LehighNow Volume 03, Issue 10

              LEHIGHNOW
February 26,2003
Volume 3, Issue 10
IN BRIEF
LEHIGH IN THE NEWS
Grad student
educates NBC's
Today Show
College of Education
student Marianne T.
Bartley, superintendent
of the Lebanon, Pa.
School District, was
interviewed on NBC's
Today Show about her
proposed policy to get
parents and communities
more involved in
children's education.
Bartley was interviewed
by Today Show co-host
Matt Lauer and responded to counter
opinions presented by the
executive director of
Parents United for
Responsible Education.
Bartley is working with
the broader public—
parents, school boards,
teachers, and service
groups—to make parents
more accountable for a
student's education.
Author Mayes
joins library
celebration
Frances Mayes, author of
Under the Tuscan Sun, will
speak at Lehigh's Packard
Auditorium at 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 26 to
celebrate the 125,h anniversary of Linderman Library.
The San Francisco State
creative writing professor's
bestselling book, which has
been called "part travelogue, part epicurean
journal and part This Old
Villa," tells tales of languid
summer afternoons in the
breathtakingly beautiful
hilly Italian countryside.
Mayes' talk about moving
beyond cultural boundaries
and comfortable life choices
is free and open to the
public.
Now at work on another
travelogue, Mayes has
become something of a cult
hero to would-be world
adventurers whose only
experience with the mystery
of foreign lands is her
enthralling prose. It's all a
dream come true for Mayes,
who took the bold midlife
step of cashing out her 401k
and plunking down her
lifesavings on a run-down,
centuries-old villa in search
of an exotic exile.
"At the time, I was a poet
and a university professor,
and I just wanted a place to
write," she says by phone
from her home in San
Francisco, where she still
spends several months a
year. "I envisioned more of
a vacation home, not a
change in lifestyle."
But the country's magical
allure cast its spell on
Mayes, who found herself
increasingly drawn into the
rhythms of Italian life.
"The joy of everyday life
is something that Italians
have perfected," she says.
A habitual journal-keeper
since childhood, Mayes
began composing essays on
various aspects of life in an
Italian village and selling
them to the New York Times.
She soon accumulated
enough material to form the
framework of a book. The
1996 release, Under the
Tuscan Sun, hit the New York
Times bestseller list and held
on for more than two years.
Beyond the appeal of the
Italian countryside, its
people, and food was the
vicarious thrill many readers
seemed to experience
through Mayes' tale of
personal renewal. "The idea
of risk became a great part
of the book. And it's not
even a distinctly American
experience. Even people
from Estonia and Taiwan
and many other countries
comment on it and are
drawn to the notion of it."
Since their professional
gamble has paid off, both
Mayes and her husband, Ed,
now pursue their creative
writing projects full-time.
Female
students
thrive in
math
Across the country, only
about 20 percent of the
doctoral degrees awarded in
mathematics go to female
students. At Lehigh, that
number is nearly 50 percent,
mirroring an equally strong
percentage of graduate
students in the math
department.
What accounts for Lehigh
being so far ahead of the
national curve?
"Tradition and merit," says
Vladimir Dobric, professor
of mathematics and former
graduate advisor. "While we
don't take special pains to
attract a particular group, we
do concentrate on attracting
the best possible students. In
our case, 50 percent of the
best students happen to be
women."
He also credits a culture of
cooperation, an enviable
career services record, and a
slate of innovative programs
that contribute to a welcoming atmosphere for female
students.
"Our department strives to
ensure that teamwork and
open communication are
maintained throughout the
graduate program," Dobric
says. He notes that students
are encouraged to work on
projects in groups, and to
interact freely with both peers
and senior graduate students.
"We've found that senior
graduate students help first-
year students with everything
from coaching them on their
teaching duties to helping
them find living accommodations," he says.
Garth Isaak, professor of
mathematics and the current
graduate advisor, adds that
the size of the program
further cultivates a culture of
cooperation.
"The small size of the
department allows for close
interaction with faculty, and
fosters close-knit relationships among the graduate
students and also among
students and professors,"
Isaak said. "They provide
each other and the department with lots of support."
Isaak also feels that the
availability of female role
models plays a part, both in
the success of women in the
Please See FEMALE, Page 3