Spring 2009

Anthony Dean Perkins Katherine Aidan Perkins—Peace Corps, Ghana Tyler Ramsey Porter Meagan Brittany Powell—Coaching Glasgow High Scholl girl’s soccer team and substitute teaching while preparing for the LSAT.

Darren Cameron Powers Pamela Shea Poynter—UK Medical School Nicholas Adam Purol Caroline Zarah Quinio—Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University

Elise Marie Reed—UK Gatton School MBA Program Emily Austin Rhoads Timothy Brandon Riley—UK BS/MBA Program Olivia Faye Ringo—UK Medical School Daniel Aaron Robbins—Peabody College of Human Development and Education, Vanderbilt University

Cooper Earl Russell Zachary Charles Salchli—Teach For America, Baton Rouge

Jessica Emily Schmitt Summer Marie Schneider Christopher David Schuetz Joshua Patrick Scott Katherine Virginia Shannon—Medical School, U of L Jillian Rose Sherman Kristin Lee Sherrard Lauren Elizabeth Sibert Jacquelyn Smith—UK Medical School Amy Michelle Spero—Global Fabric Care Strategic Planning Financial Analyst for Proctor and Gamble, Cincinnati

Scarlett Lynn Springate—Veterinary School, Cornell University

Kevin Crews Stanfield Natalie Tess Stanley Jeffrey Robert Steller—London School of Economics Alyssa Michelle Story Allan Michael Straub Evan Hunter Strippelhoff William Matthew Suiter Laura Kate Taff Clarence Joseph Theobald, IV Elyse Carolyn Tinker—College of Osteopathic Medicine. Ohio University

Amanda Kalyn Tyree—Marketing position with Fusioncorp Design Mediahouse. Lexington

Sarah Anne Vessels Krishna Subhash Vyas Douglas Adam Walter Travis Russell Watters Tate Francesca White—Community and Regional Planning Graduate Program, University of British Columbia

Sarah Susan Willenbrink Galen Patrick Withrow Shana Harris Wolfe Amanda Joy Zimny—Teach for America, Chicago

Rebekah Elizabeth Allen Hannah Callie Alsgaard Jessica Lynn Amburgey—Teach for American, Mississippi Delta

Julie Victoria Atterbury Lucas Keith Avery Roger John Battiston—UK Law School Jared Andrew Beek Geoffrey Burton Bell Joseph Justin Bencomo Joshua Gregory Berkley—UK Law School Elizabeth Anne Binkholder Kristen Nicole Bird Allyn Miracle Bissmeyer Catherine Hope Bozio—Master of Public Health, Emory University

Krista Marie Braun—MSACC Program, UK Ashley Joi Britton Stephanie Reneé Brooks Brandon Lawrence Burns Molly E. Burton—Dental School, U of L Charles Matthew Butner Sarah Elizabeth Buzogany Mark Christian Campbell Molly Brennan Cassady Andrew Lee Champion Jonathan Patrick Collett David William Cooker Samuel Taylor Coons—Intern for Christian Student Fellowship, Lexington

Ioana Cosoreanu Thomas Martin Cothran Nicholas Michael Covault Rebecca Ray Crutcher—UK Medical School Emily Christina Csinsi Charles Ronald Cummings III Clinton Ross Davis—Graduate studies in Music, UC-San Diego

Scott Michael Douglas—Medical School (specifics pending)

Carissa Don Dowden Tiffany Janel Duncan—NKU Chase College of Law

Amanda Michele Dunn—Master of Public Administration in the Martin School and graduate fellow with the KY Legislative Research Commission in the House Health and Welfare Committee

Samanthia Farthing—Graduate School (specifics pending)

Emily Douglas Fortney Shannon Marie Frame Cara Lovell Frank—UK School of Library and Information Science

Paige Elise Franklin—UK Law School Adam Daniel French Bethany Lavina Futrell John Alexander Gardner—Engineer for Edison Engineering Development Program at General Electric, Louisville

Whitney Lauren Gore—Research Assistant for the Department of Behavioral Science in the Center for Drug and Alcohol Research, UK

Laura Grace Grabau Dawn W Graham Andrew Wyatt Groves Jessica Lynne Harper Zachary Michael Harris Forrest Tyler Harrison David Keith Haye Bradley Joseph Hayes Jessica C. Heskel James Malcolm Hester James Thomas Hill Wesley Tyler Holbrook—Teach For America, Chicago

Devon Rae Holmes—Law School (specifics pending) Jerrad Theodore Howard—Law School (specifics pending)

