Feature Stories

Prince Charles and Roger Ulrich discuss Ulrich's work in evidence based design for healing environments.

Roger Ulrich earns 2007 Bush
Excellence Award for Research

Architecture professor Roger Ulrich has been selected as the 2007 recipient of the Bush Excellence Award for Faculty in International Research.

Known throughout the international healthcare community, Ulrich’s theories and ideas have been changing the way buildings are designed and healthcare services are provided since 1984, when his landmark paper that coined the phrase “evidence based design” was published in Science magazine.

“There are few faculty members of a department of architecture on any continent who have had as extensive an influence in scientific research as Dr. Roger Ulrich,” wrote Mark Clayton, interim head of the Texas A&M Department of Architecture, in nominating Ulrich for this distinguished award. “He has inspired an entire new field of both basic and applied research that links environmental psychology to building design and performance.”

Ulrich will receive the award at the Feb. 28 Consul General’s luncheon, sponsored by the International Center at the George Bush Presidential Library Complex.

Ulrich is the third College of Architecture professor to receive a Bush Excellence Award. In 2002, Architecture professor Joe Hutchinson was the recipient of the first Bush Excellence in International Teaching Faculty Award (see photo). Ulrich's colleague, George Mann, the Ron Skaggs and Joseph Sprague Endowed Chair in Health Facilities Design, received the Bush Excellence Award for Faculty in Public Service in 2003 (See photo).

Read more about Mann's Bush Award:
http://archone.tamu.edu/college/news/
newsletters/winter2004/Mann_Bushaward.html

To learn more about Ulrich, read the article recently published in Texas A&M University’s Faculty Spotlight:
http://dmc-news.tamu.edu/templates/?a=2633&z=17

The central campus of the Cranbrook Academy of Art.

Interdisciplinary graduate studio tackles ACSA design competition

This spring Texas A&M students from the departments of Architecture and Construction Science are collaborating on an entry in the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture’s 2006-07 Student Design Competition, “Preservation as Provocation: Re-thinking Saarinen's Cranbrook Academy of Art.”

Contest participants will redesign and expand the academy’s library and museum complex, a national historic landmark in Bloomfield, Mich. designed in 1942 by Eliel Saarinen, the renowned Finnish-American Modern Architect. When originally constructed, the Modernist museum and library were widely considered among of the most technologically advanced and aesthetically daring structures in the nation. More recently, a burgeoning collection and escalating visitor traffic have necessitated a major transformation of the original buildings and environs.

For the full story:
http://archone.tamu.edu/college/news/
newsletters/summer2007/acsaCompetition.html

Learn more about the competition online at:
https://www.acsa-arch.org/competitions/
historicalpreservation.aspx/

April 1-3 sustainable urbanism conference to investigate new paradigms in urban change

The call for papers is out and registrants and sponsors are signing up to participate in the April 1-3 International Conference on Sustainable Urbanism at Texas A&M University’s Memorial Student Center. Themed “Squaring Off: A New Paradigm in Urban Change,” the event is expected to draw a diverse and international crowd, according to conference organizers with the hosting organizations, the Texas A&M College of Architecture and its Center for Housing and Urban Development (CHUD).

Focusing on interdisciplinary solutions to issues related to the built environment, conference topics will include land use and urban design, social and economic justice and accessibility, infrastructure and transportation networks, globalization and the changing world, to name but a few.

For the full story:
http://archone.tamu.edu/college/news/ newsletters/
summer2007/sustainableUrbanismConference.html

For additional details or to register, visit the conference Web site at:
http://capso.tamu.edu/sustainable-urbanism/

Students participate in 2006 Aggie Workshop charrette.

Aggie Workshop slated
Feb. 15-17 at Langford

The Texas A&M University American Society of Landscape Architects Student Chapter is hosting the 32nd annual Aggie Workshop, “The Cutting Edge,” Feb. 15-17 at the university’s Langford Architecture Center. 

Featured speakers for the event include former San Antonio Mayor Ed Garza, who is now with the urban planning firm EDAW; Alan Colyer with Gensler; Jim Gray of Rialto Studios; Greg Searle from One Planet Living; Robert Schultz of IMA Design Group; Eric Propes of EDSA; Mike Smeleck with Von Hagge, Smelek and Beril; and Heather Venhaus from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

A student-organized and directed conference, Aggie Workshop has been held annually for more than three decades. The event offers students and representatives from landscape architecture and urban planning firms an opportunity to interact through events including: keynote speakers, a mini-lecture series, graphics presentations and design charettes. Additionally, the workshop provides an opportunity for students to hear from renowned landscape architects, learn what issues are important to the professions, and how to apply these lessons to their class work and future goals.

