Norfolk State University
Research
D I S C O V E R Y A N D I N N O VAT I O N S O F N O R F O L K S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y
Spring 2010, Volume 3, Number 1
Inside
Dance Becomes Innovative Tool
in HIV/AIDS Prevention and
Awareness Campaign
Rapid Response Robotic Telescope
Always Ready to Capture Astronomical
Phenomena
Offshore Wind Renewable Energy
Commercial Development Project
Norfolk State University
Research
Spring 2010, Volume 3, Number 1
Carolyn W. Meyers, Ph.D.
University President
Y.T. Shah, Sc.D.
Provost
Joseph C. Hall, Ph.D.
Vice President
for Research and Economic
Development
Govindarajan Ramesh, Ph.D.
Interim Associate Vice President
for Research
Sharon Riddick Hoggard M.A. '04
Interim Executive Director for
Communications and Marketing
Paula R.D. Shaw '76
Director
Office of Sponsored Programs
Annemarie Delgado
Associate Director
Office of Sponsored Programs
Regina Lightfoot
General Manager/Editor
Stevalynn R. Adams
Graphic Designer
Cynthia E. Duhé-Harris
Prospect Researcher
Contributing Writers
Charles Ford
Thorna Humphries
Arletha McSwain
Rasha Morsi
Cassandra Newby-Alexander
Govindarajan Ramesh
Mona Rizvi
Carlos Salgado
Lula Saunders Sawyer
Macki Sissoko
Sheila A. Ward
Photographers
Photos and illustrations
are courtesy of authors
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Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866
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of Norfolk State University.
Message
from the Vice President for
Research & Economic Development
A
s Norfolk State University embarks on a year-long
75th anniversary celebration, I am honored to
assume the role of Vice President for Research and
Economic Development. Having served at NSU for the past
13 years as both a professor and scientist, it is a privilege
to now focus my efforts on enhancing NSU’s research infrastructure. My experience as a principal investigator on a
number of grants, including a multi-million dollar RIMI (Research Infrastructure in Minority
Institutions) award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that has led to the development
of the Center for Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences, has made me keenly aware of the
challenges and opportunities faced by our faculty and staff as they compete for limited federal,
state, and private dollars. Despite current fiscal constraints, the spirit of optimism and
determination that pervades NSU’s colleges and schools remains steadfast.
As you will glean from the pages of our latest research magazine, NSU’s researchers continue
to make remarkable inroads in all areas of service, training, and research. We are proud of the
National Science Foundation funding received by Dr. Michael Kozhevnikov and Dr. Phillip McNeil
through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Also, we are delighted that
applications by our faculty to NIH health care disparity programs have doubled over the past
year. Dr. Rasha Morsi received a $2.1 million award from the U.S. Army Medical Research and
Material Command (USA MRMC) to develop a virtual PC-based simulation framework for nurse
training in a semi-virtual environment – the Virtual Nurse (VNurse) environment. Dr. Aswini
Pradhan was awarded $1 million from the National Science Foundation for research and infrastructure
support for renewable energy in Materials Science and Engineering. In addition, Dr. Lula
Sawyer was awarded a grant by the U.S. Department of Justice to reduce sexual violence
against women.
Through continued funding received by the National Science Foundation, Dr. Mikhail Noginov,
in collaboration with colleagues at Cornell University and Purdue University, is hard at work
building the world’s smallest laser using a hybrid nanoparticle. This past summer, Norfolk State
University received the honor of being named a National Center of Academic Excellence in
Information Assurance Education for the academic years 2009-2014 by the National Security
Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. As you will read in this edition of our
research magazine, Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander will serve as director of NSU’s new Joseph
Jenkins Roberts Center for African Diaspora Studies which is dedicated to the exploration and
analysis of the history and culture of African people.
Under my leadership, the Division of Research and Economic Development is working to offset
our fiscal hardships by leveraging sponsored program activity and creating economic growth.
NSU’s focus is on increasing the number of faculty spin-off companies, and increasing and facilitating
license and contract agreements produced by NSU faculty and staff. In addition, we are working
towards bringing more technology-driven jobs to the Hampton Roads region by increasing our
partnerships with industry. For a second consecutive year, NSU hosted the White House
Initiative on HBCU’s Technical Assistance Conference in April 2009. Partnerships formed during
this event with Georgia Aerospace Corporation and the Harris Corporation will greatly enhance
the overall research capabilities of our faculty and students.
Finally, we are bringing into fruition President Carolyn Meyers’ vision for conquering new
research territories on the RISE (Research and Innovations to Support Empowerment) Campus by
implementing several new research initiatives. Specifically, President Meyers has identified six
new initiatives: Health Care Disparities; Transportation, Logistics, and Security; Environment
and Energy; a STEM Teacher Institute; an Institute for Materials Research; and a Think Tank that
focuses on issues affecting minorities. Our combined efforts to address rising questions related to
minority health disparities, new uses for renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies,
and national security priorities, will move NSU forward in positioning our university and the
Hampton Roads region as a high-technology gateway for the southeastern United States.
Dr. Joseph C. Hall
2 NSU Research • Spring 2010
Norfolk State University
Research
Contents
Mission Statement
The mission of Norfolk State
University Research is to
provide a forum for examination
and discussion of the diverse types
of research conducted at Norfolk
State University, to promote
faculty and student research to
internal and external constituents,
and to actively engage business
leaders, educators, and government in the possibilities of
research for improving the
human condition.
2
Vice President’s Message
4
Dance Becomes Innovative Tool in
HIV/AIDS Prevention and Awareness
Campaign
5
Microbes in Space
6
A Multimedia Approach to Teaching
CSO Courses Shows Promise
7
Elusive Equality
8
Development of Interactive Technologies
for K-12 Education
9
Reducing Violence Against Women on
Campus
10
Rapid Response Robotic Telescope
13
Offshore Wind Renewable Energy
Commercial Development Project
15
The Brain Proteomics
in Space Research
16
Project Vision Aims to Help Head Start
Teachers Earn Degrees
17
Joseph Jenkins Roberts Center for
African Diaspora Studies
Norfolk State University Research Magazine
is published annually. Submit comments and
letters to the General Manager/Editor.
