TULANE TALK

November 22, 2002

Good Morning:

There was a new addition (or should I say an old friend?) in my office when I returned last week: a Book Giving Tree. Trees such as this one are located throughout campus, including the first floors of the J. Bennett Johnston and Tidewater Buildings, the University Center and the Primate Center. These trees are filled with ornaments that bear the names of nearly 1,200 New Orleans children who participate in Tulane’s student-led after school and weekend reading programs. By selecting an ornament from the tree and buying a book appropriate to the child’s age and interests, you can give a gift that will help encourage a lifetime of reading. Participants are asked to turn in their books by December 3 to Tulane University Community Services, Room 216 of the University Center.

This is the first year the program will also provide books on tape for children who are not reading at their grade level. Three hundred ornaments have been designated for this special project and are due back to Community Services today so that participating students can use their Thanksgiving break to record the books.

The Book Giving Tree Project began three years ago when Sarah Nangle, a Tulane molecular and cellular biology graduate student and a volunteer at Iberville Elementary School, saw a need to provide books for children who did not have the means to buy their own. What started small has grown bigger and bigger and now is a primary way for Tulane to celebrate the holiday season as a community. So please support this program as enthusiastically as you have in the years past. As Sarah likes to remind people, “If there’s one ornament left on the tree, it means that a child does not get a book.” For the location of all Book Giving trees on campus and more information on the project visit http://www2.tulane.edu/bk_tree_project.cfm.

Have a great weekend and a wonderful Thanksgiving break next week. I hope you use the Thanksgiving weekend to relax and enjoy time with family and friends. Tulane Talk, but not its author, is going to take the whole week off.

TULANE TALK

November 8, 2002

Good Morning:

I am writing today’s Tulane Talk aboard a plane headed to Europe, where I will visit a company to discuss a possible strategic partnership with Tulane University. It’s a short trip. I plan to return on Tuesday.

Last week Margie and I attended the Gene Koss exhibition at the Arthur Roger Gallery on Julia Street. Gene is an art professor here at Tulane and a world-renowned glass sculptor. His exhibition was extraordinary. The centerpiece of the show was Lake Neshonoc, a monumental, five-ton kinetic aluminum and glass sculpture that took Gene two years to complete. I urge you to make a trip to see Gene’s show, which will be on view through Nov. 30.

Finally, there was an interesting article in Tuesday’s New York Times about how the current economic environment is impacting the country’s most prestigious private universities. This article will give you a national perspective on some of the challenges we are currently addressing here at Tulane. You can view this article at http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/05/education/05COLL.html?pagewanted=print&pos.

Have a good weekend,

TULANE TALK

October 25, 2002

Good Morning:

Last Wednesday’s Presidential Symposium on the topic of “Space and Place: Urban Frontiers of the 21st Century” was a most productive event. It was a wonderful opportunity to hear four distinguished scholars discuss an issue of great importance to all of us: how universities such as Tulane can learn from and contribute to the development of urban communities. It is my goal that our engagement with urbanism be both intellectual and applied, encompassing nearly every aspect of the university. The symposium provided some helpful points on ways this goal might be accomplished.

Today begins our Homecoming and Parent/Family Weekend. All the many events planned for the next couple of days culminate with our Homecoming game against Navy tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. at Tad Gormley Stadium in City Park. This is the first time in 28 years Green Wave fans will be able to enjoy a home game in an outdoor setting. A good primer for the game is the series of articles The Times-Picayune ran this week on our athletics department. The articles provide a great history of where the department is and where we are headed. You can read these articles at http://www2.tulane.edu/news_and_publications.cfm.

Among the pre-game Homecoming events will be a performance by Amanda Shaw, the young fiddler from the North Shore. A couple of years ago Amanda visited my office and gave me an impromptu performance of her fiddle-playing virtuosity. It was pretty amazing, especially coming from a 10-year-old! Since then, Amanda has been on the Rosie O’Donnell Show, performed with Cyndi Lauper and released her own CD. I guess I can say I knew her when.

Finally, I want to remind you that the United Way/Community Shares donor celebration will take place Oct. 29 at 12:30 p.m. at Dixon Hall, which will be transformed into a French Opera House. Those who pledged $75 or more to this year’s campaign will enjoy delicious French food, wonderful French music and a chance to win some great prizes. If you haven’t made your pledge yet, you can still do so at the door the day of this event. This year, despite an uncertain economy and two hurricanes that disrupted the last weeks of the campaign, we are well on our way to achieving our goal. This attests to the generous spirit of our campus community and is something for which we should all be proud.

See you at the game,

TULANE TALK

October 11, 2002

Good Morning,

I am really excited about the upcoming Tulane University Presidential Symposium “Space and Place: Urban Frontiers Of The 21st Century,” which will take place Oct. 23 at 4 p.m. in the Kendall Cram Room of the University Center. This symposium will bring together some of the country’s foremost scholars to discuss the progress, perils and promise of the world’s urban centers.

Speakers will include Todd Boyd, associate professor at the University of Southern California and producer/co-writer of the film “The Wood.” Professor Boyd is also author of the critically acclaimed “Am I Black Enough For You? Popular Culture from the ‘Hood and Beyond.” His provocatively titled symposium address is “The New HNIC: The Death of Civil Rights and the Reign of Hip Hop.”

The symposium will also feature Michael Dear, professor of geography and director of the Southern California Studies Center at the University of Southern California. Professor Dear is among the most-cited authorities in geography and author and/or editor of 10 books and more than 100 journal articles and reports. Professor Dear’s topic is “Learning from Los Angeles.”

Another symposium speaker will be Myron Orfield, Minnesota State Senator and nationally recognized expert in metropolitan planning. Sen. Orfield’s book, “Metropolitics: A Regional Agenda for Community and Stability,” is a landmark work in the field of regional studies and his latest work, “American Metropolitics: The New Suburban Reality,” is a study of the economic, racial, environmental and political trends of the country’s 25 largest metropolitan regions. Sen. Orfield will discuss “American Metropolitics: The New Suburban Reality.”

Daphne Spain, noted author and professor of urban and environmental planning at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture, will also address the symposium. Professor Spain, whose works include “Balancing Act: Motherhood, Marriage, and Employment Among American Women” and the forthcoming “How Women Saved the City,” an examination of the urban places built by women volunteers at the turn of the century, will discuss “Approaching the Incessant City” in her address.

The Presidential Symposium is an ongoing effort by Tulane to share the expertise of some of the country’s greatest thinkers with members of the campus community as well as the general public. It is a great time for us to gather as a community and discuss an issue of vital importance to all of us. And, if nothing else, I am told that the cookies ordered for the reception that will follow the discussion are top shelf. I hope to see you all there!