Alumni eNewsletter || Jan 2006

Volume III, Issue 1- January 2006| Tech Connect Archives

Features this month

Looking to reconnect with a former roommate or an old college friend? TTU's online Alumni Directory is just the place to find that special person from your college days.

More than 5,200 alums have already registered to use TTU's online Alumni Directory. If you haven't, you are missing out!

TTU's Online Alumni Directory can be accessed from the Alumni and Friends link on the
TTU home page or if you're a first time user, at http://www.ttualumni.org. New users, call 1-866-511-6553 for your ID code.

If you have any other questions, please call the Alumni Relations Office at 1-800-889-8730
or e-mail us at alumni@tntech.edu.

New events are being added. Check the Alumni & Friends website for the latest event information. Contact Alumni Relations if you'd like to help in planning an event.

View photos from past events

January 7	Golden Eaglette Basketball Alumni Nite http://www.ttusports.com Saturday, Jan. 7, at 5:30 p.m. Morehead State Lady Eagles vs. Tennessee Tech Golden Eaglettes Holiday Inn has a special rate of $49 (plus tax) Call (931) 526.7125 (use reservation code: 3 MVP for WBB alumni) Introduction of alumni on the court during the doubleheader Reception at Holiday Inn from 9 p.m. to midnight RSVP: (931) 372.3921 or email to bworrell@tntech.edu COME ON HOME! *Everybody wants to see you!*
March 11	Alumni Dinner - 6 p.m. Memorial Building 308 W. 7th St., Columbia, Tenn. Get together with TTU friends and alumni from the Columbia area for an Italian buffet dinner. President Bell will give an update on the latest happenings at Tennessee Tech. Come and have a wonderful evening visiting and dining with new and old friends! More information will be mailed in the near future. You can verify that we have your current address by checking the online directory.
March 24	Alumni Dinner - 6:30 p.m. reception, 7 p.m. dinner Fredericksburg Square 525 Caroline St., Fredericksburg, Va. http://www.fburgsquare.com Enjoy dinner with your fellow alumni and TTU friends at this historic venue. A buffet dinner will be served. Great food in this beautiful restaurant and spending time with fellow alums and TTU friends will make this evening special! More information will be mailed soon. You can verify that we have your current address by checking the online directory.
March 25	Yacht Cruise - 1:30 p.m. board, 2 p.m. departure Capital Yacht Charters 1300 Main Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. http://www.capitalyacht.com Enjoy a cruise on the Potomac with your fellow alumni and TTU friends. Hors d'oeuvres, beer, wine and soda will be served. Make reservations early to enjoy an afternoon on the Potomac with other TTU alums and friends! More information will be mailed soon. You can verify that we have your current address by checking the online directory.	*The Celebrity Yacht*
June 10	Zoo Atlanta - 10 a.m. Atlanta Fulton County Zoo 800 Cherokee Avenue SE, Atlanta, Ga. http://www.zooatlanta.org/home.htm Bring your family and enjoy an exciting day at Zoo Atlanta! Enjoy brunch and a brief program featuring an update on Tennessee Tech from President Bell and a live animal encounter with a Zoo expert. Then, spend the rest of the day exploring one of the nation's finest animal habitats where you'll experience: exotic wildlife private animal encounters pandas gorillas lions elephants and much more! Don't miss this exciting opportunity to connect with other alums and their families from the Atlanta area! More information will be mailed prior to the event. You can verify that we have your current address by checking the online directory.

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Announcements

OVC Basketball Tournament March 3-4

Tennessee Tech University is proud to belong to the Ohio Valley Conference. Be sure to mark your calendars for the OVC Basketball Tournament on March 3-4 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville. Call TTU Athletics at (931) 372-3941 or (800) 825-3948 for more information.

Stay up to date on TTU Athletics at TTUsports.com.

TTU Career Services here for you

Are you looking for a job? We can help! Are you an employer looking to hire a TTU alum? We can help you too! Are you interested in mentoring a TTU student in your field of study?

Please check out all the great services offered by the Office of Career Services free of charge to Tennessee Tech alumni at http://www.tntech.edu/career/.

You can also reach them by calling (931) 372.3232 or e-mail career@tntech.edu.

TTU's Distance MBA--Your MBA, Your Way

Earn your MBA from an established, fully accredited university in the most flexible way possible - on campus, at home, in your office, or while traveling.