Mail:
Norfolk State University Research
Norfolk State University
Communications and Marketing
700 Park Avenue
HBW 340
Norfolk, Va. 23504-8060
E-mail:
marketing@nsu.edu
NSU Research • Spring 2010 3
Dance Becomes Innovative Tool in
HIV/AIDS
Prevention
and Awareness Campaign
By Sheila A. Ward, Ph.D., MPH
Health, Physical Education, and Exercise Science
ationally, over one million people are living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Nearly one-fourth of these persons are
unaware of their HIV-infection. HIV, the ninth leading cause of
death for African Americans, is a preventable public health issue.
Healthy People 2010 and Healthy Virginians 2010, a nationwide initiative to improve the health of all people in the United States for the first
decade of the 21st century, share the goals of reducing the number of
cases of HIV infection among adolescents and adults and increasing
the proportion of sexually active persons who use condoms. The
mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office
of Women’s Health (OWH) is to promote the health of women and girls
through gender-specific approaches. In meeting this mission, OWH has
allocated funding to promote cultural and gender-specific HIV/AIDS
prevention education to young women attending minority institutions
with an overall goal of reducing the number of new cases of HIV infection among women enrolled at HBCU campuses. Since 2006, Norfolk
State University has been awarded over $333,000 to implement an
OWH initiative on campus.
N
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2006,
80 percent of women were newly HIV-infected from high-risk heterosexual contact. More HIV infections, the virus that causes Acquired
Immunodeficiency Disease Syndrome (AIDS), occurred among young
people aged 13-29 years than any other age group. Although African
Americans comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population, they accounted
for 45 percent of the estimated 56,300 new HIV infections in 2006.
As of September 2008, African-American women in Virginia accounted
for 77 percent of all women living with HIV/AIDS and 77 percent of all
new HIV/AIDS diagnoses among women. According to a 2007 report
from the Virginia Department of Health, the Eastern Region of Virginia
has the highest percentage of people living with HIV (34.8 percent) and
the second highest percentage of people living with AIDS (29.2 percent) in the state. Seventy-one percent of people living with HIV/AIDS
in Eastern Virginia are black and forty-seven percent of the females
living with HIV/AIDS in the Eastern Region became infected through
heterosexual contact compared to eleven percent for males.
Funding from OWH has enabled gender and culture-specific health and
wellness symposiums for NSU students during their freshmen orientation week that includes the administration of a health behavior survey
and an evaluation; an HIV/AIDS one session, three-hour intervention
program that targets females ages18-24 years with an emphasis on
freshmen females; participation in the creation of an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs
questionnaire; and the organization of fall, winter, and spring oncampus free HIV screenings. The symposiums encourage male and
female students to adopt and maintain a healthy life on campus. The
primary goal of the intervention program is to provide college-level
African-American women with the knowledge and skills to protect
themselves from HIV/AIDS/STIs through the practice of safer sexual
The title of this program is based on
the word, and the acronym A.S.H.E.
stands for Achieving Sustainable
Health Empowerment. Each dance
movement session ends with the
group saying “Ashe”—be well and
have good health by adapting and
practicing healthy behaviors.
4 NSU Research • Spring 2010
Center for Biotechnology and
Biomedical Sciences Researchers Send
Microbes into Space
behaviors and the
promotion of healthy
lifestyle behaviors.
Currently, the intervention
tool is A.S.H.E: The HIV/AIDS
Awareness and Prevention Program.
The word ‘Ashe’ is West African for the saying ‘all is well’ or ‘all is good.’ The title of this program is
based on that word, and the acronym A.S.H.E. stands for
Achieving Sustainable Health Empowerment. Each dance
movement session ends with the group saying “Ashe”—be
well and have good health by adapting and practicing healthy
behaviors. The program utilizes evidence-based strategies
including the administration of an OMB approved HIV/AIDS
knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs pre-test, post-test, and
three-month follow-up questionnaire and session evaluations
to assess the impact of the intervention. The underlying
theoretical framework is the Theory of Freeing, by Paulo Freire,
which is aimed at empowerment education underscored by the
interaction of culture. This interactive, small group, peer-led
culturally specific and gender-based program consists of
discussions related to African and African-American
womanhood, beauty, and relationships; HIV/AIDS education
and prevention strategies; and an African-based dance
movement experience and discussions about food.
The use of African-centered Dance as an HIV/AIDS intervention tool has been highlighted as an innovative model strategy.
This strategy has been presented at the 2007 Minority
Women’s Health Summit in Washington, D.C. The use of
repetition in African dance is a theme that must be transferred
to HIV/AIDS prevention. The HIV/AIDS prevention information
must be repeated over and over and over again using
evidence-based and exploratory methods that connect with its
participants until the primary goal of providing women with
the knowledge and skills to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS
through the practice of safer sexual behaviors and the
promotion of healthy lifestyle behaviors is achieved.
Sheila A. Ward, Ph.D., MPH, is an associate professor in the Department of
Health, Physical Education and Exercise Science. Ward is the lead investigator
for the NSU HIV/AIDS awareness initiative.
orfolk State University Researchers
(Dr. Govindarajan Ramesh, Dr. Joseph
C. Hall, Dr. Sudhakar Baluchamy,
Center for Biotechnology & Biomedical
Sciences) and students in collaboration with
NASA, University of Houston, Jackson
State University, University of California
Santa Cruz, Stanford University, Texas A & M
University and Texas Southern University
(lead) developed the experiments that were
part of the Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-129
mission which launched on November 16, 2009
from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in
Florida.
N
The unique experimental data will be used to develop grade-appropriate microbiology modules for students in kindergarten through
twelfth grade. Data downloaded from NASA's Payload Operations
and Control Center will be available on the research center's
Website. In addition, educators will receive a teacher's guidebook
featuring background information, lesson plans, and student
activities for conducting projects in their classrooms. BioServe
Space Technologies at the University of Colorado provided
management support and hardware for the experiment. The NSU
researchers will be examining the growth, morphology and
genomic and proteomics profiling of E. coli and B. Subtilis bacteria
grown in a microgravity and radiation environment.
