Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. EDT for the Volunteers’ game against the Bulldogs of the University of Georgia. Gates open at 1:30 p.m. CBS Sports will televise the game.

The university reminds fans of new security rules that prohibit backpacks of any kind or size from entering Neyland Stadium. All items, including purses, are subject to search at the gates. Purses or other bags larger than twelve inches by twelve inches by twelve inches cannot be brought into the stadium.

The UT Police Department encourages all fans to come to the stadium carrying as little as possible with them to expedite their entry into the stadium.

These items also are prohibited:

• alcoholic beverages, cans, bottles, or coolers
• radios without headphones
• open umbrellas
• video cameras
• stadium seats with arms
• weapons of any kind, including pocket knives

No items can be left or stored at stadium gates. Fans can bring the following items inside the stadium, provided they meet the size requirement:

• cushions and seats without arms
• small diaper bags that accompany infants
• small cameras, pagers, cell phones, and binoculars

UT also reminds fans to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement. All fans are asked to call 865-974-3111 or 911. From their cell phones, fans can send an anonymous report of suspicious activity by texting the letters “UTPD” followed by the location and details pertaining to an incident to Tip411 (847411).

Fans are encouraged to follow @UTGameday on Twitter for the latest updates on traffic, weather, gate information, and game day events such as the Vol Walk and band march.

Season tickets and select individual game tickets are available at uttix.com.

Game Day Activities

The annual Tim Kerin Memorial Food Drive will be held outside Neyland Stadium to benefit Knoxville’s Second Harvest Food Bank. Financial donations can be made at various locations around the stadium prior to the game. Kerin, the long-time head trainer at Tennessee, died in 1992. The food drive has been held in his honor ever since.

The traditional Vol Walk will start at 1:15 p.m. on Volunteer Boulevard near Circle Park, as the members of the football team proceed down Volunteer Boulevard and then continue down Peyton Manning Pass to the stadium.

The Pride of the Southland Marching Band will begin marching at 1:50 p.m. from their new home at the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center on Volunteer Boulevard and will then follow the same path as the Vol Walk.

The UT Institute of Agriculture will hold its annual Ag Day event on Saturday, beginning at 11:30 a.m. in the newly renovated Brehm Animal Science Arena. Activities include live music, informational displays, a visit from Smokey, and an insect petting zoo. For more information, visit their website. 

Fans also can attend the College of Arts and Sciences Pregame Showcase. Held two hours before each home game kickoff in the University Center Ballroom, the showcase is a free thirty-minute presentation by a UT faculty member. This week, at 1:30 p.m., Theresa Lee, dean of the college and professor of psychology, will present a talk titled “Tick Tock: Sleep Across the Lifespan and the Role of the Internal Clock.”

Parking and Traffic

Due to campus construction, fans are encouraged to arrive early. For complete information on game day parking, stadium regulations and activities, visit the athletic department website. The latest information on campus construction can be found at the Cone Zone.

Only fans with permits can park on campus. UT encourages others to use shuttle buses from the Old City, the Knoxville Civic Coliseum and the Market Square area of downtown Knoxville, and Farragut High School in west Knoxville. Many area hotels also offer shuttle service to the game.

Under state law, no smoking is allowed anywhere inside the stadium. Fans cannot leave the stadium and be readmitted.

Commercial solicitation in front of Neyland Stadium from Middle Way Drive to Gate 10 is prohibited starting four hours before kickoff and continuing until the game is over.

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C O N T A C T :

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)

UT’s fellows are Susan M. Benner, associate dean in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences; Joanne M. Hall, professor in the College of Nursing; Veerle Keppens, associate dean for faculty affairs in the College of Engineering; and Annette L. Ranft, associate dean in the College of Business Administration.

They are among the forty-nine faculty and administrators from SEC schools who were chosen to participate in the program, a professional development initiative that seeks to identify, prepare, and advance academic leaders for roles within SEC institutions and beyond.

The program has two components: a university-level development curriculum designed by each institution for its own participants, and two three-day SEC-wide workshops held on specified campuses for all program participants.

