Keeping the Dream Alive: 2006 MLK Celebration
Nationally-known speaker, Joe Rogers, will deliver a powerful message to us to help us reflect and remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Tuesday, January 17 at 7:00 p.m. in HPAC Theatre. This event is free for any students, faculty, staff or community members.

MLK “Walk As One”
The Community Relations Department of the City of Spartanburg is sponsoring the 2006 MLK “Walk As One” on Saturday, January 14 at 10:00 a.m. This is an opportunity for the residents of Spartanburg and surrounding areas, as well as students at our local colleges and universities, to come together for a common cause: unity and appreciation. The walk begins at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church (Church St.) and ends in Barnet Park. Participants will receive free t-shirts and refreshments. For more information, contact Adrienne Middleton or ext. 5196 or Mitch Kennedy.

USC Upstate’s First Wedding Sampler
Planning on getting married but don’t have the time to plan? Let Judy Srock, director of special events, and Linda Farmer, catering manager, take some of the stress out of your big day. They’ll plan your reception, from catering to flowers, dee jay to wedding cake. At the Wedding Sampler on Sunday,January 22 from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the CLC Ballroom, meet these ladies who can give you the details on having a fabulous reception right here at the university. Please r.s.v.p. for this free event through the Wedding Sampler web site.

“My Soul is a Witness”
This powerful stage play, set in the Civil Rights period, allows us to witness the intense struggles, feelings and issues of this monumental era. This free play is open to all students, faculty, staff and community members and will be performed on Wednesday, January 25 at 7:00 p.m. in HPAC Theatre.

Civil Rights Today
Now that you had a chance to see what our history was like, let’s discuss what our progress has been and what it will be in the future. Join us for a lively discussion on Thursday, January 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the CLC Ballroom.

Microsoft’s Academic Relations Manager to Speak on Campus
The Department of Informatics invites you to hear Dr. Juan E. Vargas, academic relations manager at Microsoft, speak about academic programs at Microsoft. In recent years, Microsoft has launched several initiatives to establish and strengthen relationships with the academic community.  As an outreach of these initiatives, Dr. Vargas will talk about these programs on Monday,January 30 at 1:40 p.m. in Library 255. Please R.S.V.P. by Monday, January 16 to ext. 5432 or e-mail dsandor@uscupstate.edu.

Dr. Vargas’ background is in data mining, Bayesian networks, embedded and distributed systems, data structures, algorithms, and operating systems. His research has attracted more than $9 million in funding, resulting in more than 60 publications, several book chapters, and numerous conferences.

Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society to Award over $700,000 in 2006
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi will allocate more than $700,000 this year to provide financial support to qualifying members and non-members through graduate and undergraduate scholarships, member and chapter awards and grants for local and national literacy initiatives. The following are application deadlines for available grants:

• Study abroad grants: February 15
• Graduate fellowships: February 1
• Literacy grants: February 1
• Promotion of excellence grants: January 27

For more detailed information on these deadlines, visit www.phikappaphi.org.

Blood Mobile
The blood mobile will be on campus on Wednesday, January 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Please contact Tammy Chadwick for more details if you would like to donate.

“Pilgrimage of Place – The Pacolet Community” Exhibit
An exhibition of black and white photography will be held at the USC Upstate Gallery from January 13 through February 10. The exhibit “Pilgrimage of Place – The Pacolet Community” is based on the theory that making people aware of the importance of their own lives in the community will foster economic vitality. There will also be a panel discussion on January 19 at 5:00 p.m. in HPAC where the photographers and participants will convene in a panel format. For more information, e-mail Jane Nodine or call her at ext. 5838.

CARS Mini Grants
Applications for the Spring/Maymester Creative Activities, Research, and Scholarship (CARS) Mini-Grants for students are now available on the web. Faculty wishing to engage students in undergraduate research, scholarly and creative activities in any discipline are encouraged to have their students apply for funding.  The deadline for the Spring/Maymester 2006 CARS program is Wednesday, January 18, 2006.  Students can apply for up to $300.00 to support their work each semester.  Sixteen students received support this fall for their research/scholarly activities via this program.

