UNCW Offers Resources for Summer, Hurricane Season
6/2/2006 10:59:42 AM
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Wilmington, N.C. - The University of North Carolina Wilmington's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean is both a blessing and a curse. The location offers opportunities for summer fun in a coastal setting, but also places UNCW in the heart of hurricane territory.
UNCW is one of the six original Disaster Resistant Universities (DRU) designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and has seen its share of storms over the past decades. Its faculty and staff have developed expertise in hurricane impacts and other coastal living issues.
As emergency operations coordinator for UNCW and co-administrator on the DRU grants, Associate Vice Chancellor Sharon Boyd leads the university's hurricane preparations, responses, mitigations and recoveries. DRU measures at UNCW have included hosting a conference to share best practices with other universities and institutions, conducting a vulnerability assessment of key campus facilities and funding wind-borne debris protection for windows and doors. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, her leadership has led to an overhaul of UNCW's hurricane operations plan that addresses emergency communications, external agreements, loss of research and critical contents, and economic loss and business continuity. Boyd may be reached at 910/962-7252 or boyds@uncw.edu.
Stan Harts, director of environmental and health safety, and Suzanne Blake, emergency management coordinator, both have experience in hurricane preparedness and organized the Disaster Resistant University Conference hosted at UNCW in summer 2005. They were instrumental in securing $100,000 in grants from FEMA to make UNCW a Disaster Resistant University. The university has made a conscious effort to incorporate disaster resistance into university planning, policies and procedures.
Blake was presented with a public service award on April 18, 2006 for her dedication and involvement in the Rip Current Awareness Strategies Team (RCAST). Meteorologist-in-Charge Michael Caropolo of the Wilmington National Weather Service office stated that Blake's enthusiasm, professionalism and willingness to go above and beyond her duties as emergency management coordinator for UNCW have led directly to several RCAST accomplishments. RCAST develops and delivers educational outreach efforts to elementary and secondary schools, local residents and tourists with the goal of eliminating rip-tide fatalities.
Blake offers the following summer beach safety tips:
-Always swim near a lifeguard.
-Never swim alone.
-If caught in a rip current, stay calm and swim parallel to shore to get out of the rip current. If you are not a good swimmer, float until the rip current dissipates and then swim diagonally towards shore. If you need assistance, yell for help.
-Obey lifeguard warnings and pay attention to water conditions.
For more specifics, visit www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov/.
Hart may be reached at 910/962-3108 or harts@uncw.edu and Blake at 910/962-7874 or blakes@uncw.edu.
Christopher Dumas, associate professor of economics at UNCW is well-versed in the economic impacts of hurricanes. His areas of research interest and expertise include environmental and natural resource economics and applied microeconomics. He is a member of the American Economic Association, Southern Economics Association, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, American Agricultural Economics Association and National Association for Business Economics.
Dumas' most recent project is "A Determination & Analysis of the Economic Impacts & Benefits of Recreational & Commercial Boating & Marine Related Business Along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in NC and Oceanfront Beach Nourishment in North Carolina." He may be reached at 910/962-4026 or dumasc@uncw.edu
Aside from hurricane expertise, UNCW has a broad range of excellent programs available in a beautiful coastal setting that provide exciting, confidence-building educational experiences for children. Camps range from "hands-on, feet-wet" MarineQuest experiences along the Intracoastal Waterway for children ages 5 to14 to Theatre Camp for ages 9-13, and even Robotics Camp for ages 11-15. For details see www.uncw.edu/dpscs/campsIndex.htm or contact Suzie Bean at 910/962-2650 or beans@uncw.edu.
In preparing a summer reading list, be sure to include some new and favorite books by UNCW faculty and alumni. New works by UNCW creative writing faculty include re-entry, a book of poems by Michael White, which was awarded the Vassar Miller Prize this spring. Rebecca Lee has a forthcoming novel, The City Is a Rising Tide, and Phil Furia also has a new book entitled America's Songs: The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley.
Clyde Edgerton's first non-fiction book, Solo: My Adventures in the Air, was released this fall. Solo was favorably reviewed in the New York Times and the Washington Post. Edgerton has previously published eight novels, five of which were New York Times Notables. Lunch at the Piccadilly is another one of Edgerton's books to pick up.
UNCW MFA in Creative Writing alum Catherine McCall's memoir, Lifeguarding: A Memoir of Secrets, Swimming, and the South will be available July 11. It has been chosen by Elle as one of three winners of its "Reader's Prize." A feature on McCall's book will appear in the August issue of the magazine.
Robert Brent Toplin, professor of history, has a new book, Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11: How One Film Divided a Nation, published by University Press of Kansas.
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