Katherine Marie Huber Robert Christopher Hughes Sarah Coleman Hunt Lauren Kimberly Hunter Jesseca Greear Johnson Peter Alexander Jones GaEun Joung Robert Louis Kahne Kristin Marie Kaminski Richard Preston Kanter Corinne Elizabeth Keel Amy Nicole Kelly David Christopher Kerbl Maria Louise Kirkpatrick—Southern College of Optometry

Julie Kay Kretzer Ross Michael Levine Linsen Li Melinda Lio Denis Andrey Livchak Jean Elizabeth Lucas Cassandra Faye Lyons—Applying for the Mitchell and Marshall scholarships to study in the British Isles

Diksha Malik Jeffrey McClee Manion—Teach for America, Mississippi Delta

Mitchell Walter Martin Elizabeth Anne McDonald—Masters of Music, NE Conservatory

Kelly Elizabeth McIntosh—Teach for America, New Orleans

Kerry Elizabeth McLaren Jillian L. Meeks Lisa Marie Meredith Jessica Marie Meyer Audra Diane Monday Samuel James Mullins Aun Ali Munis Stephanie Nicole NeCamp Emily Catherine Ogburn Elizabeth Johannah Oldiges—Nonprofit or service agency, Cincinnati

Chinedu Ginny Otu Emily Elaine Parsley—Teach for America, Atlanta Brittany Nicole Pearson—UK Graduate School for Communication Sciences and Disorders

Tidings

2

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this list.

2009 Graduates

Spring 2009

Tidings

3

We would like to stay up-to-date with our alumni, family and friends. Please update your contact information and let us know what you have been doing. This form may be sent to the address below or email your information to Penny.Mazur@uky.edu. Your information may be used in future Tidings. See page 5 for

information about donations.

Please mail form and any donations to:

University of Kentucky

Honors Program

1153 Patterson Office Tower

Name

Address:

City: State: Zip:

Telephone (home): Telephone (business):

E-Mail:

Graduation Year: Degree:

Please tell us a little about yourself:

Edward T. Breathitt Lecture in the Humanities—Clint Davis

On January 22, 2009 Honors Program senior, Clint Davis, presented the fifteenth annual Edward T. Breathitt Lecture in the Humanities. In the lecture, “[An]aesthetics and [De]composition: The Music of the New York School,” Davis examined the aesthetic dimensions of music created by a group of American composers known as the New York School, which included John Cage, Morton Feldman, Christian Wolff, and Earle

Brown.

Davis explained that the historical significance of these four can be attributed to their recognition by the European avant garde, a first for American composers who had been following compositional trends coming from Europe. “This was a group of composers that in many ways attempted to re-invent music, throwing out as much historical precedent, tradition, and technique as possible and starting from scratch with their intuition and whatever sounds surrounded them,” Davis said. “Much like their contemporaries and close friends Jackson Pollack and Mark Rothko did with American painting, the work of the New York composers was internationally recognized as a unique and substantial contribution to the art of music making. This is somewhat ironic as each of these composers struggled to escape the influence of Europe and the great tradition of western classical music which was birthed and cultivated there. Instead, they sought to

rethink music from the ground up. The results were often shocking and continued to challenge professional musicians and

laypersons alike.”

Throughout the lecture, Davis presented samples of music composed by members of the New York School alongside pieces from western classical music to illustrate the innovations Cage, Feldman, Wolff, and Brown brought to American music in the 1950s. The music of the New York School “poses questions relevant to the entire endeavor of music making in any form. It forces one to question what music is and what separates it from any other sound,”

Davis said.

Davis’s lecture was informed by research for his senior thesis for the Gaines Center for the Humanities, where he has been an undergraduate fellow for two years. With support from the Honors Program and Gaines Center, Davis was able to travel to New Hampshire to interview composer Christian Wolff about the New York School’s history, i ts members’ compositional philosophy and aesthetics, and Morton Feldman’s relationship to abstract expressionism. Davis’s thesis was supervised by Honors Program Professor Alan Hersh and Professor Lance Brunner, both of the School of Music, and Professor

Robert Jensen, Department of Art.

Clint Davis is a Piano Performance major from Carrolton, Kentucky. Among other pieces, he performed Feldman’s 1952 com-position Intermission No. 6 at his senior recital. Davis will begin graduate studies in

Music at UC-San Diego next fall.

Spring 2009

For the second year in a row, the Honors Program has been proud to have an HP team both dance in and raise money for UK’s Annual DanceBlue Dance Marathon. Students raise money to sponsor dancers at the 24-hour, no sitting/no sleeping marathon; proceeds

benefit the UK Pediatric Oncology Clinic.