For details on the event, visit: http://www.aggieworkshop.com.

Texas A&M architecture professors Charles Culp and Jeff Haberl will be among the university faculty honored for their work on one of 15 patents recently awarded to Texas A&M faculty. The inventors will be feted at the Patent and Innovation 2007 Awards luncheon sponsored by the Texas A&M University System Office of Technology Commercialization. The event will be held 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Feb. 23 at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center.

Culp’s and Haberl’s co-inventors David Coleridge and William Turner, both of College Station, will also be honored.
 
The invention earning Culp and Habrel this distinguished honor is United States Patent Number 6,996,508, a system and method for remote retrofit identification of energy consumption systems and components. The patent abstract is available on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site.

For the full story:
http://archone.tamu.edu/college/news/
newsletters/summer2007/patentAward.html

Peter Lang, assistant professor of architecture at Texas A&M’s Santa Chiara Study Center in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy, contributed a chapter, “Stalker on Location,” to a new book compiled by Karen A. Franck and Quentin Stevens, “Loose Space: Possibility and Diversity in Urban Life.”

Lang’s chapter, one of 13 essays featured in the book, focuses on the ways urbanites reclaim public space for private use.

According to the publishers note, what sets “Loose Space” apart is that it is first and foremost a book about physical spaces and their capacity to shape and support behavior. The book is aimed at readers who are interested in spaces: how they look and how they work and how urban space can serve social life.

“Loose Space,” published December 2006 by Routledge, is available through amazon.com

or the publisher http://www.routledge.com/

Landscape students assist with design of new Buffalo Bayou park

Texas A&M landscape architecture students are assisting the Buffalo Bayou Partnership Conservation Division with the planning and development of Buffalo Bend Nature Park, a new park to serve east Houston residents.

Students in professors Nancy Volkman’s and Chris Ellis’s senior design studios are collaborating on the project with the Trust for Public Land, Harris County Flood Control District and Harris County Precinct 2 Parks Department. The park enhances the environment, offering opportunities for recreation and nature education, as well as flood control.

The park encompasses three wetland systems with waterways that meander through the parkland before finally opening into the bayou. The wetlands are surrounded by Gulf prairie that transitions to the bayou’s restored riparian forest.

According to the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, a non-profit organization that oversees Buffalo Bayou improvements, because sustainability is the overarching feature of this inner city park, sustainable principles will guide all aspects of the park’s development, from the use of low-impact building materials and solar energy panels, to restoring the once abundant wildlife habitat, ecological productivity and species diversity.

http://www.buffalobayou.org/buffbendnatpark.html

Scholarships awarded to healthcare architecture students at CHSD event

Scholarships totaling $23,750 were awarded to 16 Texas A&M architecture-for-health students at the Center for Health Systems & Design Awards Ceremony held Thursday, Jan. 25 in the Preston Geren Auditorium.

Attending the ceremony with faculty, students, family and friends were several representatives of the CHSD’s Healthcare Industry Advisory Council, whose firms significantly contributed to the scholarship funds.

For the full story:
http://archone.tamu.edu/college/news/
newsletters/summer2007/architectureScholarships.html

More information about CHSD scholarships and fellowships is available online at http://archone.tamu.edu/chsd/Scholarship/

Shepley dines with group
of Ph.D. alums in Korea

While in Seoul, South Korea to deliver a keynote address at the Jan. 9 Healthy Urban Community and Housing Conference at Seoul National University of Technology, architecture professor Mardelle Shepley meet with several College of Architecture alumni, all of whom earned a Ph.D. in architecture from Texas A&M.

The former students who later treated Shepley to a reunion dinner were Aggies Joon Kwun, Duk-su Kim, In-kon Kim, Kwanyong Lee, and Wonpil Kim, a College of Architecture Outstanding Alumnus who helped organize the conference.

“All these gentlemen had prominent careers upon returning to Korea,” Shepley noted. “Their accomplishments are a testament to their ability, as well as to the quality of our Ph.D. program.”

