The Bear Ledger

Mark Heffington, software support specialist in Web Development, and his wife, Kristin, announce the birth of their daughter, Zoey Rochelle Heffington. Zoey was born May 15 at Conway Regional Medical Center. She weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces and measures 19.5 inches.

The University of Central Arkansas Foundation recently recognized establishment of the Joe and Velma Stell Scholarship Fund to assist UCA students working in the Physical Plant.

The scholarship was endowed at the $25,000 level by Danny and Annie Stell, a son and daughter-in-law of the late couple, and will be awarded to qualifying students.

During the reception, family and friends saw a plaque unveiled in honor of the endowment. The plaque will take permanent residence on the Donor Wall of Honor in McCastlain Hall.

Joe Stell supported the family for nearly 15 years during the 1950s and ‘60s by working in the UCA Physical Plant as a foreman on the grounds supervising student employees who maintained the campus.

“He had such admiration for those students, that I felt like the student employees should be included in his honor,” Danny Stell said.

Velma Stell was a stay-at-home mother who raised nine children.

“She looked after all of us and our needs and provided the immediate comfort and also the discipline that we needed in the home,” Danny Stell continued.

Danny Stell, the next-to-youngest child, and his wife established the scholarship as a way of honoring his parents for all they did for him and his siblings.

“I think my parents would have been surprised and felt like what they did was nothing exceptional,” he said. “They expected everyone to do the right thing. I think they would be happy that this endowment will enable a student who is working in the Physical Plant to receive extra assistance to help them earn their education.”

UCA President Allen C. Meadors said while some may think that working in the UCA Physical Plant is just a job, he often finds that it’s those employees who have the strongest sense of pride and dedication to this university.

“Establishing a scholarship in Joe and Velma Stell’s honor to provide financial assistance to students working in the Physical Plant is truly a fitting way to continue their legacy and I think they would be proud of their children for honoring them,” he said.

For more information or to make a contribution to the Joe and Velma Stell Scholarship Fund, contact the UCA Foundation at (501)450-5288. – Jennifer Boyett

The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics will receive more than $1.6 million for biomedical research. The grant is a part of a $14.7 million grant recently awarded to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences by the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Brent Hill, Dr. Kari Naylor, both in the Department of Biology, and Dr. Melissa Kelley, with the Department of Chemistry, will each receive an IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) grant valued at $500,000 over a five-year period to support their research. Hill, Naylor and Kelley are all project leaders.

Dr. Brent Hill hopes to uncover the cellular mechanisms associated with menopause induced hypertension. Researchers will look how the absence of estrogen affects high blood pressure and hypertension. The research is a joint project between Hill and Dr. Nancy Rusch, with the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology at UAMS.

“The long-term objective is to be able to see how a certain protein is expressed from the cell membrane and how the expression of that protein leads to the development of hypertension,” he said. “The protein can be targeted to alleviate the development of high blood pressure.”

Dr. Melissa Kelley will examine how Vitamin A affects immunity. The study will contribute to an understanding of the particular molecules responsible for maintaining proper immunity, she said. Kelley will collaborate with Dr. Lance Bridges in the Chemistry Department at UCA.

“For a long time, Vitamin A has been known to regulate immunity but we didn’t know how,” Kelley said. “What we will specifically focus on is how Vitamin A controls immunity.”

These grants will provide an unparalleled research experience for Arkansas undergraduate students, she added.

“Our projects will serve to enhance the training of UCA undergraduate students in the field of biochemistry and allow them to disseminate their research findings at national meetings,” she said. “I think this is an exciting time for UCA.”

Dr. Kari Naylor’s research will look at the structure of the mitochondria, which produce energy cells need. This research is relevant to public health because disruption of tubular mitochondrial structure may lead to neurodegenerative diseases such as Charcot-Marie Tooth, distal muscle degeneration, or Dominant Optic Atrophy, a form of childhood blindness, she said.

The grant will allow Naylor and other professors more time to conduct research and less time seeking funding for their projects.

“It is a huge grant for UCA. It means that for the next five years, I get to do science,” Naylor said. “So, the freedom to just do science is a fantastic feeling.”

The institute is also funding summer research grants involving other UCA professors. Dr. Wen Wang, a professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, received an $18,000 summer research grant to examine wound healing, an issue very important to patients with diabetes. The research focuses on understanding the mechanism that affects wound healing and discovering new therapeutic targets.

“This will help develop new intervention to promote wound healing and help to reduce the morbidity and mortality of this devastating diabetic complication,” Wang said.

UCA will receive $178,000 to renovate a gross anatomy lab into two biomedical research and teaching labs in the Lewis Science Center. These labs will help the university increase its biomedical research and give undergraduates and graduates an opportunity to assist in research, said Dr. Steve Runge,a project leader for the renovations and dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

“It will also enhance our course work for students and help them learn more in the classroom,” Runge said. “Having a strong biomedical component in our department will help us in recruiting faculty and outstanding students.”

Visit UCA’s YouTube page to hear the professors talk about their research.

The Department of Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Central Arkansas has received the designation of “continued accreditation” by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology.

The council accredits eligible clinical doctoral programs in audiology and master’s degree programs in speech-language pathology. Institutions of higher learning that offer graduate degree programs in audiology and speech-language pathology can voluntarily seek accreditation, according to the council’s website.

The accreditation is the national stamp of approval and assures students that the university’s program meets current professional standards, said John Lowe III, chair of the Department of Speech-Language Pathology.

The council found no areas of non-compliance during its review of the department’s program. The program met all curricular, clinical and administrative standards for accreditation. Graduates demonstrated learning of all knowledge and skills expected of speech-language pathology students. All graduates have qualified for national certification and state licensure, and have obtained employment.

“This reflects the continuing high standards of our master’s degree program in speech-language pathology, and is a credit to the excellent work of the faculty of the department,” Lowe said. “It is gratifying to receive this recognition, which requires considerable effort on the part of all members of the department.”

The chair of the council’s site team noted that UCA’s program is the only program in the country that requires all academic courses to be completed prior to any clinical experiences,Lowe said.

“The chair of the site team said he had been on about 25 site visits and that we are one of the two or three best programs he has seen,” Lowe added.

UCA’s master degree program in speech language pathology continues to draw applicants from many states, and is one of the larger programs in the country with 97 students. For more information, call (501) 450-3176.

• The colors for UCA were decided in 1908. According to one story, President Doyne assigned the task of developing the school colors to W.O. Wilson and Ida Waldran. One day, Wilson was wearing a gray sweater and Waldran was wearing a purple scraf. Both through purple and gray complemented each other.

• Art Professor Gene Hatfield and his craft class created the first statue of the UCA bear mascot during the 1950-51 academic year. The statue was made of clay and concrete. It was originally placed by the flag pole in front of the Administration Building (Main Hall). The bear’s most recent home is the north end zone of Estes Stadium. Students rub the statue for good luck before each game.

• In 1962, women were only allowed to wear shorts on campus while at the tennis courts and were required to cover up with a skirt or coat until they reached the courts.

Source: Proud to Say UCA! History and Traditions