The first workshop is to be held October 14 through 16, at the University of Georgia in Athens. The next will be February 5 through 7, 2014, at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

The fellows program, established in 2008, fosters academic leadership among SEC faculty by allowing them the unique opportunity to address the challenges of academic administration at major research universities.

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CONTACT:

Karen Simsen (865-974-5186, karen.simsen@tennessee.edu)

Sepetys will be at UT on Tuesday, October 8, to talk about her two best-selling books for young adults. The event, at 7:00 p.m. in the Lindsay Young Auditorium in Hodges Library, is sponsored by UT’s Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature and the Knox County Public Library. It is free and open to the public.

Sepetys’s first published novel, Between Shades of Gray was inspired by her father, who escaped Lithuania when he was a young boy. The novel—in which fictional characters are involved in actual events—depicts what happened when the Soviet Union occupied the country in 1941.

“There are millions of people whose lives were taken or affected during the Soviet occupation. Yet very few people know the story,” Sepetys said. “I wanted to write a novel to honor the people of the Baltics and also to illustrate the power of love and patriotism.”

In June 2013, Sepetys was awarded Lithuania’s Cross of the Knight of the Order. The honor of “knight” was bestowed by the president of Lithuania in a formal ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Vilnius. This was in honor of her contributions to education and culture with her global efforts to share the history of totalitarianism in the Baltics.

Between Shades of Gray, a New York Times best-seller, was winner of the Golden Kite Award for Fiction and was named a Publisher’s Weekly Best Children’s Book of 2011 and an Amazon Top Ten Teen Book of 2011.

Also a New York Times best-seller, her second novel is Out of the Easy. The book is set in New Orleans in the 1950s. Its characters are fictional but inspired by actual people. The story involves a seventeen-year old girl, the daughter of a brothel prostitute, who gets entangled in a mysterious death and ensuing investigation.

Sepetys was born and raised in Michigan and graduated with a degree in international finance from Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. She worked in the music industry in Los Angeles for nearly fifteen years. She later moved to Nashville to continue her career in the music industry but found that the relaxed lifestyle and scenery caused her to slow down and just read. Her adventures to more than forty-two countries on six continents left her with many stories, so she wrote a novel.

The Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature is part of UT’s School of Information Sciences. It promotes literature as essential to the literacy, learning, social, emotional, and aesthetic development of young people.

For more information about the CCYAL, please visit their website.

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CONTACT:

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)

The 7:30 p.m. concert will be held in the Sandra Powell Recital Hall of the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center, 1741 Volunteer Boulevard. It is free and open to the public.

Earlier that day, from 11:10 a.m. to 12:25 p.m., Alash will host a workshop/master class in the band room. This event is open to students, faculty, and community members.

Tuvan throat singing is a unique practice where multiple pitches emanate simultaneously from a single performer’s voice.

Alash’s visit to Knoxville is part of the Distinguished Lecture Series in Musicology. The group is from the Republic of Tuva, a tiny Central Asian nation. Since its first tour of the United States in 2006, the group has appeared on dozens of college campuses. It has performed at major music festivals, including Bonnaroo and South by Southwest, and collaborated with a wide range of prominent artists, from the Sun Ra Arkestra to Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.

“The Tuvan throat-singing style was rarely heard in the West before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, but has since become popular among aficionados of traditional music and first-time listeners alike,” said Rachel May Golden, UT associate professor and coordinator of musicology. “The ensemble’s visit to UT offers students, faculty, and members of the Knoxville community the opportunity to experience this music firsthand. Listeners new to this practice often describe the sound of Tuvan throat singing as eerie, haunting, meditative, or supernatural.”

The School of Music and the Ready for the World initiative are sponsoring the event.

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CONTACT:

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)

The Fulbright Program is a prestigious international exchange initiative that awards about 1,100 grants to American scholars each year. Funded by the U.S. government, Fulbright Scholars are chosen based on their leadership and academic merits and their abilities to teach, conduct research, and contribute to solutions for shared international concerns.