The Tennessee Tech MBA Program is designed to fit your lifestyle - even when your professional or personal commitments change. Students can take campus-based courses, distance-based courses, or any combination.

Tennessee Tech College of Business now offers a new MBA concentration in Risk Management and Insurance.

For more information on how you can begin earning your MBA, contact the TTU College of Business MBA Program or call (931) 372.3600.

TTU achieves maximum score on alumni satisfaction

TTU alumni Recent Tennessee Tech University graduates left college feeling better about their academic and social experience than many other graduates of universities in the state, according to a recent alumni survey.

Those alumni also ranked their abilities to lead, define problems, learn on their own, and write and speak effectively higher on average than other survey respondents across the state and nation. TTU alumni also ranked their ability to understand scientific principles and work in a group above the national average.
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TTU flag, Derryberry print, and other items for sale at the Alumni merchandise store

Shop online for TTU products in our Alumni merchandise store. A great way to show your TTU pride is to purchase and display a TTU flag or home banner. Alumni merchandise can be purchased online at TTU Marketplace or on campus at Alumni Relations in Jere Whitson Hall on the Quad.

Additional items may be purchased online at Tennessee Tech's University Bookstore! Check out their great selection of t-shirts, hats, other gifts and more!

TTU Marketplace

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In the news

TTU's Alumni Awards presented at Homecoming 2005

Tennessee Tech University’s Alumni Association honored six alumni and friends of the university during a reception and ceremony as part of the Homecoming 2005 festivities.

The Distinguished Alumnus, Outstanding Service and Outstanding Young Alumnus awards are the highest bestowed by the university’s alumni association. They recognize those who have demonstrated professional excellence and achievement or outstanding service to the university.

Here are the 2005 Award winners:

Alumni Award Winners

Distinguished Alumnus

M. Dianne Murphy, athletic director at Columbia University
Terry W. Warren, a strategic planner for international insurance broker Willis Group and an accomplished artist

Outstanding Service

Lem and Donna McSpadden, Cookeville business leaders

Outstanding Young Alumni

Donald D. Viar, owner and managing partner of Cookeville’s Epic Technologies
Stephen A. Arnette, director of professional service for Sverdrup Technology

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Richey awarded 2005 Caplenor Faculty Research Award

Hundreds of young children with disabilities and their families regularly experience empowerment and support because for 30 years, Dean Richey has never forgotten their individual needs while conducting his academic research.

Richey, professor of curriculum and instruction, has been named Tennessee Tech University's 2005 Donald Caplenor Faculty Research Award winner for his body of work in research and program development.

"He exemplifies the best in a researcher working at an institution that has a broad mandate for educating its students," said R.A. McWilliam, director and division chief for Vanderbilt's Center for Child Development. “He is the sort of person students can look up to, colleagues can collaborate with and families of children with disabilities can trust.”

Over a 27-year period, Richey has secured approximately $12 million in external funding and established the Upper Cumberland District Office of Tennessee's Early Intervention System, which provides free services to families with children from birth to 3 who have special needs or developmental delays. He has served as TEIS’ principal investigator for 18 years.

Colleagues and students say Richey’s greatest strengths lie in his ability to foster collaborative opportunities and to always remind them that researchers must remain considerate of their subjects, the real people being affected.

One example of a program that demonstrates Richey’s strong suits is the Early Intervention and Mechanical Engineering program. EIME, now funded in its seventh year by Tennessee's Department of Education, has grown from a more informal collaboration started several years ago between Richey and the College of Education and Professor Stephen Canfield and the Mechanical Engineering Department.

Through TEIS, children in need of toys or helpful devices to fit their disabilities are identified. A mechanical engineering senior design class chooses projects based on their interests or sometime just a child’s compelling story.
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TTU establishes Bowers fund to purchase Civil War books, memorabilia

Buddy Bowers The History Department has a new fund to purchase books and memorabilia related to the Civil War while also honoring a former member of the Tennessee Board of Regents who has a special interest in history.

“The university established the Edgar R. (Buddy) Bowers Civil War History Collection Endowment to honor his outstanding service on the Tennessee Board of Regents and his superb support of TTU,” says President Bob Bell.
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Engineer searches for solution to arsenic poisoning in rural areas

Safe well water While millions of his native countrymen in Bangladesh suffer from arsenic poisoning in their drinking water, Faisal Hossain works to find an efficient and affordable solution to manage the crisis.

