06.25.08
Posted in The Oscar Show at 12:04 pm by Jacob Canon
In today’s show, written by Matt Kelly, Writer for the UVa News Department, we look at Philander D. Chase, who recently retired as senior editor of the Papers of George Washington, housed at the University of Virginia’s Alderman Library.
Philander D. Chase has spent 35 years in George Washington’s world — and he’s not done yet. “Being a documentary editor is a life, not a career,” Chase said.
Never Ending Chase [6:16m]:
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Chase, 65, recently retired as senior editor of the Papers of George Washington, housed at the University of Virginia’s Alderman Library. Chase said he will miss the “research, writing, collaboration and interacting with the public.
But he does not lack for work. He plans to use some of the Washington archive to write a book about Baron Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian drillmaster who molded Washington’s army at Valley Forge. He is also continuing to work on the 19th volume of the Washington Papers’ Revolutionary War series.
Theodore Crackel, editor-in-chief of the Papers of George Washington, described Chase as the institutional memory of the project. He also said, “one of the most remarkable things about Phil was his readiness to help anybody. He would work with historian and author, David McCullough, or a high school student with equal enthusiasm.
Crackel said, “Chase launched the Revolutionary War series of the Washington Papers and has trained just about every editor since 1983. He has also developed into a leading expert on the Revolutionary War, as well as an expert on Steuben and Henry ‘Light Horse Harry’ Lee. His retirement will be a great loss to us in that way.”
Having earned a Ph.D. in history at Duke University, Chase came to Charlottesville in 1973 for a one-year fellowship at the Papers of George Washington as a documentary editor, a job he said requires “academic training and hands-on experience.
Chase said, “Then I stayed on for another year with funding from the University and from the Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the Union. I’ve been ’staying for another year’ for 35 years.”
Chase’s work involves stories, transcribing the writings of Washington and the people around him, interpreting damaged or smudged words and determining a document’s meaning through background and context. While describing documentary editing as “technical and tedious,” he said the reward is “getting to know historical figures as people. Aside from affairs of state, Chase said Washington’s writings range from cryptic to mundane to deeply personal.
Washington could be cryptic to be “deliberately restrained and tactful, not divulging his full feelings on matters,” Chase said. Other entries dealt with the weather, what crops were planted where and who had visited. “These are mundane, but they offer a look at the rhythm of Washington’s life,” Chase said. Washington also detailed the life and death of his stepdaughter, Patsy, an epileptic who died from a seizure in 1773. Washington kept a record of her “fits” on his calendar, and noted when they got worse.
You learn how much human nature is the same and that their reactions are not unique,” Chase said. “They had difficulties they endured and got through. You get a more realistic feel about them.”
Even people more than 200 years dead can still surprise, as new documents surface and old ones are re-interpreted. “It never fails,” Chase said. “By the time you understand a document, it turns out to be something else.
Editors are attracted to specific writings, and Chase said he has cherished documents in each of the volumes of the Washington Papers. He specifically cited a passage, “There is no restraining the pens or tongues of men when they are charged with a little vanity,” an observation of Washington’s from 1775.
Chase said the 18th century is “an ideal time in which to work,” because of the amount of written material available. The men and women who played leading roles in forming the union were dedicated to communicating their thoughts and ideas. “They had a sense of what was important,” he said.
By contrast, future historians examining this era may suffer; current electronic archives will be hard to maintain over the years, he said, and much correspondence by e-mail is simply eliminated and telephone conversations are not recorded.
Chase said, We may not have access to a lot of documents. This is the information age, but we may end up knowing less than from the era of the quill pen.”
You’ve been listening to the Oscar Show, I’m Jacob Canon. Join us next week when our topic will well look at we look at Rachael Beaton, a first year grad student at the University of Virginia, whose galactic discoveries have earned her international attention.
For more information about scholarship, creativity and research, please visit www.oscar.virginia.edu. Did you miss a show? Then go to www.wtju.net and click on “blogs & pods” or visit www.cvillepodcast.com. Question about this program; please call WTJU at 434-924-0885 or email at wtju@virginia.edu.
