Stetson Cupola 1996-25-1

Fall 1996 Volume XXII No. 1 Smiles reign as students, donors break ground for Hollis Center After wielding their shovels, Stetson President Doug Lee, from left, donors Lynn and Mark Hollis, donors Leighan and David Rinker, and Student Qovernment Association President Lindsey Brown got in the Hollis Center 'fitness' spirit by tossing a basketball around. (Photo/House of Hatton) Trustee Chait Mark Hollis, '56, said he hopes the Hollis Center will aid in the "renaissance in education for which this university is becoming well-known" during the August gtoundbreaking for the new tecreation and fitness center. "A fit mind and a fit body are crucial to success," he said. Being built near Griffith Hall at an estimated cost of $3.5 million, the Hollis Centet will include a student lounge area, weight room, dance studio, game room, meeting rooms, and student life offices, as well as the Rinker Field House, which will offer a full-size basketball coutt and two cross courts. It will be the majoi center of intramural sports. Made possible by a $2.5 million commitment from Lynn and Mark Hollis, its field house wing will be named for the late M.E. Rinker Sr., a former trustee. The M.E. Rinker Sr. Foundation is contributing $800,000 for the field house. A dance studio in the Hollis Center will be funded by Publix Super Markets Charities. The Hollis Center is part of a three-year, $9.5 million construction program on the DeLand campus. Also under way are the Wilson Athletic Center for the Sport and Exercise Science and Allied Health programs, a renovation and expansion of the duPont-Ball Libtary, and the fitst phase of the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center. 'Gift of gab* serves alumnus well while teaching English in China Jacksonville retitee Ted Boutwell, '42, has spent the past two summers in southern China's Guilin City, teaching American English conversation to adults. 'Most of my students have college level English gtammar... but have imited conversational experience, such as only a native American with i gift of gab can provide," he said. A retired U.S. Marine Corps aviator who left Stetson after two years :o join the service during World War II, Boutwell spent much of his career on Okinawa. In addition to raising five children, he and his wife also sponsored 32 foreign students to study in the U.S., including a young Chinese girl they later adopted. At Guilin City Staff and Workers' University, where he taught last summer, there are no lawns, lighted fountains, bell towers or parking lots, he says, "but there is plenty of space for hundreds of bicycles and a few motot scooters." His class of lawyers, doctots, clerks, government employees — about 20 in all — met five nights a week for seven weeks. He also led an informal, two-hour "English Corner" for the public on Sunday mornings, classes which meet all over China to give people practice in speaking. He takes no salary, but an apattment is provided, and living costs are low: 25 cents for breakfast; $ 1.50 for dinner in an air-conditioned restaurant; or 25 to 75 cents for a meal at a sidewalk testaurant. A bicycle is provided for his use; biking to wotk takes about seven minutes. If it rains, he takes a taxi for $1.25 (bicycle included). "Now all these costs ate not for tourists," he wains, "only fot us locals." During the summer before last, he also taught at Guangxi Teachers University. He has been invited back to Guilin City this summer, but may go instead to Lanzhou University in northern China, where one of his former students is studying. "I haven't yet seen northern China," said Boutwell in anticipation. And how does he manage all this, since he speaks no Chinese? "I can look so helpless," he laughed. "People jump at the opportunity to help me. Thete are nice people everywhere you go." — Betty Brady Stetson alumnus Ted Boutwell responds to rapid-fire questions during a Sunday 'English Corner' session in Quilin City, China. U.S. News: Stetson stands in top four regional universities in South in 1997 For the 12th straight year, Stetson ranks among the South's top tegional universities in U.S. News & World Report's new edition of "America's Best Colleges." In the 1997 edition, Stetson is listed fourth, on the basis of its academic reputation, student selectivity, faculty resources, financial resources, retention tate, alumni giving, and the value its education adds to its graduates' lives. "We are pleased to have Stetson's academic quality and commitment to students repeatedly tecognized," said Vice President for Campus Life and Enrollment Management Jim Beasley, adding that choosing the right school for a student takes cateful research. "We target students who have the potential to succeed at Stetson — students with the necessary academic backgound and academic skills," Beasley explained. "We prefer not to have to reject applicants because they aren't a match for Stetson."