Veritas, Vol. 20, No. 01, August 27, 1979

              For the Faculty, Staff and Friends of the University of Miami
ÜM employee
Easy music on a hot Sunday afternoon— sunlight gently filtering through lush trees —children with balloons—hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill—picnic tables spread out over a beautiful green lawn— this was the UM Employee Organization picnic on Sunday, July 29-
The event was organized by the A03-A05 Employee Senate. Senate Chairperson Alice Ricdo (medical campus), Vice-Chairperson Pamela Layne (purchasing), and Treasurer Mike Kovac (physical plant), did the planning and most of the work.
Tickets for the picnic were free, although employees did have to make reservations due to limited space.
Almost all of the food, beverages, utensils, tables, chairs and door prizes were donated. The Faculty Club, Saga, the Student Union, the Rathskeller and the Coca Cola company are just a few of the enterprises which made the free picnic possible. Mike Kovac did most of the footwork in rounding up the donations.
The picnic was hosted by University of Miami President Henry King Stanford and
people and good times
Onlookers offer advice as president Stanford rescues a trapped balloon.
Mrs. Stanford at their home on Old Cutler Rd. The 15 year-old house was donated to the University by Malcolm Matheson who died in 1974.
"I am happy to add the A03-A05 group to those who have visited us here,” E>r. Stanford said. "I wish I had thought of the idea. I have to give full credit to Mike Kovac. He came to me and asked if the Employee Organization could have the picnic here. He had the idea, and he carried it out.” E>r. Stanford then presented Mike with a plaque for employee of the year.
Mike Kovac, an electrician in physical plant, has been at UM for almost 12 years. He has been a member of the Employee Senate for three years.
Continued on page 5
Frank Rodgers, library director at Portland State University the past 10 years, has been appointed University of Miami director of libraries. Rodgers’ appointment becomes
Uíew RSSMASS Center promotes good will in
America
The blowout of an offshore oil well in Campeche Bay, Mexico, and the collision of two supertankers near Trinidad and Tobago have dramatized the threat man’s marine activities can impose on the beautiful beaches and coral reefs of tropical Latin America.
The damage an oil spill can do to tourism and to fisheries is easy to see. Not so easy to recognize is the impact poor agricultural practices and unrestrained coastal development can have on these fragile tropical marine ecosystems.
A private U.S. foundation, the Tinker Foundation, has made a three-year grant of $318,509 to open a center at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science that will provide assistance to Latin Ameican nations as they evaluate their coastal marine resources and take steps to conserve them. The Tinker Center for Tropical Marine Coastal Studies in Latin America will foster joint educational and research projects on coastal environmental problems.
Dr. Francisco J. Palacio has been named
director of the new center. Dr. Palacio, a native of Colombia, earned his doctorate in marine biology at the Rosenstiel School in 1977, and has been studying coastal environmental problems in Latin America under a Tinker Post-Doctoral Fellowship. The proposal for the center was an outgrowth of his studies at UM.
Dr. Palacio explained that there have been many requests made by Latin American countries for assistance in solving marine problems. "We needed a mechanism so that we could be responsive to requests,” he said. "Now the center can promote site-visits by UM people to assess the problems.”
In most Latin American countries, government agencies have no authority to regulate development that may have an impact on coastal areas. Drastic changes in the tropical marine environment can be brought about by dredging for harbors, removing mangroves that stabilize the shoreline, or introducing industrial or agricultural pollutants. "Sharing experiences in these areas can lead to an understanding of the need for policy decisions to resolve
current and future conflicts of interest,” Palacio said.
UM scientists will work with Latin American researchers and students in identifying sp>ecific coastal problems and in drafting project proposals. In this way onsite problem solving will provide valuable marine science training as well as pragmatic solutions.
Projects in Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica and Ecuador will be among the first that the Tinker Center will undertake. Other projects will get underway as the center is able to respond to requests for assistance. Funding from national, regional and international sources will be sought through the center to carry out project prop>osais.
Dr. Palacio also hop>es to become involved in the United Nations Latin American Conference on "The Consequences of the Emerging Law of the Sea” which will be held in January 1980, in Lima, Peru. The Tinker Center may have an important role in policy' advisement regarding recent claims extending national coastal boundaries beyond the 200-mile limit.
Lynette Poitier, Medical campus, receives door prize from Mike Kovac and Alice Riccio.
Rogers appoint«;«! director of libraries
effective Sept. 1 upx>n the retirement of Dr. Archie McNeal.
As director of UM libraries, Rodgers will be responsible for the Otto G. Richter and the engineering and environmental science libraries on the Coral Cables campus, and the Rosenstiel Schtx>l of Marine and Atmospheric Science library on Virginia Key. Additionally, he will serve in an advisory capacity to the libraries of the schools of music, medicine and law. UM libraries contain about 1.4 million volumes.
Rodgers brings more than 25 years of library experience to UM. Prior to his Portland State University px>st, he served as assistant director for public services at the Pennsylvania State University library and held various reference librarian positions in this country and Great Britain.
In announcing his appointment, Dr. Clyde J. Wingfield, UM provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said "The search committee is delighted to have secured the services of an experienced and able director of libraries. We re confident Mr. Rodgers will bring strong leadership to the library and continue the fine tradition Archie McNeal has established these pxast 27 years.”
Born and educated in England, Rodgers earned his B.A. at King's College, University of Durham, his pxjstgraduate diploma in librarianship from the School of Librar-ianship and Archives, University of London and a fellowship with the Library Association of Great Britain.
Rodgers holds professional membership» with the American Library Association, National Micrographics Association, Oregon Library Association and Pacific Northwest Library Association.
Look for a special feature on Dr. Archie McNeal in the next issue of Veritas.