels of military

intelligence and secu-

rity, has joined Auburn

University as senior

counsel for national se-

curity programs, cyber

programs and military

affairs.

A 1974 Auburn

graduate (and 2013

winner of the Lifetime

Achievement Award

from the Auburn Alumni

Association), Burgess

served as director of

the U.S. Defense Intel-

ligence Agency from

2009 until July 2012,

prior to his September

retirement from the

Army. At Auburn he

will work in coordina-

tion with the univer-

sity’s Office of the Vice

President for Research,

providing guidance,

direction and support

to a broad range of in-

terdisciplinary research

initiatives.

“Gen. Burgess is a

heavyweight player in

the defense intelligence

arena,” said David

Umphress, associate

professor of computer

science and software

engineering. “We are

looking to him to help

us develop a big-picture

perspective of how

the software cyber

security research being

conducted by the finest

students around can be

shaped to the benefit of

the nation.”

Burgess will be an

integral part of the

Auburn University Cyber

Initiative, and his office

will be located at the

new cyber training and

laboratory facilities in

the Auburn University

Regional Airport.

Working with faculty

and research staff, Bur-

gess will specifically

promote and advance

Auburn University’s

technical expertise and

leadership in cyber

education and training;

open source intelligence

and analysis; and cyber

security to include

information assurance,

intrusion detection and

critical infrastructure

protection.

SAFE AND SECURE

Auburn University’s new $7.1 million Poultry and Animal Nutrition Center, an academic and research feed production facility located on a 50-acre site north of campus, opened in mid-November in what Auburn president Jay Gogue called “the result of a great partnership between the university and agribusiness.”

The feed mill has had strong industry support since plans began taking shape in early 2008, when a technical advisory committee that included poultry nutrition-ists and feed mill personnel was formed to provide input on the facility’s design and equipment. Thus far, more than 40 corpo-rations have donated to the facility, in-cluding $750,000 in equipment.

The feed mill’s opening coincides with the 150th anniversary of the 1862 Mor-rill Land-Grant Act, which established a system of public universities intended to provide practical education to the sons and daughters of America’s working class. Auburn and the more than 100 other land-grant universities nationwide have a threefold mission of teaching, re-search and outreach. Auburn officials say the Poultry and Animal Nutrition Center is poised to enhance programs in all three areas.

Housed inside a 12,500-square-foot

steel building, the new feed mill compris-es nine prefabricated modules, each 40 feet long by 8 feet wide by almost 10 feet high. The modules were manufactured in Minnesota, trucked 1,100-plus miles to Auburn on nine flatbed trailers and then assembled on-site in stacks of three.

The modular design is “a small-scale adaptation of a commercial mega-facili-ty” and is ideal for teaching, said Don Conner, head of the Department of Poul-try Science at Auburn and the driving force in moving the feed mill from an idea to reality.

“Students can come in here and stand in one place and see every step of the milling process and how all the pieces work to-gether,” Conner said. “Students want and need hands-on, real-world experience, and they’re going to get that here.”

The feed mill will be operated primari-ly by students as part of the poultry sci-ence curriculum.

“We’re in the process of putting to-gether an Introduction to Feed Milling course, and we’re going to move labs in some of our existing courses out here as well,” Conner said. “We also are go-ing to develop more aggressive courses that eventually will be part of a degree program in feed-mill management.”

Grist for the mill


C O L L E G E S T R E E T

Flashback

AU

BU

RN

UN

IVE

RS

ITY

LIB

RA

RIE

S

100 years ago Spring 1913

The university was buzz-ing as the flying carousel horses of a merry-go-round made their first appearance in Auburn as part of a traveling show. People from all over the county came to witness the spectacle they’d only read about as flashing lights and the soft hum of music provided the perfect backdrop for an event that would be long remembered by those in attendance.


Alabama Polytechnic Institute, while highly competitive in football, basketball, baseball and other college athletics, had yet to add two sports popular at other schools—until the spring of 1938, when API introduced tennis and golf, inviting any interested students to form teams. It would be another decade before intercol-legiate competition reached the Plains.


More than $2.5 million was raised as part of the Auburn University Development Program in a precursor to the modern-day capital cam-paign. President Ralph B. Draughon called reaching this fundraising goal one of the greatest moments in the history of the university. The goal of the program was to expand the univer-sity’s academic offerings.


Vice President William Brandt retired amid con-troversy after 39 years at Auburn. The announce-ment of his retirement came shortly after he had overturned a ruling made by an academic honesty committee that had suspended an Auburn quarterback for allegedly plagiariz-ing a psychology term paper. The student failed the course, but was ultimately able to play football again.


Under the direction of Jean-Marie Wersinger, Auburn University became the first school in Alabama to successfully launch and recover a high-altitude balloon satellite. The goal of the Auburn Student Satellite Program was to build satellites that would be able to compete with aerospace engineering firms. Last October, a student-built satellite called Aubie-SAT launched into space aboard a NASA-sponsored Delta II rocket.

Above: It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s an....egg? In the annual egg drop competition, students competed to see which teams could construct a structure that would protect an egg from breaking after a drop from the height of a three-story building.



In the last few weeks, I’ve heard from many in the Auburn Family, and I appreciate every email, letter and tele-phone call. I’m hearing them talk about get-ting on board the Gus Bus. Of course, I’m re-ferring to the naming of Gus Malzahn as

Auburn’s new head football coach.When introduced to the news media in

November, Gus showed why he won the unanimous and enthusiastic selection of the search committee. Full of energy, de-termination, focus and optimism, he de-scribed a strategic vision for Auburn foot-ball centered on winning the right way and the best interests of student-athletes.

The Department of Athletics, in keep-ing with the mission of the university, has sought to win championships, educate its student-athletes, manage its fiscal affairs in a responsible manner, abide by the rules, and grow and improve the game-day experience, thereby bringing credit to Auburn and its people. In the process, it has attained a number of accolades in the past few years.• Four H. Boyd McWhorter winners over the past five years, more than any other school in the SEC.• All 21 athletic teams exceeded the NCAA benchmark for academic success in the 2011-12 academic year.• Student-athletes have been among the top six national finalists for two consecu-tive years for the Walter Byers Award.• Auburn has had eight SEC Scholar-Ath-letes of the Year across six different sports in past two years.• Some 249 student-athletes have been named Academic “Top Tigers” for post-ing a 3.0 or higher GPA in the 2011-12 year, a school record.• There were 154 student-athletes who earned SEC Academic Honor Roll honors in 2011-12.

• Four student-athletes were Rhodes Scholar finalists, and one was a Rhodes winner, in the past four years, more than any other SEC school.• Fifty-one percent of current student-athletes have a 3.0 or higher GPA.• Student-athletes, coaches and staff per-form approximately 1,000 hours of com-munity service annually.• Auburn athletes finished in the top 10 percent of the NACDA Directors Cup for eight consecutive years.• Auburn and Georgia lead the SEC in na-tional titles since 2004 with 12 each. Na-tional champion teams include football, men’s swimming and diving, women’s swimming and diving, equestrian, and women’s outdoor track and field. [Some of our swimming and diving champions are shown below.]

• Auburn athletes have won 24 SEC titles in the past 10 years, the fourth most in the conference.• The men’s swimming and diving team has won 16 consecutive SEC Championships, the longest winning streak in the SEC.• Auburn has the only team in the SEC to win 10 consecutive titles in the past 10 years. • The women’s golf team has won SEC titles in three of the last four years and six in the past 10 years.

War Eagle!

[email protected]

JAY GOGUE ’69President, Auburn University

Hovering TigersReady for a Hovering Iron Bowl? Members of the Auburn University Hovering Tigers, the university’s 10-year-old hovercraft team, will take on the fledgling team from Alabama at the University Hoverbowl Challenge. The event, spon-sored by Hoverclub of America, will be held March 16-17 at Lake Lurleen State Park in Tuscaloosa. A hovercraft is an air-cushioned vessel that can travel at high speeds just over the surface of a body of water.

Coming back to Auburn

in April for the Golden

Eagles festivities or the

A-Day celebration? Here

are a few changes to

check out when you

arrive:

• The Lowder Business

Building, off of West

Magnolia Avenue, is

receiving the final

touches to its facelift.

Over the past two years,

the building’s façade has

been re-bricked, plus it

sports a new roof,

windows, entrance doors

and waterproofing.

• A new $16.3 million

building to house the

Department of

Kinesiology is nearing

completion near Wire

Road and adjacent to the

outdoor swimming area.

The building will offer

70,000 square feet of

usable space.

• A Biodiversity Learning

Center, scheduled for

completion in March,

will house biological-

specimen collections

currently housed in the

91-year-old Physiology

Building. The old

building is scheduled for

demolition.

• The $8 million Biggio

Drive Parking Facility,

due for completion in

April, will ease the

university’s persistent

parking shortage,

providing an extra 566

spaces in a three-level

concrete structure.

• The new 245,000-

square-foot residence

facility at South

Donahue and West

Samford Avenue will be

completed in July,

offering 209 suites and

426 beds to replace the

recently demolished

Sewell Hall.

• Adjacent to the parking

facility is the new

240,000-square-foot,

$53 million Recreation

and Wellness Center.

Scheduled for comple-

tion in May, the facility

will have six regulation

basketball courts,

several racquetball

courts, a weight room,

indoor exercise track,

climbing wall and more.

More changes will be

coming this summer as

the university prepares

to build a biological

engineering research

laboratory and a Center

for Advanced Science

Innovation and

Commerce. —Bradley

Roberts

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THE FINAL ROLL After this year’s A-Day game on April 20, fans will gather at Toomer’s Corner to mark the end of one era

and the beginning of another. The downtown block party will give fans one last time to roll the historic oaks, take photos and

celebrate the Auburn spirit before the trees are removed a couple of weeks later. After two years of intensive work to save

the trees following their poisoning in 2010, AU officials no longer believe the oaks can survive. The university is working with

licensed companies to create official keepsakes from the wood that will be sold to raise funds for student scholarships. For

more information, including the latest on the time for the celebration and the ongoing plans for an alternate structure to be

in place for “rolling the corner” this fall, please visit www.auburn.edu/oaks.

JE

FF

ET

HE

RID

GE

Two years ago, that new

laptop or cell phone

was your shiny, speedy

lifeline to the world. Now,

with a shinier, speedier

model on your

desk, what

can you do

with the dinosaur?

Multiply that dilemma

across a large college

campus, and welcome to

the world of Bill Capps.

In a room of Auburn

University’s Surplus

Property Building sit 12

pallets of 6-foot-tall plas-

tic-wrapped columns of

computers, monitors and

other electronic compo-

nents. In the course of

one month in late 2012,

the surplus-property

department gathered

nearly 10,000 pounds

of electronic waste from

across campus. If thrown

in a landfill, these ma-

chines could leach lead,

mercury or arsenic into

the ground, air or water.

The plastic, metal and

glass components would

never degrade and would

remain in the landfill

forever.

Which is why surplus

property manager Capps

and his team have their

hands full. When it’s time

to replace a computer on

campus, the passé PCs

and antiquated Apples

come to them for sorting

into what’s usable and

what isn’t.

Capps estimates that

Auburn had 62 tons of

e-waste in 2011, includ-

ing items like computer

monitors, printers, fax

machines and other

computer parts.

Capps says surplus

properties first looks to

sell or give the usable

electronics to public

schools in Alabama, other

campus departments or

Alabama state-funded

agencies. If no one wants

them, the electronics are

marked for recycling.

Auburn uses Creative

Recycling, a Tampa-

based company that

picks up e-waste free of

charge and disposes of

it properly. Most of the

components are reused

or recycled.

Meet the ProfWei Ren ’09Research Fellow, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences

BACKSTORY Before receiving her PhD from Auburn University in 2009 in forestry, Ren conducted both her undergraduate and master’s studies at the Nan-jing Institute of Meteorology in China. “When I was in China, I got an opportunity to be involved with an international project led by Dr. Hanqin Tian, my supervisor at Auburn,” Ren said. “He encouraged me to continue my research at the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, where I got a good education and full support by two NASA-funded programs from 2006-2009.”

GLOBAL IMPACT The research Ren has been con-ducting since her return to Auburn can help people better understand the impact on our ecosystem of human activities and climate changes. “We are living in a tightly connected world,” she said. “My research over the past several years has focused on China and Asia, the most populated and rapidly developing regions in the world. Those findings could contribute to better understanding interac-tions among climate change, human activities and ecosystems.”

RECOGNITION For her work, Ren received the 2012 Early Career Ecologist Award from the Asian Ecology Section of the Ecological Society of America. The award is given to a researcher less than six years out from receiving his or her doc-torate. She was one of two recipients last year recognized for research contributions to her field.

TREASURE TO TRASH

Class time The SEC held its first academic conference in At-lanta in mid-February, featuring the research work of its 14 member schools in a series of presen-tations spread over two days. Among the Auburn presenters at the SEC Symposium were faculty members from engineering and sociology.

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Research

The Internet was once the

playground of the young,

but these days grandma

might not just be trolling

Facebook and shooting

off emails. She might be

shopping for holiday gifts

or a bargain on orthotics.

She’s more likely

to trust a website if it

features a conversational

agent—one of those “vir-

tual people” programmed

to interact with users both

verbally and nonverbally,

according to research by

consumer scientists in

the Alabama Agricultural

Experiment Station.

In research focused on

elderly and the Internet,

Wi-suk Kwon and Veena

Chattaraman have found

that people in the 65-plus

category are more trust-

ing of and less stressed

out using e-commerce

websites that featured

these talking avatars.

“Our research has

generated promising

evidence that a conversa-

tional agent significantly

enhances older adults’

perceptions of social sup-

port, trust and hedonic

and functional benefits of

websites,” Kwon says.

If that is so for e-

commerce sites, it could

also be the case with

online sources of valu-

able health and medical

information, Kwon says.

“E-health tools are

drastically changing how

health care information

is communicated and

managed, and improving

older adults’ abilities to

access this information

can be very beneficial

for them because of the

growing number of health

issues they tend to face

as they age,” Kwon says.

“Our goal is to reduce

the critical cognitive

and social-psychological

barriers that hinder

older users in Web-based

environments.”

To accomplish that,

Kwon and Chattaraman

are designing conversa-

tional agents with interac-

tive cognitive and affective

aids to help the elderly

access, process, compre-

hend and more accurately

remember complex e-

health information.

“This enhanced

cognitive and affective

information processing

could lead to poten-

tially transformative and

empowering experiences

for older Americans,

improving their quality of

life through information

access,” Kwon says.

CAN WE TALK?

In the heart of North American winter, while most of us daydream of sun-drenched beaches or cozy nights by a crackling fire, a team of scientists from the Auburn Univer-sity College of Sciences and Mathematics is watching ice melt.

Or, more literally, they’re watching ma-rine worms travel through a land whose average January temperature is about 20 below zero.

On Jan. 1, the scientists embarked on a research cruise to one of the world’s most secluded and mysterious places, Antarc-tica. Throughout January and much of February, the team is exploring worms, ur-chins and other marine organisms found in the waters surrounding Earth’s southern-most continent.

Kenneth Halanych, Stewart W. Schneller endowed chair in Auburn’s Department of Biological Sciences, embarked with a crew of graduate students on their maritime ad-venture while one of his co-principal inves-tigators, Scott Santos of biological sciences, stayed at Auburn to collect data and daily journal information.

On thin ice



We’ve all had vac-

cines—those periodic

shots to prevent or treat

diseases from childhood

nuisances to ailments

that once proved deadly

but that are now all but

eradicated.

Some diseases occur

at the cellular level,

however, and can’t be

prevented via tradition-

al vaccines. “Perhaps

it’s a virus that harbors

inside of cells, or small

bacteria that infect

cells as opposed to the

surface of tissue, or a

cancer,” says Bernhard

Kaltenboeck, professor

of pathobiology in the

College of Veterinary

Medicine. “What’s

needed is a cellular

immune response to

remove diseased cells.”

Kaltenboeck, along

with research associ-

ates Erfan Chowdhury

and Yihang Li, has

developed a new vac-

cine platform that will

help treat intracellular

diseases. To achieve

that goal, Kaltenboeck,

Chowdhury and Li

detoured from tradition.

First, they drastically

lowered the dose of the

vaccine, which created a

response by the body’s

immune cells—exactly

what is needed for intra-

cellular diseases. Such

a response can serve as

a preventive measure or

as a way to treat chronic

infections.

Further, the approach

uses a fully manmade

vaccine containing only

short, synthetic protein

fragments, or peptides,

from the disease target

instead of actual patho-

gens. This will make the

new platform both safer

and less expensive.

The list of diseases

that could benefit from

the approach includes

malaria, tuberculosis,

HIV, dengue fever and

cancer. Numerous com-

mercially significant

animal diseases are

also candidates. Sig-

nificant development

and testing is needed to

advance the technology

to the market for this

many targets.

The Office of Tech-

nology Transfer has

begun marketing the

technology to major hu-

man- and animal-health

companies.

Nonprofit part-

nerships will also

be pursued to seek

development pathways

for humanitarian targets

such as malaria.

Pigging outThe government of Morocco has come to Auburn wildlife sciences professor Steve Ditchkoff with a research grant designed to help curb that country’s growing population of wild pigs, which can destroy crops, cause environmental damage and impact other livestock and wildlife. Ditchkoff is Auburn’s William R. and Fay Ireland Endowed Distinguished Professor in Wildlife Sciences.