NSU Named
as a Leading
Educational
Institution for
Information
Assurance
Norfolk State University has been designated as a National Center
of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education for the
academic years 2009-2014 by the National Security Agency and
the Department of Homeland Security. This program is intended to
reduce vulnerabilities in the national information infrastructure by
promoting higher education in information assurance and producing a growing number of professionals with information assurance
expertise. NSU students who are enrolled in the program are able
to apply for scholarships and grants through the Department of
Defense Information Scholarship Program and the Federal Cyber
Service Scholarship for Service Program. Dr. Jonathan Graham,
associate professor of Computer Science, serves as the Center’s
Director.
NSU Research • Spring 2010 5
A Multimedia Approach to Teaching
CSO Courses Shows Promise
A Study in the Use of
Scratch in the CSO Course
By Mona Rizvi, Ph.D. and Thorna Humphries, Ph.D.
Computer Science
any computer science departments
are struggling with low enrollments
and retention. According to the
2006-2007 Taulbee Survey [1], computer
science enrollments have fallen more than 50
percent in the past five years. A study
conducted in the late 1990s [2] showed that
the attrition rate was highest in the freshman
and sophomore years for computer science
(CS) majors. Like other universities, the
Computer Science Department at Norfolk State
University lost students after their first year.
Since the attrition rate is highest in the freshman and sophomore years, researchers have
targeted the CS1 and CS2 course sequence in
an effort to produce courses that enable
learning and stimulate a positive interest in
programming and thus a positive attitude
towards computer science. Funding for this
research has been supported by a grant received
from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to
improve the quality of science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for all undergraduate students.
M
Through several years of study, investigators
have attributed various factors to the attrition
rates of computer science majors. These are
as follows:
• Some researchers suggest that the
introduction of the object-oriented (OO)
paradigm in CS1 courses might be a
contributing factor in low enrollment [5].
• The current generation of students is
not easily engaged using the traditional
methods of teaching computer science.
These students have been referred to
as the “Nintendo generation,” and they
want more media incorporated into the
classroom [3].
Figure 1. A screen-shot of a project loaded in the Scratch programming environment.
• In the late 1990s, universities were
faced with cutting the number of
courses in their degree programs to
lessen the effect of rising tuition costs.
Therefore, courses such as CS0, that
taught algorithm development, were
removed from programs resulting in
at-risk CS majors being placed
immediately in CS1.
One approach to reducing the attrition has been
to support learning how to program through the
use of narrative tools, visual programming tools,
and flow-model tools [3, 4, 6, 7]. The objective
of these tools is to provide some level of
abstraction with respect to the syntax of a
programming language so that a student can
concentrate on algorithm development.
Additionally, some also provide instant feed-
back; e.g., Alice supports storytelling using
animation. Thus, as a result of a programming
activity, a student may produce a graphical
movie or a computer game, satisfying the
student’s interest in media.
A new CS0 course, CSC169, was designed to
examine the effectiveness of Scratch to
improve the retention and the performance of
at-risk freshmen majoring in computer science.
At-risk students are defined as students who
enter the university with weak mathematics
skills. Novel curriculum materials have been
developed using Scratch, a media-rich visual
programming language developed at MIT.
The name Scratch is derived from the
technique of moving a vinyl record back and
forth on a turntable. Figure 1 shows a
screen-shot of the programming environment
continued on page 18
6 NSU Research • Spring 2010
Elusive Equality
By Charles Ford, Ph.D.
History
n 2009, Norfolk, Virginia commemorated
the 50th anniversary ending governmentsanctioned closing of six white public
schools to prevent 17 carefully screened
African-American students from attendance.
The Norfolk 17, as the students became known,
were finally admitted into the schools on
February 2, 1959, but only after four months of
cancelled classes and judicial rulings. Little
else about public school desegregation
before or after that hallowed date has come
to light until recently.
I
Combining official school board records with
the results of dozens of personal interviews,
district court transcripts found in the National
Archives, underutilized archival collections
from the region’s white powerbrokers, and the
integration of the accounts from the area’s
three major newspapers—the AfricanAmerican weekly, the Journal and Guide, as
well as the Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Dispatch—
researchers connected the flashpoint events
in Virginia’s school desegregation story.
Research also examined the teacher
equalization battle of the late 1930s and
1940s, the school closings of the late
1950s, and the busing debates of the
1970s and ’80s as well as advancing
into the 21st century.
Norfolk 17
Although less well-known than Little Rock,
Arkansas, or Birmingham, Alabama, Norfolk
was home to one of the last century’s most
important civil rights campaigns—the struggle
for educational equality. Between 1939 and
1986, African-American activists in Norfolk
initiated three precedent-setting federal court
battles to equalize the city’s public schools:
Alston v. Norfolk (1940), Beckett v. Norfolk
(1956-1975), and Riddick v. Norfolk (1986).
These legal confrontations provide an excellent
framework to explore the dialectic between
African-American activists who sought educational equality and white political elites who
sought to preserve the traditional social order.
The research places these civil rights cases in
their broad social contexts, to include the
firsthand experiences of those most directly
affected by the court decisions and, in particular,
to analyze African-American sources and
stories left out of previous accounts. In the
end, it was found that Norfolk’s positive selfimage—both then and now—is very problematic, given the inequities and injustices
that continue to plague American education.
The city’s recurrent spouts of self- congratulation
occurred after equalization efforts in the
1940s, token desegregation in the 1960s,
apparent compliance with busing mandates in
the 1970s, and the return to neighborhood
schools in 1986.
