August 29, 2003 Highlights
New
Head for Nutrition and Food Sciences Department
 Charles
Carpenter was named department head of Nutrition and Food Sciences
Department at Utah State University in August. Carpenter had
been serving as interim head since the retirement of Von Mendenhall
last year.
"The NFS department is one of the most productive and
recognized units at Utah State," said College of Agriculture
Dean Noelle Cockett. "The continuation of this legacy will
be greatly facilitated by Chuck's appointment as department
head."
Carpenter has a bachelor's degree in biochemistry, and master's
and doctorate degrees in muscle biology and meat science from
the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Carpenter has been a
faculty member in the NFS department since 1987, teaching classes
in food analysis and meat technology and processing. His research
for the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station focuses on understanding
how muscle biochemistry influences fresh and processed meat
quality and nutrition.
President
Hall's Book Report
 How
did you spend your summer vacation?
Well, between his many other presidential commitments and responsibilities,
Utah State University President Kermit L. Hall read at least
a book a week. His "book report" is now on display
in the Utah State Bookstore. President Hall was featured the
June 24 edition of the Christian Science Monitor. The
article, All The President's Books, featured several
university presidents and their summer reading lists.
While most stuck to academic subjects, some presidents lightened
up for some summer reading at the beach. A few even read Harry
Potter. President Hall's list included Leonard Thompson's A
History of South Africa and Fast Food Nation,
among others. These books, along with books written by President
Hall, are on display in the south Bookstore. The display includes
a photograph of the president and a copy of the Christian
Science Monitor article.
According to the Bookstore, Utah State students are following
the president's lead. Many of his selections are selling well.
What
Our Readers Read
 (NOTE
FROM THE EDITOR: Earlier, we asked readers to let us know what
books captured their interest this summer, and a number sent
us their recommendations. No slouches here — our readers
take their summer reading seriously. Here's an overview of responses.
Thanks to everyone. The pile of books next to my bed continues
to get larger!)
Joyce Kinkead, vice provost for Undergraduate
Studies and Research at Utah State, discovered Alexander McCall
Smith's series that opens with Ladies Detective Agency
(reviewers call it "Miss Marple in Botswana"). Liking
what she read, she continued with Tears of the Giraffe,
listened during a cross country trip to Morality for Beautiful
Girls and returned to book-in-hand for the fourth in the
series, Kalahari Typing School for Men.
"These gentle reads feature Precious, an independent and
independent-minded woman whose powers of observations help her
solve mysteries and people's problems," Kinkead said. "Each
book has been satisfying and takes me into a world I know little
about, Africa, but the human problems evident in these novels
are universal."
Col. Lawrence Larsen is serving in Operation
Iraqi Freedom and proves the point that Utah State Today
is read around the world. To gain a better historical perspective
of the area, he is reading Ur of the Chaldees: A Revised
and Updated Edition of Sir Leonard Woolley’s Excavations
at Ur by P.R.S. Moorey (Cornell University Press. 1982.)
Thanks to Dr. Larsen for responding, and we wish him well and
a safe return.
Back on the Utah State campus, Chris Luecke,
department head for Aquatic, Watershed and Earth Resources,
sends this: "Richard Russo's novel Straight Man
should be required summer reading for all university administrators.
It captures the spirit, nuttiness and creativity necessary in
a state-supported institution during lean budget times."
Diane Jessen recommends Mutant Message
Down Under. The book is the fictional account of the spiritual
odyssey of an American woman in Australia.
As to your editor's summer reading — it covers a little
of everything. I opened the summer with Gilded City
by M. H. Dunlop. Next was Isaac’s Storm — The
Drowning of Galveston by Eric Larson. (Lesson learned from
that one: don't live on the Texas coast and the science of storm
prediction has come a long way.) Next, in a tip of the hat to
my former life in the arts, came Lillian Gish: Her Legend
Her Life by Charles Affron. (Apparently age issues in the
movie industry were with us from the beginning — in other
words, don't ask a lady her age!) Another movie-theme book followed
with The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster, and then
a no-brainer-beach-read (although I didn't go to the beach)
in Tawni O'Dell's Back Roads, a book that could make
just about anyone feel good about their family life. After that
last one it was on to In Stalin's Secret Service by
W. G. Krivitsky. Now I'm just beginning The Three Roosevelts
by James MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn.
And with that, it's time to say summer is over, school's begun
and it's time to leave the reading to the students. Hit those
textbooks!
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