This is the second voyage to Antarctica for Halanych, so he knows the issues. “One of the big challenges of going to the Antarctic is preparing for the trip,” he says. “You are out in the middle of no-where, quite literally. You are thousands of miles away from anything. You are on a boat, and everything you need must be taken on that vessel. This includes every-thing from food, water, personal items and, of course, all the research supplies. The planning process has gone on now for seven or eight months.”

The cruise began in Punta Arenas, Chile, and the team will sail through the Bellingshausen Sea, the Amundsen Sea and the Ross Sea before disembarking at McMurdo Station, a U.S. research center located at the southern tip of Ross Island.

During the cruise, sample species such as sea urchins, sea spiders, isopods, cri-noids and marine worms will be taken from a depth of from 400 to 1,000 me-ters. The team will document its findings and challenge the theory that many Ant-arctic species are circumpolar, or found all the way around the continent.

“From some of our earlier work, it seems that some species are circumpolar and others are not,” Halanych says, ex-

plaining that as Antarctic glaciers have expanded and contracted over the millen-nia, species have changed.

Halanych and Santos are co-directors of Auburn University’s Molette Biology Laboratory for Environmental and Cli-mate Change Studies, so part of the re-search focus will look at how the animals have reacted to global climate change.

“We know that as the water is warming up, and as things like ocean acidification happen, organisms are changing where they live, and they are changing their ranges,” Halanych says.

The cruise represents a collaborative and international effort as the team in-cludes scientists from several other insti-tutions, including Central Michigan Uni-versity, British Antarctic Survey, Alfred Wegener Institute, the British Museum and Long Island University. Addition-ally, biology professors Jim McClintock and Chuck Amsler from the University of Alabama–Birmingham will conduct separate research on the same cruise, al-lowing the two teams to share samples and data.

For more information, including a jour-nal being kept during the cruise, visit the website at www.auburn.edu/antarctica.

SHOT BOOSTERS



Research

How much personal information do you have stored on the Internet? Think about how many times you have entered your phone number, address and even your Social Security number into an online bill payment, application or form.

Auburn University’s Samuel Ginn Col-lege of Engineering is responding to a cri-sis facing the United States—the country’s need for digital forensic experts—and is tackling the challenge of keeping our in-formation secure.

Drew Hamilton, alumni professor in computer science and software engineer-ing and director of Auburn’s Information Assurance Center, is teaching the next generation of cyber security specialists and leading a multidisciplinary team of Auburn researchers, called the Cyber Task Force, to bolster education in cyber secu-rity and bring awareness to the field. Au-burn is a National Security Agency Center of Academic Excellence in both cyber se-curity education and research.

Since 2005, the university has partici-pated in the National Science Founda-tion’s Scholarship for Service program, or SFS, which offers students the opportunity to conduct research in cyber security an information assurance. In return for their scholarships, recipients work for a federal,

state, local or tribal government organiza-tion after graduation in a position related to cyber security for a period equal to the length of their scholarship. Hamilton was recently awarded a $122,000 NSF grant to support the SFS program as well as as-sist Western New Mexico University in es-tablishing a digital forensics academy. The goal of the academy is to enable minority students to be more competitive for posi-tions in the federal government.

“There is a real need for this in the state of New Mexico, but there is a shortage of digital forensics experts everywhere,” says Hamilton. “We hosted a workshop that several law enforcement officers traveled more than 100 miles to attend. Digital fo-rensics, like tracking cell phone records, is playing a much larger role in law enforce-ment. Police officers need to be trained in this as well as students.”

The NSF award brings Auburn’s to-tal funding for the SFS program to $5.3 million. Hamilton awarded more than $100,000 in cyber scholarships to seven computer science and software engineer-ing students this semester under the NSF CyberCorps program, as well as one in-dustrial and systems engineering student under the National Security Agency infor-mation assurance scholarship program.

Above the cloud

“The world is using computers, but the whole world is not made up of computer scientists,” Hamilton said. “As we move more and more into using shared databas-es, we need to defend cloud architectures to make them more secure. We need peo-ple who know how to safeguard informa-tion from unauthorized access.”

Devin Cook, the doctoral student lead-ing Hamilton’s lab, is doing just that. He’s working to leverage the benefits of cloud drives—the newest servers that companies such as Amazon, Google and Apple are creating through their websites—to ensure that information stored on them is safe. Cloud servers store information on a vir-tual “cloud drive” that can be accessed by logging in through any computer.

“All cloud services are based on the con-cept of virtualization, where you run mul-tiple ‘virtual machines’ on one computer,” he said. “We’re working toward providing a way to ensure those virtual machines, and the data stored on them, are safe.”

Cook and his research team use arti-ficial intelligence techniques to train a detector that monitors a cloud drive and seeks out suspicious activity. Once an in-trusion has been detected, the computer can be paused to ensure that no further intrusions take place until the situation is reviewed or the cloud drive can be rolled back to a known good state, as if the in-trusion has not occurred.

“We are focusing less on keeping the bad guys out and more on keeping them from stealing useful information once they’re into the cloud server,” he said. “It turns out that trying to prevent the intrusion it-self is a losing battle. There will always be a way in.”

Preventing this issue is imperative in to-day’s age of digital bill payments, online forms that request Social Security num-bers and the constant flow of email. Cook points out that any service using virtual-ization stands to gain from the Auburn team’s research.

“We need to defend the cloud architec-ture to make it more secure since everything seems to stem from it nowadays,” Hamilton said. “Think about how much your doctor knows about you and what information is stored on the office computer. Anyone can break into almost any username as long as you know the account.”

Eagle eyeTiger has her eagle eye back again. Officially known as War Eagle VI, Tiger underwent cateract surgery in mid-December at the College of Veterinary Medicine. At age 33, Tiger has already surpassed life expectancy for the golden eagle, but she’s recovering well, and already flying around her campus aviary. Tiger came to Auburn in 1986 and was the first of Auburn’s eagles to fly at Jordan-Hare Stadium. She “retired” in 2006.



The most difficult part of flying is sticking the landing. Aircraft crashes occur most often during landing, which has become even more apparent since the advent of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. Unlike traditional aircraft pilots, UAV pilots maneuver their vehicles from miles away with help from a computer monitor, where they are seated for hours at a time completing their missions.

Department head John Cochran, distinguished visiting research professor Harold Zallen and graduate student Judith Ann Bailey in Auburn University’s Department of Aerospace Engineering are looking at human factors attributed to recent UAV crashes during landing. By using a fixed-base flight simulator built at Auburn they are able to simulate extended UAV missions, as well as monitor and measure pilot fatigue and errors.

“The government’s goal is to reduce the fatigue experienced by UAV pilots and avoid devastating crash landings,” said Bailey. “Unfortunately, there is no standard to quan-tify pilot fatigue. That’s what we’re working on.”

The Auburn team’s test pilots sit at a flight simulator console and watch a triple monitor while flying a Predator UAV. They demonstrate a series of maneuvers, includ-ing takeoff, ascending to 60,000 feet and cruising for 30 minutes. The test pilot then descends and lands the aircraft, the most difficult task in flying a UAV.

The researchers’ tracking software is used to monitor the pilot’s head movement in six degrees of freedom, which includes forward, backward, upward, downward and left to right movements combined with rotation of three perpendicular axes—pitch, yaw and roll.

Information provided by the tracking software records fatigue during the simulation and the resulting data is used to quantify it.

Sticking the Landing

Two researchers in the

College of Sciences

and Mathematics have

delivered preliminary

results of ongoing

research into the effects

of the 2010 Deepwater

Horizon oil spill. Results

indicate potentially seri-

ous consequences for the

environment.

The researchers,

Ming-Kuo Lee, Robert B.

Cook professor of geology,

and Ken Halanych, alumni

professor of biological

sciences, carried out two

separate projects survey-

ing different regions in the

gulf and, in each location,

effects of the oil spill are

persistent. The research

suggests the oil spill may

have caused massive harm

to the environment at a

microscopic level, which

in turn could have serious

repercussions on the food

chain in the long term.

Lee investigated the

fate and transformation

of oil found in Louisiana

coastal salt marshes

that were contaminated

by the oil spill. His

team found that lighter

compounds of oil are

quickly degraded by

natural microbes,

but heavier fractions

of oil still remain.

Results indicate that

oil contamination is

not limited to surface

water; persistent oil in

marsh sediments could

damage the aquatic and

ecosystems of the salt

marshes that provide

habitats for many fish,

shellfish, water fowl and

migratory wildlife.

While Lee focused

on Louisiana, Halanych

studied locations along

the Alabama coast. His

research indicates that

small organisms living

in the sediment and

between sand grains un-

derwent dramatic shifts

after the spill.

Microscopic com-

munities are particularly

important at the base of

the food chain and serve

to couple energy flow and

nutrients between the wa-

ter column and sediment.

While this environment

looked relatively normal

after the spill, Halanych

said, many of the poten-

tial effects were hidden.

LASTINGDAMAGE



Roundup

COLLEGE OF

AgricultureOn Jan. 31, the Auburn University Agricultural Alumni Association recognized three indi-viduals for their positive impacts on Alabama agriculture. Robert N. Brewer ’55 of Au-burn, Philip Martin of Enterprise and Tommy Paulk ’86 of Decatur were inducted into the association’s Hall of Honor, which recog-nizes living Alabam-ians who have made significant contributions to the state’s agriculture industry. Brewer was a faculty member in the Department of Poultry Science at Auburn for 32 years, serving as depart-ment head from 1987 to 2000. Martin has served many leadership roles within Alabama’s agriculture industry, including 31 years as president of the Coffee County Farmers Federa-tion Board of Directors, nine years on the Ala-bama Farmers Federa-tion State Board and 55 years on the American Dairy Association of Alabama Board. Paulk is president and CEO of the Alabama Farmers Cooperative. The Ag Alumni Association established the Hall of Honor in 1984.

COLLEGE OF

Architecture, Design and ConstructionThe Institute for International Education

awarded Homewood senior Don’Neshia Clark a Gilman Scholarship to study at Istanbul Technical University in Turkey this spring. “My goal for studying abroad is to experience and gain a better perspective of the world around us,” Clark said. “Studying in Turkey will provide me the op-portunity to expand my knowledge and under-standing of the historical context of architecture.” The Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship is a nation-ally competitive program sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cul-tural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. The scholarship offers grants for U.S. undergradu-ate students to pursue academic studies abroad. Clark is Auburn’s third Gilman Scholar this year, following Jamesa Stokes, who was awarded a scholarship to study in Germany, and Joel Geer, who is studying in Japan.

COLLEGE OF

BusinessIt’s not only good to be king; it’s good to be the friend of a king, says assistant professor of finance Jung Park. In his recently published paper “Political Geography and Stock Returns: The Value and Risk Implica-tions of Proximity to Political Power,” Park shows a fundamental link between politicians and industry. By collect-ing U.S. election results over a 40-year period, Park used a political alignment index to

measure each state’s leading politicians and their affiliation with the current administration. Businesses whose head-quarters were located in areas with high index scores outperformed those with lower scores. Proximity to political power can affect stock returns, Park explained, because it reflects the existing level of political connection. The down-side? Benefits last only as long as the adminis-tration that favors you is in power. “The positive effect on stock return also represents a firm’s exposure to the risk of policies changing un-favorably. This type of risk is generally compen-sated,” Park said. Park co-authored his paper with faculty from the City University of Hong Kong and the University of South Florida. It was published in the Journal of Financial Economics.

COLLEGE OF

EducationThe College of Educa-tion’s online graduate programs received a No. 2 national ranking in a survey released by U.S. News & World Report. The magazine collected data from 208 regionally accredited institutions offering master’s degrees in education through Internet-based distance courses. Auburn finished behind St. John’s Univer-sity by fewer than two points, and was followed by South Dakota State, Northern Illinois and South Carolina. This

marks the second con-secutive year U.S. News has tapped Auburn’s online graduate educa-tion degree as being among the nation’s best. In determining rankings, the magazine looked at admissions selectivity, student engagement, faculty credentials and training, and student services and technology.

SAMUEL GINN

COLLEGE OF

EngineeringAuburn student Jimmy Kaczmarek and 2012 graduate Paul Bergen have been selected as finalists for the presti-gious Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Of all the nation’s public universities, only four—Auburn, California-Berkeley, UCLA and Rutgers—can claim two finalists per institution. Kaczmarek, a senior in chemical engineer-

ing who is conducting research under the direction of Breeden As-sociate Professor Mark Byrne, will graduate in May. Bergen graduated in May 2012 with a 3.97 GPA in a microbiology and German double-ma-jor. A current Fulbright Scholar in Germany, Bergen is continuing research at the Technical University of Munich that he began at Auburn under the guidance of biological sciences pro-fessor Mark Liles.

SCHOOL OF

Forestry and Wildlife SciencesThe City of Auburn has pledged a five-to-one match for individual and corporate contribu-tions for the Louise Kreher Forest Ecology Preserve, a community outreach program for

the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. The city is hoping to encourage community engagement and sup-port for this resource for outdoor recreation and education. “We realize the enjoyment and educational value our citizens receive from our parks such as Kiesel Park and Town Creek,” said Becky Richardson, director of Auburn Parks and Recreation. “The Forest Ecol-ogy Preserve provides these same qualities to our community. The partnership between the City of Auburn and the Forest Ecology Preserve will be a win for both parties and our citizens.” Spanning more than 120 acres, the preserve features more than five miles of trails through various habitats, educational displays and signage, a nature playground, an amphitheater and pavil-ion space for programs. The preserve plans to use contributions and the city’s community grant to help keep up with the maintenance and improvements needed to support its 20,000 annual visitors. The Louise Kreher For-est Ecology Preserve was established in 1993. COLLEGE OF

Human Sciences

Kim ’96 and Tim Hud-son ’97 recently made a gift to the Cary Center for the Advancement of



Philanthropy and Non-profit Studies at Auburn University to establish the Kim and Tim Hud-son Fund for Excellence. The fund will support the new Volunteers in Philanthropy, or VIP, program. The Cary Center was formed when the historic Halli-day-Cary-Pick home on North College Street, the second-oldest home in Auburn, was donated to the College of Hu-man Sciences by Frances Pick Dillard, a founding member of the Women’s Philanthropy Board. The center’s programs include the Women’s Philanthropy Board; Camp iCare, which edu-cates children under 12 about money smarts and philanthropic respon-sibility; and Real Cents Real Change, a program for teens that teaches financial awareness and philanthropic actions. VIP will encourage, support and enhance volunteerism, leadership education and service opportunities for young adults in college.

COLLEGE OF

Liberal Arts Lee Spruiell ’83 has established the Lee Spruiell Annual Fund for Excellence within Auburn’s College of Liberal Arts’ Health Services Administra-tion Program. The fund will be used to expand international intern-ship opportunities for students and provide support for research and for faculty and student

travel to professional meetings. Students also will receive support from the fund to attend and participate in the Spruiell Smart Training Lab at Baptist Medical Center in Montgomery. Spruiell recently retired as the senior vice presi-dent of field operations for XLHealth in San Antonio, Texas. He also worked as general man-ager and senior project manager for Aetna and as senior vice president for Coordinated Care Solutions. The Lee Spruiell Fund will also be used to establish a health administration certificate program.

AUBURN UNIVERSITY

LibrariesIn addition to traditional services such as reference assistance, interlibrary loans and on-campus book delivery, students can now access a host of other services at the Ralph Brown Draughon Library, including the Miller Writing Center, Study Partners tutor-ing, the OIT Help Desk, Caribou Coffee Shop and the Media and Digital Re-source Lab. Two new ser-vices joined the list in Fall 2012: a branch of the AU Bookstore and TigerAdvi-sor. The bookstore carries study supplies, snacks and drinks, and a selection of AU merchandise. According to bookstore management, business is booming, especially dur-ing finals. TigerAdvisor offers student-advising services beyond the

regular class day, thanks to a partnership between the provost’s office and the Student Government Association.

SCHOOL OF

NursingDavid R. Crumbley, a new assistant clinical professor of nursing, has received the Meritorious Service Medal from the U.S. Navy. A 23-year veteran of the U.S. military, he received the award for “exceptional professionalism, per-sonal initiative and loyal devotion to duty” while serving with the United States Naval Service as deputy surgeon general liaison to the Federal Recovery Care Program. He served in the Veterans Administration central office from May 2011 to July 2012. Crumbley spent 20 years as a Navy Nurse Corps officer before retiring with the rank of commander. At the VA, Crumbley became responsible for facilitating collaboration between the Department of Defense, Veterans Administration and civil-ian agencies to enhance care coordination for the severely wounded, ill and injured warriors. There had been a lack of care coordination among various departments for this population, which had been noted by the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors. Crumbley helped develop and implement a tool to measure the workload

intensity of the wounded, which in turn helped de-termine the appropriate caseload for care coordi-nators, as recommended by the 2010 Government Accountability Office report.

HARRISON SCHOOL OF

PharmacyPharmacy dean Lee Evans has been selected to serve as a “dean mentor” for a program within the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. He will mentor a group of faculty members from across the country tak-ing part in the yearlong Academic Leadership Fellows Program. This is the second time Evans has been selected to participate. The

Academic Leadership Fellows Program is designed to develop the nation’s most promising

pharmacy faculty for roles as future leaders in academic pharmacy and higher education. Fellows commence their leadership path with a new understanding of personal potential, talent and leadership strengths along with skills and management tools to more success-fully engage in their responsibilities and step up to challenges. The Harrison School of Pharmacy has had a faculty participant in the program in each of the past nine years.