The debates over educational equality in
Norfolk have enjoyed significant but episodic
coverage in the existing literature. Standard
works such as Earl Lewis’s In Their Own
Interests (1991), Forrest White’s Pride and
Prejudice (1993), and Alexander Leidholdt’s
Standing Before the Shouting Mob (1997)
address some elements of the local debates,
but they do so by focusing on discrete periods
of time and narrow groups of people. In fact,
no current book examines the long-term significance of the African-American struggle for
educational equality in Norfolk. The current
research, which will be published in a book, is
intended to fill this historiographical void,
while providing an enjoyable and, at times,
humorous read for an educated public.
In many ways, the telling of this elusive story
has become possible only in the last year, as
primary sources have been released for public
consumption. In October 2007, transcripts of
continued on page 19
NSU Research • Spring 2010 7
Development of Interactive
Technologies for K-12 Education
By Rasha Morsi, Ph.D.
Director, Creative Gaming and Simulation Lab
resent day students are the digital generation. Today’s students
are normally more apt to use Google to search for information
than to locate information in a book or at the local library.
Developing and using computer simulations to educate and train
students in the 21st century becomes an expected educational process
rather than a suggested one. At Norfolk State University’s Creative
Gaming and Simulation (CGS) lab, students are engaged in numerous
development projects in the areas of Simulation and Training
Technologies (S&TT), as well as game design. The lab is also involved
in developmental projects for K-16 education.
P
CGS iMEd
Since the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the freely available SDK are all
relatively new, there has been a small but rapid growth in the
application and design of new programs by individuals, organizations,
and universities. Despite all these new developments, there have only
been a small number of educational tools/games designed to work on
these platforms. CGS iMEd (iPhone Math Education) is intended as a
suite of tools developed on the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch platform. The
tools are intended to aid students in coping with the mathematics
subject in the Standards of Learning (SOL) exams. CGS iMEd is
designed to randomly generate problem statements for the students to
answer and performs a Just-In-Time (JIT) assessment of the user’s
response. iMEd is designed to use the appeal and capabilities of the
iPhone and iPod Touch to innovatively train students in specific
objectives found in the VA Math SOLs. CGS iMEd and CGS iMEd2 are
two products from the suite; the former is designed to address VA SOL
Math criteria 4.1, 5.1, and 6.1, whereas the latter includes SOL criteria
addressing exponent values and their use in arithmetic operations. CGS
iMEd is currently available through the iTunes store. iMEd 2 is
expected to be released at the end of the year.
NAEQG
Not Another Educational Quiz Game (NAEQG) is another tool created by
the CGS development team. This is an interactive quiz game which
is playable on a PC with a regular mouse or with a Wiimote, the
primary controller for Nintendo’s Wii console. NAEQG dynamically
generates the game sessions using questions from an xml file.
8 NSU Research • Spring 2010
CGS iMEd2
The xml file contains released test questions that have been used with
permission from the Virginia Department of Education. This is done to
ensure that the student plays the game with questions that look similar
to what they will see on the actual exam. The intention is to deploy
NAEQG in the Virginia school system which will provide teachers with
the ability to help their students practice for the SOLs with numerous
versions of the released tests in a fun and interactive way.
NAEQG is designed to utilize any type of multiple choice style
question. This capability makes it desirable for use with any subject
matter. The game not only randomizes the question selection, but also
randomizes the placement of the multiple choice answers on the
screen so the student will not be inclined to ‘remember’ what the
answer is to a particular question, but rather have to solve the
problem to reach the correct answer. At the end of each quiz, the
student sees an assessment screen displaying the percentage of
correct responses.
Rasha Morsi, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the College of Science, Engineering and
Technology, Engineering Department.
Norfolk State University Receives Grant for
Reducing Violence Against
Women on Campus
By Lula Saunders Sawyer, Ph.D.
Sociology
T
he United States Department of Justice
(USDOJ) calls violence against women on
college and university campuses one of the most
prevalent and widespread forms of violence in
our country. Crimes including rape, dating and
domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking
are furthermore believed to be among the most
under-reported crimes in our society (USDOJ,
2005). Norfolk State University has received
funding from the United States Department of
Justice, Office of Violence Against Women to
help reduce sexual and other forms of violence
against women on college campuses.
“The Grants to Reduce Domestic Violence,
Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking on
Campus Program” is designed to encourage
institutions of higher education to adopt comprehensive, coordinated responses to domestic
violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and
stalking. Campuses, in partnership with
community-based nonprofit victim advocacy organizations and local criminal justice or civil legal
agencies, must adopt protocols and policies that
treat violence against women as a serious
offense and develop victim service programs that
ensure victim safety, offender accountability, and
the prevention of such crimes (USDOJ, 2005).”
CGS iMEd2
NAEQG
While various forms of violence against women
appear evident on all college campuses, conversations with counseling staff at Norfolk State
University indicate that female students who
visit the Counseling Center are dealing with
problems related to sexual assaults or issues of
childhood sex abuse. The Department of Justice
has expressed particular interest in projects
submitted by Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as well as other minority organizations.
This interest is based, in part, on the need to better
understand the experiences of African-American
women, as well as barriers that may restrict their
utilization of victim and support services.
While many factors may influence the response
of African-American women to participate in victim services, it is also believed that sexual
violence has become “normalized” in parts of
society. Rose (2003) indicates that some women
may come to believe that the assault or abuse is
commonplace or deserved, based on commonly
held perceptions. Accordingly, victims of sexual
violence may not understand the need for advocacy, support and services in terms of medical
treatment, counseling services, psychology, emotional or legal assistance. Distrust of the criminal
justice system may further serve to hinder reporting of crimes by minority women.
Goals for the NSU Campus Program to Reduce
Violence Against Women include:
• increasing education and awareness of
rape, dating and domestic violence, sexual
assault and stalking on campus, with
special emphasis on mandatory education
to incoming students;
• training of all sexual violence responders,
including law enforcement officers and
judicial affairs officers, as well as
counseling and residential life personnel;
• creating a campus/community sexual
assault response team (SART) to ensure
leadership, policy development, coordination and effective delivery of victim
services on campus;
• increasing campus security around
women’s dormitories and in high-risk areas
through improved lighting to address all
forms of violence against women;
• implementing community partnership
agreements by working with the Office of
the Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney, and
the RESPONSE Sexual Assault Services of
the YWCA to meet our goal of reducing
violence against women on college
campuses and in our community.