Wanda Costen, associate professor in Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant for the 2013 –2014 academic year. She is studying gender inequality, specifically the social closure barriers that prevent women’s upward career mobility, in the resort industry in Jamaica. In addition to her research, Costen is teaching in the Department of Management Studies within the Mona School of Business and Management at the University of West Indies –Mona. Upon her return, Costen plans to write a book explaining how the barriers to women’s career progression are socially constructed.

Scott Frey, professor of sociology and co-director of the Center for the Study of Social Justice, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant for the fall term of 2013. He is studying the adverse environmental, health, and socioeconomic consequences of pesticide use under export-focused rice production in Vietnam. In addition to his research, Frey is lecturing at the Vietnam National University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City on issues related to the environment and development. Frey is currently working on a book examining how and why hazardous products and wastes are displaced to the peripheral zones of the world economy.

Rebecca Klenk, lecturer in interdisciplinary programs and affiliated faculty member with the Anthropology Department and the Disaster, Displacement, and Human Rights Program, has been awarded a Fulbright grant for the spring term of 2014. She will lecture and work with graduate students in the Anthropology Department at the University of Delhi in India. Along with teaching, she will develop new research on global educational restructuring, and collaborate with colleagues in India to plan a project on community experiences of, and educational responses to, Himalayan climate change.

Timothy Young, a professor in the Forest Products Center at the Institute of Agriculture, also received an award for the fall term. Young is in Austria conducting research on cross-laminated timber and teaching graduate courses in design of experiments and statistical process control at Salzburg University of Applied Sciences.

Melanie Eldridge, formerly a research assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology,  received an award to carry out a research project in Brazil for the fall term of 2013. She recently accepted a position at another university.

Since its establishment in 1946, the Fulbright Program has given approximately 310,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, and scientists the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research; exchange ideas; and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. The Fulbright US Scholar Program is administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, a division of the Institute of International Education.

For more information, visit the Fulbright program’s website.

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CONTACT:

Whitney Heins (865-974-5460, wheins@utk.edu)

The first lecture will feature UT professors Erin Darby and Robert Darby, who will talk about their recent archaeological excavations at ‘Ayn Gharandal, Jordan.

The 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. event will be in the McClung Museum’s auditorium.

Robert Darby, a lecturer in art history in the UT School of Art, and Erin Darby, an assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies, direct the ‘Ayn Gharandal archaeological project that has uncovered rare new details about an ancient Roman fort in southern Jordan.

The lecture series invites scholars from around the world to present the latest archaeological discoveries. It is free and open to the public.

Upcoming lectures this fall include the following:

• November 7: “Cultural Interaction and Reaction in the Courtly Art of the Hellenistic World” by Kristen Seaman, Kennesaw State University, Georgia
• November 19: “The Neolithic Alepotrypa Cave: Past Findings and Present Research” by Anastasia Papathanasiou, Greek Archaeological Service.

The McClung Museum is located at 1327 Circle Park Drive. It is open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Free parking is available on Circle Park Drive in front of the museum.

The Archaeological Institute of America is North America’s oldest and largest archaeological organization. The East Tennessee Society was founded in 1973 as the local chapter of the organization and aims to promote the knowledge, study of, and interest in archaeology and related subjects.

For more information about the McClung Museum and its collections and exhibits, visit the website.

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CONTACT:

Erin Darby (865-974-6977, edarby1@utk.edu)

Catherine Shteynberg (865-974-6921, cshteynb@utk.edu)

The university community is invited to attend. The dedication will take place at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 4 at the John D. Tickle Engineering Building on Neyland Drive.

Tickle and his wife, Ann, will join Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek, President Joe DiPietro, and other officials to celebrate the building.

The $23.1 million, five-story, 110,000-square-foot building houses the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and Industrial and Systems Engineering Department. The project began in December 2009. The building opened to students this semester.

The building contains 24 laboratories, three conventional classrooms, one lecture hall, three student work spaces, and 63 faculty and graduate student offices. The laboratories include a high-bay area for both structural testing and asphalt road surface testing. There is also a geotechnical laboratory. The three classrooms promote collaborative learning through the use of movable chairs and Smart Boards.