Shepley’s keynote address examined the concepts of healing environments and their applications to urban communities. Other conference speakers included Xin Zheng, China; Koreans Byong Gyu Park, Myung-soo Choi and Kyung-wook Seo, and Barrie Melotte of Australia.

Roldán+Berengué Arquitectos in Barcelona, Spain recently won first place in the interior design competition of the Vth Tile of Spain Architecture and Interior Design Awards sponsored by ASCER tiles for their entry, “Ceramic Carpets.”

According to the competition jurors, the salient feature of this project was “how the best use has been made of the existing tiling, which now sits happily alongside the new tiles. The new and the old have been treated with consideration, which means that each has been made to look its best without upstaging the other.”

Miguel Roldán, visiting assistant professor in the College of Architecture’s study abroad program in Barcelona, Spain, is a principal with Roldán+Berengué Arquitectos.

For more details about the ACER awards, visit
http://www.spaintiles.info/eng/mediacenter/
detalle_noticia.asp?noticia=498&tipo=informa

Editor's note: When this news brief appeared in the last Inside Track issue, the link to the longer, detailed article was inadvertently omitted. Please follow the link below.

This spring, as part of the Texas A&M College of Architecture’s annual Artists in Residence program, a select group of Texas A&M students will work with four preeminent artists — an embroiderer, a graphic novelist and two architects — in a series of three, 10-day workshops that each culminate with a public exhibit. While visiting College Station, the artists will also present public lectures examining their art and personal aesthetic.

Read full story:
http://archcomm.arch.tamu.edu/archive/news
/summer2007/artistsInResidence.html

Aggie jazz quartet to
play at Frame Gallery

Jazzenco, a jazz quartet composed of Texas A&M faculty and graduate students, will perform 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23 at the Frame Gallery in Bryan.

The Jazzenco line-up includes band leader and bassist Carter Hunt, a recreation parks and tourism science graduate student; Randy Watkins; Stefano Capobianco, an Italian guitarist doing post-doctorate work in veterinary medicine; and Douglass Shaw, an agricultural economics professor. The quartet will be joined by trumpet player Greg Tivis. The group plays a mixture of jazz standards and very modern compositions including several tunes by guitarist Pat Metheny.

The band will perform again Thursday night, Feb. 22 at Revolutions and Saturday night, Feb. 24 at the new coffee house, the Roasted Bean on S. Texas Ave.

Administrative Notes

Distinguished lecture
rescheduled Feb. 6

The University Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Steven E. Smith, “The Book, Google, and the Future of the Research Library,” has been rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7 in the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center. Admission is free, but tickets are required. Tickets are available from the MSC box office 845-1234.
 
The lecture, originally scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 6, was rescheduled due to a conflict in schedules at the Annenberg Center.

The Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) has granted college-wide access to the CumInCAD database. Through the renewal of the Technical Reference Center’s library membership to ACADIA, which provides access to the ACADIA Conference Proceedings books, the college is entitled to one year of full electronic access to the CumInCAD database.

CumInCAD is a cumulative index of proceedings papers, journal articles, dissertations, and newsletter articles, related to computer aided architectural design. Over 8,000 records, dating back as far as the early 80's, have been submitted by the main CAD-related organizations, including ACADIA, SIGRADI, eCAADe, CAAD Futures, CAADRIA, ASCAAD and others. More than 5,000 papers, including full abstracts, are available in full text, PDF format. The ACADIA conference papers appear in CumInCAD within days after being presented at the conference. Additionally there is a separate index of over 1,000 Spanish language papers.

ACADIA president Wassim Jabi re-initiated an effort with CumInCAD to allow IP-based access to the database specifically for libraries. Access to the database is only granted through membership in one of the sibling CAD organizations, which in North America is through ACADIA. Therefore, based on the TRC’s renewed membership, the library has been able to submit IP ranges that should now allow free access to students and faculty.

Anyone logging in from an approved IP address (or through VPN or EZ-Proxy) can create his/her own login and password to search the database and download the full PDF papers. The IP ranges submitted should cover most College of Architecture users.

To login to CumInCAD, go to http://www.acadia.org/cumincad to set up your login and password as a new user, and take advantage of this available service.

Susan Sutherland, assistant curator of visual resources at the Technical Reference Center, is looking for a few volunteers to “Walk Across Texas” with her.