COLLEGE OF

Sciences and Mathematics In an effort to educate the public on best prac-

tices for handling storm-water in the landscape, the Donald E. Davis Arboretum installed an

11-stop stormwater tour. The tour takes partici-pants through the arbo-retum landscape while highlighting features that deal with stormwa-ter management. The arboretum is home to more than 500 species of native-Alabama plants. “We’ve had a lot of these practices already in place at the arboretum for some time, but they were not interpreted in any way so that people could see what’s being done,” said Dee Smith, curator of the arboretum. “Some of the stops describe water capture, and some are about controlling the flow of water.” The tour demonstrates non-traditional methods for dealing with stormwa-ter, such as utilizing pervious surfaces. It also highlights the arbore-tum’s use of water tanks in the landscape, as the facility has a 1,700-gal-lon, aboveground tank and a 1,400-gallon, belowground tank. COLLEGE OF

Veterinary MedicineFrederic J. Hoerr, professor emeritus and former director of the Thompson-Bishop-Sparks State Diagnostic Laboratory, has been named interim dean of the College of Veteri-nary Medicine. He will serve in the position until the search for a permanent dean is completed. Hoerr first joined Auburn Univer-sity in 1980.

Bauhaus beautiesAuburn University will be the first U.S. stop for the exhibition Bauhaus twenty-21: An Ongoing Legacy – Photographs by Gordon Watkinson. The exhibition, which has toured internationally since 2009, will be on display through May 4 at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. The exhibition opened Jan. 24 with a lecture by Watkinson. It features photographs depicting examples of Bauhaus architecture along with building projects by up-and-coming as well as internationally renowned contemporary architects. Watkinson is a New York-based fine arts and commercial photographer.


S T U D E N T L I F E

CONCOURSE

Auburn will have a team competing for a national championship in May, but the com-petition won’t be held in a stadium, arena or pool.

Think “wild blue yonder.” Nova and Spirit won’t be the only eagles taking wing.The War Eagle Flying Team will look for the national prize in Columbus, Ohio,

when its student aviators compete in the ultimate destination for college pilots: the SAFECON trophy from the National Intercollegiate Flying Association.

Based in the College of Business, Auburn’s aviation program is the second-oldest in the United States. Its 12-member flying team is the only collegiate team in Alabama and among Southeastern Conference schools.

The team won its shot at the championship after finishing third in the regional event last October in Daytona Beach, Fla. The top three teams from each region are chosen to compete for the national championship.

The Auburn team is plagued by youth, says captain Blake Schuette, a junior in busi-ness management—a reason doing well at regionals was so important.

“Our team is made up of over 50 percent new people who had not been to a com-petition before,” she says. “My co-captain and I were really pleased with the great job that they did for having never been to a competition.”

The co-captain of the team is senior David Hoebelheinrich.Schuette, who is also pursuing a minor in aviation, says she has been flying light

aircrafts since she was 10. The only woman on the Auburn team, she was named the top female pilot at the regional competition held in Daytona Beach, Fla.

As team captains, Schuette and Hoebelheinrich help lead the team in all of its prac-tices. “I help develop how we are going to practice,” Schuette says. “There’s a lot of work that goes into planning for the events.”

The national championship competition will be broken down into ground and air events. The events are based on precision, with a focus on safety as well.

“The whole competition was developed originally to be all about safety, so safety is probably the No. 1 priority during these competitions,” Schuette says. “We take extra safety measures during the events and then we are judged on how safe we are as a team.”

Tigers take wingInterviewMarian RoystonSenior, history

THE 4-1-1 The Roanoke native won one of the nation’s most selective fellowships, the Mitchell Scholarship, awarded by the U.S.-Ireland Alliance. The Honors College student, majoring in history and double-minoring in political science and community and civic engagement, is the first Auburn student to win the award.

WHAT IT MEANS Royston will spend the next academic year in Northern Ireland, pursuing a master’s degree in leadership for sustainable rural development at Queens University Belfast. She is one of 12 students nationwide selected for the fellowship, which is based on scholarship, leadership and a commitment to community and public service.

AFTER-HOURS In case her Honors College work doesn’t keep her busy enough, Royston has plunged headfirst into community action, participating in the Appalachian Community Development Alternative Spring Break, tutoring both middle and high school students in Notasulga and serving as a resident assistant on campus at Auburn. Last summer, she served as a Living Democracy Fellow in Hobson City, Alabama’s first African-American municipality.

IMPACT “Entering Auburn, I knew I wanted to prepare myself to positively influence the lives of others living in rural towns like my hometown of Roanoke, so I decided on a career in public-inter-est law,” Royston says. “In retrospect, I realize that I neither fully understood the magnitude of the rural crisis nor believed that there was a way I could personally work toward fixing the problem. My college experiences have helped me find the link between my past and future while still allow-ing me the opportunity to impact the world in a meaningful way.”

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C O N C O U R S EGroovy stuffEven a college student knows the value of a comfy rocking chair—as fourth-year industrial design student Hailong Piao proved by winning the first phase of this year’s Groovystuff by Design challenge. His Com-fort Zone rocking chair, developed under the direction of AU professor Tin Man Lau, was one of two designs receiving the most votes from the High Point Market in North Carolina.

The list of events includes: safe flight, ground training, inspection and landing. In a precision landing event, team pilots will fly a plane and try to land in a box marked off on the runway, all the while taking into account fuel consumption and wind speed.

In a message-drop event, a plane will fly high over the airport while having someone simultaneously drop a small message container toward a target marked below.

The variety of events in this competition tests the flight knowledge of each indi-vidual team member.

Wayne Ceynowa, team adviser and chief instructor for the Department of Aviation and Supply Chain Management, says he is proud of the way the team has allowed itself to be able to compete in these events, not only from a performance standpoint, but financially as well.

Flying, as it turns out, isn’t a cheap undertaking.“I’m really proud of these guys,” Ceynowa says. “Basically, they are self-supporting.

They don’t use university funding, they do their own fundraising.” At an estimated $6,000 per team, participating in these events can be costly. But

Ceynowa says the team already has multiple fundraisers planned to help raise the money to help them soar.

They’ve turned out to be marketing-savvy pilots. A March golf tournament is in the works, in addition to a candle sale and a line of clothing available at www.wareagle-flyingteam.com, the team website that plays a rousing version of “Come Fly with Me” on its home page.

“They take the profits and plow the money back into the operation,” Ceynowa says. “You get an appreciation for what they do when you realize that they are actually pay-ing for the airplanes. They have to pay for aircraft time in some shape or form, and they have to pay for the accommodations when they take trips away from Auburn.”

Schuette says the spring golf tournament will be held at the Auburn University Club on March 22, and the team hopes it can become a recurring event.

The War Eagle Flying Team didn’t get to the championships by spending all their time on fundraising, however. Success requires lots and lots of air-time and simulator practice.

Every Sunday, the team meets at a small airport in Auburn to refine technique and fi-nesse routines.

Because they did so well in the regional event, Schuette says they won’t be focusing nec-essarily on fixing what’s broken, but on polishing any noticeable flaws.—Bradley Roberts

On a recent trip to New

York, a group of Auburn

students did some of the

things one would expect of

visitors to the Big Apple.

They visited the 9/11

Memorial, the Metro-

politan Museum of Art, the

Chelsea Market and the

Meatpacking District. They

took in a Broadway show.

But the College of

Human Sciences students

had some behind-the-

scenes access not on the

normal tourist agenda:

special access to the New

York Stock Exchange,

a fashion house, some

of New York’s boutique

hotels—even the Sesame

Street Workshop.

The students are those

selected each year to par-

ticipate in the International

Quality of Life Awards/

New York Study Tour from

the college.

The tour concluded

at the United Nations,

where students served as

hosts for the annual IQLA

banquet. This year’s

black-tie affair honored

Alastair Summerlee,

president of the Univer-

sity of Guelph in Ontario,

Canada, as the IQLA

Laureate, and Jimmy

’52 and Chris Pursell

of Sylacauga, owners of

Pursell Farms and Farm-

Links, with the Lifetime

Achievement Award.

THE INSIDE TRACK

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C O N C O U R S E

Three years ago in

January, the island

nation of Haiti suffered

catastrophic damage

from an earthquake

that killed more than

300,000 people and

left a million others

homeless. More than a

quarter-million remain

in tents and displace-

ment camps.

Three Auburn

students are taking

on the opportunity

to help the poverty-

stricken nation—and

the chance to compete

against students from

three other South-

eastern Conference

schools—one cup of

coffee at a time.

Katie Brennan,

Casey Randle and

Alexandra Hawkins

started in the fall,

selling bags of coffee

as part of the SEC

Alltech Challenge

and competing with

students from Georgia,

Florida and Mississip-

pi State. Winners will

travel to Haiti to help

with relief efforts.

Brennan already has

seen the devastation

firsthand. An animal

sciences major, she

had an opportunity to

visit Northern Haiti

after the quake. “The

people I met changed

my life,” she says. “In

Ouanaminte, the group

I was with helped paint

an elementary school,

helped build chicken

coops, sat in on class-

es and interacted with

the local children.”

Alltech, the interna-

tional agriculture com-

pany that’s sponsoring

the contest, launched

a fair-trade Haitian

coffee, Cafe Citadelle,

that would help the

country re-establish

its once-thriving coffee

trade while providing

jobs, education and

sustainable economic

growth. Sixty-five per-

cent of the proceeds

from the coffee sales

will go to a registered

501(c)(3) nonprofit

fund to benefit two

Haitian primary

schools, as well as

economic development

projects. The rest is

earmarked for the Col-

lege of Agriculture’s

Ag Council.

The Auburn team

hopes to sell 1,500

bags of coffee before

the contest ends in

April. Learn more by

visiting wireeagle.au-

burn.edu/news/4734.

COFFEE BREAKS

Code orangeJunior Kevin Davis and sophomore David Shuckerow of computer science and soft-ware engineering placed in the top five of a 500-person online coding challenge called HackerTour. The students competed against coding whiz-kids from more than 80 uni-versities in eight nations, programming web robots to continuously play each other in a contest based on the movie Tron. Davis placed first and Shuckerow fourth in the two-week-long competition.

SyllabusCOURSE NAME SOCY 5970 “Murder”

INSTRUCTOR Gregory Kowalski, professor of soci-ology, College of Liberal Arts

THE SCOOP Kowalski’s course investigates ways to determine why murder happens, along with ways to resolve and deal with the crimes as they take place. “In this class we try to look at this in terms of why people kill, instead of just writing them off as being crazy,” he says. “We talk about what is the kind of motive in terms of how to resolve and how to deal with these crimes. Most of the detection activity does not come from the kinds of forensic evidence that you see on TV, but a lot of it comes from social behavioral profiling.”

FASCINATION The majority of students taking Kowalski’s class are from the College of Liberal Arts. However, he has seen a spike in interest outside of the college as well. He says this can be attributed to the glorification of murder by entertainment and the media. “Serial murder, kill-ing a large number of people over time, seems to fascinate Americans the most,” he adds. “I want students to learn to distrust the media’s reporting a little bit more, and to be a little more objective about how they look at murder.”

SUGGESTED READING Students will read Murder American Style by Alex Alvarez (Cengage Learn-ing 2002), which is “a real quick read that is used to give students a general overview for the course,” Kowalski said. He also recommends Serial Murderers and Their Victims by Eric W. Hickey (Cengage Learning 2012).

C O L L E G E O F B U S I N E S S

Executive MBA Programs

business.auburn.edu

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S P O R T S

TIGER WALK

On New Year’s Eve of 2011, before the midnight fireworks and tooting horns and “Auld Lang Syne” had yet to be unloosed, the Auburn Tigers headed home from their Chick-fil-A Bowl win in Atlanta, thoughts turning to the next Tigers season or life af-ter college football.

Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Mal-zahn was, instead, headed for Jonesboro,

Ark. For more than two weeks, he’d been moonlighting as head coach of the Arkan-sas State Red Wolves. Now, as new calen-dars were replacing old ones, the pioneer of the quick-paced, no-huddle offense had to initiate a hurry-up version of recruiting.

An exhausting month later, at the end of a bountiful signing day, it was time to chill out, right?

Instead, Malzahn gathered his new staff in a meeting room and displayed mug shots of returning Arkansas State players on a board. They went through the roster maybe a half-dozen times—putting names to faces, and committing both to memory so coaches could greet each player personally.

The episode illustrates three attributes

A familiar face, but a ‘new day’After a long, cold 2012 season, Auburn welcomes back the gum-popping, fast-flying, obsessive energy of new Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn.

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T I G E R W A L K

often ascribed to Malzahn, who has boo-meranged back to Auburn as head coach after a tumultuous 3-9 season on the Plains left the job vacant.

Workaholic. Detail-oriented. Innovator.Even in a demanding profession with its

own exaggerated scale of devotion to duty, Malzahn pushes it to extremes. As much as Gus the man tries to set aside work on family vacations, Gus the coach cannot re-sist the lure of work. A passion for golf is muted by a reluctance to break away from the office or the recruiting road, though he relishes an occasional round with Ja-son Dufner ’00, Auburn’s contribution to the PGA Tour. He gets upbraided by wife Kristi when violating the ban on football talk during meals with players at the Mal-zahns’ home.

It was no surprise package that athletics director Jay Jacobs unwrapped upon bring-ing Malzahn, 47, back to Auburn. Jacobs remembered saying goodbye almost every night to the assistant coach while leaving the Athletic Complex, then saying hello to him the next morning while entering.

Were there overnights on an office couch? Jacobs assumes not—but he can’t know for sure. “At some point, he changed clothes,” he asserts.

Then again, “Sleep seems to be one thing he doesn’t need a lot of,” Jacobs says. “He has the strongest work ethic I’ve ever seen in anybody.”

Middle-aged Gus differs negligibly from young-adult Gus, who was first appointed a head coach in 1996 at a northeast Ar-kansas high school operated by a church. The pastor was Ronnie Floyd, the quarter-back Josh Floyd, his son, who recalls the new guy often asking the offense in prac-tice to rehearse a play just once more.

“And we’d run it 20 or 30 times,” said Josh Floyd, the school’s current head coach.

Toward the end of Malzahn’s first sea-son at Shiloh Christian—where no detail was too fine, including the quarterback pointing the laces on a ball in a certain di-rection—the coach first deployed his now-signature no-huddle offense in small bits. Back then, it was a radical approach de-signed to speed up the game and discom-bobulate defenses by preventing substitu-tion and huddling.

Soon afterward, Malzahn met with Ronnie Floyd and said, “We need an edge. What do you think about us…hurrying it up and doing it the entire game?”

The pastor agreed. Malzahn, drawing on his nature of unconventional think-ing, taught the new plays by assigning the names of Bible characters to the positions.

The Saints promptly became state run-ners-up. The following season, for inspi-ration, Malzahn hung a photo in the lock-er room of the stadium that would host the championship game. They reached it and won, then repeated the next year.

His offense became all the rage, and a paperback adaptation of The Hurry-Up, No-Huddle: An Offensive Philosophy by Gus Malzahn, released 10 years ago, still goes for $19.95 on Amazon.

When he consented to an interview, Malzahn was in the midst of assembling an all-star coaching crew (see related sidebar on page 28) and shoring up a recruiting class weakened by the inevitable handful of “decommitments” that always follows a change at the top of the organizational chart. He was polite but disinclined to dis-cuss matters non-football.

(Jacobs: “Every time you are with him, he’s always talking about ball. There is no, ‘How’s the family?’ Not that he’s not concerned.”)

So there was little chitchat about, say,

his love of Mexican food, or the fact that he’s been known to order 10 tacos for him-self at the local drive-thru—no doubt con-sumed while he’s not spending the night in his office, studying team strategy.

Maybe he was always destined to be-come an SEC head coach.

Born in 1965 in Fort Smith, Ark., by the time he was a teenager, Malzahn was already drawing Xs and Os for a club team of fifth-graders. If not for coaching, where would he be? “Prob-ably broke,” he says, suggesting there was no career Plan B.

Perhaps it was having no fallback op-tion that drove Malzahn so hard—and might still today. It could explain why he stepped off a private plane in Auburn the night of his hiring, hurried over to a throng of appreciative fans and gratefully high-fived them.

“I like working,” he says. “I’m al-ways trying to get an advantage, any way you can.”

That includes conveying to recruits, present and future, that he intends to dig deep roots into Auburn soil.

“My three years here were the best ever,” he says. “It was the three best years of our life. It’s an honor that they chose me, and I don’t take that lightly.

“I will do everything in my power for the Auburn Tigers to be successful. Our players are going to be great examples for this university on and off the field. They’re going to be men of character. I just got through talking to them, and that’s the first thing I expect from them. The win-ning will take care of itself.”

Whatever the ultimate Auburn team looks like, it will be quick on its feet. “We will have a fast-paced offense,” Malzahn says. “We will run the football, and that will be our staple. We will have a defense that attacks. And it will be fun for our fans.”

Those fans might be getting a familiar face, but they can expect change. “My goal is to get Auburn back to a championship level,” Malzahn says. “It’s a new day.”

New Year’s Day 2013 looked a lot like New Year’s Day 2011 for Malzahn—looking at team photos, assembling a new coaching staff and recruiting. Only this time, the “new day” is for the Tigers. —Mike Tierney

Big Cam on campusA tall, familiar figure has been flashing his trademark smile on the Auburn campus this spring as Cam New-ton, quarterback of the Auburn Tigers’ 2010 National Championship team, Heisman winner and current Carolina Panther, returned to the Plains to continue work on his degree in sociology.


T I G E R W A L K

The Auburn University wheelchair bas-ketball team played its first regular season game in the National Wheelchair Basket-ball Association Intercollegiate Division in November.