For more information on the building, visit www.engr.utk.edu/tickle. For more information about the college, visit www.engr.utk.edu/175.

Their patent-pending design is for an ultra-light, high-efficiency solar fiber, with the aim of creating fabric and clothing that would convert light into energy.

To read the full story, visit the College of Engineering’s website.

Sigma Chi is on probation due to hazing activities involving food and garbage on August 27. The two-year probation bans the chapter from all social events and requires each member to perform community service. The chapter also must present a fraternity-wide hazing re-education and prevention program and pay to install security cameras in the public areas and exterior of its house. The chapter accepted the sanctions and has agreed to comply with the terms.

Lambda Chi Alpha has been placed on interim suspension pending the outcome of an ongoing investigation involving hazing on September 10. The investigation surrounds reports of alleged forcing of pledges to perform a militaristic exercise regimen. One pledge sustained a minor injury.

The chapter may not engage in formal activities on or off campus. At the conclusion of the investigation, the university will recommend sanctions, which the chapter can accept or request a hearing on. The interim suspension will remain intact until the process is complete.

“We will not tolerate hazing of any kind. We take immediate action to investigate any reports and take the appropriate action,” said Jeff Cathey, associate dean of students.

In April, a UT task force released a report with recommendations for improving fraternity and sorority life and culture on campus. The group of alumni, students, faculty, and staff recommended several changes that have resulted in more mandatory member and chapter education and increased communication among chapters as well as with the dean of students. The task force’s work also led to changes in the judicial process involving fraternity and sorority organizations to resolve cases sooner.

Additionally, all on-campus fraternities are required to have security Thursday through Saturday evening at the houses. The Dean of Students’ Office has also expanded its Standards of Excellence program to make all activities, positive and negative, of each fraternity and sorority chapter public on its website.

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CONTACT:

Karen Simsen (865-974-5186, karen.simsen@tennessee.edu)

The luncheons will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Thursdays through December 5 in the UT Visitors Center on Neyland Drive.

The cafe is a full-service international dining experience. Lunch consists of intermezzo or small appetizer, salad, entrée, and dessert.

Cost is $12 and the faculty-staff discount does not apply. Advance tickets are required. For tickets, see Marcia Johnson in 110 Jessie Harris Building, call 865-974-6645, or email rhtm@utk.edu. Cash, checks, and credit cards are accepted.

The first luncheon Thursday will feature Italian fare. The menu is as follows:

First course: Traditional Italian antipasto with cured meats and cheeses from southern Italy served with homemade margherita pizza

Second course: Spinach and goat cheese ravioli with roasted garlic cream sauce

Third course: Chicken cacciatore served with creamy polenta

Dessert: Tiramisu

The dates and themes for the remaining luncheons are as follows:

• October 10—Italy
• October 24—France
• October 31—France
• November 7—Japan
• November 14—Japan
• November 21—Spain
• December 5—French-Japanese fusion

The luncheons are produced through a collaboration of HRT 445 (the Advanced Food Production and Service Management class), the UT Culinary Institute, and the Pellissippi Culinary Institute.

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CONTACT:

Marcia Johnson (for tickets): (865-974-6645, rhtm@utk.edu)

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)

Annette Engel, the Jones Associate Professor of Aqueous Geochemistry in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, at UT has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant for $794,000 to lead a research group to learn more about these clams, called lucinids, and the role they play in the ecosystem. The project is part of the NSAF’s Dimensions of Biodiversity program.

Findings could have implications for the recovery and management of fast-disappearing coastal environments.

Engel will collaborate with Laurie Anderson at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and Barbara Campbell at Clemson University on the project over the next five years, with a total project budget of $1.6 million.

Lucinids play a key role in detoxifying coastal environments for other creatures such as fish, crabs, and manatees. They do this through a process called chemosymbiosis, a form of symbiosis in which a bacterium provides chemically derived energy and nutrients to a higher organism. Lucinids have bacteria that live within their gills and allows them to convert toxic compounds such as hydrogen sulfide—a neurotoxin to humans—into less toxic versions such as sulfate.

