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Wednesday, December 20, 2006

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Total Clips: 4

	Date	Outlet
Cadets at AU train for hand-to-hand combat	12/20/2006	Opelika-Auburn News
Zee to lead AU's research program	12/20/2006	Opelika-Auburn News
Top Grades, Without the Classes	12/20/2006	New York Times
FILLMER APPOINTED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF AU INSTITUTE	12/19/2006	Alfa Farmers


Cadets at AU train for hand-to-hand combat 12/20/2006 Opelika-Auburn News Amy Weaver		Return to Top
Size doesn't matter. When it comes to combatives training for Army ROTC cadets at Auburn University, Goliath doesn't have the advantage over David. At 6'6" and 250 pounds, senior Matthew Stisher looks intimidating, but his height and power aren't the deciding factors in a hand-to-hand fight with fellow cadets, like 6'2", 190-pound junior Stuart Pearson. This week, while most AU students were back home, enjoying home cooking and recovering from finals, nine cadets practiced fighting skills in the Nichols Center. Cadets say technique is the key to winning in combatives, a combination of sport and martial arts used by the Unites States military. That's how Pearson was able to take down Stisher. It was far from easy, but he did it. "Get them into a submission move, make them uncomfortable and then dominate," advised Sgt. Ray Honea. The cadets grapple on the mat as if they were wrestling, but combatives is much more complicated. While wrestlers try to pin an opponent on their back, Honea said that is a dominate position in combatives. From it, students learn to use their body parts and weight, even the opponent’s shirt collar, to gain advantage. Honea said he consistently beats his 21-year-old son, a former defensive lineman, in combatives because he knows how to use his body, including identifying pressure points on his son’s body. "Technique can be powerful," said senior Sloane Mauldin. And practice makes perfect. "You learn after you lose once or twice not to do that again." Honea said the training is not required but is beneficial for cadets to know not only how to fight an enemy from great distances, but from up close and personal as well. "Hopefully we won't have to use this, but if worse comes to worse, we have something in our arsenal the enemy doesn't," Mauldin said. Plus it's fun, they say. "It's like any sport," said Dominic Viruleg, who graduated Friday. "You just want to play. Part of the fun is doing it and watching yourself get better." "Fight!" Honea screams. "It's not dance class." Dance class or not, combatives can be hard on the body. Cadets cheered each other on during each fight but didn’t bat an eye any time a face turned a deep shade of purple from a strong choke hold. "There is nothing like being choked out for the first time," said Mauldin. Viruleg said the fighting itself is pain-free. It's when you stop that your body lets you know it's not happy because it aches, vibrates and tingles. "It gives you the mental toughness to fight through pain, plus you don't want to lose," Mauldin said.
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Zee to lead AU's research program 12/20/2006 Opelika-Auburn News Staff Report		Return to Top
Starting Jan. 1, Ralph H. Zee will be the acting associate provost and vice president for research at Auburn University. Zee has been associate dean for research in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering since 2001, where he directs the research efforts of eight academic departments and 11 research centers. "Dr. Zee is an accomplished research leader, and I look forward to working with him," said President Ed Richardson. "He and the alternative fuels committee have made great progress, and we will continue to move Auburn forward on this critical national priority with his leadership and insight." Earlier this year, Richardson made alternative energy research a top university priority and committed $3 million toward the effort in fiscal year 2007. Zee serves as co-chair of Auburn's alternative energy initiative, which promotes the development and use of renewable energy from natural resources. Zee earned two master of science degrees and a Ph.D. in materials science from the University of Wisconsin. He came to Auburn in 1986 as an assistant professor in mechanical engineering and has steadily risen through the academic ranks. Zee takes over the position held by Michael Moriarty, who is returning to the faculty in the College of Veterinary Medicine where he is a professor of physiology and pharmacology. Moriarty has led Auburn's research program since arriving from the University of Georgia in 1994. During his tenure as associate provost and vice president for research, he was instrumental in securing more than $3 million in competitive grants for his research on the detection of malignant tumors, a topic on which he has published more than 60 articles and papers. Moriarty held similar research positions at UGA and the University of Nebraska and has served as a department head, assistant provost and graduate school dean during his career. Zee's new job will remain acting until a new president is hired and decides whether to conduct a search or not.
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Top Grades, Without the Classes 12/20/2006 New York Times Editorial		Return to Top