The three-year-old program’s shift to the intercollegiate division is a move forward for the team, which began competing in Division III as a community team includ-ing students and non-students. Though they are not affiliated with the athletics de-partment or the NCAA, Auburn’s wheel-chair basketball team, which is now com-posed completely of student-athletes, will compete with other college and university teams around the country. There are just seven other universities in the Intercolle-giate Division this year.

“Competing in the Intercollegiate Di-vision means not only a step up in the competition, but also a more authentic student-athlete experience for our team,” said team member and co-founder Jared Rehm. “It is a unique experience to play in this kind of competition.”

Auburn’s team is led by Rehm, who is a biomechanics doctoral student, and Na-than Waters, a disability specialist in the Office of Accessibility and doctoral stu-dent in the Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology. The pair developed wheelchair sports ac-tivities at Auburn through their assistant-ships with what was then the university’s

Program for Students with Disabilities, now the Office of Accessibility, in 2009.

“Since we started this program, I have been introduced to many dedicated ath-letes who train hours a day, all year round and travel across the country for compe-titions for very little recognition” Waters said. “They just want to compete. I real-ized how important it was for us to devel-op a program so that more athletes with disabilities could have opportunities to be student-athletes at the college level.”

The team will face the University of Alabama on Feb. 22-23 in Tuscaloosa. For a complete schedule and more informa-tion about Auburn’s wheelchair basket-ball team and adaptive sports program, go to auadaptive.org.

Hoops on wheels

Best in classAuburn linebacker Ashton Richardson received the 2012 Bobby Bowden Award, awarded each year by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to the NCAA Division I player who best epitomizes the student-athlete. Rich-ardson, a four-year letterman at Auburn, graduated in December with a 3.95 GPA in animal science, and plans to attend veterinary school. A Rhodes Scholar finalist, Richardson was a three-time member of the all-SEC academic honor roll and a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation’s William Campbell Trophy. He has volunteered each week for the past four years as a mentor at the Lee County Youth Development Center.

Here’s a handy pocket

guide to Coach Gus

Malzahn’s new coach-

ing staff:

• RHETT LASHLEE,

offensive coordinator.

Last at Arkansas State

with Malzahn, but their

working relationship

goes back to Lashlee’s

quarterback career at

Shiloh Christian High

School.

• ELLIS JOHNSON,

defensive coordinator.

Former head coach at

Southern Miss, John-

son was a critic of the

hurry-up offense while

defensive coordinator

at South Carolina in

2010.

• SCOTT FOUNTAIN,

assistant coach; spe-

cial teams/tight ends.

Director of player

personnel/recruitment

at Auburn since 2009

and assistant handling

day-to-day football op-

erations. Replaces ini-

tial Malzahn hire Rich

Bisaccia, who briefly

joined the staff before

receiving an offer he

couldn’t refuse from

the Dallas Cowboys.

• DAMEYUNE CRAIG

’02, co-offensive coor-

dinator; wide receiver

coach. Last at Florida

State, where he was

quarterback coach.

Played four NFL sea-

sons with the Carolina

Panthers.

• CHARLIE HARBISON,

co-defensive coordi-

nator; safety coach.

Spent the last three

years at Clemson in

the same position.

• RODNEY GARNER

’90, associate head

coach; defensive line

coach. Garner spent

the past 15 seasons at

Georgia as defen-

sive line coach and

recruiter.

• J.B. GRIMES, assis-

tant coach; offensive

line coach. Last

worked in the same

position with Malzahn

at Arkansas State after

two years at Kansas.

He’s also held the

position at Mississippi

State, Texas A&M and

Virginia Tech.

• TIM HORTON, as-

sistant coach; running

backs coach. Former

assistant coach and

recruiting coordinator

for Arkansas.

• MELVIN SMITH,

assistant coach;

cornerback coach.

Comes to Auburn from

Mississippi State,

specializes in teaching

interceptions. Semifi-

nalist in 2011 for the

Frank Broyles Award.

• RYAN RUSSELL,

strength and condi-

tioning coach. Spent

the last year in the

position at Arkansas

State with Malzahn,

but was assistant

strength and con-

ditioning coach at

Auburn in 2010-11.

THE PLAYBOOK

updatedMyLowes_AUB w bleed.indd 1 10/17/2012 2:57:52 PM


Call him what you will. People have labeled James T. Farmer III a gardening guru, a landscape designer, a floral artiste, an interior decorator, a design expert, a Southern chef and an event planner.

All the shoes fit.Since founding James Farmer Designs

in his native Kathleen, Ga., in 2005, the 30-year-old third-generation Auburn graduate has built an impressive client list that stretches throughout the South-east, and his work has been featured frequently in regional magazines, includ-ing Southern Living, which in December named him an editor-at-large.

Think that sounds too, well, Southern? There’s more. Besides developing a loyal following on his allthingsfarmer.com blog, this Renaissance Man of Southern Life has appeared on numerous major-market television morning shows, most notably a segment with broadcaster Al Roker on NBC’s “Today Show” last fall about transforming fruit, flowers and fo-

liage from the garden into guest-wowing autumn tablescapes.

We’re not talking plastic baskets of fruit here. We’re talking cored apples as votive holders, limes and pomegranate halves in the centerpiece, croton leaves as placemats and sweet potato soufflé served in orange halves.

“I’m all about weaving the garden and the goodness of the garden into your daily outdoor and indoor life,” says Farmer in his middle-Georgia drawl. “Garden living is my mantra.”

It’s also the subject of his first book, A Time To Plant: Southern-Style Garden Living, published in September 2011. With 250 photographs, A Time To Plant is coffee-table book meets how-to man-ual meets Southern cookbook. It offers practical, time-tested gardening wisdom Farmer absorbed growing up on a fam-ily farm with a garden, treasured garden-to-table recipes he more or less memo-rized cooking alongside his grandmother,

Don’t let the small-town address in Kathleen, Ga., fool

you. James Farmer ’04 is conveying the cornucopia

of country living to the masses. b y j a m i e c r e a m e r

Southern style

James Farmer grew up in central Georgia and learned how to be what he calls a “hy-per-seasonal” cook from his grandmother, using only fresh, in-season ingredients. He’s adapted her traditional Southern recipes for the mod-ern palate in many of his columns and pub-lications, including his upcoming book, A Time to Cook, which will be released in April by Gibbs-Smith Publishers.

PHOTOGRAPHS ©HELEN NORMAN


Mimi, and innovative design, decorating and entertaining con-cepts built around what’s locally available and in season.

Books two and three, Sip and Savor and Porch Living, were released in April 2012, and Wreaths for All Seasons in Septem-ber. His mission, he says, is to teach a new generation of South-erners to love gardening and to make it a focal point of their lifestyles. His newest book, A Time to Cook: Dishes from My Southern Sideboard, will be released on April 1.

“My father is a doctor, so ours was more a hobby farm,” Farmer says. “And, no, we didn’t have peaches; we had cattle and pecans. But that kind of upbringing taught me so much about the land, and caring for the land, and gardening. I want to share that with the world.”

Even in his company’s early years, Farmer never wanted for busi-ness, but his big break came in mid-2008, when both Southern Liv-ing and Traditional Home magazines featured a historic Macon, Ga., garden that he had been instrumental in transforming.

“The garden had great structure, but the lady who owns the home is a family friend, and she called me because she she need-ed somebody who was a designer and a gardener, not one or the other,” Farmer says. “A designer may say, ‘Put a boxwood here,’ but the gardener will say what type of boxwood. Every-thing’s got to gee-haw.”

Anyway, the magazine exposure, he says, is “what put me on the map.”

Farmer’s rapid rise to success has come as no surprise to Au-burn Department of Horticulture professor Harry Ponder. After all, it was Ponder, the much-respected undergraduate job-place-ment coordinator for the horticulture department, who cast the deciding vote on Farmer’s professional future.

“For one of the very few times in my career, I suggested that James start a business right out of school,” Ponder says. “And he has taken the ball and run with it.”

Born and bred an Auburn man—his maternal grandfather, Napp Granade, is a 1954 College of Ag alum—Farmer enrolled at Auburn in 2000 in the landscape architecture program, but didn’t find it a good fit.

“It’s a great program, but it wasn’t plant-based,” he says. The Department of Horticulture’s landscape design major was, however, and, that, along with strong encouragement from fam-ily friend and Auburn horticulture professor Dave Williams, prompted Farmer to make the switch to ag.

“It was exactly what I was looking for,” Farmer says. “My classes were great, learning the science of small trees, shrubs, ornamentals, and the College of Ag—well, there’s just some-thing about it. Everybody, students and teachers, they’re all your friends, your family.”

As a student, Farmer, an adept multitasker and an extrovert to the nth degree, didn’t hesitate to get involved. In addition to his horticulture major and art history minor, he was active in the Stu-dent Government Association, was an official student recruiter and served as a Camp War Eagle counselor, where, he admits, “I’d tell the students coming in, ‘If you don’t know what you want to do right now, go to the College of Ag. It’s the place you want to be.’”

That the young Farmer was blessed with a mile-wide creative streak and an unusually strong sense of design was obvious early on to horticulture faculty, and even as a student, Farmer began to make a name for himself. He became a self-described “pot dealer,” marketing his striking potted plant and flower ar-rangements to local garden club members. As word about his work spread, he soon found himself “doing flowers” for vari-ous events, including his first-ever wedding reception. (Com-plete weddings and wedding receptions are now among James Farmer Designs’ specialties.)

Too quickly, Farmer reached his senior year at Auburn, facing the sobering question of what, exactly, he should do after col-lege. He knew what he wanted to do, and that was to go home to rural middle Georgia, to set up shop in the small, unincorpo-rated town of Kathleen.

“There was a need in my area for a good designer, and my dream was to fill it,” he says. “I kept thinking about this architect down in little ol’ Moultrie (Ga.), and how people from Atlanta and all over Georgia would go to him to do their house plans. I felt I could be that kind of landscape designer in Kathleen.”

That called for a heart-to-heart talk with Ponder, which oc-curred, they both recall in detail, as they were walking back to Funchess Hall after one of Ponder’s arboriculture labs in the Don-ald E. Davis Arboretum. As they walked, they discussed the pros and cons of a couple of highly promising job opportunities Farmer had, one with a prestigious company in Dallas, the other in Atlanta. They also dissected the pros and cons of Farmer starting his own business.

“Dr. Ponder really wanted me to in-terview with the Dallas company, and it would have been a great job—great pay, a company truck—but I remember just kind of rolling my eyes,” Farmer says. “Then he told me that would be a dream

S O U T H E R N S T Y L E

Among the energetic entrepreneur’s more recent activities was an appearance on the Food Network cable show of Southern chef Paula Deen and a new role as national spokes-man for the American Camellia Society, for whom he served as the keynote speaker at the national conference in Napa, Calif.


Tomato-Onion Pie

There are some flavor combinations heaven sent to earth—tasty duos, trios and ensembles that sing with delight for our mere mortal existence. Tomatoes and onions baked in a pie is such a combo. When shared with the dearest of friends, well, the dish just gets better and better.

Vidalia onions are a spring crop in the South, and tomatoes start coming in soon after. There is a slight overlap in the seasonal splendor of these two—and, thankfully, the sweet, succulent jewels of Georgia’s southern counties also keep for weeks in our pantries and larders.

The recipe for this dish changes every time I make it—quantity and quality are factors. Ingredients on hand determine the results, and even my craving or mood steers the flavor. Basically, the premise is this: bring out the flavors through warmth, carry the flavors with mild creaminess and wrap them all up in a pastry crust. Experiment with different herbs for savory splash. [Recipe from A Time to Cook: Dishes from My Southern Sideboard, by James T. Farmer III, Gibbs Smith publisher, available April 2013.]

In a skillet, brown the onion in oil (for the hot temperature) and butter (for flavor) over medium to medium-high heat. Browning ensures that every bit of the sweetness will come through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mold a batch of Savory Tart Dough* into a crust for a pie pan. Fork or pinch the edges for a pretty result on the pan’s edge.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Mix together the Cheddar cheese, 1⁄2 cup of Parmesan, basil and mayo with salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in the browned onion. Starting with the tomatoes, layer the tomatoes and cheese mixture in the pie shell. Top with crushed

crackers and then the remaining Parmesan. In lieu of a cracker crumb topping, a top pie crust is apropos; or use none at all; the topping is merely gilding the lily.

Bake about 25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the cheese and tomatoes are bubbly. Garnish the sliced pie with basil or rosemary. I love to serve this with a tomato and onion salad so my guests can savor the textures and flavors of both the raw and cooked versions of the produce. (serves 6)

*Change the Tart Dough recipe to savory by substituting Parmesan cheese for the sugar in the recipe. [Editor’s Note: Recipe is from A Time to Cook, but a prepared pie crust may be substituted.]

**Mayo is my first taste preference for this pie, but sour cream or a sour cream and cream cheese mixture is also quite tasty.

***Sprinkling the “maters” with sea salt will help them “sweat” out some moisture.

1 large Vidalia or other sweet onion, thinly sliced1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon butter Salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 recipe Tart Dough (page 164) turned savory,* or a prepared pie crust2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese

1 ½ cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided1 cup chopped fresh basil, or ½ cup chopped rosemary 1 cup mayonnaise** 3–4 vine-ripened tomatoes, thinly sliced and drained*** 1 ½ cups crushed Ritz crackers, optionalBasil or rosemary for garnish, optional

job for 99 percent of the students gradu-ating with me. But he said, ‘James, you’re the 1 percent.’ ”

It wasn’t a flippant endorsement.“For one thing, James had already

gained valuable experience and contacts while working on the side and going to school,” Ponder says. “Plus, James had such diverse interests and talents that no one job was going to offer him the diver-sity he wanted.”

But there was another factor at play in Ponder’s mind.

“I had another student very similar to James about 10 years before, and I en-couraged him to work for experience and then start his own business,” Ponder re-calls. “He was never happy, and he never got the opportunity to start his own busi-ness. That episode weighed heavily on my advice to James.

“It’s risky to start right out of school, but James had a vision of what he wanted to do, is blessed with extraordinary cre-ative talent and has exceeded all expecta-tions,” he says. “He is a special talent who has found a special place in our industry. It helps that he is such a good person to begin with, and then you put the talent on top and that is a recipe for success.”

For more about Farmer and James Farm-er Designs, go to www. jamesfarmer.com.


A garden-fresh peach might be hard to improve upon, but Farmer can usually find a way, even for a Southern staple like iced tea. His favorite brew? Use one Earl Grey tea bag to four standard ones to catch the slight fruitiness of the black tea, then sweeten it with simple syrup from sugar and juice from limes or Meyer lemons.


A trio of Auburn authors write a love letter to their hometown by

shining a light on what’s gone. b y s u z a n n e j o h n s o n

Lost Auburn

Always changing, ever growing. That’s the norm for a thriving univer-sity—and, by extension, a university town. But progress comes with loss, and three historians, returning to the Plains after careers else-where, set out to document their own magical mystery tour through Auburn Past. The result is Lost Auburn, a book of more than 200 photographs and the stories that live on long after the last brick has been hauled away.as they pulled together their mountain of research notes and photographs, it was hard for the authors of Lost Auburn (NewSouth Books, 2012) not to see the irony of current events in the city. Ralph Draughon Jr. ’58 serves on the Alabama Historical Commission and the board of directors of the Alabama Trust for His-toric Preservation. Delos Hughes, retired from a career teaching politics at Washington and Lee University, is an architectural historian. Ann Pearson ’63, the longtime president of the Auburn Heritage Association, also serves on the board of the Historic Chattahoochee Commission. Yet in 2011, as the three worked on their labor of love on the 175th anniversary of the town’s founding, a piece of Auburn history was being intensely debated. The oaks at Toomer’s Corner had been poisoned, and the meaning of “historic” was being argued—were the old trees a “venerable object,” or were they $20 worth of replaceable wood? “Oddly enough, the legal controversy over the poisoning illustrates sharply contrasting points of view in regard to historic preservation,” the authors write in their introduction to Lost Auburn. “It epitomizes, aptly, the never-ending debate between the importance of a historic landmark and its very mundane worth as real estate.” For most Auburn folks, and three historians, the answer was clear.

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF NEWSOUTH BOOKS


L O S T A U B U R N

Previous page: Auburn City Hall and Fire Station, circa 1931, on North Gay Street. The jail and police depart-ment were in the rear. Above: The McElhaney/Jones Hotel on North College, Auburn’s first, early 20th cen-tury. Right: The ornate meeting room for the ATO fraternity, located above Toomer’s Drugs.


Above: An 1898 shot of the 4-year-old Veterinary Building, a nine-room, two-story building on West Magnolia Avenue. Left: In 1941, the Auburn Curb Market finally got a building on Thach Avenue, but it was short-lived. World War II, Victory gardens, and farm-labor shortages shut it down.

L O S T A U B U R N


L O S T A U B U R N

Above: The antebel-lum Levi-Lee House, at the site of present-day Biggin Hall, served as the first chemistry building. Right: Profes-sor George Petrie (rear, center) with a group of students—they often congregated on the porch of his house on what is now the north lawn of the Ralph B. Draughon Library.


L O S T A U B U R N

Left: Cadets parade through downtown in the years before World War I, past Burton’s Bookstore and the octagonal post office. Below: On the corner of College Street and East Thach sat the home of the college’s first physician and surgeon, John Hodges Drake, for whom Drake Infirmary was named.