“These clams show us how chemosymbiosis, a unique evolutionary adaptation, is very important to life on earth,” said Engel. “The lucinids clean up environments for other animals and allow them to live. Yet little is known about their chemosymbioses and how they are affected by environmental changes.”

Lucinids’ symbiotic relationship also has allowed them to survive millions of years of extinctions and disturbances. Researchers will tap into a 400-million-year-old fossil record of the lucinids’ past to reconstruct environments and relationships over time. They will collect modern-day lucinid data from biomes in Florida, California, and the Bahamas with varying degrees of disturbance.

Their findings will uncover the genetic, taxonomic, and functional diversity of modern lucinid chemosymbioses and ways to identify the distinctive features of lucinid-bacteria biodiversity through the past. The goals are to be able to predict future lucinid evolutionary adaptations and help save or recover seagrass beds being lost at tremendous rates due to climate change, pollution, sea level rise, and other disruptions.

“Environmental managers are working to save these lands, yet they do not know about all the living beings in the ecosystems,” said Engel. “We will look at how the effect of human activities is changing water chemistry, how this change in water is impacting the clams and how this change is impacting the whole ecosystem.”

This project will train graduate and undergraduate students in interdisciplinary research; involve students underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and provide mentoring and outreach to the public on the topics of symbiosis and biodiversity.

The Dimensions of Biodiversity awards are supported by NSF’s Directorates for Biological Sciences and Geosciences along with NASA, which co-funds projects that use state-of-the-art remote sensing technologies. To learn more the program, visit http://1.usa.gov/1bMi7Bn.

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CONTACT:

Whitney Heins (865-974-5460, wheins@utk.edu)

A novel method developed at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis at UT helps determine which patients will benefit from transplantation.

The topic of the underreported dangers of overdosing on acetaminophen has received ample attention following recent in-depth investigation by the radio program “This American Life” and public-interest journalism organization ProPublica.

There is a chemical antidote to acetaminophen poisoning, but it is effective only if administered within eight hours of an overdose. If liver damage is severe enough and the antidote is not administered early enough, the only lifesaving treatment is liver transplantation.

However, determining which patients need a transplant and which will recover is a major challenge in treating patients with acetaminophen overdose.

Chris Remien, a postdoctoral researcher at NIMBioS, and his research partners have developed a novel method to determine which patients will benefit from liver transplant in these instances. Rather than relying on purely statistical methods, Remien’s method is based on a dynamic model of acetaminophen metabolism and cellular damage.

In addition to making predictions on the need for a transplant, the model also defines a limit to how much acetaminophen someone can take over time before it causes liver damage.

“There is a simple threshold in the model because of how the liver processes acetaminophen, so that there is either very little liver damage or rapid damage, which may explain why patients who chronically overuse acetaminophen can eventually develop rapid liver damage,” Remien said.

The model has shown promise in a set of fifty-three patients from the University of Utah, but it still needs to be validated in a larger multicenter study before it can be used by physicians.

“We are currently collecting more data and collaborating with other groups in order to validate our method,” Remien said.

Collaborating on the project are Norman Sussman, associate professor of surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, and Fred Adler, professor of mathematics and biology at the University of Utah.

For more information about Remien’s model, view a video of his seminar talk at bit.ly/186aQbr.

The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis brings together researchers from around the world to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries to investigate solutions to basic and applied problems in the life sciences.

To learn more, visit nimbios.org.

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CONTACT:

Catherine Crawley (865-974-9350, ccrawley@nimbios.org)

Whitney Heins (865-974-5460, wheins@utk.edu)

Chambliss will speak at noon in the Baker Donelson Classroom (Room 132) of the College of Law. Part of the Joel A. Katz–Sun Trust Lecture Series, co-sponsored by the college and SunTrust, his talk is free and open to the university community.

Chambliss served in the US House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. He was elected to the US Senate in 2002 and is now serving his second term. He has announced he won’t seek re-election.