Walk Across Texas is a program sponsored by the Texas Co-operative Extension to promote health and fitness. According to the Walk Across Texas Web site, “most people start by walking as a member of a team of eight for eight weeks at work or with another type of group such as their church or county. Then, after that, they can transfer their own mileage from those eight weeks to the By Yourself option and continue walking across the state on their own.”

The participants are asked to walk about 13 miles per week over a period of eight weeks and keep a log of their walking time. The goal is to eventually stroll 830 miles, the equivalent of the distance across Texas. 

The program begins with a kick-off event at Wolf Creek amphitheater on Feb. 17th and continues until April 14th.

For more information about the program, please visit http://walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu. To join Susan Sutherland’s team, contact her at ssutherland@archmail.tamu.edu.

Calendar Highlights:

Through Feb. 12
The Best of Environmental Design Art Exhibit in the Wright Gallery. For more information, contact Dick Davison at 845-6581 or e-mail dickd@archone.tamu.edu.

Friday, Feb. 2
War on Terrorism Memorial Meeting: Individuals involved in the War on Terror Memorial project gather 3:30 – 5 p.m. in Langford B 209. For more information, contact Taeg Nishimoto at 845-8283 or tnishimoto@archmail.tamu.edu.

Tuesday, Feb. 6
Associated General Contractors (AGC) Student Chapter meets 6 – 10 p.m. in the Preston Geren Auditorium. For more information, contact Ann Eastwood at 845.0289 or aeastwood@archone.tamu.edu.

Wednesday, Feb.7
“The Illusion of Certainty”: The Department of Architecture’s Spring 2007 Lecture Series begins with a presentation by Dr. Gul Russell, professor of medical history and humanities at the Texas A&M University System College of Medicine. She will lecture on “The Illusion of Certainty: The Art and Science of Seeing” 5:30 – 8 p.m. in the Preston Geren Auditorium. For more information, contact the Department of Architecture at 845-1015.

Friday, Feb. 9
Construction Science Career Fair – Session II: On the second day of the Department of Construction Science Career Fair, students will have an opportunity to interview with potential employers. The event will be held 9 a.m. – 5 p.m at the College Station Hilton Hotel. For more information, contact Steve Byrne at 979.458.0156 or steve-byrne@tamu.edu.

Rowlett Lecture 2007: The annual Rowlett Distinguished Firm Lecture features Art Gensler, FAIA, who will describe Gensler’s journey from a small interior design firm to one of the world’s leading architectural firms. This event will be held in the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center from noon – 5:30 p.m. For more information, contact Susie Billings at 847.9357 or sbillings@archone.tamu.edu.

Tuesday, Feb. 13
Administrative Staff Committee meets from 2 – 3 p.m. in Langford A 217. For more information, contact Kathy Waskom at 845.1222 or k-waskom@tamu.edu.

Wednesday, Feb. 14
Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Career Fair: from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. in Langford A, and 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. in the Langford A Atrium. For more information, contact Robin See at 458.4307 or rsee@archmail.tamu.edu.

Thursday, Feb. 15 - Saturday, Feb. 17
LAUP hosts Aggie Workshop from 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15 through Saturday, Feb. 17 throughout the Langford Architecture Center. The event provides an opportunity for students to interact with scholars, firms and vendors from across the country. Event registration is is $60. For details, contact J. Russell Thomman at 806.239.7656.

Thursday, Feb. 15
Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning Career Fair: The Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning will hold their student career fair from 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. in the Langford A Atrium, Langford Gallery and Langford B Exhibit Hall 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. For more information, contact Robin See at 458.4307 or rsee@archmail.tamu.edu.

Department of Architecture faculty meets 1 – 2 p.m. in Langford C 207. For more information, contact Ginger White at 845.0129 or gwhite@tamu.edu.

Friday, Feb. 16
Dean’s Advisory Council meets 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. in Langford A 217. For more information, contact Trish Pannell at 458.0400 or t-pannell@tamu.edu.

Film Screening: In conjunction with visit by Artist in Residence Elaine Reichek, there will be a screening of several short films by artist Joseph Cornell noon – 2 p.m., in Langford C 105. James Housefield, assistant professor from the Department of Art and Design at Texas State University will lecture prior to an open screening of the films. A discussion will follow. For more information, contact Carol LaFayette at 845-3465 or lurleen@viz.tamu.edu.