Persons interested in learning more about
this program should contact Lula Sawyer at
lssawyer@nsu.edu or Vanessa Jenkins at
vcjenkins@nsu.edu. Educational programs,
speakers, and student activities are available
upon request.
Lula Saunders Sawyer is an assistant professor in the
Department of Sociology’s Graduate Program in Urban Affairs.
NSU Research • Spring 2010 9
Rapid
Response
Roboti
Telescop
Always Ready to Capture Astronomical Phenomena
By Carlos Salg
Physics
10 NSU Research • Spring 2010
N
orfolk State's Rapid Response
Robotic Telescope (RRRT), located
at the Fan Mountain Observatory
(Figure 1), focuses its research activities on
the study of transient astronomical phenomena [1]. The telescope, which operates
under one of the darkest skies in Virginia
overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains,
collected its first starlight in October of
2007. Funded by the National Science
Foundation, NASA, and the Commonwealth of Virginia, the RRRT
project was born at NSU to complement course offerings in the
recently created minor in Astronomy and with the desire to start a
new branch of research in observational astronomy. Very few Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) offer a degree
program in astronomy or are involved in astronomy research,
resulting in a significant underrepresentation of African Americans
in the field [2]. This unique facility gives NSU the opportunity to
make astronomy more accessible to its students and to
enhance NSU’s public outreach through collaborations
with local public school systems and local
amateur groups [3].
The RRRT is a 60 cm (24”)
Ritchey-Chretien telescope
with equatorial fork
mounting (Figure 2)
[4]. It is equipped
with CCD cameras
for standard wideband (UVBRI) and
narrow band imaging,
photometry and polarimetry.
The telescope is robotic,
fully automatic, and
controllable through the
Internet, allowing its
full operation from
NSU’s campus. The
RRRT enclosure is a fiberglass clamshell dome (16’
in diameter) that allows the
telescope to point at any place
in the sky, with altitudes
greater than 30 degrees, at any
time with no further mechanical
tracking or motions.
ic
pe
Since the RRRT uses the same instrumentation for imaging, photometry, and
polarimetry, it is “always ready,” i.e. instrumental changes are unnecessary. For polarimetry, we are building an additional module to carry
the polarimeter analyzers — a pair of calcite
Savart plates.
ado, Ph.D.
t
Figure 2: Rapid Response Robotic
Telescope.
t
Figure 3: NGC 7635; “The Bubble Nubula”
pictured by RRRT-BBAA
Because of the RRRT’s rapid slewing and
robotic operation, its research activities are
centered on the study of transient astroNSU Research • Spring 2010 11
nomical phenomena. These are astronomical
events with high time variability. They are produced rapidly and are unpredictable. Therefore, they need to be measured very fast. The
RRRT was designed with the study of Gammaray Bursts Optical Afterglows (GRB-OA) in
mind. The telescope points to an object, and
starts taking data within a few seconds. The
intention is to measure BVR magnitudes and
polarization during the first 100 seconds after
the GRB is detected by NASA’s Swift or Fermi
missions (GRBs are detected in space as their
gamma ray emissions do not penetrate the
atmosphere).
GRBs are one of the most exciting objects in
astrophysics. Their fundamental importance to
cosmology and particle physics can be appreciated from the fact that GRBs are temporarily
up to a million times more luminous in the
optical than their host galaxies. They are
detectable to the limits of the observable
Universe. There are two models for the GRB
phenomenon, one goes by the name “hypernova” – in analogy with the well-studied
supernova – and the other as “compact binary
collisions” where two compact neutron stars
collide [5]. Both scenarios anticipate the
formation of a black hole. The burst emission
is envisioned to result from ultrarelativistic
particles that are accelerated in a narrowly
collimated jet emerging from the spin axis of
the nascent black hole. The optical afterglow
is produced when this jet interacts with the
interstellar material in the neighborhood of the
collapsed star. Thus, in GRBs we may be
seeing one of the most exotic processes in the
Universe – the creation of a black hole.
The expected rate of GRBs detected by Swift
and Fermi over the RRRT horizon is approxi-
Figure 5
Figure 4: NSU physics major observing through the RRRT.
mately one every five to six days. Therefore,
the telescope is available for other types of
research and educational projects. RRRT
observation time is open to any educational
institution or amateur astronomer group that
presents us with a good observation proposal
(priority is given to NSU students, faculty, and
our closer partners). The Back Bay Amateur
Astronomers (BBAA) is one of our closest partners. They have already started searching for
minor objects in the solar system including
Near Earth Objects (NEOs). Members of the
BBAA have used the RRRT for astrophotography,
as can be seen by the beautiful picture of the
“Bubble Nebula” shown in Figure 3.
Several NSU students have visited the site for
direct observation of the night sky through the
telescope (see Figure 4).
This may be seen in Figure 5, by comparing
images of a newly discovered stellar tidal
stream from the accretion of a satellite galaxy
at a distance of 200 million light years taken
with the Black Bird Observatory (BBO)–below
left, the William Herschel 4.2-m telescope
(WHT)–below center, and the RRRT–below
right. As seen, the RRRT is competitive with
the much larger WHT in less observing time.[7]
The RRRT’s potential for astronomical research,
education, and outreach is immense. The RRRT
is a great asset for the NSU community.
References
1. http://www.astro.virginia.edu/research/observatories/
FanMt.php.
2. Norman, D., et al. “Increasing the Number of Underrepresented Minorities in Astronomy at the
Undergraduate, Graduate, and Postdoctoral Levels
(Paper I),” Astro2010, The Astronomy and Astrophysics
Decadal Survey, Position Papers, no. 39, (2009).
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/astro2010/
DetailFileDisplay.aspx?id=442.
3. Forte, T; “Amateurs Team with Local Universities,”
The Reflector, September 2005.
4. http://rrrtserver.nsu.edu/.