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06.18.08
Posted in The Oscar Show at 12:04 pm by Jacob Canon
In today’s show, adapted from an article written by Fariss Samarrai, Senior News Officer for the UVa News Department, we look at a University of Virginia study, which indicates that air pollution from power plants and automobiles is destroying the fragrance of flowers and thereby possibly inhibiting the ability of pollinating insects to locate flowers, and may partially explain why certain populations of these pollinators are on the decline.
Of the five senses, smell is one that is sometimes taken for granted in our everyday lives. For most animals, the ability to distinguish scents is a large part of their everyday survival function, as has been attested to in an earlier broadcast entitled, “Inside the brain of crayfish.” For insects, the same is true.
Flowers Fragrance Diminished by Air Pollution [5:20m]:
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A study by Jose D. Fuentes, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia, and his team of U.Va. researchers, including Quinn McFrederick and James Kathilankal, indicates that air pollution from power plants and automobiles is diminishing the scents of flowers and reducing the distance that flower scents can travel with the wind. They believe that this may be a factor in the declining populations of some wild pollinators, particularly bees – which need nectar for food –in several areas of the world, including California and the Netherlands.
Their study is funded by the National Science Foundation, and appears online in the journal Atmospheric Environment.
Fuentes said, “The scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment, such as in the 1800s, could travel for roughly 1,000 to 1,200 meters; but in today’s polluted environment downwind of major cites, they may travel only 200 to 300 meters. This makes it increasingly difficult for pollinators to locate the flowers.”
The result, potentially, is a vicious cycle where pollinators struggle to find enough food to sustain their populations, and populations of flowering plants, in turn, do not get pollinated sufficiently to proliferate and diversify.
Other studies, as well as the actual experience of farmers, have shown that populations of bees, particularly bumblebees, and butterflies have declined greatly in recent years. To investigate this, the U.Va. scientists created a mathematical model of how the scents of flowers travel with the wind. The scent molecules produced by flowers are very volatile and they quickly bond with pollutants such as ozone, hydroxyl and nitrate radicals, which destroy the aromas they produce.
This means that instead of traveling intact for long distances with the wind, the scents are chemically altered and the flowers, in a sense, no longer smell like flowers. This forces pollinators to search farther and longer and possibly to rely more on sight and less on smell.
The scientists calculated scent levels and distances that scents can travel under different conditions, from relatively unpolluted pre-industrial revolution levels, to the conditions now existing in rural areas downwind from large cities.
Fuentes said, “It quickly became apparent that air pollution destroys the aroma of flowers, by as much as 90 percent from periods before automobiles and heavy industry. And the more air pollution there is in a region, the greater the destruction of the flower scents.”
So as the industrial age continues, and emerging economies such as China and its reliance on coal fired power plants proliferate; the ecological balance, so precious to the sustainability of the earth will be under attack.
The question remains, will the industrialized nations of the world recognized the impact we have on the world and develop technologies to protect the environment? Or, will we ebb even closer to an ecological doomsday?
You’ve been listening to the Oscar Show, I’m Jacob Canon. Join us next week when our topic will well look at Philander D. Chase, who recently retired as senior editor of the Papers of George Washington, housed at the University of Virginia’s Alderman Library.
For more information about scholarship, creativity and research, please visit www.oscar.virginia.edu. Did you miss a show? Then go to www.wtju.net and click on “blogs & pods” or visit www.cvillepodcast.com. Question about this program; please call WTJU at 434-924-0885 or email at wtju@virginia.edu.
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06.11.08
Posted in Jacob Canon, Skinner, The Oscar Show, UVa College of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia, history, restoration at 12:04 pm by Jacob Canon
In today’s show, written by Jane Ford, Senior News Officer for the UVa News Department, we celebrate the one hundred-year anniversary of the E.M. Skinner Organ, which was installed in UVa’s Cabell Hall in 1907.
Skinner Organ [6:39m]:
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AUDIO SLIDE SHOW: E.M. Skinner Organ Celebrates 100 Years
On March 29th, 2008, UVa celebrated the 100th anniversary of the E.M. Skinner Organ, an iconic fixture of the University of Virginia since its installation at Cabell Hall in 1907. At the turn of the 20th century, pipe organs were models of cutting-edge technology and American engineering, an organ expert told an audience celebrating the 100th anniversary of the E.M. Skinner organ.