Browse the University's online calendar for a listing of all campus events.

Dr. Chioma Ugochukwu, Journalism and Mass Communications, presented her paper “Re-thinking Cultural Imperialism: Cultural Resistance and Resilience amid Imported TV Programming in Nigeria,” at the 48th annual meeting of the African Studies Association on November 18, 2005 in Washington, D.C. 

Jane Nodine, Visual Arts, is one of fifteen artists selected for the USC Alumni Exhibition January 12 through February 10, 2006 at McMaster Gallery of Art, USC Columbia. The USC art faculty voted to invite a selected number of alumi from across the nation to participate in the exhibition. Nodine is presenting two recent works, "memoria rivelare" and "pinpoint revealed." Both are giclée prints of digitally constructed images. A public reception will be held in McMaster Gallery on Thursday, January 12 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.South Carolina Homes and Gardens Magazine will also feature the exhibition in their January-February edition. .

John Riley’s, Physics, panoramic photography has been published in the World Wide Panorama Best of 2005 Special Event. The World Wide Panorama events are sponsored by the Geography Computing Facility at the University of California Berkeley and are hosted by the Geo-Images Project.  View the panorama online, and be sure to click on the link to view the panorama in full-screen mode. Click-drag on the image to look around. The panorama was shot at Chimney Rock Park during the turning of the leaves this fall and gives a vista of Hickory Nut Gorge and Lake Lure, with Chimney Rock visible above.

 The second issue of Mula Verde Review, edited by Jorge Salvo from USC Upstate and Luis Marcelino Gómez from UNC Chapel Hill, is now available online at www.mulaverde.com. This issue includes unedited texts by Elena Poniatowska, Sergio Ramírez and Isaac Goldemberg, among many others; paintings by Venancio Shinqui; and photography by Geno Muñoz with his series “Morir en Chiloé” (Dying in Chiloé) an interesting ethnological study of death culture of the Huilliches (pronounced: wee-gee-shis), an original ethnic group of the southern cone of South America. A special dossier dedicated to Perú comes with this issue, as well.

USC Upstate Earns National Turface Award
USC Upstate has received the national 2006 NFCA/Turface Field Maintenance Award for Cyrill Softball Stadium, as announced by the NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association). The award is designed to recognize coaches and groundskeepers for excellence in field maintenance and facility upkeep.

APPLICATION PROCESS: Visit the HR web site for additional information and online application submission instructions.

Vice Chancellor for Information Technology
Office of Information Technology and Services
Requisition No. 041076
Online application acceptance date extended through Tuesday, January 31, 2006

This week we are profiling Nicole Michelle Jamison, a senior studying communications, whose hometown is Merriam, Kansas. Nicole is a spring semester student intern in the Office of University Communications.

	What you like most about USC Upstate? USC Upstate has a pleasant, safe campus and offers a nice balance between academics and extracurricular activities.  I have had to stay until after 3 a.m. to meet deadlines for The Carolinian on several occasions, but I didn’t feel at all uncomfortable walking to my car alone.
	Little known fact: I am obsessed with science fiction stories, television shows and films.
	Organizations involved with and the reasons he joined them: The Carolinian - I love all aspects of newspaper production.  As the editor-in-chief, I am in a position that allows me to write and edit stories, design pages and oversee all of the staff members.  It’s perfect. Gamma Beta Phi- This organization allows me to interact with other people who value two of the things I have always been good at: maintaining a high academic average and participating in community service. University Communications: This internship is providing me with valuable work experience and letting me practice my public relations writing skills.  I am very grateful for this opportunity!
	Plans after graduation: At this point I’m not sure what life has in store for me.  I enjoy newspaper production, I’m interested in public relations, and I love reading and traveling.  Maybe I’ll be able to find a career that allows me to pursue all of those interests!