5. Woosley, S. E. & Bloom, J. S., “The Supernova GammaRay Burst Connection,”Annual Review of Astronomy
and Astrophysics 44, 507–56, (2006).
6. Martínez-Delgado, D. et al.; Ap.J,692,955M (2009).
7. Julio A. Carballo, D. Martinez-Delgado, S. R.
Majewski, D. A. McDavid, and Mischa Schirmer;
(Private Communication).
A collaboration of astronomers from the
University of Virgina and Europe are planning
to use the RRRT to make diffuse light
images of disk galaxies to reveal tidal
features. The tidal features
demonstrate the Cold Dark
Matter paradigm of hierarchical
galaxy formation through
accretion of dwarf galaxies [6].
Researchers have already been
able to show that the RRRT
could compete with larger
observatories in this task.
Figure 1: NSU’s Astronomical
Observatory: Rapid Response
Robotic Telescope.
Carlos Salgado, Ph.D., is a professor of Physics and
Astronomy in the Physics Department within the
College of Science, Engineering and Technology.
12 NSU Research • Spring 2010
Economic Impacts of an
Offshore Wind Renewable Energy
Commercial Development Project
on the Economies of the Hampton Roads Region and the
Commonwealth of Virginia
By Macki Sissoko, Ph.D.
A
Accounting, Finance, and Information Management
ccording to the U.S. Department of Energy
estimates, U.S. offshore resources have the
potential for generating more than 900,000
MW of renewable energy. These estimates
exclude the areas from the shoreline to
5 nautical miles, 67 percent of the
potential area within 5 to 20 nautical
miles from shore, and 33 percent of
the potential area within the 20 to 50 nautical miles to
account for shipping lanes and avian, marine mammal, fish, and view shed concerns.
The Mid-Atlantic coastal region accounts for more than half of the country’s offshore
NSU Research • Spring 2010 13
wind potential for waters less than 30
meters deep. Water depths within 5 to 20
nautical miles off the coast of Virginia are
relatively shallow, and generally deepen
gradually with distance from the shore,
which would give the Commonwealth
of Virginia a comparative cost advantage in terms of offshore tower
foundation and installment costs
over any other state offshore wind
energy project on the East Coast.
Despite such a large offshore resource
potential, offshore wind development in
the U.S. remains uncertain. The Cape
Cod Wind project being conducted in Massachusetts and
the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) Offshore Wind Park
project of New Jersey are at the forefront of the U.S.
interest in offshore wind development; however, they have
not reached the planning and implementation phase yet
despite strong statewide public support and interest by
prospective private investors.
To gain a balanced perspective about the costs and
economic impacts of offshore wind energy projects, in 2007
the Virginia General Assembly established the VirginiaCoastal Energy Renewable Consortium (VCERC). Its original
members include Old Dominion University, Virginia Tech,
Norfolk State University, James Madison University, and
the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The membership
was expanded in 2008 to include Virginia Commonwealth
University, University of Virginia and Hampton University.
NSU, which received funding from the state, conducted a
study on the economic feasibility of an offshore wind
energy commercial development project. The purpose of
this study was twofold: (1.) to estimate the generic costs of
each offshore wind farm size, on a 3.0 MW turbine, using
actual data from installed as well as planned wind farm
projects identified in the literature; (2.) to assess the
economic impacts of each wind farm size on the economies
of the Hampton Roads and the Commonwealth of Virginia in
terms of income, employment and tax revenue generations.
Overall, the goal of this research is to provide lawmakers
and prospective private investors useful information that
would help them make informed decisions about offshore
wind energy development in Virginia.
A typical offshore wind energy project consists of three
basic developmental phases: manufacturing and assembly
(M/A), construction and installation (C/I), and operation
and maintenance (O). Each project development stage will
directly and indirectly generate employment opportunities:
temporary jobs, new jobs, and permanent jobs. Capital
expenditures on supplies and labor will generate various
incomes (wages and salaries, proprietors’ incomes, corporate profits) and tax revenues (local, state, and federal tax
14 NSU Research • Spring 2010
payments), which, via regional multipliers, will increase
the gross state product of Virginia and other states.
Three scenarios were considered: (i) 49 turbines wind
farm; (ii) 196 turbines wind farm; and (iii) 441 turbines
wind farm. VCERC cost components breakdown for a 196
turbines wind farm were based on the following model
which provides a complete cost analysis, including
the distance to shore and the annual mean wind speed.
The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission provided
support for this study by allowing the use of a software
programming model called, the REMI Policy Insight, which
is an input-output model suitable for estimating the direct
and indirect economic impacts resulting from the development of an offshore wind energy development in Virginia.
The impact of a 196 turbines wind farm are as follows: (1.)
total employment: About 300, 868, and 1,146 full-time jobs
will be created consecutively during the three-year period
of construction and installation of the 196-turbine wind
farm. However, these estimates could be significantly
higher if some of the components such as gear boxes are
manufactured at the former Ford plant in Hampton Roads.
(2.) total output for the state of Virginia in year 2000 U.S.
dollars (i.e. fixed terms) is estimated at $28.4 million in
2009, $118.5 million in 2010, and $145.5 million in 2011;
(3.) the value added to the Gross Regional Product in 2000
U.S. dollars is $17.5 million, $57.8 million, and $74.4
million for 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively. (3.) total
personal income in nominal terms (current U.S. dollars)
generated is projected to increase from $14.0 million in
2009, $46.69 million in 2010, to $65.4 million in 2011.
Consequently, there will be a change in Average Annual
Wage from $4.0 to $17.37 and $23.4 per hour. (4.)The fiscal
effects of the project such as increases in personal income
tax revenues, corporate income tax revenues, property tax
revenues were not estimated by the Hampton Roads
Planning District Commission.
Macki Sissoko is an associate professor of Accounting, Finance, and
Information Management and a member of the Virginia Coastal Energy
Renewable Consortium.
The Brain Proteomics
in Space Research
By Govindarajan Ramesh, Ph.D.