The House Ways and Means Committee sent shock waves through college sports when it asked the National Collegiate Athletic Association to justify its federal tax exemption by explaining how cash-consuming, win-at-all-cost athletics departments serve educational purposes. The short answer is that they don't. Indeed, they often undermine the mission of higher education by recruiting athletes who aren't prepared, then encouraging grade-padding and preferential treatment to keep them eligible for sports. That process has been on vivid display at Auburn University, which is embroiled in a scandal involving athletes who are said to have padded their grades and remained eligible to play by taking courses that required no attendance and little if any work. This summer, James Gundlach, an Auburn sociology professor, laid out the problem in startling detail, telling reporters that corruption at the university was pervasive. An internal audit by the university, made public this month, has uncovered a new round of problems. It found that a grade for a scholarship athlete had been changed -- from an incomplete to an A -- without the professor's knowledge. This conveniently raised the athlete's grade point average in the final semester just above the minimum required for graduation. In addition, the athlete received three other A's from so-called ''directed reading'' courses that required no classroom attendance. The professor who issued the initial incomplete in 2003 -- and only recently learned it had been changed -- suggested that someone in the university had guided the athlete through the scheduling process. Auburn's administration promised swift and decisive action to address the problem. But it has also taken pains to point out that the suspect courses were open not just to athletes, but to all students. That's no reason to feel relieved. The deeper and more alarming lesson is that the unethical behavior often associated with big-time college sports doesn't always end with athletes. It can easily seep outward, undermining academic standards and corrupting behavior in the university as a whole.
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FILLMER APPOINTED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF AU INSTITUTE 12/19/2006 Alfa Farmers Brian C. Keeter		Return to Top
AUBURN, Ala. -- Auburn University President Ed Richardson today announced the appointment of Larry Fillmer to the newly created post of executive director for the Institute of Natural Resources. Fillmer, a senior executive and CEO with more than 35 years experience in organizational management, has worked at AU since 2005 as a development director for major gifts and corporate relations. Before that, he served as president and CEO of the I-85 Corridor Alliance and for several corporations in the technology field. "I am very pleased that Mr. Fillmer has accepted the position of executive director for the Institute of Natural Resources," said Richardson. "His experience in managing change is extensive and allows us to focus on bringing together the most critical areas connected to agriculture and natural resources to positively impact the university and the state." In addition to leading the institute, Fillmer will direct two new research centers at AU: the Center for Alternative Energy and the Alabama Water Resources Center. Richardson earlier this year committed $3 million to Auburn's alternative energy initiative, capitalizing on the university's research expertise in forestry, engineering and agriculture and positioning AU as a national leader in converting natural resources into fuels. Similarly, the Alabama Water Resources Center, which will be established on the AU campus, will serve as the primary organization with responsibility for addressing water issues in Alabama including those related to research, policy and outreach. "It is a real privilege for me to serve the university in this position and a great opportunity to apply my experience dealing with complex organizational structures in the corporate environment to the institute," Fillmer said. "This is a tremendous opportunity to focus these critical activities at the university to benefit the state." Richardson said the new institute and the leadership Fillmer brings mark a turning point at Auburn and provide an opportunity to build on the progress made in the past and effectively position the university for the years to come. "There is indeed a bright future for the broad area of natural resources, and Auburn University has and will continue to contribute to it," Richardson said. "I have been greatly encouraged by those working in the natural resources arena. Their report will serve as a template for our initial steps. Dean Richard Guthrie, Dr. Gaines Smith and Dean Richard Brinker have been instrumental in this change and will be of great assistance to Mr. Fillmer. "I anticipate a comprehensive progress report in April 2007 that will confirm the institute's value. Auburn's next president will have the opportunity to assess the institute and plan for further improvements." Fillmer earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Auburn and also holds a master's degree in industrial management from the University of Alabama. He is a distinguished military graduate of the U.S. Air Force and a recipient of the Air Force Commendation Medal, First Oak Leaf Cluster, and Department of Defense Meritorious Service Medal.
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