Monday, Feb. 19
Visiting Artist Elaine Reichek lectures 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. in the Preston Geren Auditorium. Reichek is a conceptual artist who utilizes knitting and embroidery to challenge social norms. Her work has been exhibited in museums worldwide. A virtual exhibition of Reichek’s embroidery is can be viewed online at http://www.gardnermuseum.org/
2003_exhibitions/madamimadam_ex.asp. A reception follows the lecture in the Langford B Exhibit Hall. For more information, contact Carol LaFayette at 845.3465 or lurleen@viz.tamu.edu.

Wednesday, Feb. 21
“Space/Time Mapping”: Martha Skinner, assistant professor of Architecture at Clemson University, will present “Space/Time Mapping – The City as Moving Images” in the Preston Geren Auditorium 5:30 – 8 p.m. The lecture is sponsored by the Department of Architecture.  For more information, contact Malcolm Quantrill at 845.7878 or casa@archone.tamu.edu.

Thursday, Feb. 22
American Institute of Architecture Students Career Fair: The AIAS Career Fair provides an opportunity for architecture firms to meet and interview students about job and internship possibilities. The fair will be held in Langford A Atrium and Langford A Gallery, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. For more information, contact Amy Kircher at 361.537.5572 or amy_k@ tamu.edu.

Film screening – “The Rural Studio”: Filmmaker Charles Schultz will present his documentary, “The Rural Studio,” a film about architect Samuel Mockbee’s vision of teaching architecture students how to uplift and inspire economically depressed regions through their work. The film will be shown in the Preston Geren Auditorium 6 – 9 p.m. More details about the film are online at http://activistarchitect.blogspot.com/
2005/10/rural-studio.html. For more information, contact Ginger White at 845.0129 or gwhite@tamu.edu.

Friday, Feb. 23
American Institute of Architecture Students Career Fair: The AIAS career fair provides an opportunity for architecture firms to meet and interview students about job and internship possibilities. The second day of the fair will be held in Langford A Atrium and Langford A Gallery, from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. For more information, contact Amy Kircher at 361.537.5572 or amy_k@neo.tamu.edu.

Department of Construction Science Teaching Academy: This department-sponsored workshop on teaching in the College of Architecture will be held from 2:30 – 5 p.m. in Langford C 207. For more information, please contact Anne Eastwood at aeastwood@tamu.edu.

Tuesday, Feb. 27
Administrative Staff Committee meets from 2 – 3 p.m. in Langford A 217. For more information, contact Kathy Waskom at 845.1222 or kwaskom@tamu.edu.

Wednesday, Feb. 28
Facility Management Student Chapter meets 5:30 – 7 p.m in Langford C 207. For more information, contact Carlos Nome at 847.9356 or carlosnome@tamu.edu

American Institute of Architecture Students meet in the Preston Geren Auditorium 6:30 – 8 p.m. For more information, please contact Alexis Mixon at 817.229.5191 or amixon@tamu.edu.

Friday, March 2
8th Historic Preservation Symposium: The Center for Heritage Conservation's 8th annual Historic Preservation Symposium will focus on “Conserving Texas’ WWII Heritage.” The Friday sessions will be at the College of Architecture's Built Environment Teaching and Research Facility, or "Architecture Ranch," at Texas A&M's Riverside Campus. The Friday sessions include tours and reports of WWII and other military buildings, with presentations on the assessment of historic buildings and specific presentations on wood structures. Saturday's session will be held at the Preston Geren Auditorium in the Langford Architecture Center on Texas A&M's main College Station Campus. The day's events include presentations on the Pointe du Hoc D-Day landing site, the rehabilitation plan for the Battleship Texas, and other WWII topics. Continuing Education Units will be available. For more information, contact Richard Burt, e-mail rburt@archmail.tamu.edu.

Department of Architecture faculty meets 1 – 2 p.m. in Langford C 105. For more information, contact Ginger White at 845.0129 or gwhite@tamu.edu.

Saturday, March 3
8th Historic Preservation Symposium: On the second day of the Center for Heritage Conservation's 8th annual Historic Preservation Symposium, the event will be held in the Langford B Exhibit Hall from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. The day's events include presentations on the Pointe du Hoc D-Day landing site, the rehabilitation plan for the Battleship Texas, and other WWII topics. Continuing Education Units will be available. For more information, contact Trisha Gottschalk at 845.0384, or e-mail trishag@tamu.edu or Richard Burt, e-mail rburt@archmail.tamu.edu.