This year, ten dancers represented the Honors Program and were honored with 2nd place in the Small Teams Fundraising Award category. We are proud of Honors students Kristi Derkacy, Angela Dixon, Kelsey Giurgevich, Anna King, Nicole Koeninger, Alex Lipsey, Shea Poynter, Brigitte Stolz, Holly Tate, and team co-captains, Raquelle Koontz and Jessalyn Ubellacker, for their

commitment to helping others.

Tidings DanceBlue

Honors Program students enrolled in the HON 301 conducted

Spring semester 2009 by Dr. Sonya Jones gather for a telephone

interview with Bob Spitz, author of The Beatles: The Biography, a text

included on the reading list for “The Art of Biography.” Spitz, who has

published a biography about Bob Dylan and a book about the

Woodstock music festival, is currently completing research for a

biography of Julia Child. Spitz worked for a number of years in the

music industry, and he began writing for magazines. He lives in New

York City.

4

Honors Program Student Council

Greetings, Honors students! Are you interested in getting more involved in extracurricular activities at UK? Do you have some opinions about the future of the Honors Program? Then HPSC could be for you! The Honors Program Student Council organizes fundraisers, social events and does

volunteer service in addition to being the voice of the Honors students to the faculty and administration of the Honors Program. We are currently

accepting new members for the upcoming school year. If this sounds like a great opportunity to you, visit our website at http://uk.hpsc.googlepages.com.

or look for our group on Facebook!

A Look Inside The Classroom

Honors Program students from the World Food Issues track traveled

to Berea College in April to hear a talk given by Joel Salatin, owner of

Polyface Farms who is featured prominently in Michael Pollan's text

entitled, The Omnivore's Dilemma. The students are pictured here out-

side the Berea College greenhouses where food served at dinner follow-

ing Salatin's talk for convocation was grown. They are (first row, L-R)

Ashley Jeanmougin, Lindsay Good, Rachel Flaherty, Emily Kraemer,

Olivia Gatten, and (second row, third from L-R), Kaitlin Diffenderfer,

Andrea Gentile, Derek Fenwick, Chris Hartlage, Jessica Carter, Lauren

Ison, and Lauren Power. They were joined by former WFI student Chel-

sea Kirk, who plans to participate in Dr. Jones's summer proseminar at

Slate Branch, "Living Mindfully in the Natural World," and her friend

Tony (second row, first two from L).

Spring 2009

to allocate a two-to-one corporate match of the Boyds’ recent gift to the Kate Johnson Scholarship. This corporate support

significantly increased the endowment.

By strengthening the Kate Johnson Scholarship, the Honors Program es tab l i shes a broader base of financial support for our current and future Honors s t u d e n t s t o enhance their u n d e r g r a d u a t e experiences. At the same time, we honor a woman

whose dedication and commitment to former Honors students played a significant role in their undergraduate careers. The Kate Johnson Scholarship allows the University of Kentucky to convey the legacy of a devoted staff member to future Honors

students for years to come.

If you haven’t yet made your gift, now is the time to support these outstanding undergraduates. There are many ways to make a contribution, and each gift is appreciated and valued. You have the assurance of knowing that every dollar you give goes to make a difference in the lives of our Honors Program students. Contact Remona Edenfield at 800-875-6272 or 859-2 5 7 - 7 8 9 3 o r v i a e m a i l a t Remona.Edenfield@uky.edu to learn more about giving opportunities. You can also make a gift online at https://giveto.uky.edu/UK_p/uk.htm. Be sure to select the Honors Program in the gift designation box and include a note in the text box to indicate the specific Honors initiative that you want to

support.

Tidings

5

The initiative to strengthen the Kate Johnson Scholarship endowment is well underway thanks to tremendous support from many of our dedicated Honors alumni, parents, and friends. Our recent phonathon reached a record-breaking level with over $32,000 in gifts and pledges, an increase of over 10% compared to last year’s phonathon. This success is a direct result of your generous responses to a challenge match cosponsored by a dedicated Honors alumnus and the professor who created the

Kate Johnson Scholarship.