Laurence Libin, research curator emeritus of musical instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, said, “I have come to congratulate the University of Virginia… This is really a monument. The organ here is a benchmark of American taste and ingenuity.” He added that there could be no better place to have the instrument than at a University, where engineering, architecture, music and other disciplines could play a role in the “wider scope of inquiry” and “create benchmarks for future evaluation of the state of the organ. At 100 years it has a lot to teach us.”
The March 29 tribute included organ historian Barbara Owen, who said, “The organ was a gift to the University from Andrew Carnegie, the man who built a steel empire and spent his later years as a philanthropist. Valued at $7,000 at the time, it is estimated that to replace it today with an organ of that complexity and workmanship would cost in excess of $600,000.”
The session was concluded with U.Va. associate professor emeritus of music Donald Loach presenting a history of Skinner’s organ at the University. Loach shared details about the 1907 dedication recitals, at which University President Edwin A. Alderman and Skinner gave brief remarks before Samuel L. Baldwin, organist of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Brooklyn, N.Y. performed musical selections chosen to highlight the organ’s special features. Loach delighted the audience with recordings from the rededication concert held in 1983 and from a second rededication concert in 2000.
Following the symposium, evening concertgoers were entertained with a recital by organist Ken Cowan of Westminster Choir College, who played music contemporary with the time of its installation that showcased the instrument’s unique features.
Paul Walker, who teaches organ at the university said, “Ken Cowan’s recital was amazing. The music he played was most appropriate to the organ and the time when it was installed, and his program brought out the organ’s obvious strengths: a deep, rich tone and colorful solo stops. Most impressive to me was Cowan’s own transcription of the Mephisto Waltz #1 of Franz Liszt, a technical tour-de-force which made dazzling use of the organ’s resources. The audience particularly responded to Cowan’s encore, a piece by George Thalben-Ball played almost entirely by the feet.”
The U.Va. organ, although built in the early years of Skinner’s long career of organ-building, incorporates unique innovations that he continued to pursue throughout his career. It boasts a movable console of the rare “batwing type” as well as more than 1,500 pipes, ranging from three-quarters of an inch to 16 feet in length; a piston system with combinations set by Skinner and features one of the first examples of his famous “Erzahler” stops, said Owen. The Erzahler is his first foray into creating tonal color by adding the sounds of orchestral instruments, such as French and English horns, oboes, clarinets, strings and flutes.
Loach, who played a major role in preserving the Skinner organ, noted that while it was primarily used at ceremonial occasions such as baccalaureate ceremonies, it was included in several musical performances and served as a practice instrument for budding student organists. Occasionally, after a full rehearsal of the Glee Club in the auditorium, he would play a few pieces on the organ which “the boys seemed to really enjoy,” he said.
Only a few years later, one of those students, William R. Piper, class of 1977, offered funds to restore it. The two-year project was completed in 1983. Loach oversaw the work conducted by the A. Thompson-Allen Organ Company of New Haven, Conn. The goal was “not to improve or alter the tonal or mechanical character of the instrument.” Leather membranes were replaced, new valves were installed and springs and pipes were cleaned and refinished.
After a remodeling of Cabell Hall in the 1990s a new restoration was instigated by Marita McClymonds, acting chairman of the Music Department, and begun in 1998 by Xaver A. Wilhelmy of Satunton, Va. A second rededication on Sept. 15, 2000 featured organist Peggy Kelley Reinburg. The organ continues to be played occasionally for concerts.
Libin said, “The organ here is irreplaceable and historical. Skinner’s vision was in the vanguard a century ago. Organs like this just aren’t built any more.”
You’ve been listening to the Oscar Show, I’m Jacob Canon. Join us next week when we look at a University of Virginia study, which indicates that air pollution from power plants and automobiles is destroying the fragrance of flowers and thereby possibly inhibiting the ability of pollinating insects to locate flowers, and may partially explain why certain populations of these pollinators are on the decline.