The Washington Post named Saxby and the “Gang of Six” one of the Best Leaders of 2011 for attempts to craft a bipartisan deficit reduction package. The Gang of Six included three Democrats (Senators Mark Warner of Virginia and Dick Durbin of Illinois, and former Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota) and three Republicans (Chambliss and Senators Mike Crapo of Indiana and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma).

GeorgiaTrend magazine has repeatedly named Chambliss as one of its Most Influential Georgians, calling him “a highly visible and well-respected presence in Washington” with a “reputation as an affable but straight-talking lawmaker.” In January 2009, the magazine named him its Georgian of the Year.

Chambliss has been involved in homeland security and intelligence issues during his time in Washington. He is vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Previously, while in the House, he chaired the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security, which investigated intelligence issues related to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Chambliss also has been involved in agricultural issues. Prior to being elected to Congress, he was a lawyer who specialized in representing farmers’ legal interests in South Georgia. While in the House, he helped draft two farm bills and reform the federal crop insurance program. He now serves on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

He also serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Senate Rules Committee, and the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

Chambliss received the National Guard Association’s Harry S. Truman Award for contributions to national defense and security, the Naval Reserve Association’s National Legislative Advocacy Award for leading the effort to reduce the age at which members of the National Guard and Reserve can receive retirement pay, the Air Force Association’s W. Stuart Symington Award for outstanding contributions to national security, and the Reserve Officers Association’s Minuteman of the Year Award.

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CONTACT:

Tanya Brown (865-974-6788, tgbrown@utk.edu)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVdw1_fWJOY

UT also recognized several alumni for their service and achievements at the annual awards banquet on Friday. For the full list, visit tiny.utk.edu/pU2Vt.

The 2013 top honorees were:

• Charles C. Anderson Jr., a College of Business Administration alumnus, is chief executive officer of Anderson Media Corporation, operator of Anderson Merchandisers, the nation’s largest distributor and merchandiser of consumer magazines, books, and prerecorded music.
• Dee Bagwell Haslam, a College of Education alumna, is chief executive officer of the RIVR Media companies. She has led the team in the production of more than eighty series and documentaries.
• Jimmy Haslam, a College of Business Administration alumnus, is chief executive officer of Pilot Flying J and Pilot Logistics Services, the largest operator of travel centers and travel plazas in North America.
• James J. Powell Sr., an agriculture alumnus, is founder of Johnson City–based Powell Construction Company, a giant in the construction, mining, energy, and hospitality industries.

Printed copies may be obtained on campus at the Office of the Dean of Students, 413 Student Services Building, or at the UT Police Department, 1101 Cumberland Avenue.

For more information on campus security, crime prevention tips, and programming needs, visit the UT Police Department.

Four Hollywood producers currently working in development and production will talk about their work and explain how projects like The Hunger Games, World War Z, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Gangster Squad get made.

Participants include Matt Milam, a UT graduate who is currently a senior vice president of motion picture production and development for Skydance Productions, which recently released World War Z and has Mission Impossible 5 in development. Other participants include Jon Silk, who works at Warner Bros. as a senior vice president of production at Lin Pictures, where he co-produced Gangster Squad; Will Russell-Shapiro, a senior executive for Aversano Productions, which has been involved with Safe House (starring Denzel Washington) and The Last Airbender (directed by M. Night Shyamalan); and Bryan Unkeless, senior vice president of production and development at Color Force, where he co-produced The Hunger Games and also helped develop the Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise.

A reception will follow in the Mary Greer Room on the second floor of Hodges Library, Room 258. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 974-6963.

CONTACT:

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)

The book, Low Impact Development: Opportunities for the PlanET Region, was prepared for the City of Knoxville and the Plan East Tennessee (PlanET) Consortium, a regional planning initiative supported by a grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

It addresses Anderson, Blount, Loudon, Knox and Union Counties.

For three years, faculty and graduate students of the UT College of Architecture and Design conducted research and created design solutions in collaboration with PlanET. The publication encourages communities to embrace low-impact development in watershed planning, community design, and site development. This means addressing stormwater issues at their source by reintroducing natural hydrologic functions and biological processes into developed landscapes. The Knoxville County Metropolitan Planning Commission funded publication of the research.