When Kate Johnson retired in 2004, Professor James Albisetti thought that there would be no better way to honor her many years of service than to create a scholarship fund to help Honors students take advantage of the kinds of educational and research opportunities outside of the classroom that she always urged them to pursue. He was certain that the Kate Johnson Scholarship would be a magnet for contributions from former students, parents, and friends of the Honors Program. His lead gift, along with significant contributions from other faculty members, established the endowment. “It is extremely gratifying,” he says, “to see how the alumni and others have fulfilled my original hopes by pushing the contributed value of the Kate Johnson Fund to almost eight times its original size.” Having served as Director of the Honors Program for five semesters and as a faculty member for thirty years, Albisetti recognizes the impact this type of scholarship has on UK’s best and brightest students. He not only created the endowment, but continues his financial

commitment to ensure that future scholarship recipients receive essential stipends to attend academic conferences, study abroad, participate in experiential education, and

explore their research interests.

Engineering alumnus James R. Boyd (’69) a p p r e c i a t e d h i s experiences as an Honors student and was pleased to give back to a program that was meaningful to him during his time at the University of Kentucky. Recogn i z i n g th a t extracurricular learning is vital to the overall experience of being a college student, Jim and his wife Elise, were quick to offer funds

for a challenge match to build the Kate Johnson Scholarship endowment. “The opportunity to travel abroad to expand one’s knowledge through research and immersion in another culture is something that all UK undergraduates should experience. This scholarship gives our Honors students the chance to realize the global connection through enhanced learning, not only outside of the classroom, but beyond the borders of our Commonwealth, and indeed our nation,” Boyd said. As a

successful business man, he has served in top leadership positions with Westinghouse and Ashland, Inc. In addition, he has led several major corporate boards of directors and is currently serving as Lead Director for Arch Coal. Through his membership on the Halliburton Board of Directors, Jim was able

Honoring Philanthropy

Professor James Albisetti

Mr. and Mrs. James Boyd (Elise)

This year’s Kate Johnson Scholarship recipient is Yuen (Amie) Chan. Amie is a junior, biology

major with an economics minor. Originally from Paducah, KY, she plans to attend medical school.

Amie’s other activities include undergraduate research on spinal cord injuries, CARES peer mentor,

AMSTEMM, and SPUR.

The idea for her research project, entitled “Socioeconomic Challenges of Patients with Clinical

Blindness in Rural Ghana,” started after her acceptance to be a volunteer for Unite For Sight in Accra,

Ghana, this summer. Because of her interests in medicine, global health, and economics, Amie wanted

to do a research project related to these areas in addition to volunteering. She will perform clinical

service while assisting eye doctors in rural villages, refugee camps, and slums to provide free eye care to

patients living in extreme poverty. Through interactions with patients, Amie will conduct qualitative and

quantitive research with those whose vision in both eyes is equal or greater than 20/200 and with their

caretakers. Results from this research study will illuminate the social and economic challenges faced by

impoverished patients and caretakers due to limitations of the disease and poor access to quality medical

care. Findings will be used to illustrate extreme poverty as a result of poor healthcare access. Amie Chan, James Albisetti, Kate Johnson

Spring 2009

On Monday, April 13, eleven students were honored at the annual Honors Program Awards Ceremony held in Patterson Hall. From left to right:

Danielle Boucher, Journal/Journey Scholarship; Virginia Conn, Barrett Literary Prize; Katherine Donahue, Students Skills Scholarship; Holly Tate,

Student Skills Scholarship; Shady El-Maraghi, Student Skills Scholarship; Katie Reynolds, Journal/Journey Scholarship; Jerrad Howard, Stephen

Diachun Award; Jessica Cullen, Jane Vance Literary Prize; Yuen Amie Chan, Students Skills Scholarship and the Kate Johnson Scholarship; and

Michelle Combs (kneeling), the Crystal Award. Not pictured: Chelsea Kirk, Freshman-Sophomore Award.

For information about applying for any of these awards, please contact the Honors Program office or visit www.uky.edu/honors.

University of Kentucky Honors Program

1153 Patterson Office Tower Lexington, KY 40506-0027

Phone: 859-257-3111 Fax: 859-257-6428

E-mail: honprog@uky.edu

We’re on the Web!

www.uky.edu/Honors

Tidings

6

Honors Program Awards

Spring 2009

On March 25, the Honors Program sent four students to St. Petersburg, Florida, to represent the University of Kentucky at the Southern Regional Honors Council

Conference.

Cassie Modahl gave an oral presentation on her research with snake venom in Singapore and

Malaysia.

Laura Crawford presented a poster on her research on neuronal regeneration after spinal-cord

injury.

Jenna Brashear presented her research on how international norms impacted the United States’ abolition of the death penalty for

minors.

Michelle Combs presented a photography project entitled

"Reflections".

In addition to presenting their research, the Honors students attended a gala event at the Salvador Dali Museum hosted by the conference. Overall, the trip was a success and more students are encouraged to participate in the

future.