For more information about scholarship, creativity and research, please visit www.oscar.virginia.edu. Did you miss a show? Then go to www.wtju.net and click on “blogs & pods” or visit www.cvillepodcast.com. Question about this program; please call WTJU at 434-924-0885 or email at wtju@virginia.edu.
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06.04.08
Posted in Jacob Canon, Nursing, The Oscar Show, UVa College of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia at 12:04 pm by Jacob Canon
In today’s show, written by Jane Ford, Senior News Officer for the UVa News Department, we look at Dorrie K. Fontaine, recently named Dean of UVa’s School of Nursing, and her career advocating better care for critically ill patients.
Dorrie K. Fontaine, who has dedicated much of her 36-year nursing career to advocating for better care for critically ill patients, will become dean of the University of Virginia’s School of Nursing on Aug. 1. Fontaine currently serves as associate dean for academic programs at the University of California-San Francisco School of Nursing.
Dorrie Fontaine [6:05m]:
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Fontaine succeeds Jeanette Lancaster, UVa’s legendary, and longest-serving dean, who UVa President, John Casteen credited “for helping to attract a robust pool of applicants vying to succeed her. In selecting Dorrie Fontaine, the University has chosen a most worthy successor. She is an accomplished scholar, dedicated clinician, and collaborative and innovative administrator who has succeeded in her every endeavor.”
Casteen added that Fontaine’s recent work at UCSF aligns closely with the themes of the UVa’s Commission on the Future of the University. He said, “Dorrie led UCSF’s efforts to promote inter-professional education across the schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing and pharmacy, while keeping a close eye on her own scholarly research interests.”
Fontaine, a career registered nurse received her first degree in 1972 from Villanova University. She then earned her master’s degree in nursing at the University of Maryland at Baltimore (1977) and Ph.D. at The Catholic University (1987). In 2006, she attended the Harvard Graduate Institute of Higher Education, Management and Leadership in Education Program. She was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 1995.
In laying out Fontaine’s goals for the next five years, Dr. Arthur Garson Jr., the University’s executive vice president and provost, said “Given Dorrie’s track record and her passion for the subject, I feel confident that she will solidify the University of Virginia’s position as a national model for interaction of health professionals in practice, teaching and development of new knowledge.”
Fontaine’s research focuses on comfort for critically ill patients, pain relief and family presence at end of life. Another key interest is promoting healthy work environments for nurses and hospital colleagues. A leader in developing the national Standards for a Healthy Work Environment with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses in 2005, she believes that one of her great strengths will be to bring those values to the academic setting of the University. Fontaine served as president of AACN, the largest specialty nursing organization in the world, in 2003-04.
Fontaine said, “I was first attracted to the University of Virginia because it is a world-class university, but what really excites me is its strong reputation for and success in bringing together undergraduate education and research.”
Fontaine cites the challenges of the nursing shortage as an area on which she plans to focus. She said, “The health care crisis is currently fueled by a chronic shortage of nurses. Being at such a high-profile institution with such an outstanding School of Medicine and medical center, I believe that we will have the opportunity to work together to do great things in nursing for Virginia, the nation and the world.”
Fontaine, who has written and spoken extensively on health care issues, currently is the primary investigator on a $9.7 million grant to implement an accelerated doctoral program in nursing. She also has continued to teach a course on leadership and for the past four years has delivered classroom lectures on the importance of family to patients near death.
Throughout her career she has been active in numerous professional organizations as well as public service and diversity initiatives at the institutions she has served. She has been a member of the UCSF School of Nursing’s Diversity Task Force for five years, during that time researching the curriculum to address diversity.
Fontaine said, “We are currently implementing a series of modules on curriculum and diversity to be taught in a teaching seminar series over the academic year. I am surrounded by diversity in every way and use these perspectives on a daily basis.”
You’ve been listening to the Oscar Show, I’m Jacob Canon. Join us next week when our topic will well we celebrate the one hundred-year anniversary of the E.M. Skinner Organ, which was installed in UVa’s Cabell Hall in 1907.
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