Monday, March 12 - Friday, March 16
Spring break!

Thursday, March 15 - Friday, March 16
Faculty-Staff spring break holiday

Tuesday, March 20
Department of Architecture faculty meets 11 a.m. – noon in Langford A 107B. For more information, contact Ginger White at 845.0129 or gwhite@tamu.edu.

Wednesday, March 21
American Institute of Architecture Students meet 6:30 – 8 p.m. in the Preston Geren Auditorium. For more information, please contact Alexis Mixon at 817.229.5191 or amixon@tamu.edu.

Friday, March 23
Department of Construction Science Teaching Academy: This department-sponsored workshop on teaching will be held 2:30 – 5 p.m. in Langford C 207. For more information, contact Anne Eastwood at aeastwood@tamu.edu.

Tuesday, March 27
Administrative Staff Committee meets from 2 – 3 p.m. in Langford A 217. For more information, please contact Kathy Waskom at 845.1222 or k-waskom@tamu.edu.

Egg drop: Environmental Design 231 students will test egg container designs 2 - 4 p.m. in the Langford A Atrium; dropping them from the 3rd to first floor.

Wednesday, March 28
Visiting Artist Lecture: Internationally acclaimed painter, illustrator and author George Pratt will lecture from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. in Preston Geren Auditorium, followed by a reception in the Langford B Exhibit Hall. Pratt’s first graphic novel “Enemy Ace: War Idyll” was nominated for an Eisner Award and a Harvey Award for Best Graphic Novel, and his documentary about Mississippi Delta Blues entitled “See You In Hell, Blind Boy: A Tale of the Blues” won Best Feature Documentary at the New York International Independent Film Festival. Samples of Pratt’s art can be viewed online at http://www.georgepratt.com.

Facility Management Student Chapter meeting: This general meeting will be held in Langford C 207 from 5:30 – 7 p.m. For more information, contact Carlos Nome at 847.9356 or carlosnome@tamu.edu

Thursday, March 29
The Department of Construction Science Scholarship and Awards Banquet will be held 5 – 11 p.m. at the College Station Hilton. For more information, contact Anne Eastwood at 845.0289 or aeastwood@tamu.edu.

Friday, March 30 - Tuesday, April 3
The International Sustainable Urbanism Workshop will be held from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. in the MSC. The topic will be “Redefining Sustainability in Urban Regions.” Speakers currently confirmed include Phillip Cooke, from the Centre for Advanced Studies at Cardiff University, Wales; Dushko Bogunovich, from the University of Technology (Unitec), Auckland, New Zealand; Phillip Berke, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Mark Holtzapple, from Texas A&M University, College Station; Uta Birkmayer, of XSense Experiential Design, San Louis Obispo, California; and Pliny Fisk, Texas A&M University, College Station. This event is sponsored by the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning’s Center for Housing and Urban Development. Details on the conference are available online at http://sustainableurbanism.tamu.edu.  For more information, contact Dolores Gonzales at 458.0102 or dgonzales@archone.tamu.edu.

Visiting Artist Lecture: George Pratt, artist in residence, will screen his documentary about the blues in Mississippi, “See You in Hell, Blind Boy,” 5:30 – 7 p.m. in the Preston Geren Auditorium. The film was aired on PBS in 2006. For more information, contact Carol LaFayette at 845-3465 or lurleen@viz.tamu.edu.

Wednesday, April 4
The American Institute of Architecture Students will hold a general meeting from 6:30 – 8 p.m. in the Preston Geren Auditorium. For more information, please contact Alexis Mixon at 817.229.5191 or amixon@neo.tamu.edu.

Tuesday, April 10
Administrative Staff Committee meets from 2 – 3 p.m. in Langford A 217. For more information, contact Kathy Waskom at 845.1222 or k-waskom@tamu.edu.

Friday, April 13
Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning faculty meets 11:15 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. in Langford C 206. For more information, contact June Withers at 845.1019 or jwithers@archmail.tamu.edu.

Department of Architecture faculty meets from 1 – 2 p.m. in Langford C 105. For more information, contact Ginger White at 845.0129 or gwhite@tamu.edu.

The Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning awards banquet will be held 6 – 9 p.m. at the Briarcrest Country Club. For more information, contact Robin See at 458 – 4307 or robin-see@tamu.edu.

