The UCF Report, Vol. 09 No. 18, March 11, 1987

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Orlando. Florida
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University of Central Florida
P.O  Box 25000
Orlando. Florida 32816
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+UCF REPORT
Volume 9, Number 18
For Faculty and Staff
March 11. 1987
Next roast:
J. Paulucci
on a skewer
The man who has been described as
of "Italian descent, born in Scandinavian Minnesota, who made a fortune in
Chinese food," will be the target of
bombast and barbs Sept. 26 at the 10th
annual Roast and Toast presented by
the Orlando Area Chapter, Florida Public Relations Association.
For Jeno Paulucci, it will be an evening to remember. While the slate of
roasters has not been firmed up, it
appears that one will be Bob Morris, of
The Orlando Sentinel, who has conducted several mini-roasts of Paulucci
in his column.
Founder of the Chun King Corp.,
Jeno's Frozen Foods, and the man
behind Heathrow at Lake Mary, Paulucci is known internationally for his
interest in the arts and as a generous
patron.
Paulucci was introduced to the
Orlando area chapter at its Feb. 26
meeting by roast chairman Bert Lacey
and promised a "no holds barred" event
to benefit UCF. Since its inception in
1 978 with a roast of Sentinel columnist
Charlie Wadsworth, the annual gala has
turned over more than $45,000 to the
University for scholarship programs,
classroom equipment and library
acquisitions.
UCF, Orange schools program aims
to make athletes academic winners
UCF and the Orange County Public
School System have teamed up to help
underachieving young athletes fatten
their academic statistics in a game plan
designed to make them winners with
college or university admission offices.
Under a program announced jointly
this week, UCF student athletes, as well
as University Honors Program scholars
and faculty members, will provide one-
on-one academic and motivational
counseling to underachieving male or
female high school athletes who have
the potential to satisfactorily handie college level studies. Selected students
who successfully complete the program,
which would include on-campus tutorials and individualized instruction,
would be prepared for admission to
UCF, regardless of whether they choose
to participate in intercollegiate athletics.
According to NCAA rules, non-athletes
would have to receive consideration,
also.
"Our objective is to build understanding and commitment among middle
school and high school youth, particularly young athletes, that academic
preparation pays off for life," Richard
Astro, UCF provost, said in making the
announcement with Orange County
Superintendent of Schools James
Schott at Oak Ridge High School  "In
their rush to build winning teams, too
many colleges and universities have
paid too little attention to the academic
dimension of the college and university
experience. That needs to change and
there is no better way to change it than
at the grass roots —among aspiring athletes themselves."
Astro said young athletes need to
understand that not every high school
athlete can succeed at the intercollegiate level and that fewer still move into
the professional ranks. "Even professional athletes need to prepare themselves for the day when their sports
careers end," Astro explained.
A separate aspect of the UCF-Orange
schools cooperation is an outreach
effort, called "Reach for the Stars," in
which UCF athletes and former or active
professional athletes will appear at student assemblies in each of the county's
11 high schools and 19 middle schools
to stress the importance of balancing
participation in interscholastic athletics
with academic study. The programs,
available as well to parent's groups,
also will have an anti-drug message.
The first assembly will be held at Oak
Ridge High School, Schott said.
"The Orange County School System
will take on the responsibility of scheduling assemblies and identifying those
athletes who would benefit the most
from counseling and guidance by UCF
personnel," Schott said. "Our objective
is to identify two athletes from each
high school for whom the UCF commitment could make a difference in their
lives."
In connection with the schools program, UCF also announced that it has
become a member of the Center for the
Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University and its nation-wide consortium of 22 universities, which offer
degree completion programs for active
or former professional athletes. Beginning with Tony Bernazard, third baseman for the Cleveland Indians, UCF said
it will admit active and retired professional athletes into a degree completion
program, they will participate in the
"Reach for the Stars" student outreach
project.
Richard E. Lapchick, Center director
and one of the speakers at the joint
announcement, said that only one in 50
of the 1.5-million eligible high school
athletes getscholarships to play in college and, of those who receive scholarships in the revenue sports of basketball
and football, fewer than 30 percent
graduate after four years.
Buell G. Duncan, Jr., chairman of the
board and chief executive officer. Sun
Bank, N.A., will head an advisory committee for the joint UCF-Orange County
School System program.
Shaping Florida's future
UCF faculty writing K-12
teacher competency tests
A legislatively-mandated program
requiring Florida teachers to show competency in their particular disciplines
has led to a $364,000 Department of
Education grant for UCF to draft teacher
competency tests.
The results of work done on this program at UCF and four other SUS campuses will affect the public school system in all parts of Florida for years to
come.
The project requires the writing of
teacher tests for 48 disciplines and of
that statewide task, UCF has been
assigned the second heaviest load —
seven. The University of South Florida,
with its existing Center for Testing, was
given 28. Florida State got six, University of Florida four and West Florida
three.
Each of the disciplines carries a
$52,000 grant for a statewide total of
$2,496,000.
Dr  Patricia C. Manning, director of
the Educational Research Institute, and
Dr. Michael C  Hynes, professor of
Instructional Programs, both in the College of Education, wrote the grant
application and are co-coordinators of
the program
Subject areas assigned to UCF are:
computer science K-1 2, economics, political science, geography, history and
broad-based social studies, divided into
two grade groupings, 6-9 and 10-12.
UCF faculty members have been
chosen as project managers for the
seven subject areas. Education Professor Nancy McGee has history, Education Associate Professor Arthur Olson
has geography, Arts and Sciences Professor Henry Kennedy has political
science, Hynes has computer science,
Business Administration Associate Professor James Xander has economics
and Education Professor David Hernandez has both levels of social studies.
Last Friday, 80 teachers from across
the state met at UCF to prepare a report
to the DOE due on March 23. That
report will include the competencies
and skills that the 80 teachers, comprising the Validation Committee has
decided should be covered in tests for
the seven disciplines.
Members of the Validation Committee
were nominated by professional associations, school districts, universities and
teachers' unions to get the widest possible representation.
Preliminary reports to DOE, Hynes
said, establish the likelihood the report
due this month will be accepted and
then distributed to.teachers throughout
the state. Their reactions will be considered in writing the tests that are due to
be implemented by July 1, 1 988
MANNING
HYNES
Knight line '87
to wind up big
Monday night
An "on target" Knightline '87 winds
down its regularly scheduled month of
telephone appeals to alumni tomorrow
evening — then will be reborn for a
one-night whirlwind climax on Monday,
March 16.
Tom Watkins, director of the annual
fund, predicted the goal of $115,000
would be reached and promised a full
report after "Super Callers' Night" next
Monday.
That encore will bring together the
top 20 alumni volunteer callers who
raised the most in pledges during their
regular calling sessions in February.
The one who comes out with the most
dollars pledged will go far — as far as
they want to go if Delta Air Lines flies
there. "
Watkins announced that Delta will
contribute two tickets for the winner
and a company representative will be
present Monday to make the award.
Students offer free
help on tax returns
The student accounting society offers
free help in preparing income tax
returns until the April 15 deadline.
Volunteers from Beta Alpha Psi will
staff the information desk in the lobby
of the second floor of the Administration Building on Tuesday from 8 am  to
noon; Wednesday from 1 to 5 p.m and
Thursday 1 -3 and 5-7 p.m.