L O S T A U B U R N

Top: In 1930, at the astronomical cost of $60,000, the new 715-seat Tiger “movie palace” opened. Above: From 1936 into the 1960s, the Gazes brothers operated the Auburn Grille next door to Toomer’s. Right: The Polly-Tek Shop clothed Auburn women from its prime downtown location.


L O S T A U B U R N

Above: Located at the corner of Gay Street and Opelika Road, Hatchett’s Service Station sported a revolving conical roof. Left: “Tugboat Town” solved postwar housing shortages with rooms crafted of surplus tugboats provided by the government. In the center stood the “town” bath house.


Ta k e a l o o k a r o u n d , a n d y o u c a n ’ t h e l p b u t w o n d e r :

w h y i s e v e r y b o d y s o a n g r y ? b y s u z a n n e jo h n s o n

Fear and loathingfor a few days in December—just a speck in the grand pas-sage of time—people in the United States paused to mourn the murder of 20 young children and six adults in a Connecticut elementary school.

Then the moment was gone, and strident voices arose in what seems to have become the constant soundtrack of mod-ern life: anger.

You can see it in the top news stories from the past year, before a young man named Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., setting off a contentious de-bate over gun control.

Enraged citizens of New York and New Jersey lashed out at the slow federal response to Superstorm Sandy.

The November presidential election capped what was argu-ably the most contentious and divisive political campaign in U.S. history.

Tea Party rallies. Wall Street sit-ins and dropouts. A Con-gress paralyzed by ideological warfare. Bailouts. Health care. Tax breaks. Tax increases. Let’s not forget the fiscal cliff.

And throughout the year’s events, like a dark undercurrent, individual and collective anger roiled and boiled, ratcheting up blood pressure and spilling out in violence.

Where is it all coming from? And what is it doing to us?

Anger itself is nothing new, an emotion as ancient and ba-sic to our natures as life itself. The Bible is filled with it. The ancient Greeks considered it a form of madness. History is riddled with contentious politics, public discourse run amok, murder and genocide.

“Human existence is a culture of violence,” contends Au-burn University philosophy professor Richard Penaskovic. “Look at history. Cain murdered Abel. World War I was the bloodiest ever. It has always been with us.”

Francesca Adler-Baeder, professor of human development and family studies, whose research encompasses families un-der stress, agrees that while people are angry now, they’re not necessarily more angry than, say, during the Civil Rights move-ment, the Civil War, or the Vietnam era. “My sense is that, rather than a linear upward trend, we have seen an ebb and flow of societal levels of anger in this country based on both human rights issues (e.g., civil rights or the women’s move-ment) and economic issues.”

What is different about the current culture of anger might not be the anger itself but the way technology has amplified everyone’s ability to be heard. And to paraphrase a medical cliché: anger’s not the disease, but the symptom. Some of the causes? Disenfranchisement, frustration and fear.

ILLUSTRATION BY ALBERTO RUGGIERI


e live in a world of technological marvels. Students in an Auburn classroom share ideas in real-time with their counterparts around the world. A click of a mouse, and a couple in Florida can see their newborn grandchild

in Alaska. By typing the hashtag #Cairo into Twitter, millions around the world watched an Egyptian revolution unfold.

But all that networking comes at a cost. People who rely on texting and email and Facebook for most of their social inter-action (and there are many an Auburn professor who would say that’s a large percentage of today’s college students) are in danger of losing interpersonal skills. Skills such as the ability to hold a calm discussion with someone of an opposing view-point, or to reach compromise.

“It’s an interconnected world,” Penaskovic says. “People were following the events of 9/11 on TV in Sweden. In the old days, it took people in the United States six months to even find out who was elected president.”

When we were forced to argue with someone in person, we could see the impact of our words and know when to rein it in. In the great anonymity of the Internet, the consequences of our words are theoretical, no matter how inflammatory those words might be or who might be hurt in the process.

It’s not just adults throwing verbal swords—witness the widely publicized suicides by teen or college-aged victims of online bullying.

“[Technology] allows people to act anonymously, acting in ways that we wouldn’t consider in a face-to-face situation,”

says Cynthia Reed, director of the Truman Pierce Institute in the College of Education and the Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Professor of Educational Leadership and an expert on bullying. “Also, technology and social media have increased the size and range of the audience, raising the level of impact and damage. Words and images that are posted on Facebook or tweeted can almost instantaneously reach an ever-increas-ing audience, and cannot ever be fully retracted.”

People who use traditional or social media to express their anger are trying to be heard, says Margaret Keiley, director of clinical research in the College of Human Sciences’ Center for Children, Youth and Families. “Somehow, we keep believ-ing that if we tell everyone what we are angry about, it will change. Change rarely occurs this way. It occurs when people are vulnerable and open to new ideas.”

hange—the speed of it in some ar-eas and the lack of it in others—is the driving force behind today’s madding crowd. When things don’t change the way we want, or when they change in ways we don’t want, frustration and anger erupt.

What has Americans frustrated? The economy, politics, national debt, social programs, tax rates; the list is long.

While the anger we hear on social networks, TV talk shows, and public rallies is venomous, it’s the anger we don’t hear that can cause the most damage, whether it’s the loner who finally snaps and walks into a crowded movie theater with a weapon or a husband and wife whose relationship grows toxic from the financial pressure.

“There seems to be an increasing level of frustration and, at times, desperation,” says Reed. “This can and does result in acts of anger. I believe the media often plays a role in helping this increased frustration to fester, particularly when the pun-dits themselves are inflammatory and vindictive in the com-ments made.”

Reed says there has been research suggesting that when peo-ple are bombarded with commentary that feeds into our “fight or flight” mode, our ability to critically process information is diminished.

That’s exactly what happens when get angry, Keiley says. “When we are very upset or aroused, we are not able to access our ‘thinking’ brain. The pathway to our ‘emotional’ brain (vagal system) shuts down our ability to problem-solve, and we react in our habitual ways.”

Those ways are formed in childhood, so angry parents are teaching their children behaviors they might not intend. And family stress is on the increase.

“Economic strain has become widespread in households in recent years and many face difficulties associated with job loss and underemployment,” says Adler-Baeder. “No doubt this sets the stage for high stress in families.”

In her work with the statewide Healthy Relationship and Marriage Education Initiative, based at Auburn, she’s hearing more of these stories. “There is a concern that there is a greater risk for abuse and violence in situations of high stress,” she

CW

F E A R A N D L O A T H I N G

Somehow, we keep believ-ing that if we tell everyone what we are angry about, it will change.


says. “Recent reports note that where unemployment rates are especially high, domestic violence reports and incidences have increased.”

Children learn from their parents, and angry, stressed-out parents can teach their kids unintended patterns that will fol-low them throughout their lives, in many cases, or have seri-ous consequences.

“We are all influenced by our context and relationships,” Reed says. “Parental anger and frustration will eventually rub off on many children and teens and we’ll see increased levels of anxiety, depression and acts resulting from their frustration. Youths usually don’t have sophisticated means for communi-cating their feelings and frustration, so we are more likely to see them turning this frustration inward or demonstrating it through outward acts such as vandalism or bullying.”

Reed isn’t sure bullying is on the increase so much as simply being recognized more. “I think more people are understand-ing that bullying is a real problem with potentially lifelong consequences,” she says. “Because of this, there is increased awareness. More people are able to define it and not consider certain acts as ‘just a rite of passage.’”

As a result, parents and teachers are likely to address bully-ing and try to understand what’s behind it. “Many bullies act out against others when they are frustrated, angry or feeling powerless,” Reed notes.

There are those words again: frustration and anger. If frus-tration lies behind our current culture of anger, what lies be-hind the frustration?

One word, Keiley says: Fear. “Ours is not really a ‘culture of anger’ so much as a ‘culture of fear.’ When we are threatened by not having a job, by not having our candidate elected, by gun violence—we are fearful and sometimes quite terrified.”

Ours is an uncertain world. A recent New York Times study claimed the net worth of the average American family has fall-en to 1993 levels. Americans are no longer enjoying a more prosperous life than that of their parents. A shaky economy, war, terrorism and political uncertainty are scary things over which we have little or no control.

“Feeling scared and fearful often makes people feel weak and incompetent,” Keiley says. “Anger is a defense against feelings of fear, incompetence and despair. We feel stronger when we express anger.”

n the end, all this anger isn’t likely to bring about the changes we want. In fact, it might make us sick.

“Because of the huge physiological re-sponses in our body’s nervous system when we are terrified and show anger, the wear and tear on us is enormous,” Keiley says.

When cartoon characters get angry, their faces turn the color of beets and steam spews from their ears. The truth is almost as dra-

matic. In the short term, our heart rates increase, blood pres-sure rises and muscles tense. In the long term, anger and stress are deadly companions, emotionally and physically.

Keiley notes that people need to find ways to calm their anger, and without blunting it with destructive behaviors.

“Many people who have difficulty managing fear, and there-fore anger, find themselves using detrimental means of sooth-ing themselves—drinking, drugging, sex, spending money, gambling, overeating, bulimia, anorexia. That escalates the problem even more.”

If it’s any consolation, it’s not just Americans who are angry. “We live in an interdependent world filled with tension,” Pe-naskovic says, pointing out that many Middle Eastern nations, in particular, are in the middle of massive social and political upheaval.

Every day’s news seems to bring new scenes of protest, riots and civil unrest from throughout the Middle East as old politi-cal factions fall and new ones rise.

European nations such as Greece and Portugal, facing their own civic unrest, are on the verge of economic collapse.

Which, unfortunately for all of us, means things aren’t like-ly to get better soon. “Tension is probably just going to in-crease,” Penaskovic says. “We live in a polarized word, and in a polarized country.”

There’s just no point in being angry about it.

I

F E A R A N D L O A T H I N G

Ours is an un-certain world. A shaky econ-omy, lingering war, political upheaval and the threat of terrorism are things over which we have no control.

Tell me more...

Steve [email protected]

12”x12” Granite$1,000

8”x 8” Stone$500

4”x 8” Brick$200

Preserve your legacy at AuburnEagle flights. Toomer’s Corner. The bells of Samford Tower. At

Auburn, our traditions are built to last. Now you too can leave a

permanent mark on campus by buying a paver on Alumni Walk,

located at the Auburn Alumni Center. Proceeds benefit student

scholarships. www.aualum.org/scholarships


A L U M N I N E W S

BILL STONE ’85President, Auburn Alumni Association

ALUMNI CENTER

A season of changeCalendar

Almost everyone recog-nizes the words of Eccle-siastes 3: To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven. Sea-sons change. Circum-stances change. Change

is the constant of our world. How we adapt is the test of our Faith, and our successes. Auburn is changing, just as we look to the changes of the season.

Coach Gus Malzahn is back home on the Plains and leading our Auburn Tiger football team. Coach Malzahn’s offensive philosophy is sure to bring excitement back to Jordan-Hare Stadium and Pat Dye Field this fall. Coach Malzahn told me, as he will tell many of you, that he is excited to be at Auburn University. He knows that we can and will win, and that we will do it the right way. Discipline. Integrity. Success in the classroom and on the field. A special thank you to Auburn President Jay Gogue ’69, Athletic Director Jay Jacobs ’85 and our search committee—Mac Crawford ’71, Pat Sullivan ’72 and Bo Jackson ’95—for bringing Coach Malzahn back to our Loveliest Village.

Another change is occurring on our Au-burn University Board of Trustees. I would like to personally thank Sam Ginn ’59 and John Blackwell ’64 for their distinguished service and leadership. The time has come for Sam and John to rotate off the board, and our selection process began in mid-November, receiving more than 120 nomi-nations. By law, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley chairs our trustee selection com-mittee. I am proud to serve on this com-mittee along with Gaines Thomas ’72 of Mobile, a member of your Auburn Alum-ni Association Board of Directors, Ray-mond Harbert ’82 of Birmingham, presi-dent pro tempore of the Auburn University Board of Trustees, and Jimmy Rane ’68 of Abbeville, also a member of our Auburn University Board of Trustees.

Our committee vetted each of the 100-plus nominees, and selected 17 to inter-

view. We interviewed eight candidates for the District 8 seat, which covers North Alabama from Florence/Muscle Shoals through Decatur and Huntsville to Scotts-boro, and nine for an “at-large” seat.

I am pleased with the nominations of Mike DeMaioribus ’76 of Huntsville for District 8 and Wayne Smith ’68 of Nashville for the at-large seat, which were sent to the Alabama Senate for approval by the nomi-nations committee and ratification by the full senate. Once approved, our new trustees will be seated immediately and will serve a seven-year term.

Your Auburn Alumni Association Board of Directors is at work, too, looking at changes to help strengthen and grow our membership and services. We must work to be a more inclusive association, one that serves men and women of all ages, Auburn people that “believe in Auburn and love it.” That is our commitment; that is our work. Stay tuned. I am confident you will like the opportunities coming for each of us.

I, too, am experiencing change. I am moving back to my hometown of Rain-bow City, Ala., where I am blessed by the opportunity, professionally and personal-ly, to return to raise my son, Trey. One of the first things I will do is to become an active participant in the Etowah County Auburn Club. Throughout my career, and with my many moves, I have always got-ten involved in the local Auburn club, which helped me get involved in the local community, meet new friends and serve. I encourage you to do the same should a change of address come your way. It’s free to all association members.

It is indeed my honor and privilege to serve you, and steward our Auburn Alum-ni Association. God bless you all, and WAR EAGLE!

March 2

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS BANQUET Dinner and induction ceremony honoring Daniel D. Bennett ’68, Ronald L. Burgess Jr. ’74, Clifford LeRoy Hare 1891, and Sally Jones Hill ’63 at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. 6 p.m. reception; 6:30 p.m. dinner. Black tie. For information, call Janet Bryant at 334-844-1150, or visit our website at www.aualum.org/laa.

March 4

RECOGNIZE THE BEST

Nominations open for Lifetime Achievement Awards, Young Alumni Achievement Awards and faculty awards. Deadline for nominations is May 31. For more information, call Kate Larkin at 334-844-1149, or visit www.aualum.org/awards.

March 11-19

ITALIA CLASSICA

History, culture, art and romance await on this wonderful introduction to Italy. See classical Rome and visit the famed Colosseum, and enjoy a Venetian adventure that includes St. Mark’s Square. Savor a walking tour of Florence; ride a train from Mogliano Veneto to Venice, crossing the famous Ponte della Liberta, the only road bridge connecting Venice to Mestre, on the mainland; and stroll the elegant streets of Italy’s second-largest city, Milan. From $2,949. Info: 334-844-1443 or www.aualum.org/travel.

March 22-29

CRUISE TO LESSER ANTILLES

Cruise the southern Caribbean islands with small-ship flair on the six-star M.V. Silver Cloud. Ports include beautiful St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Dominica, Antigua, St. Barts and Virgin Gorda. Pre-cruise option to San Juan, Puerto Rico. From $3,299. Info: 334-844-1443 or www.aualum.org/travel.

April 2-14

VILLAGES AND VINEYARDS, CHILE AND ARGENTINA Begin in cosmopolitan Santiago, Chile’s lively capital, and journey through the Andes. Travel the famous wine roads of Mendoza, tasting some of Argentina’s finest wines in the remote Valle de Uco. End your [email protected]

Tell me more...

Steve [email protected]

12”x12” Granite$1,000

8”x 8” Stone$500

4”x 8” Brick$200

Preserve your legacy at AuburnEagle flights. Toomer’s Corner. The bells of Samford Tower. At

Auburn, our traditions are built to last. Now you too can leave a

permanent mark on campus by buying a paver on Alumni Walk,

located at the Auburn Alumni Center. Proceeds benefit student

scholarships. www.aualum.org/scholarships


A L U M N I C E N T E R

Annual Report

journey in the historic city of Buenos Aires. From $4,795. Info: 334-844-1443 or www.aualum.org/travel.

April 4-7

CALIFORNIA WINE COUNTRY

Travel through the California countryside and explore the Napa and Sonoma valleys. Experience wine culture and production through private discussions with vineyard experts, and sample locally made wines during tours and tastings. From $1,495. Info: 334-844-1443 or www.aualum.org/travel.

April 8-14

MASTERS TOURNAMENT

Pass through the hallowed gates of Augusta National Golf Club, where War Eagle Travelers receive tickets to the selected day’s round; gourmet meals at The Executive Club; complimentary bar service; a business center; and more. From $525. Info: 334-844-1443 or www.aualum.org/travel.

April 20

A-DAY AND BLOCK PARTY

Come back to Auburn for a special A-Day Game and Block Party. Take a first look at Coach Gus Malzahn’s Auburn Tigers, then join fellow alumni at Toomer’s Corner after the game for a final roll of the oak trees. Time to be announced. For details, go to www.auburn.edu/oaks.

April 20-28

MEDITERRANEAN MARVELS

Cruise aboard Riviera, Oceana Cruises’ newest vessel, to France, Monaco and Italy. Among your stops: Bar-celona, Marseille, St. Tropez, Monte Carlo, the Cote d’Azur, Portofino, Florence and Capri. From $1,999. Info: 334-844-1443 or www.aualum.org/travel.

April 22-30

CANADIAN ROCKIES

Board VIA Rail’s The Canadian in Vancouver for a once-in-a-lifetime overnight train journey, then arrive in Jasper and the dramatic Maligne Canyon. You’ll also travel one of the world’s most spec-tacular roads, the Icefields Parkway, and overnight

Annual Report2011–2012

Auburn Alumni Association EXPENSES

Fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2012

Auburn Alumni Association REVENUE

Fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2012

SCHOLARSHIPS & ACADEMIC SUPPORT

• Eighty-one student scholarships were awarded this year from the $4.3 million Alumni Scholars Endow-ment. Alumni contributions support the endowment.

