FacultyandStaffNewsletter Dec.20,2010

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Enjoyingtherecentholidayopenhouse inBolingUniversityCenterare, left toright,above,ScottRobbins,RayColemanandLynneHall,DepartmentofPublcSafety;andJennaWright,English;andbelow,KarenElmore,JulieCooperandDanaBreland,PaulMeek Library; Jennifer Martin and Teresa Bodkin, Office of Admissions; and KatieHachey,OfficeofHumanResources.

Crewsreceivesaward

CREWS

Dr. Lionel Crews, as-sociate professor of phys-ics, recently received the Ptero Award from the Tennessee Earth Science Teachers for his contri-butions to the teaching of earth science in Ten-nessee.

The award was present-ed at the area meeting of the National Science Teachers Association meet-ing, in the Tennessee Science Teachers Association awards luncheon at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. Dr. Michael Gibson, UT Martin professor of geol-ogy, 2001 Ptero Award recipient and TEST higher education advisor, made the presentation.

“It truly is an honor for me to receive this award. I can’t say enough about how much I have enjoyed working with teachers across the state to improve earth science education,” said Crews.

Crews has been active in the teaching of earth sci-ence over the past decade. He has been involved in two grant programs, Revitalizing Earth Science Education in Tennessee and the Institute for Middle Grade Educators in Science, and has made numer-ous presentations at National Science Teachers Asso-ciation and Tennessee Science Teachers Association conferences. He also makes regular school visits to do presentations on astronomy in the classroom, as well as help the local teachers host a “star party” for observing the night sky. He recently completed an astronomical observatory at UT Martin and plans to allow teachers to use it for experiential learning as well as student research projects.

Ptero is the nickname for the official state fossil of Tennessee, Pterotrigonia (Scabrotrigonia) Tho-racica, designated by act of legislature in 1997. This fossil represents the vast geologic and paleontologi-cal riches across Tennessee and commemorates their utility as an educational resource. Recipients receive an authentic fossil Ptero mounted on a plaque.

“Dr. Crews has been an invaluable asset to earth science education in Tennessee. Until his involve-ment with TEST, teacher development opportuni-ties related to astronomy were few and far between in Tennessee. Now astronomy is becoming more wide-spread and better taught. Dr. Crews has become one

In an effort to ease the impact of in-creasing insurance premiums in 2011, biweekly paid employees will have the option of establishing a holdback amount (similar to flexible benefits deductions) to be deducted from the second biweekly period ending of the month and “refunded” on the first bi-weekly period of the following month. NOTE: the full insurance premium deduction will still be withheld from the first biweekly period ending each month. This holdback option is de-signed to help equalize net pay between the first and second biweekly payrolls of the month.

The decision whether to take advan-tage of this holdback option is com-pletely optional to each biweekly-paid employee. The employee may decide to take advantage of this option at any time and can cancel at any time.

This deduction option is available now, and Dec. 15 is the deadline to en-roll so that the change takes effect in January 2011.

Thereafter, biweekly-paid employ-ees can enroll by the 15th day of each month, with the change taking effect with the second biweekly payroll in the same month. Upon enrolling, employ-ees can cancel at any time.

Insurancepremiumoptionoffered

Published weekly during the academic year and biweeklyduringthesummerbyUTMartin;Martin,TN38238

•Dr.JanSimek-InterimPresident,UniversityofTennesseeSystem•Dr.TomRakes-Chancellor,UniversityofTennesseeatMartin

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CalendarDec.20-Jan.2Tuesday, Dec. 21

- 7 p.m. – Skyhawk men’s basket-ball vs. Murray State, Elam Center

Wednesday, Dec. 22- 7:30 p.m. – Skyhawk women’s basketball vs. Murray State, Elam Center

Monday, Dec. 27- 4 p.m. – Skyhawk men’s basket-ball @ Ohio State

Tuesday, Dec. 28- 7 p.m. – Skyhawk women’s bas-ketball @ Louisville

Wednesday, Dec. 29- 7 p.m. – Skyhawk men’s basket-ball @ Tennessee

Thursday, Dec. 30- 6 p.m. – Skyhawk women’s bas-ketball @ Kentucky

The next Addenda will be posted on Jan. 3.

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Addendas archived at http://www.utm.edu/

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Weather-relatedClosingsDuringperiodsofinclementweather,

pleaserefertotheUTMartinhomepagenewsheadlines

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information.

The Sick Leave Bank reported 261 mem-bers for the period ending Sept. 30, 2010. There were six terminations, 24 additions and five requests granted for a total of 912 hours. The beginning balance was 4,016.87. Ending balance was 3,956.87.

SickLeaveBanktotalstold

of the teachers’ favorites for develop-ment opportunities.” said Gibson.

The UT Martin Geo-Club received the award in 1999.

Communicationstowererected

UT Martin is building a new communica-tions tower, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. The project will benefit WUTM-FM and WLJT-DT, as well as the UT Martin Office of Housing, Maintenance Cen-ter, Department of Public Safety and ham ra-dio operators’ frequencies.

The project included engineering, supply-ing and installing a new 300-foot, three-leg, self-supporting communications tower, foun-dation and all appurtenances and a precast concrete building. The new tower includes a climbing ladder with anti-fall system, transmis-sion line support ladder and brackets, obstruc-tion warning lights, antenna mounts, ground-ing and lighting protection and site signage according to Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Communications Commission and all other regulations. The existing tower will be removed under a separate contract once the new tower is in place and fully operational.

“The new location of the tower is such that it will allow for better use of the property and better access for future tower maintenance,” said Tim Nipp, UT Martin Physical Plant director. “One other key element is the struc-tural integrity of the new tower. This upgrade will provide a safer campus tower for years to come.”

The new tower and equipment building of-fer improved features such as updated tower lighting, backup emergency power and secu-rity. This ensures the public safety communi-cations equipment, WUTM-FM, UT Martin’s student-operated radio station, and WLJT-DT public television station can stay on the air during emergency situations or power out-ages. “Connectivity to the new facility also gives us the ability to monitor key functions at the site such as tower lights, heating and cooling and power,” said Rodney Freed, UT Martin instructor of communications. “When the tower and building are complete, transmit-ting antennas and cabling on the tower will be installed. We’re hoping everything can be completed by May.”

Kenneth Robinson, director of engineering for WLJT added, “We will benefit from the added security for the fiber equipment and mi-crowave transmitter, due to the enclosure lay-out of the tower building, and the UPS/gen-erator system, which should supply power 100 percent of the time. The new tower building will also have proper cooling, which should extend the life of the equipment it houses.”

Project designer is SSR Ellers, Inc., of Mem-phis, and the contractor is Diversified Con-tractors, Inc., of McKenzie.

UTMartinisinstallinganewcommunicationstower,scheduled tobecompletedby theendof theyear.Twoworkersclimbthenewtowerwiththeoldtowerinthebackground.Theprojectwillincludeupdatedtowerlighting,backupemergencypowerandsecu-rity,benefitingWUTM-FM,WLJT-DTandotherofficesoncampus.