Over the summer, new building entrance façades and a Colonnade connecting Smith and Purnell halls were constructed, with plans for a renovated plaza to be completed in October.

New landscaping will complement a 70-foot-diameter environmental sculpture in the plaza, including a fountain with water jets that rise 2 feet and then flow over a granite cascade into a small pool. Free-form stone benches will be constructed near the recirculating fountain, and curved planting beds comprise the rest of the sculptural element.

Lois Potter, Ned B. Allen Professor of English who teaches Renaissance and Shakespearean literature, has spent several years as a theatre critic in Great Britain.

She started out writing reviews and broadcasting them on the local BBC radio station, where she became a regular feature. "I had only a few minutes on the air, and the reviews had to be entertaining and catchy, so I used a lot of puns and one-liners like, 'The can-can girls could-could' or 'His performance nearly stopped the show, and I wish it had,'" she said.

She also put out theatre broadsheets to give people more information about dramatic productions that were playing in Leicester where she was a lecturer. She caught the attention of the editor of the London Times Literary Supplement and, during the '80s, she was regularly reviewed productions in London, Stratford and elsewhere.

Potter encourages theatre-goers to think about what effects they liked most and how these were achieved, and to try--although it's difficult--to become aware of the distinct contributions of the actors versus those of the director. Rather than being hypercritical, she urges them to try to understand what the actors and director were trying to accomplish before deciding how well they succeeded.

"No one sets out to put on a bad production," she says.

The Carpenter Sports Building, one of the busiest locations on campus, is under renovation.

Located adjacent to UD's historic district near Old College, the structure was built in 1942 and has had many additions over the years. It is used by students, faculty, staff, alumni and thousands of visitors--from parents to to intramural teams to fitness enthusiasts.

The latest $14.3 million renovation of the 167,000-square-foot building started last December and will continue until September 2000.

The renovation project includes improvements to the electrical, heating, ventilation and air- conditioning systems and the addition of an elevator.

Other highlights include the creation of an outdoor recreation center and a new rock climbing wall; renovation of the front gym, including a new floor, and installation of new bleachers and a new training room; renovation of the back gym and the Employee Fitness Center; expansion of the Student Fitness Center and creation of a new student lounge off the front lobby.

For Lindsay Auten, AS '99 of Dover, Del., the idea of people having no place to live is appalling. So, when her job as a residence hall director called on her to come up with service projects involving students, she thought of the homeless.

"It was an epiphany," she says. "We were having a staff meeting one day, and it came to me. I said, 'Wouldn't it be great if an RA stayed out on the streets overnight to bring attention to homelessness?'"

Auten has participated in the project herself every year since her sophomore year.

Participants leave their rooms at 8 a.m. with the idea to remain on the streets until the next day at 8 a.m. They take to the streets with information sheets and signs about homelessness and talk to people who approach them. They use only public restrooms and don't eat unless food is given to them. If the weather is cool, they layer their clothing.

"Last year, April was really cold and rainy. It rained all night," Auten says.

"The most shocking thing for me is the boredom," she says, "having nothing to do and no place to go." And, Auten admits, her experience isn't even close to the real thing.

Still, she says she believes students willing to "live" on the streets--if only for one night--and discussing the problems of homelessness have raised awareness of the issue.

Students get very mixed reactions, Auten says. "We've been treated the way some people treat the homeless. They turn away and don't want to know about us. I guess they fear it."

Traci Feit of Owings Mills, Md., Katherine (Kaia) Elizabeth Wong of King of Prussia, Pa., and Philip J. (P.J.) Torina Jr. of New Rochelle, N.Y., three outstanding members of the Class of 1999, received the Emalea P. Warner and Alexander J. Taylor awards this year from the UD Alumni Association.

Feit, a DuPont Scholar, an Alison Scholar and a Truman Scholarship finalist, founded the Delaware Coalition for the Advancement of Gender Equity (now known as SAGE), serving as president from 1996-98. As a Dean's Scholar with a neuroscience major and music/cognitive science minor, Wong pursued a self-designed, interdisciplinary curriculum spanning biology, psychology, linguistics and music. A double major in liberal studies--the prescribed major for medical scholars--and biology, with a minor in economics, Torina has been involved in research projects in both Newark and New York and has volunteered his time at several hospitals and clinics. He aspires to a medical career that involves teaching, research and service.

The recipients demonstrated the distinguished qualities of leadership, citizenship and character exemplified by Mrs. Warner, a founder of the Women's College in 1914--a predecessor institution of the University of Delaware, and Mr. Taylor, a graduate of Delaware College Class of 1893 and a trustee of the University for many years.

The students, who led the alumni delegates' procession at Commencement, each received a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond and have their names inscribed on plaques located near the Alumni Room in the Perkins Student Center and in Alumni Hall.

Delaware--along with much of the Northeastern U.S.--has been experiencing the worst drought in decades, and the University is trying to help by reducing its own water consumption.

At the start of the fall term, educational material on ways to save water was placed in each residence hall room. Tips include taking shorter showers, turning off water while saving and brushing teeth and not letting water run while washing dishes.

As part of an ongoing conservation and energy-saving strategy, the University already has installed restricted-flow heads in showers and reduced-volume toilet fixtures in new and renovated residence halls. A search-and-fix program for leaks in bathrooms and fountains in all academic and office buildings continues indefinitely. During August, UD decided to reduce water consumption by reusing water and making use of nonpotable water sources for watering new landscaping and athletic fields. Wastewater used as cooling in laboratories and other areas on campus is being reused, as is nonpotable, used water from a campus retention basin.

Ever want to build a human ladder, walk on a cable or manipulate your way through a rope spider?

Now in its sixth year, the University's Adventure Challenge Experience (ACE) is available to businesses, community groups, schools and other organizations. The goals of the ACE program are to encourage participation, team building, responsibility, creativity, trust and learning through adventure.

Activities can range from low-level programs to the high-challenge ropes course, which is 20 to 40 feet in the air. Rock climbing is another option.

ACE programs are specifically designed to meet the goals of different groups. Facilitators assist the participants in meeting challenges and relating activities to the group's objectives, such as teamwork and developing communication skills.?

For information about ACE, contact Roger Spacht at (302) 831-8611.

"Forging a Collection: The Frank W. Tober Collection on Literary Forgery," will be on display in the Special Collections Exhibition Gallery in the Morris Library through Dec. 15 and also is available on-line via the UD Library's web page as <http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec>.

Literary forgery formed the cornerstone of Tober's personal library. He assembled a fascinating collection of examples of forgeries from all periods as well as secondary works about them.

The collection includes material relating to virtually every major forgery--from those occurring in antiquity to contemporary cases involving such figures as Clifford Irving, who attempted to publish a forged autobiography of Howard Hughes.

Tober also pursued such related topics as literary hoaxes, imaginary voyages, counterfeiting, forensics and the technology of forgery detection. All these topics are represented in the UD exhibit.

-Compiled by Laura Overturf