The association expanded its outreach to members and potential members

through social media networks:

A year of service and spirit

I am happy to present to the members of the Auburn Alumni Association the an-nual report for 2011-12. This year has been one of many accomplishments, and several are highlighted in this report. Our organiza-

tion is fortunate to have a strong, active board of di-rectors who volunteer their time to serve the associa-tion. We also have a dedicated staff, each of whom works hard to serve our members and coordinate outstanding programs and services. It is our goal to connect alumni to the university, actively engaging them in various areas such as Auburn Clubs, Golden Eagles, social media and community service. The as-sociation continues to support the university through faculty awards, alumni professorships and student scholarships, which this year totaled more than a half-million dollars. I consider it an honor to serve as the association’s executive director, and I remain committed to serving our members by communicat-ing with you, offering opportunities for alumni en-gagement and sharing the Auburn spirit. War Eagle!

DEBBIE SHAW ’84Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Executive Director, Auburn Alumni Association

[email protected]

• The Alumni Professors Endowment, with more than $2 million invested, provides financial supplements to 26 faculty members each year for five-year terms. Se-lected this year were: D. Allen Davis, fisheries and allied aquacultures; Henry Kinnucan, agricultural economics and rural sociology; Margaret Ross, educational foun-dations, leadership and technology; Herbert Jack Rot-feld, marketing.• Three faculty members received $1,000 each as recipients of the Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Awards. They were: Robert S. Boyd, biological scienc-es, College of Sciences and Mathematics; Shelly McKee, poultry science, College of Agriculture; and Karla Sim-mons, consumer affairs, College of Human Sciences. • Gary Gruenhage, mathematics and statistics, College of Science and Mathematics, received $2,000 from the Auburn Alumni Association as the recipient of the 2012 Distinguished Graduate Faculty Lectureship Award co-sponsored by the Graduate School and the alumni association.• Jared Russell, kinesiology, College of Education, re-ceived $1,000 from the Auburn Alumni Association as the recipient of the 2012 Alumni Minority Achieve-ment Award.• Life members contributed $39,745 to the Circle of Ex-cellence Society, supporting the Alumni Scholars Endow-ment. A total of 194 are members of this special society.• The Golden Eagles Scholarship was introduced at the 2009 Golden Eagles reunion. Since its inception, the scholarship has raised more than $29,000. Seven stu-dents were awarded $1,000 scholarships each for the 2011-12 academic year.• Construction of the new Alumni Walk was completed before the 2012 football season began, and the sale of pavers continues. Alumni Walk proceeds will provide student scholarships.

War Eagle!

Facebook 12,106 fans

Twitter 6,362 followers

Flickr 320,021 photo views

LinkedIn 6,317 connections

YouTube 104 videos

Calendar



2011–2012

AUBURN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT

Robert E. (Bobby) Poundstone IV ’95

VICE PRESIDENT

William B. (Bill) Stone II ’85

TREASURER

Douglas E. Pritchett ’77

Jeremy L. Arthur ’99 Vernell E. Barnes ’75 William C. “Beau” Byrd II ’89 Marcus F. Conner ’99 William Jackson “Jack” Fite ’85 Michael R. Griffin ’96Randy Joe Ham ’73 M. Van Henley ’80Robert R. “Bob” Jones ’74Howard B. Nelson ’69 William D. “Bill” Nelson ’62Kathleen M. Saal ’83 Cynthia A. Sahlie ’85 E. Gaines Thomas ’72 K-Rob Thomas ’01Barbara A. Wallace-Edwards ’79

EX-OFFICIO

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Deborah L. Shaw ’84 Jay Gogue ’69Donald L. Large Jr. ’75Don Logan ’66Nancy Young Fortner ’71Jennifer L. StephensCharlie Whiting

Mission StatementThe mission of the Auburn Alumni Association is to foster and strengthen the relationship between Auburn University and its alumni and friends; to preserve and promote the university’s traditions, purposes, growth and development; and to keep alive the spirit of affection and rever-ence for our alma mater.

Vision StatementThe Auburn Alumni Association cultivates lifelong relationships between Auburn and its alumni and friends to support the advancement of our university.

The 2011-2012 Auburn Alumni Association Board of Directors (back row, left to right) Jack Fite, Gaines Thomas, Mike Griffin, Jeremy Arthur, Marcus Conner, Howard Nelson, Beau Byrd, (middle row, left to right) Bill Nelson, Van Henley, Randy Ham, Bob Jones, K-Rob Thomas, Vernell Barnes, Debbie Shaw, (front row, left to right) Jennifer Stephens, Cindy Sahlie, Nancy Young Fortner, Bobby Poundstone, Bill Stone, Kathleen Saal, Barbara Wallace-Edwards

Member Feedback

87%

50%

47%

say the association met their expectations

say Auburn Magazine is their favorite member benefit

say they proudly display their association membership decal in their car window

say they are aware that awarding scholarships is part of the association’s mission

say they are aware of the Auburn Clubs program

82%

92%

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Four individuals were recognized for their extraordi-nary career accomplishments: Lloyd James Austin III ’86, Kirby Isaac Bland ’64, N. Jan Davis ’77 and James E. Livingston ’62. An annual banquet recog-nized the contributions recipients have made to their professions and communities.

MEMBERSHIP UNITY

The Auburn Alumni Association completed phase III of a membership unity effort launched in 2009 that unites membership in the Auburn Alumni Association with membership in the local Auburn club. The final phase was completed on Sept. 30, 2012, and all clubs are now participating.

STUDENT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Charlie Whiting served as president of the Student Alumni Association, overseeing 25 student ambassa-dors. The organization awarded two scholarships to rising seniors and conducted a community service proj-ect to support active military alumni serving overseas.

AUBURN CLUBS

Clubs in Alabama: 37 Out-of-State Clubs: 61 Total: 98

COMMUNICATIONS

Considered a favorite benefit of membership in the Auburn Alumni Association, Auburn Magazine was mailed quarterly to about 37,000 member households. The magazine built its online presence by making an archive of back issues at issuu.com/alumniau; restruc-turing its blog at auburnmagazine.auburn.edu; and participating in social media activities.

TRAVEL PROGRAMS - War Eagle Travelers

(international and domestic travel) Tours offered: 20 Travelers: 131

AWAY-GAME TRAVEL- Football 2011

Trips offered: 6 Travelers: 534

Categories of Membership Fiscal year ending, Sept. 30, 2012

2% 19% 79%Recent Grads Annual Members Life Members

(558) (8,145) (33,735)



Calendar Class Notes

GOT NEWS?

Auburn Magazine

317 S. College Street

Auburn University, AL

36849-5149, or

[email protected]

Life Member

Annual Member

’20-’59 Thirty-four family

members gathered in Foley on Nov. 10 to honor Charles B.

Vaughn ’37 at the home of his daughter, Char-

lene Gibson ’63, and her husband, Chuck. Vaughn, an electrical engineering graduate and member of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, enjoyed a 40-year career with General Electric in sales and management. At the time of his retirement, he was vice president of sales and marketing of the Locke Insulator Division. He lives in The Villages, Fla., with his son, Ward, and his daughter-in-law, Kathy.

Joe Buck ’63

received the Benjamin Elijah Mays Lifetime Achievement Award by the Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) of the National School Boards Association. Buck is in his third term as president of the Savannah-Chatham Board of Public Educa-tion in Savannah, Ga. Savannah-Chatham is one of 130 urban school districts in the nation that are part of CUBE.

’60-’69 David Irwin ’61, the

Earle C. Williams Emi-nent Scholar in Auburn University’s Depart-ment of Electrical and Computer Engineer-ing, received the 2013 James H. Mulligan Jr. Education Medal from the Institute of Electri-cal and Electronics Engineers. The award recognizes an educa-tor’s contributions to the vitality, imagina-tion and leadership in the engineering profes-sion. A faculty member at Auburn since 1969, Irwin and his wife, Patricia Watson ’61, live in Auburn.

Hank Miller ’64, a commercial photogra-pher, was recently se-lected as the fall 2013 artist-in-residence at Nantucket Island School of Design, a branch of Rhode Is-land School of Design. In May, he will be leading a photo tour of his ancestral home country of Slovenia. Anyone interested can find more on the tour at cosmopolitanadven-turetours.com.

William W. “Bill/

Smitty” Smith ’65, a resident of Birming-ham and former presi-dent of Phi Kappa Al-pha, has been selected to the 2013 Alabama Super Lawyers list. He has also, for many years, been listed as one of the Best Law-yers in America, as well as one of the Top Attorneys in Alabama

by Business Alabama magazine. He has prac-ticed law in Birming-ham for 46 years.

’70-’79 Patricia Hall ’71

co-authored a book, Leeds, about her Alabama hometown. The book was the cul-mination of a 20-year research project.

James M. Love ’75

has been elected to the city council in Jackson-ville, Fla.

Jacquelyn “Lyn”

Lufkin Stuart ’77 was recently re-elected to her third term as a justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. She lives in Bay Minette with her husband, George Stuart ’79.

’80-’89 Jeptha E. “Jep”

Castleberry III ’80

retired in October as owner-pharmacist of Castleberry Drug Co. in Forsyth, Ga. A third-generation phar-macist, Castleberry and his wife, Beverly, live in Forsyth.

Timothy A. Hunt ’80 has been named 2013 Tampa (Fla.) Construc-tion Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America. Hunt practices with Hill Ward Hender-son, a Tampa-based firm with local, regional and national clients.

Victor Bray ’81 was chosen for the Joel Wernick Award in recognition of an out-

standing educational contribution within the field of audiology and hearing science. He is dean of audiol-ogy at Salus University, located in the Philadel-phia area.

Dwight Bassett ’83 was awarded CFO of the year for the private company category by the Memphis (Tenn.) Business Journal. He is chief financial officer for Builders Transpor-tation Co., located in Memphis.

Ron Lawson ’83 has been promoted to vice president of marketing at The Republic Group in Dallas.

Monty Newport ’83

lives in Hoover, where he is vice president of Command Alkon Inc. He recently published a book, Tuff Guy: The Story of a Lost and Found Dog in Alabama. You can learn more about the book by visiting www.rescuedogbook.com.

David McDaniel

’84 was promoted to senior vice president at Acosta Sales & Marketing. He lives in Jacksonville, Fla.

Brett Hartman ’88 pub-lished his debut novel, Cadillac Chronicles, a coming-of-age road trip book, in October. He is a psychologist in Albany, N.Y., where he lives with his wife, Sarah, and sons, Benja-min and Nicholas.

at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and Banff Springs Hotel. From $3,199. Info: 334-844-1443 or www.aualum.org/travel.

April 25-27

GOLDEN EAGLES REUNION

Honoring the classes of 1943, 1948, 1953, 1958 and 1963. Info: 334-844-1150 or www.aualum.org/goldeneagles.

May 7

TIGER TREK WITH COACH GUS MALZAHN

Huntsville-Madison County, at Davidson Center. Details to be announced. For information, visit www.aualum.org.

May 9


Alabama Gulf Coast Regional (Mobile, Baldwin, Clarke, Washington, Escambia and Monroe counties), at Daphne Civic Center. Details to be announced. For information, visit www.aualum.org.

May 14


Atlanta, at STAT, 300 Marietta St. Details to be an-nounced. For information, visit www.aualum.org.

May 14-23

CLASSIC EUROPEAN GRADUATION TOUR

Support your recent grad on the trip of a lifetime before they start graduate school or that new job. Travel with grads from Auburn and other universities and explore the pomp and pageantry of London to the glamour of Paris; the ancient Roman ruins to the majesty of the Greek isles. Europe’s infinite variety of people, places and traditions is the perfect setting for a journey that celebrates and educates. From $2,225. Info: 334.844.1443 or www.aualum.org/travel.

May 30


North Alabama Regional (Cullman County), Mc-Gukin Civic Center. Details to be announced. For information, visit www.aualum.org.

For additional dates of the 2013 Tiger Trek season, please see article on page 54.



MARRIED Christine Etheridge

’82 to Mike Crater on June 9. They live in Columbus, Ohio.

BORN A boy, Cameron,

to Michael Panza ’89 and his wife, Nancy, of Irvine, Calif., on Aug 30.

’90-’99 Lori Hart ’92 is an

active volunteer for Alpha Omicron Pi fra-ternity and currently serves as director of prevention education for Pi Kappa Phi fra-ternity. Since 1999, she has served as a speaker for CAMPUSPEAK and talks at 100 cam-puses a year on topics such as relationships, alcohol education and Greek life. Campus Activities Magazine has recognized her as both Speaker of the Year and Female Performer of the Year. Hart lives in Atlanta.

Matthew J. Landreau

’93 has been named general counsel of MedTek Systems and CTG Energy Co. Inc. He is based in Auburn.

Michele Seymour ’94 received the YMCA of Metro Atlanta’s 2012 Volunteer of the Year award for her service at the Summit Family YMCA in Newnan, Ga.

Carlie Bullock-Jones

’99 was named one of the 2012 LEED Fel-lows by the U.S. Green Building Council. She

is the founder and managing principal of Ecoworks Studio in Atlanta. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental De-sign) is a program that verifies green building design and construc-tion.

MARRIED Karin Malea Smith

’91 to Terry Jay Richey on April 21. They live in Birmingham.

Chandra West-Fort

’93 to Calvin Blake Fort

III ’97 on Sept 24. They live in Opelika.

Amy Caroline Scruggs

’97 to Jason Merrill Baker on Oct. 13. They live in Trussville.

Jonathan Alvis ’99 to Gwen Cochran. A May 2013 wedding is planned.

BORN A girl, Katherine

Elizabeth, to James

Alfred Cleveland ’95 and his wife, Marti, of Johnson City, Tenn., on Jan. 11. She joins big brothers Weston Matthew, 5, and Ben-jamin Caldwell, 3.

A girl, Reagan Brook-lyn, to Jeremy Gossett

’96 and Brooke Joiner

Gossett ’03 of Pell City on Oct. 26.

A boy, Ellis John-ston, to Elizabeth Car-

boni Green ’96 and her husband, Jonathan, of Decatur on Sept 4.

A boy, William “Liam” James, to Erin Argo ’98 and her husband, Kevin Frisz, of Brooklyn, N.Y., on July 16.

A girl, Elliot “El-lie” Lauren, to Justin

Gilder ’98 and his wife, Harmony, of Vestavia on Oct. 25. Ellie joins a brother, Harrison.

A boy, Maximil-iano Lucas Sebastian Gracia, to Michelle

Christine Gracia ’98 on June 10, 2011.

A boy, Luke Jackson, to Cliff Jackson ’98 and Karra Riley Jackson ’03

of Mobile on Sep 19.

A boy, Benjamin Eugene, to Steven

Sartain ’98 and his wife, Kym, of Subia-co, Western Austra-lia, on Sept. 24. He shares a birthday with his big brother, Joshua.

A boy, Hudson O’Neill, to Jeremy

Fletcher ’99 and his wife, Jenny, of Chat-tanooga, Tenn., on Jan. 1.

A girl, Elisabeth Nell “Ellie,” to Lee

Miller ’99 and Ashley

Deitchman Miller ’02 of New York on Dec. 18.

’00-’12David H. Cooper ’02 was promoted to part-ner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings in Birmingham. He is a member of the firm’s economic development

The Auburn Alumni Association is seeking nominations from alumni and friends of Auburn University for four new board direc-tors. All nominees must be life members of the association and be willing to serve on a volunteer basis. These board positions require travel to Auburn at least three times per year. Successful nominees will be installed this fall; each will serve a four-year term.

All candidates for board seats should have a demonstrated his-tory of leadership in support of the Auburn Alumni Association and Auburn University. Strong consideration will be shown to those who have actively promoted the association and AU through involvement with local Auburn Clubs. Additionally, persons who have previously contributed both time and resources to the univer-sity and the association will be strongly considered. Board directors and officers are expected to participate in the association’s sustain-ing life membership program through contributions to the “Circle of Excellence” scholarship society.

The Nominating Committee will also consider an individual’s ac-complishments, as demonstrated through career development and community service, along with their potential for representing the association’s various constituencies. Additionally, an individual’s college major(s), profession and the geographic location of his or her residence may influence the committee’s determination.

The committee encourages all alumni association members to participate by submitting nominations for consideration to Susan Barnes, Office of the Vice President for Alumni Affairs, Auburn Alumni Center, 317 South College Street, Auburn University, AL 36849-5149. A nomination form must be submitted, along with at least two letters of recommendation (but no more than four), from life members of the association. Resumes may also be submitted. The nomination form is available for downloading at www.aua-lum.org or by calling 334-844-3820.

Completed forms, letters of recommendation and resumes may be returned to the above address, sent by fax to 334-844-4003 or by emailing [email protected].

The deadline for receiving nominations and supporting documen-tation is 5 p.m. CST, Friday, March 22.

Nominees wanted



Class Notes

and tax practice group, focusing on economic development incentive-package structuring and negotiation, as well as the represen-tation of public and private companies in matters such as merg-ers and acquisitions, securities-law compli-ance and corporate governance.

Latoya Bell ’03 received a Master of Educa-tion in instructional technology from AUM in December.

Roger Richardson ’04 is the director of busi-ness development at Delta Sigma Co. and was recently awarded the 2012 Defense Manufacturing Tech-nology Achievement Award. He lives in Huntsville.

Jacob Allen Meredith

’11 works for Snead State Community College as an assistant accountant. He lives in Guntersville with his wife, Nakita, and their daughter, Taegan.