Interim Associate Vice President for Research
paceflight looks like fun. We have all
seen television footage of astronauts
gently floating through their spacecraft,
unencumbered by gravity. But exposure to
weightlessness can affect human physiology.
Because astronauts do not experience the
force of gravity for several days or months
during space missions, muscles atrophy and
bone is lost. Spaceflight is associated with
complex factors and many of them are potential stressors that may affect the working
performance, psychological, and somatic functions of the astronauts. Space travel induces
many deleterious effects on the in-flight crew
due to the ‘0’g environment. Previous studies
from our laboratory have shown that the brain
is vulnerable to the stress of microgravity.
Moreover, it controls most of the cellular and
physiological functions. The brain experiences
a tremendous fluid shift which is detrimental
for many of the changes in physical behavior
seen in astronauts.
S
The sensitivity of the mammalian central
nervous system to gravitational influences
involves both direct and indirect factors. Gradual loss of cerebral circulation with increasing
acceleration beyond 5 G has been shown to
evoke changes in patterns of brain electrical
activity, with epileptic form discharges
triggered primarily in the hippocampus system
of the temporal lobe, and spreading into other
brain systems. In addition, the heart does not
have to work as hard in space to pump blood
throughout the body; this can cause problems
when astronauts return to earth and again
experience the full force of gravity.
Results have indicated that changes in the
gravitational environment might represent a
useful tool to investigate the neurobiological
and behavioral responses to stressors and
may provide insight into the mechanisms
underlying development and plasticity of the
nervous system in the brain, heart, and lungs.
It has been shown that in the hind limb suspension model, simulated microgravity in mice
induced oxidative stress in the brain resulting
in lipid per oxidation in various regions of the
brain. These data, including other observations reported in the brain during microgravity
exposure, suggest involvement of this environment in alteration of genes and protein
expression profiling.
The space research was funded by the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) to establish a microgravity research
facility at Norfolk State University and to
investigate and develop natural countermeasures to combat the effects of microgravity
and space radiation. NSU researchers are
collaborating with NASA to study the molecular effects of weightlessness, or microgravity.
The researchers at the NSU laboratory have
used a terrestrial model to generate a microgravity environment in laboratory settings
(Tail-suspension model; see Fig A) and discovered several differentially expressed proteins
in the hippocampus proteome of mice exposed
to a simulated microgravity using proteomics
technology (Fig B). The study also has confirmed
the alterations in structural proteins that are
affected in real space microgravity environment.
This study adds that the terrestrial animal
model for microgravity can be used to monitor
the changes occurring in actual space environment. This elaborate and systematic study
provides a platform for better understanding
the microgravity environment. The research
team has observed microgravity related
proteome changes in brain tissues,
particularly hippocampus. However, it is not
conclusive whether or not these changes in
the proteome could be reverted back to its
normal expressions after sufficient rest to the
mice. Studies with such strategy would be
beneficial to understand the recovery process
from microgravity stress. Studies are already
underway that examine other brain regions to
check the differential expression pattern in
simulated microgravity. Researchers are also
investigating the role of high energy particles
(similar to space environment), particularly the
protons in experimental mice models using
proteomics strategy.
Govindarajan Ramesh, Ph.D., is Interim Associate Vice
President for Research and a professor of Biology. He is the
principal investigator for the microgravity research project.
Are We in Space Yet? (a) In the tail-suspension model, a caged mouse is elevated at an angle of 20° to simulate the effects of
microgravity. (B) Representative 2DE gel from mice that spent seven days in a simulated microgravity environment.
NSU Research • Spring 2010 15
Project Vision Aims to Help
Head
Start
Teachers
Earn Degrees
By Arletha McSwain, Ph.D.
Early Childhood and Elementary Education
he first five years of a child’s life is a time
of tremendous growth and development
of brain pathways that are necessary to
support cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional,
and physical development (Erickson, 1963;
Piaget 1962; Vygotsky, 1978). It is during this
five-year period of rapid growth and development that many parents want to place their
child in a high quality external child care center.
T
As full implementation of “No Child Left Behind” continues, increased attention is being
paid to early childhood education. Public
school teachers state that many children arrive
at kindergarten classroom doors unprepared to
master the critical concepts necessary for a
good educational beginning, thus causing
state and local governments and school divisions to take a more proactive role in their discussions as it relates to early childhood
education. Children are more likely to succeed
in school and in life if they have high quality
care and a high-quality education during their
early formative years. (Bowe, 2000; Hooper &
Umansky, 2004).
Head Start is a program of the United States
Department of Health and Human Services that
provides a high-quality comprehensive education which focuses on health, nutrition, and
parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. In addition, this agency
provides competitive funding opportunities to
assist colleges and universities in increasing the
number of Head Start classroom teachers with
degrees in early childhood education.
On September 30, 2007, Project Vision, a $2.5
million grant, was awarded to the Early Childhood Elementary Education Department of
Norfolk State University. Project Vision
emulates Norfolk State University’s mission by
yielding a cadre of culturally and linguistically
diverse as well as highly qualified degreed
Head Start teachers that will:
• Assume leadership roles in developing
and implementing teaching strategies
which meet the needs of culturally and
linguistically diverse young children to
include those with disabilities and
their families;
• Implement the culturally and
linguistically relevant curriculum training
they received during their matriculation
at Norfolk State University;
• Build a strong working relationship
between Head Start staff and the
Norfolk State University academic
community; and
• Improve teacher morale, self-esteem and
professionalism.
Project Vision has partnership agreements
with several Head Start Agencies throughout
the state. These partnerships have yielded
sixty Project Vision participants with five
graduating in December of 2009. These Head
Start teachers have been exposed to the
advantages of being a part of a community
of learning cohort groups. These advantages
include contact with cohorts who have: a)
similar academic and professional goals, b)
similar courses, c) similar expectations, d)
similar backgrounds, and e) a similar set of
personal and family demands. Project Vision
participants have benefited by not having the
financial burden or pressure of paying for their
tuition or books. Project Vision has also provided funds for travel to attend the annual
National Association for the Education of
Young Children conference in New Orleans
and North Carolina. For many of the participants, this was their first time flying, and most
importantly their first time attending an all
expense paid national conference. Those who
attended the conference in New Orleans were
featured on NAEYC’s website.
