Series aimed at creating campus unity

Nicholas Valenzuela Arizona Daily Wildcat Norman Austin, head of the UA Classics Department, will discuss how Elvis Presley can be likened to a Greek god, March 5 in the Gallagher Theatre.

Every Wednesday, from 12:15 p.m. to 12:50 p.m., the series will feature a University of Arizona faculty member, from departments as varied as English, humanities, music and medicine.

Tomorrow's speaker will be N. Scott Momaday, regents professor of English, who will talk about "A Divine Blindness."

To provide a relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere for the audience, as opposed to being just another class lecture, George Davis, geosciences professor and head of the Faculty Fellows, said some speakers will include dance and music performances in their discussions.

The series is coordinated by Faculty Fellows and is part of a project supported by the American Council on Education to promote change in higher education institutions.

Davis said the series is one of the safeguards to prevent intellectual apathy among students. In a daily routine people tend to separate themselves from others and leave the intellectual adventures out, he said.

"This (the series) is a reminder of what we offer as a university," Davis said.

Gallagher Theatre has a capacity of 650 people. "I think we're gonna fill the place," Davis said.

He said he is optimistic the series will become a new tradition at the UA. However, Jodi Heaton, communication sophomore, said she thinks that building a sense of community will be a hard task.

"I think it's a good idea to achieve a sense of unity. But because it's such a big campus, unity isn't very possible," Heaton said.

Last July, Faculty Fellows came up with the idea of launching the series. The opportunity to link the idea with something bigger came when the American Council on Education accepted the UA's proposal to participate in the project by promoting community building on campus.

Norman Austin, head of the UA Classics Department, will compare the god of rock to the god of wine and love March 5 when he presents "Elvis Ä Our Modern Dionysus."

Austin said he thinks the lack of interaction between students and faculty is not due to indifference.

"There are a lot of pressures on students Ä grades, work, families. It makes it hard for students to get out," Austin said.

The UA, Michigan State University and the University of Minnesota are the only three major research institutions selected to participate in the project, said Martha Gilliland, academic vice president for information and human resources.

"We need more faculty-student interaction," Gilliland said.

According to Gilliland, the decision to initiate the project started last spring, when a group of 40 students and faculty met to discuss changes on the UA campus.

Gilliland said she believes the university will benefit from the idea to build a community and further creative problem solving.

As part of the project, "Living/Learning Communities," expected to take place next academic year, will identify locations for people to gather and to exchange ideas, Gilliland said.

The project also includes "Heads Up," an informal meeting between 40 to 50 department heads, which takes place every three weeks, Davis said.