Kristen Phillips ’11 is engaged to Drew Hull. A wedding is planned for July 2013.

MARRIED Cyretta Price ’03 to Elliott Gilmore II on May 5. They live in Montgomery.

Margaret Callis

Cogle ’05 to Wesley

Clay Blake ’04 on Jan. 5. They live in Mont-gomery.

Margaret Anne Goff ’06 to William B. Bolin ’06 on Sept. 29. They live in the Birmingham area.

James A. Grand ’06 to Jennifer Leah Wessel on Dec. 29. They live in Akron, Ohio.

Anne E. Kettig ’06 to Blake William Lary on Dec. 28. They live in Birmingham.

Katherine Mears ’06 to James Ross Beshear on Sept. 29. They live in New York City.

Megan Lynn Moore ’06

to Thomas W. Stribling

’06 on April 26. They live in Denver.

Alison Douillard ’07 to Raymond James Hawthorne Jr. on April 27. They live in Pike Road.

Megan Marie Finnigan

’07 to Seay K. Grimes on March 26, 2011. They live in Saraland, near Mobile.

Amy Ethridge ’08 to Austin Dodson. They live in Muscle Shoals.

Abbey Elizabeth Smith

’08 to Charles Tyler Mask

’10 on Aug. 4. They live in Montgomery.

Terry Clay ’09 to Maria Gagliano ’11 on April 21. They live in Birmingham.

Kelli Maria Christian

’10 to Byron Anthony

Patterson ’10 on May 5. They live in Atlanta.

Martha Ann Ellis ’10 to Henry Wesley Hight III on May 11. They live in Telluride, Colo.

Chloe Hobdy ’10 to Matthew Livaudais ’10 on May 26. They live in Auburn.

Leah Joyce Impastato

’10 to Nolan Alan Willisson on June 16. They live in Fairhope.

Grace Anne Garrett ’11 to Brandon Reed Davis on Feb. 16. They live in Fort Benning, Ga.

Matthew Edward Miz-

zell ’11 to Jenny Emma Meriweather Harris on June 9. They live in Houston.

William Ryan Jones ’12

to Bethany Lea-Anne Russell on Aug. 18. They live in Aurora, Colo.

BORN A girl, Aubrey Lynn,

to Shelly Wilson Cox

’00 and her husband, Mitch, of Lexington, Ky., on June 13.

A boy, Jackson Lawrence, to Heather

Snell King ’00 and Justin King ’00 of Belle Chasse, La., on Oct. 18. He joins a sister, Elizabeth, and two brothers, Logan and Luke.

A boy, David Mar-tin, to Kathleen “Katie”

Sorrell Morris ’00 and her husband, John, of Brunswick, Ga., on Sept. 15.

Auburn Tigers head coach Gus Malzahn will hit the road this spring and summer to meet with alumni and fans on the annual Tiger Trek sponsored by the Auburn Alumni Association.

Eight dates have been set, as follows. For more details, please visit our website at www.aualum.org/clubs or online Auburn Club community www.auburnclubs.org.

• Tuesday, May 7: Huntsville/Madison County, at the Davidson Center. • Thursday, May 9: Alabama Gulf Coast Regional (Mobile, Baldwin, Clarke, Washington, Escambia and Monroe counties), at the Daphne Civic Center.• Tuesday, May 14: Atlanta, at STATS, 300 Marietta St.• Thursday, May 30: North Alabama Regional (Cullman County), at McGukin Civic Center.• Tuesday, June 4: Wiregrass Regional (Barbour County- Eufaula; Dale County-Ozark; Wiregrass-Dothan), at The Lodge at Lakepoint State Park.• Thursday, June 6: Shoals Area, at the Marriott Shoals Conference Center.• Wednesday, July 17: Greater Birmingham, at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center.• Tuesday, July 30: River Region (Montgomery County, Autauga County-Prattville, and Elmore County- Wetumpka), location to be announced.

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Class Notes

Fifty years ago, Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs topped the music charts with “Sugar Shack,” the Academy Award for best picture went to Lawrence of Arabia, Coca-Cola introduced its first diet drink, Tab, and NASA discontinued the Mercury space program.

At Auburn, the Class of 1963 graduated from college in a world where a first-class stamp cost four cents, and the average home cost a mere $19,300.

Members of the Class of 1963 will return to their alma mater April 25-27 for the Auburn Alumni Association’s annual Golden Eagles Reunion.

“The Golden Eagles celebration brings together folks who graduated from Auburn during a tumultuous time in the nation’s history but whose love for their alma mater transcends the po-litical and social changes of the past five decades,” says Debbie Shaw, vice president for alumni affairs. “It’s a heartwarming ex-perience to witness the bond they share.”

The association will also honor the classes of 1943, 1948, 1953 and 1958. Reunion activities include campus tours, dinner at the President’s Home, educational sessions and a dance featuring the Auburn Knights Orchestra. For more information or to register, see www.aualum.org/goldeneagles, call 334-844-1150 or email [email protected].

Going for gold

A boy, Turner Webster, to Zac Gibbs ’01 and Jennifer Webster Gibbs

’02 of Montgomery on July 12. He joins two brothers, Gunner and Hudson.

A boy, Cohen Landon, to Michael

Smith ’01 of Dothan on Dec. 19, 2011.

A boy, Aiden Lee, to DeAnna Boyett Woods

’01 and her husband, Wesley, of Tupelo, Miss., on May 7. He joins two brothers, Tyler and Weston.

A girl, Elizabeth Avery,

to Ali Pierce Pilcher

’02 and her husband, Chad, of Birmingham on Sept. 24.

A girl, Sterling Grace, to Kimberly

Haynes Webb ’02 and her husband, Tyler, of Auburn on Dec. 5, 2011.

A boy, Robert Miller, to Alex Doss

’03 and Katy Harper

Doss ’03 of Auburn on Aug. 30.

A girl, Sophie Mi-chelle, to Holly Atchley

Giroux ’03 and Jeffrey

Giroux ’03 of North-port.

A girl, Reese Harper Auburn, to Amber Lynn

Paulk ’03 and Ryan

Zayac ’05 of Florence on Oct. 25.

A boy, Kaden Blake, to Kristopher

Justin Hanes ’04 and Beth Hanes ’06 of Lincoln on May 23.

A girl, Emma Kath-erine, to Joshua K.

Shores ’04 and Melanie

Price Shores ’05 of Trussville on Jan. 2.

A girl, Lane Carter, to Christopher Goin

’05 and Kristin Lane

Goin ’05 of Atlanta on Oct. 8.

A girl, Madilyn Grace, to Will Herring ’06 and Ashley Thompson Her-

ring ’07 of Auburn on April 6.

A daughter, Lee Ellen, to Cari McCown Shores

’07 and her husband, Ross, of Pinson on Jan 19.

In Memoriam

John C. Williams Jr. ’33 of Auburn died June 3. A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, he retired from Auburn University in 1994 as a professor of discrete and statistical sciences.

Marian Cotney ’34 of Wadley died June 21. She retired from the Shelby County Exten-sion Service in 1980 af-ter 41 years of service.

Pascal Ashe Tutwiler III

’36 of Greensboro died June 25.

Richard H. Wood ’37 of Fort Gaines, Ga., died March 1. A U.S. Army veteran of World War II, he was a retired electrical engineer.

Jane Handley Dow ’38 of West Hartford, Conn., died March 17. She served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and later was a homemaker and com-munity volunteer.

Floyd Pugh Chappell

Farrior ’38 of Union Springs died on Oct. 14 in Gainesville, Fla.

John H. Ham ’40 of Bir-mingham died March 15. A U.S. Army Air Corps veteran of World War II, he was a former Auburn Tigers football player and member of Sigma Nu fraternity. He also had

served on the Auburn City Schools board.

Robert M. Prather

Jr. ’40 of Autaugaville died on Oct.6. He served in both World War II and the Ko-rean War. He taught zoology at Auburn for several years before returning to the Au-taugaville area, where he farmed before his retirement.

Otis Worley Pruett Sr.

’43 of Ormond Beach, Fla., died on Oct. 17. He served in World War II as a captain in the U.S. Army, where he earned a bronze star following the Battle of the Bulge. He owned Pruett Construction Co. and was instrumental in the construction of the Daytona International Speedway.

Clifford “Chick”

Allen Webb Jr. ’44 of Atlanta died on Oct 11. He had a career in chemical engineering, and at his retirement was environmental manager for Southwest Mississippi Electric Power Association, based in Hattiesburg, Miss. He also was an accomplished wood-worker and golfer.

Cody Alexander

Crawford ’45 of Ab-beville died on Oct. 10. He was a retired lieutenant-colonel in the Army, and served during World War II with the 7th Army Combat Engineers



in Europe. He was awarded the European-African-Middle East Campaign Medal with two battle stars. After his military service, he worked for the U.S. Postal Service.

Sarepta Ann “Sara”

Ford McDaniel ’46 of Roanoke died on Sept 30. She was a phar-macist at Randolph County Hospital until her retirement.

David A. Simpson ’47 of Cullman died on Oct. 5. He was a longtime veterinarian, enthusiastic golfer and passionate Auburn football fan. He was at Legion Field in 1948 when the Iron Bowl ri-valry was renewed and attended the games regularly after they moved to campus.

Grant R. Wallin Jr.

’47 of Largo, Fla., died on Sept 30. He was an active member and supporter of the Boy Scouts of America, and he served for many years as scout executive in different cities. Upon his retire-ment in 1990, he’d served 18 years as the scout executive of the West Central Florida Council.

Joseph Lee Hare ’48 of Auburn died on Oct. 8. He served in the Army during World War II before embarking on a career at Auburn Bank. He was the last surviv-ing child of legendary Auburn professor and

athletics administrator Clifford L. Hare, for whom Jordan-Hare Stadium is named.

James E. “Jim”

Coleman ’49 of Hunts-ville died on Oct. 4. A veteran of World War II and a fighter pilot for the U.S. Army Air Force, he was a technical editor and head of publications at Lockheed for 25 years. He was an accom-plished artist, a ham radio enthusiast and a golfer.

George Feagin Ham-

ner ’49 of Vero Beach, Fla., died on Sept. 27. He was chairman of Indian River Exchange Packers, president and chairman of Indian River Citrus League, director of Seald Sweet Growers, and was active in a variety of community organiza-tions. He was also a decorated World War II veteran, having served in an amphibi-ous assault unit in the Pacific.

Archie Dean Hooper ’49

of Montgomery died on Oct. 16. He was a former official of the Alabama Depart-ment of Conservation and Natural Re-sources.

Carolyn Ellis Lip-

scomb ’49 of Auburn died on Jan. 18. In addition to a teaching career that spanned from Chattanooga to Vicksburg to Bay Mi-nette, she was heavily

involved in activities in the Auburn commu-nity, including Auburn United Methodist Church, for which she wrote the sesquicen-tennial history in 1987, and the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, on whose board she served as a member.

John Mangels Jr. ’49 of Jacksonville, Fla., died on Sept 17. He served as a Navy Seabee combat engineer in the Pacific Theater during World War II and worked 37 years for Swisher International, retiring as vice presi-dent of engineering.

Thomas Andrew

Sims Jr. ’49 of Tus-caloosa died on Oct. 4. He was a U.S. Air Force cadet during World War II and then worked for 38 years at Alabama Power Co., retiring as western division accounting manager.

William Merritt

“Bim” Burgin Jr. ’50 of Birmingham died on Oct. 18. He served in the U.S. Navy before embarking on a 19-year career at Steel City Construction. Afterward, he founded his own construction company, and also helped with construc-tion projects in the U.S. and abroad.

Fred E. Fuller ’50 of Pelham died on Oct. 11. An Army veteran

Each year, the Auburn Alumni Association presents the Auburn Club Excellence (ACE) Awards, based upon evaluation of the fol-lowing areas: Auburn Club charter credentials; scholarship; com-munication; events/meetings; service to students; community ser-vice/involvement; leadership/organization; and membership.

The 2012 club honorees, recognized at this year’s Club Leader-ship Conference in early February, include the following:

ALL AUBURN, ALL ORANGE (highest level)Atlanta Auburn ClubCullman County Auburn ClubEmerald Coast Auburn Club (Okaloosa County, Fla.)Greater Birmingham Auburn ClubHuntsville/Madison County Auburn ClubShoals Area Auburn ClubWest Central Georgia Auburn Club

TRUE & BLUE TIGERS (second level)Barbour County Auburn ClubBluegrass Auburn Club (Ky.)Columbus/Phenix City Auburn ClubGeorgia Mountains Auburn ClubLee County Auburn ClubLowcountry Auburn Club (SC)Memphis Auburn ClubMontgomery County Auburn ClubMississippi Gulf Coast Auburn ClubNew York Auburn ClubPhiladelphia Auburn ClubWiregrass Auburn Club

For a list of clubs recognized at the War Eagle (third) level, or more information on the Auburn Clubs program, please visit our website at www.aualum.org/clubs or online Auburn Club commu-nity www.auburnclubs.org.

Aces high



Class Notes

of the Korean War, he operated Fuller Engi-neering Associates in Homewood for many years and served as a leader with Boy Scouts of America.

Edmund Richardson

Munger ’50 of Bir-mingham died on Oct. 10. He served in the Army during World War II, stationed in Iceland, before beginning his career at Exchange-Secu-rity Bank. Later, he worked in commercial real estate, retiring from Southpace Prop-erties.

George Pierce ’50 of Auburn died on Dec. 26. A veteran of World War II, Pierce retired as a lieuten-ant colonel from the U.S. Air Force. He worked for West Point Pepperell, Diversified, and when he retired was plant manager for Beck Manufactur-ing Co. He was active with the Kappa Alpha fraternity throughout his life, and also was involved with activi-ties at Auburn United Methodist Church.

Hoyt Edgeworth

Peeler ’50 of South-aven, Miss., died on Oct. 10. He served in the U.S. Air Force before opening a large animal veterinary practice in Effingham, Ill., and a dog and cat clinic in Mississippi and Tennessee. Later, he worked for the U.S. Department of

Agriculture as a meat inspector.

Thomas J. Rivas Jr.

’50 of Palm City, Fla., died on Oct. 16. He was a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Army, where he served as a lieutenant colonel prior to his retire-ment. He saw active duty in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, earning, among other honors, the Com-bat Infantry Badge, Legion of Honor, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and three Army Commendation Medals.

James J. Devitt ’51 of North Canton, Ohio, died on Oct. 1. After a stint in the Army dur-ing the Korean War, he worked for Conti-nental AG (formerly General Tire and Rub-ber Co.) for 32 years, during which time he developed rubber pro-cesses that resulted in 12 patents. He retired as a vice president.

James Emmett Popwell

Jr. ’51 of Birmingham died on Oct. 14. He served in the Korean War before beginning his career at Alabama Gas Corp., where he retired as director of new business develop-ment. A fan of golf and tennis, he also was past president and chairman of Junior Achievement of Jef-ferson County and a charter board member of the Birmingham Jaycee Foundation.

John Bankhead

Davis ’52 of Point Clear died on Oct. 18. He was retired after 50 years with Davis and Major Inc. in Birming-ham, which had been founded by his father, and was active in industrial, residential and Gulf building and development.

Robert W. Donald-

son ’52 of Catonsville, Md., died on July 25. He had a 34-year career with Westing-house, from which he retired as a supervi-sory engineer. He was in the Army Student Training Program dur-ing World War II.

Albert Trull Jr. ’52 of Tallahassee, Fla., died on Oct. 29. He taught architectural drawing in the Army during the Korean War before beginning his architectural career in New York, designing a staff lounge and caf-eteria for the Macy’s flagship store. He later moved to Tallahassee and opened his own practice, becoming involved in many orga-nizations throughout the city.

Anne McQueen Mar-

shall ’54 of Shelby died on Sept 30. She’d lived in Shelby the past 26 years, where she enjoyed cooking and spending time with her family.

Edwin R. Watkins ’54 of Tallassee died on Oct. 1. He was band

When Kate Campbell ’86 was studying for her master’s in history at Auburn, she had every plan of becoming a historian. On the side, she figured she’d write songs fueled by history and sing them when she got a chance.

Life had other plans.The singer-songwriter released her 13th CD last spring and is cur-

rently on tour.Like all of her music, the newest recording, Nine-Pound Ham-

mer, is propelled by Campbell’s love of Southern history. “I’ve always been interested in the South, and as soon as I started

singing about the South, that’s when people really started to take notice,” she says.

As the daughter of a Southern Baptist minister, Campbell learned her early performing chops in the church.

“I was given a ukulele when I was four, and I probably wrote my first song when I was seven or so.”

When Campbell decided to pursue music as a career, she first tried to market herself as a Christian musician. When that didn’t work out she sought a folk following—and found it.

Campbell’s eclectic musical tastes range from gospel to rhythm and blues, with a side dish of rock ‘n’ roll. But the common element among her favorite musicians—Kris Kristofferson and Dolly Par-ton—is their storytelling abilities.

“It’s always been more about the writing and the dialogue for me,” she says. “It just so happens my writing takes this form in-stead of a short story or something like that. Music just offers me an opportunity to express things that I wouldn’t be able to in other ways.”

She’ll be telling her own stories, including songs with names like “Crazy in Alabama” and “Red Clay After Rain” to audi-ences in the Southeast this spring before heading to Ireland in July. Learn about Campbell’s tour schedule and music at www.katecampbell.com.—Bradley Roberts

Stories in songSNAPSHOT

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59Auburn Magazine For Alumni & Friends of Auburn University

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59Auburn Magazine For Alumni & Friends of Auburn University

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In Memoriam

Member of the jet setWalter D. “Pete” Hutto ’54 always knew he’d work with engines, even as a kid growing up in Petersburg, Va.