Arsenic, the "king of poisons" slipped to royalty throughout the ages, now poses a grave danger to at least half of the rural population of Bangladesh and other countries with similar geology, such as India, Vietnam, Cambodia and Mexico.

"We are working on borrowed time," says Hossain, assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. "We must accelerate priority testing of the rural drinking water system in order to reduce the risk that arsenic poses to villagers."
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Moore family donates to nursing campaign

Having practiced medicine in Putnam County for three generations, the J.T. Moore family has built a reputation for supporting local healthcare.

That support includes a contribution to Tennessee Tech University’s recent campaign to raise $21 million for the construction of a new School of Nursing facility, which will be the first built specifically for the 25-year-old academic program.

When construction of the new facility is complete, the legacy of the Moore family will be memorialized in the naming of its Student Health Services nursing triage and treatment room.
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TTU in the news

TTU faculty and students made the news locally, regionally and across the nation in recent weeks.

While not an exhaustive listing (radio stations and wire services, for instance, spread TTU news beyond our tracking capabilities), the following is a good representation of where our news has run in the past month.
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TTU Chem-E-Car team wins national championship

Chem-E-Car team The "Screaming Eagle" Chem-E-Car powered its way past all competitors to deliver a national championship to Tennessee Tech University, courtesy of a team of chemical engineering students.

To win the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' National Chem-E-Car title, the TTU team defeated 30 teams at the Cincinnati site, including second-place Oklahoma State University, Vanderbilt University, Virginia Tech, Berkeley, Ohio State and Penn State. The victory improved on TTU's second place finish in the previous competition.

"We knew it was going to be a tough competition," said TTU team member Regan Chandler. "This has been great. We learned so much about alternative fuels from this experience."
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TTU sociology assistant professor becomes online gaming "addict"

Over winter break last year, university professor Tom Brignall became someone he barely recognized, a man in pursuit of a new addiction — online gaming.

"On some days I barely ate, drank or left the house," Brignall said.

In the name of participant observation research, the Tennessee Tech University sociology assistant professor joined the more than 3.5 million online gamers playing "World of Warcraft." The game is one of a growing industry of games known as MMORPGs or massive multiplayer online role-playing games.

"In order to study the diehards, I became one of them," said Brignall. "I spent 12-14 hours per day, seven days a week playing the game during Christmas Break. I had planned to play for only a couple of hours a day for a few days a week.

"However, I soon realized in order to study hardcore gamers I needed to become one," he continued. "At one point, I found myself getting up at 6 a.m. and playing into the evening. One day, I realized I'd played 18 hours with no food or sleep, and only a few bathroom breaks. I realized I eventually had to quit cold turkey or I would never get anything else accomplished."
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For more Alumni news, check out Visions, TTU's alumni magazine.
http://www.tntech.edu/publicaffairs/visions/

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Athletics

Harlem Globetrotters

Hooper Eblen Center
Monday, Jan. 9, 2006
7:00 p.m.

The world famous Harlem Globetrotters are coming to Tennessee Tech's Hooper Eblen Center on Monday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at TTUsports.com or at the door. Prices range from $12-$43 for reserved seating.

Renew the old rivalry as the
Golden Eagle football team takes on the MTSU Blue Raiders in Murfreesboro on Sept. 14.

Alumni Relations will host a tailgate party for all TTU Alumni. More details will follow as game time nears.

Tickets will be available from TTUsports.com online or by calling the TTU Athletic office at (931) 372-3941 or (800) 825-3948. Ticket sales will benefit TTU Athletics.

Golden Eagles televised on national TV

The Golden Eagles will appear twice on the national cable network, including one on the road and one at home in Eblen Center.The team's first opportunity to play before a national audience comes at Tech's game at UT Martin on Feb. 2. The second telecast will bring ESPN's cameras to Eblen Center when the Golden Eagles host Murray State in the regular season finale on Feb. 23.

"That game will give our team and our fans a chance to be in the national spotlight," said Mark Wilson, TTU Director of Athletics. "We think it will be an important basketball game, and the night should be a great experience. We'll rely on our fans and our students to have an impact and show their pride and spirit."
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View 2005-2006 men's schedule
View 2005-2006 women's schedule

Online Giving

Online giving is now available, making it even easier for you to support your alma mater. With a few clicks of your mouse, you can make your tax-deductible gift.
Give online now.

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