View the publication online.

“In East Tennessee, water is a resource that defines the landscape and sustains the region economically, socially, and environmentally,” said Brad Collett, an associate professor of landscape architecture and plant sciences. He co-authored the publication with lecturer Valerie Friedmann and program alumna Wyn Miller. “Precipitation, streams, rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater are all part of an interconnected system. As the East Tennessee population grows, the health of the region’s water resources, such as that for drinking, industry, recreation, and tourism, will face increasing challenges.”

The health of water resources is threatened by the amount and quality of the stormwater runoff in urban and rural watersheds, each of which is affected by prevailing development patterns, activities on developed properties, and existing infrastructure, Collett said.

Through the impact avoidance, minimization, and management methods outlined in the publication, East Tennessee communities can learn how to promote and protect the health of the region’s shared water resources. The research demonstrates water management solutions for existing and new development in rural, urban, and residential areas.

“By implementing ‘green’ stormwater infrastructure, developed landscapes can perform as part of the solution to water resource challenges and help communities meet new stormwater management regulations by reducing, cleaning, retaining, and infiltrating runoff,” Collett said.

Low-impact development practices also present an opportunity for stormwater management systems to become an aesthetically pleasing part of a landscape instead of a buried function. According to Collett, developers around the country are reaping savings by using similar approaches.

The research was made possible through the coursework of landscape architecture graduate students. They investigated and designed for regional growth through grayfield redevelopment and low-impact alternatives to managing stormwater runoff and re-introducing natural water cycle processes on developed sites in Knoxville’s First Creek/White’s Creek Watershed. Several of the projects received awards in 2012 from the American Society of Landscape Architects Tennessee Chapter.

The UT Landscape Architecture Program is the only accredited landscape architecture program in Tennessee. It is a partnership between the College of Architecture and Design and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. The program’s commitment to PlanET is valued at $1 million, an estimate based on students’ time, facilities, and faculty resources dedicated to the project through six graduate-level studio courses.

To learn more about PlanET and UT’s involvement, visit PlanET’s website. Information about the UT Landscape Architecture is available on its website.

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CONTACT:

Kiki Roeder (865-974-6713, kroeder@utk.edu)

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lola.alapo@tennessee.edu)

The AICPA Special Recognition Award is given when projects or initiatives warrant special recognition.

The AAA Outstanding Service Award recognizes service that goes beyond education and research. It may be given at any time by the decision of the board of directors.

Behn is head of the Department of Accounting and Information Management in the College of Business Administration and a faculty fellow in the college’s Center for Business and Economic Research.

He received the accolades because of his involvement in the Pathways Commission, an AICPA/AAA partnership that studied and recommended improvements in accounting education. From 2010 to 2012, Behn chaired the commission, which included fifty other accounting professionals and academics. His tenure ended with seven recommendations that are to be implemented over the next three years.

As the Pathways Commission begins its implementation phase, Behn will continue lending his leadership to the project as one of the AAA’s two representatives on the commission. The full report can be found on the Commission’s website.

Behn accepted the awards on behalf of the entire commission.

“Two years ago, we began the task of crafting a bold vision to embrace the future of accounting education,” he said. “Our list of recommendations only represents the beginning of this process. The much more challenging task of implementation lies ahead, which includes securing the future of the accounting discipline as a learned profession.”

Behn joined the UT faculty in 1994 after completing his doctorate at Arizona State University. His research is widely published, and he has served as a co-editor or associate editor for several prestigious accounting journals. He is a past vice president of AAA, past president of AAA’s International Accounting Section and the Federation of Schools of Accountancy, and past chair of the AICPA’s Pre-certification Education Executive Committee.

Behn also is an award winner in the classroom, having received a number of teaching honors, including the AAA’s Innovation in Accounting Education Award, UT’s Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award, and the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants Outstanding Educator of the Year.

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CONTACT:

Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lola.alapo@tennessee.edu)

Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, craines1@utk.edu)