“I kept everybody’s car running,” Hutto says. “I was intrigued by mechanical things.”

He could never have anticipated where the love of tinkering would lead, however—to a career of innovations in jet engines that culminated in his October induction into the General Electric Avia-tion Propulsion Hall of Fame.

Jet propulsion engines revolutionized air travel and space explo-ration, enabling planes that could go faster and at higher altitudes.

Homesickness and shaky finances almost kept Hutto grounded. After graduating from high school, he remained out of school for more than a year before starting college.

“I hate to say that my family was poor, because we were rich in many respects—but money was not one of them,” Hutto says, laughing.

When he learned of a co-op program offered by Auburn Univer-sity that would help him pay his way through school, he headed south, arriving at Auburn in the fall of 1949 not knowing a soul.

He was flooded with doubts immediately upon his arrival. “I traveled all night on a train, and when I got to Auburn I was so homesick,” Hutto says. “I always said that if I had had a round-trip ticket, I would have gone right back home. But, you know how Au-burn is. It’s a very friendly place, and it wasn’t long until I had many friends and was deeply attached to the school.”

Hutto, now 82, graduated with a degree in mechanical engineer-ing, and after a two-year stint in the Army, he began work at Gen-eral Electric in Cincinnati, Ohio, on its fledgling jet-engine program.

“My specialty was control-system design,” Hutto says. “It’s like determining how we will be able to respond to the pilot’s command and what parameters we have to set so that we can make sure the engine doesn’t have any problems.”

He worked exclusively on military aircraft at GE up until his re-tirement. Among the innovations that led to his hall of fame induc-tion was his development of the control system in the single-engine F-16 “Fighting Falcon” fighter jet.

But it was Auburn, he says, that opened the doors. “If not for Auburn and my ability to graduate, I would have never been able accomplish the things that I have. Auburn will always have a very warm place in my heart.”—Bradley Roberts

SNAPSHOT

director at Tallassee High School for many years, where he is credited with turning the band into one of the state’s best through innovative halftime shows, marching style and concerts.

Roy F. Kinard Jr. ’55 of Annapolis, Md., died on Oct 6. He began his career with the primate quarantine section of the U.S. Pub-lic Health Service and eventually became one of the world’s foremost comparative patholo-gists in primatology. He helped to develop the Salk polio vaccine and, after moving to the American Cancer Institute, was instru-mental in developing the leukemia vaccine for cats as well as con-ducting early research on HIV. He ended his career at the National Institutes of Health as part of the Research Risk Office.

Mary Lee Piazza Rut-

ledge ’55 of Pensacola, Fla., died on Oct. 6.

Jack M. Locklear Jr.

’56 of Fort Payne died on Sept 28. He opened a family restaurant called Jack’s Char-Co Broiled Hamburgers in Fort Payne.

Melvin Eugene Fet-

ner ’57 of Valley died on Feb 12, 2012. He was a veteran serving with both the Army and Navy. He was a retired employee of the Chambers County

school system and at one time owned his own business, Mel’s Marinade.

Wade Mims Monroe

’57 of Greenville died on Oct 6. He served in the Korean War as a communication specialist. He also worked at Monsanto Carpet Co. for 27 years and served as a chairman of Red Cross blood drives in Bullock County for 13 years.

Stuart Pugh Dowling

’58 of Theodore died on July 23. He prac-ticed veterinary medi-cine in Mobile and Birmingham for more than 40 years. He served as a merchant marine during World War II and in the Army for the Korean War, attaining the rank of captain and receiving the Bronze Star.

Frank William “Bill”

Gearhart ’58 of Salem, Va., died on Oct. 7. A U.S. Air Force vet-eran, he retired from a successful career in sales with Miller Tire Service and Brad Ragan Inc. in 1992. He enjoyed camping, NASCAR, gardening and woodworking.

Dean Styles Hays-

Elam ’59 of Auburn died on Sept 1. She taught zoology and physiology at Auburn for many years, where she received the Outstanding Teacher Award from the Col-lege of Sciences and

Mathematics. She retired in 1995, and was an active member of First Presbyterian Church of Auburn.

Richmond B.

“Richie” Terry ’59 of Lanett died on Sept 28. He served in the Air Force during the Korean War. He re-tired from West Point Stevens as senior vice president of manufac-turing services with 49 years of service, and was active in his community and with Auburn engineering.

Lewis Y. Ward ’60 of Montgomery died on Oct 18. He was a teach-er in the Montgomery public school system for more than 30 years, most at Robert E. Lee High School. He was a member of Dalraida Methodist Church, and enjoyed fishing, turkey hunting and golf.

Deward E. Benton

’63 of Brevard County, Fla., died on Sept 30. He was a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, where he served in the Pacific Theater, in postwar Germany and at the Pentagon. After his military career, he worked as a longtime professor at Brevard Community College.

Samuel H. Kaye

’63 of Columbus, Miss., died on Jan. 1. A veteran of the U.S. Army, since 1994 Kaye had served as staff consultant and director



of design services for the Mississippi Main Street Association in addition to his own successful architecture practice, Luke Peterson Kay. Known for his ef-forts in saving historic properties, he also held leadership roles in the National Trust for His-toric Preservation.

Eben Leland Averett ’64

of Eufaula died on Oct 16. He retired from Alabama Power Co. after 31 years of work-ing in the marketing department.

Ronald Eudene Burkett

’64 of Birmingham died on Sept 26. He worked as a certified public accountant for 47 years. An avid outdoorsman, he led hikes for Southeastern Outings, a nonprofit group that promotes outdoor activities.

Robert Burton Ander-

son ’66 of Notasulga died on Sept 30. He taught at Notasulga High School for his entire career.

Faye Moore Churchill-

Kunkel ’66 of Birming-ham died on Sept 28. She worked for the Alabama School for the Deaf and Blind as a speech pathologist and as a professor of speech pathology and audiol-ogy at the University of Montevallo before going into private practice, opening the Hearing and Speech Clinic at Brookwood Hospital.

Kay Roper Woodard

’66 of Helena died on Oct 15.

Paulette Jackson Spic-

er ’67 of Lester died on Oct. 18. She was a retired fifth-grade teacher at Cowart and Athens intermediate schools and a member of the First United Methodist Church of Athens.

Dixie D. Lee ’68 of Geneva died on Oct. 2.

Leslie Cornelius

“LC” Mathison ’68 of Opelika died on Sept 28. He was employed by the Auburn Uni-versity Department of Materials Engineer-ing before retiring in August 2012.

Julian Scott Penrod ’68

of Birmingham died on Nov. 19. He retired in March 2012 after a career as a transporta-tion professional in the trucking industry.

Albert F. Bullard III ’68

of DeFuniak Springs, Fla., died March 7. A Vietnam War veteran, he had business inter-ests in banking and real estate.

Oscar William “Billy”

McCrory ’69 of Frisco City died on Feb. 13, 2012. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, in the 1990s, he served as mayor of Frisco City, where he owned People’s Drug Co. He was a member of First United Methodist Church of Frisco City.

By the time March comes in like a lion (or tiger), you can have an Auburn kite ready to take sail by following these simple instructions. Or, for detailed step-by-step illustrated instructions and a video tutorial on kite-making, go to Auburn Magazine online at auburnmagazine.auburn.edu.

Supplies:

13-gallon white plastic

trash bag

Two wooden dowels or

straight sticks, one 24

inches long, the other

20 inches long.

Scissors

Ball of strong string or

fishing line

Clear packing tape

Ribbon and permanent

markers for decorating

your kite

Easy breezy kite project

1. Secure the sticks together with a piece of string.

2. Cut a diamond shape from garbage bag using sticks as a guide.

3. Fold edges of plastic over the ends of the sticks and secure with packing tape.

4. Cut two pieces of string about 20 inches long.Attach string to sticks and knot securely. This is the bridle of the kite.

5. Tie the ball of string to the bridle. On a breezy day, take your kite outside and start running, holding tightly onto the kite string. Enjoy!

Cub Corner



In Memoriam

Voted the nation’s best ale by The New York Times in 2012, Dale’s Pale Ale got its start in the most unlikely of places.

“We brewed our first bottles in the bathtub of my trailer on Wire Road,” says Dale Katechis ’92, co-owner of the Oskar Blues Brewery. “I got a home brew kit for Christmas, and I just started brewing as a hobby.”

Katechis founded the Oskar Blues Restaurant in 1997 in the quaint town of Lyons, Colo., twenty miles east of Rocky Mountain National Park. The restaurant name is an homage to two hunting dogs he and his brother, brewery co-owner Chris Katechis ’10, had as kids.

“We served traditional Creole food,” Katechis said of the res-taurant. “We wanted to bring Southern hospitality to the Rocky Mountains.”

Dining and hospitality are nothing new to the Katechis family—grandfather Gus founded a favorite Montgomery mainstay, Chris’ Hot Dogs, in 1917.

Oskar Blues originally only sold the Katechis pale ale in the res-taurant, but the beer’s popularity led the brothers to hit up local craft-beer sellers. In 2002, they began selling retail but it took an-other decade before their brew arrived in Alabama. Dale’s Pale Ale and other Oskar Blues beers went on sale in the brothers’ home state for the first time last summer.

Oskar Blues now has three breweries: the original in Lyons, Colo., one in Longmont, Colo., and a third in Brevard, N.C. They now have six beers in distribution, but Dale’s Pale Ale is still the favorite.

The biggest challenge to getting Pale Ale in brewski fans’ hands? Overcoming the bias toward cans. In an industry where patrons have long equated aluminum cans with cheap beer, the brothers had to convince people that cans, which eliminate exposure to sunlight, provide a better package option.

The recognition from The New York Times, not to mention a gold medal in the World Beer Championships and a “swoon-worthy” rating from The Wall Street Journal, have convinced any doubters.

“It gave a lot of credibility to the aluminum can,” Katechis says. “And it helped put us on the map.”—Bradley Roberts

Blues brothersSNAPSHOT

Francis L. “Frank”

Brown ’70 of Omaha, Neb., died on Oct 1. He served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force and after his 1975 retirement enjoyed traveling.

Johnny Earl Huggins

’70 of Auburn died on Oct 5. He worked for GKN Westland Aero-space at their Tallassee facility, and was a fan of genealogy and auto racing. He was a mem-ber of First Presbyte-rian Church.

Ruben McCullers ’73 of Kansas City, Mo., died on Oct. 11. He was employed by the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency as an environ-mental scientist until his retirement at the beginning of October.

Rodney Walter Wil-

liams ’73 of Macon, Ga., died on Oct. 5. He was a partner of Wil-liams, Rabun & As-sociates, and a member of Martha Bowman United Methodist Church, the Appraisal Institute and Idle Hour Country Club.

Bobby Gindl Jr. ’76 of Barrineau Park, Fla., died on Nov. 23. He taught agriculture in Escambia County, Fla., for more than 30 years and was teaching at Central High School in Allentown, Fla. He was also the leader of the Barrineau Park 4-H Club, the oldest continuously operating club in Florida.

Pamela Tucker ’76 of Eclectic died on Oct 17.

Lynn R. Price ’79 of Forsyth, Ga., died on Oct. 13. She was an artist who was active in her church.

Rebekah Barnhardt

Kirkman Pritchett ’79 of Thomaston died on Oct. 12. She worked at Linden High School and retired from Marengo Academy, where she taught Eng-lish, speech, art, drama and Spanish.

Richard Jefferson

“Dick” Dennis ’80 of Celebration, Fla., died on Oct. 8. After a knee injury interrupted his college football career at Auburn, he earned his industrial man-agement degree and worked throughout his career in Orlando.

Dominic Frank Beovich

’81 of Gulf Breeze, Fla., died on Oct 1. He was a vocational rehabilitation coun-selor with the state of Florida, a mem-ber of the Pensacola Yacht Club and past president of the Sacred Heart Cathedral Par-ish Council.

Karl Alan Kachelman

’81 of Killen died on Oct. 11. He worked as a metal buyer and plant manager for Reynolds Aluminum Recycling, environmental scientist for The Shaw Group and a metal buyer for Roberson Scrap Met-als. Lisa Rene Mills ’84

of Fairhope died on Oct. 10.

Rita Blackwood Reyn-

olds ’87 of Lawrencev-ille, Ga., died on Sept 30. She designed costumes for a number movies and television shows, including “In the Heat of the Night” and My Cousin Vinny. She also worked as a healthy-eating specialist at Whole Foods Market in Johns Creek, Ga.

Dana Carol Layne ’90

of Birmingham died on Oct 8. She worked in sales manufactur-ing. A member of Hunter Street Baptist Church, she also loved traveling.

Marissa A. Parks ’10

of Temple, Ga., died March 10. She was a media specialist and a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority.

Friends and Family

Francis Lee Mclemore of Birmingham died on Oct 22. She was a junior at Auburn.

James “Jay” Thomas

McCollum of Pike Road died on Jan. 2. He was a freshman at Auburn.

Show your Auburn pride and spirit to the world, or at least to other drivers in Alabama (or wherever the road may take you), by purchasing the Auburn University car tag.

The tag can feature up to six characters for optimum personalization; personalize your tag at no additional cost.

Buy your tag at the county tag office – make a difference and share the spirit in welcoming new students to the Auburn Family by supporting scholarships.

www.auburn.edu/cartags

AUBURNAUBURN

Show your

LTL_AuburnMag Ad_0113.indd 1 1/25/13 11:21 AM



On Friday, Dec. 14, our entire nation was sucker-punched in Newtown, Conn., and the nation mourned. I was sitting in my favorite bookstore, working on a book proposal, when I first heard whispers of the tragedy. I clicked around on the Internet to find live coverage and sat at the table with tears streaming down my cheeks as the horror unfolded.

Like so many other parents across the country, my first instinct was to go get my kids from school. Rational or irrational, all I could think about was making physical contact with my kids. But as I sat, silently weeping, I knew if I went to pick my kids up from school early they would ask why and more than anything in this world, I don’t want them to know this happened. I stayed in front of the computer, my work forgotten, thinking of the parents who were rushing to Sandy Hook Elementary with no one to pick up and my heart was crushed with grief.

I carried my 36-pound 3-year-old to the car when I picked her up from school just to touch her, and didn’t scold her when she kicked the back of my seat while we waited in the carpool line to pick up her big sisters. That evening was the first night my husband was home from a business trip and the girls were thrilled to have everyone home.

I was in sensory overload as I watched my children play. My 7-year-old darted in and out of the kitchen, pausing to drag a step stool beside me at the stove. Emma wrapped her skinny little arms around me and gave me the longest hug of my life. I had time to sniff her dirty, little girl, puppy-dog smell, fall apart in tears, choking back sobs and pull myself together before she let go, hopping off the stool with a kiss and a smile. I thought of her friends, her classroom, her teachers. My friends’ chil-dren. I thought about Sandy Hook and the community that was planning 26 funerals—it’s highly likely that everyone in that town lost someone they knew and loved.

On Saturday evening, I took my two oldest daughters to a wedding and I teared up again, thinking of all that was lost for the children of Sandy Hook—no falling in love, no wedding plans, no happily ever after. When I got home from the wed-ding, Sadie, my 3-year-old, was asleep in my bed. She was turned sideways with her feet resting on her Daddy’s back, her arms hanging off the edge of the bed. I attempted to move her to her bed but she awoke and cried, “I don’t want to sweep in my bed! It’s so scewwy in dere!” I shushed her and hushed her as mothers do and tried to reassure her.

“It’s okay,” I whispered. “There is nothing to be afraid of.” I closed my eyes and shook my head at the irony.

I slid to the middle of the bed and tucked her up against me, scooting closer to my husband so that I was cocooned between the two of them, and I prayed for Sandy Hook. I prayed for laughter and light in the midst of darkness.

James Thurber said, “Every time is the right time for hu-mor,” and while I have no intention of cracking jokes after such a travesty, this is what I prayed for these families: healing, hope, light and laughter.

It comes when we least expect it but when we need it the most—I call it snot bubble laughter. It’s the kind of absurd laughter that Sally Fields experiences in Steel Magnolias after losing her daughter. She screams at the graveside, “I’m so an-gry! I just want to HIT SOMETHING!”

Olympia Dukakis does the truly noble thing, she grabs Shir-ley MacLaine and yells, giving each word at least eight sylla-bles, “Here! HIT HER! GO AHEAD! TAKE A WHACK AT OUISA!” One minute your heart is about to break from an-guish, and in the next, something so absurd happens that you have to laugh, creating the perfect and unfortunate environ-ment for snot bubbles.

But that first laugh after a tragedy? It starts something. It starts to heal the soul.

So to the town of Newtown, Conn., to the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary students, I hope that when you least expect it, laughter will force its way into your life, cracking through the darkness, warming your soul and healing your broken hearts. I pray that somehow, some way, you will all find the strength to carry on.

WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND? Auburn Magazine is looking for essays for the “Last Word” department of the magazine, as well as contributors for our magazine blog (which can be found at auburnmagazine.au-burn.edu). Have a point of view on a topic of current interest or of concern to the Auburn family? Share it with us! We’d also love to see photos and hear accounts of War Eagle encounters around town or around the globe.

The Last Word

A mother’s griefBY ROBIN O’BRYANT ’04

Robin O’Bryant is the author of the popular “mommy blog,” Robin’s Chicks. Her essays are captured in two books, Ketchup is a Vegetable and A Second Helping. She lives in the Atlanta area.

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