Did You Know?

Winthrop’s volleyball team members volunteered to work on a Habitat for Humanity house in Rock Hill on Feb. 7 in what was the first Women Build project. The house’s four walls were framed and raised during the day.

• Winthrop stirs up community art. ACE Projects encourage civic engagement. Over the past several years, Winthrop University Galleries has partnered with Clinton Junior College and Rock Hill’s downtown arts venues in an effort to build bridges and create a new synergy for arts and human activities. More projects are under way to highlight homelessness and other societal issues. Dustin Shores, a senior photography major, collaborated with children from Blackmon Road in Rock Hill to develop images for the ACE-sponsored Voices of Homelessness Project.

• Webcams and weather. Wonder what the weather is like at Winthrop or how much rain we’ve had in the last month? Check out our weather site. 

• M.B.A. Lecture on tax policy challenges. Stephen Boocock, retired firm director in the tax controversy service group at Deloitte Tax LLP who now teaches part time at Winthrop, offered his outlook on the president’s budget numbers during the spring M.B.A. lecture on Feb. 26.

• Latest Winthrop/ETV Poll results show fear and optimism. The poll asked Southern African Americans in 11 states about multiple issues from the state of race relations and equal opportunities, to their expectations of the Obama presidency, and how he might handle certain issues facing the nation. Participants are concerned about the economy and unemployment but 7 out of 10 felt that the country was on the right track. Adolphus Belk Jr., assistant professor of political science, talked about the poll with National Public Radio.

• Trayless dining in the café. As a way to conserve energy and food, Dining Services has moved to eliminate trays in Thomson Café. The efforts were featured on WSOC-TV in Charlotte in a Going Green segment.

• Hamilton art photos reach wide audience. Jennifer and Mark Hamilton, associate professor of fine arts, were two of several artists selected to represent the United States in the new art magazine Area Zinc for the current issue "Delerium," which went online in February. Area Zinc has been nominated for best new internet project in 2009. The photos previously appeared in early 2008 in a “Photography: Southeast” exhibition at the University of South Carolina. Their work also appeared this summer in another new zine from New York City called antidull.

• Students receive customer service training. More than 200 student workers attended a Student Professional Development Workshop on Feb. 7. Many of the students fill “front line” jobs and are required to attend professional development sessions in the fall and spring semesters. The spring 2009 workshop brought in guest speakers Glenn McFadden, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Comporium Communications; Kim Rectenwald, training specialist from US Airways; and Winthrop’s Frank Ardaiolo and Tim Daugherty.

• Leland knows trivia. Leland Graham `04 of Rock Hill won $48,000 on “Jeopardy” during Feb. 25, 26 and 27 appearances. The Herald followed his story.

• Watch for South Carolina’s Watermelon Queen. Winthrop student Summers Slaton, an early childhood education major, will travel the state to festivals and supermarkets to help promote the sale of watermelons. She won her crown on Jan. 17 and will compete for the national title next year.