Monday, April 16
“Architecture in the Landscape”: Architect Manuel Delgado will lecture on “Architecture in the Landscape – A Bird’s Eye View of Venezuela’s Guayana Region.” The event will be held from 5:30 – 8 p.m. in the Preston Geren Auditorium. Delgado has worked in several urban architectural developments in Venezuela over the past twenty-five years, and he is currently an associate professor at Wentworth Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture. For more information, contact Malcolm Quantrill at 845.7878 or casa@archone.tamu.edu.

Tuesday, April 17
The American Institute of Architecture Students will hold a general meeting from 6:30 – 8 p.m. in the Preston Geren Auditorium. For more information, please contact Alexis Mixon at 817.229.5191 or amixon@neo.tamu.edu.

Wednesday, April 18
Visiting artists lecture: Architects and designers Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues will discuss their work 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. in the Preston Geren Auditorium, followed by a reception in the Langford B Exhibit Hall. Ball and Nogues collaborate to design and realize unique structures through physical modeling and digital forms of production. Their project portfolio can be viewed online at http://www.ball-nogues.com/projects.html. For more information, contact Carol LaFayette at 845.3465 or lurleen@viz.tamu.edu.

Thursday, April 19
Tau Sigma Delta, an honor society in architecture and allied arts, will hold its Induction Ceremony for new members at 6:30 p.m. at the Pebble Creek Country Club.  David Woodcock will be the guest speaker. For more information, please contact Katie Ward at 979.574.0839 or ward.kathryn@gmail.com.

Friday, April 20
Department of Construction Science Teaching Academy: This department-sponsored workshop on teaching will be held 2:30 – 5 p.m. in Langford C 207. For more information, contact Ann Eastwood at aeastwood@tamu.edu.

The 2007-2008 Architecture Department Annual Scholarship and Awards Banquet will be held 6 – 10 p.m. at the Pebble Creek Country Club. For more information, contact Melinda Randle at 847.8918 or mrandle@archone.tamu.edu.

Monday, April 23
“Light Celebrating Place,” Jill Mullholland’s dissertation video, will be shown 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. in the Preston Geren Auditorium. The premise of Mulholland’s research is that light and place work together in such a closely-knit relationship, neither could exist without the other. In 2005, Mullholland received a $20,000 grant from the Nuckolls Fund for Lighting Education in order to build and document her dissertation. For more information, contact Jill Mullholland at 779.7373 or jill.mullholland@gmail.com.

Tuesday, April 24
Department of Architecture faculty meets from 11 a.m. – noon in Langford A 107B. For more information, contact Ginger White at 845.0129 or gwhite@tamu.edu.

Administrative Staff Committee meets from 2 – 3 p.m. in Langford A 217. For more information, contact Kathy Waskom at 845.1222 or k-waskom@tamu.edu.

Wednesday, April 25
Facility Management Student Chapter meeting: This general meeting will be held in Langford C 207 from 5:30 – 7 p.m. For more information, contact Carlos Nome at 847.9356 or carlosnome@tamu.edu

Thursday, April 26 - Friday, April 27
“Justicia in Juarez! Gender Violence, Maquiladoras, and Border Research”: This conference will be held from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. in the Langford B Exhibit Hall. Presented by the Interdisciplinary Texas A&M Scholars Consortium, this event will focus on gender violence on the U.S. – Mexico border.  The list of featured speakers includes Julia Monarrez Fragoso, Maria Socorro Tabuence Cordoba, Diana Washington and others. For more information, contact Dr. Jorge Vanegas at 845.7070 or chud-director@tamu.edu.

Tuesday, May 8
Administrative Staff Committee Meeting from 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. in Langford A 217. For more information, contact Kathy Waskom at 845.1222 or k-waskom@tamu.edu.

Meteorologists at odds with
Punxsutawney groundhog

According to published reports, groundhog Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow today at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and did not see his shadow, which according to German folklore indicates an early spring for 2007. The event marked the first time since 1999 that Phil has not seen his shadow.

Meteorologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's climate monitoring office in Asheville, North Carolina disagreed with the groundhog, however, saying the El Nino pattern that set the stage for a mild winter is clearing. They now expect colder weather for the rest of the winter season.

For more details on the NOAA’s report, visit http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2786.htm