The culminating results of Project Vision will
be to ensure that 100 Head Start teachers
earn the Bachelor of Science Degree in Early
Childhood Education while completing a
series of culturally and linguistically diverse
courses, experiences and professional development training.
References
Bowe, F. (2000) Birth to five early childhood special
education. Albany, NY: Delmar.
Erickson, E. (1963). Childhood and Society. New York:
Norton. Freud, A. (1965) Normality and pathology in childhood: Assessment of development. New York: International
Universities Press.
Hooper, S., & Unmasky, W. (2004). Young children and
special needs. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.
Piaget, J. (1962). Play, dreams, and imitation in childhood
New York: Norton.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in society: The development of
higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
t
16 NSU Research • Spring 2010
Project Vision Students attend class in the Video Conference
Room (Bozeman 242). Funded by the School of Extended
Learning, Title III and Project Vision.
Arletha McSwain, Ph.D., is Interim Associate Dean of the
School of Extended Learning.
Joseph Jenkins Roberts Center
for African Diaspora Studies
By Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Ph.D.
Director
he Joseph Jenkins Roberts Center for African Diaspora Studies
is dedicated to the exploration and analysis of the history
and culture of African people and to those who were
part of the Diaspora, studying and disseminating the
story of their migration around the globe from
centuries ago to the present day.
T
Named in honor of a Virginian whose legacy as
the first President of Liberia embodies globalism
and housed in the Department of History at
Norfolk State University, the Center will reflect
the new global society by generating scholarly
works on the African Diaspora and by making
these accessible to anyone with an interest
in seeing and learning from this rich store of
information.
Clearly, so much of the history and legacy of the
African Diaspora and its connections with America in
general and Virginia in particular has been lost to history or published without explaining the important and
longstanding connections. For example, Afro Cuban soldiers
fought on the side of the American forces during the American
Revolution. In the 1790s, Afro Cuban sailors and intellectuals came to
Norfolk, Virginia during the same period that black and white refugees fled Santo Domingo at the beginning of the Haitian
Rebellion and settled in Hampton Roads.
Already, work conducted through the Center has provided the City of Norfolk with important material on the Underground
Railroad operation in that city through the creation of a detailed map and Website. The Center’s director used her research,
supported partially by the Center and in conjunction with a grant from the National Park Service, to host a symposium on the
Underground Railroad in Hampton Roads and to provide a class to high school teachers in the Norfolk Public Schools focusing
on Abolitionism and the Underground Railroad.
In 2010, the Center will help provide important research to construct maps that highlight important Civil War sites throughout Hampton Roads for the upcoming conference that will be held on September 24, sponsored by the Virginia Civil War
Sesquicentennial Commission and hosted by Norfolk State University. In addition, the Center will publish a book and sponsor
an exhibit that highlights images of the Civil War in Hampton Roads.
Currently, the Center has been funded to construct a prototype game focusing on two individuals who were important and
nationally known fugitives who escaped through the Underground Railroad: George Latimer and Henry “Box” Brown.
Through lectures, symposia, conferences, workshops, Diaspora Fellowships, and public programs and projects, the Roberts
Center is an important addition to NSU and the broader community by enhancing research and its dissemination within the
humanities and social sciences.
NSU Research • Spring 2010 17
A Multimedia Approach to Teaching
continued from page 6
of Scratch, displaying a project developed by a
student in CSC169.
Three objectives targeted toward intervention
for at-risk students include:
1. Establishing or improving the
students’ understanding of core
programming concepts.
2. Supporting the establishment of
confidence in programming by the
student participants, thus leading to a
positive impression of programming.
3. Enhancing students’ problem solving
skills.
During fall 2009, two CSC169 courses were
taught based on the curriculum developed as
part of the project. Although the research is in
the early stages of the investigation, a survey
of 44 students in CSC169 and 80 students in
CSC170 (CS1), which was administered about a
month into the semester, indicated that the
students in CSC169 were slightly more
confident in their abilities to program than
those who took CSC170. It is hoped that
students will continue to build on this
confidence as the semester continues.
References
[1] 2006-2007 Taulbee Survey, Computing Research
News, Vol. 20, No. 3, May 2008.
[2] J. M. Cohoon and L.-Y. Chen. Migrating out of
Computer Science. Computing Research News, Vol.
15, No. 2, 2003.
[3] M. Guzdial and E. Soloway. Teaching the Nintendo
generation to program. Communications of the
ACM, Vol. 45, No. 4, April 2002.
[4] D. J. Malan and H.H. Leitner. Scratch for Budding
Computer Scientists. SIGSCE’07, Covington, KY,
March 2007.
[5] B. Manaris, Dropping CS Enrollments: Or the
Emperor’s new Clothes? Inroads SIGCSE Bulletin,
Vol. 39, No. 4, December 2007.
[6] K. Powers, S. Cooper, K. Goldman, M. Carlisle, M.
McNally, V. Proulx. Tools for Teaching Introductory
Programming: What Works? SIGSCE’06, Houston,
TX, March, 2006.
[7] R. H Sloan and P. Troy. CS 0.5: A Better Approach to
Introductory Computer Science for Majors.
SIGCSE’08, Portland, OR, March 2008.
Mona Rizvi, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science. Thorna Humphries, Ph.D., is an
associate professor in the Department of Computer
Science.
This work is supported by the National Science Foundation,
Grant DUE-0837695.
18 NSU Research • Spring 2010
T
he following charts represent the significant research
accomplishments of NSU’s faculty and staff. NSU is committed
to strengthening its research infrastructure and supporting the
efforts of its many innovative investigators.
Elusive Equality, continued from page 7
the Norfolk School Board minutes were deposited
for the first time at Kirn Memorial Library in downtown Norfolk. Then, in April 2008, the School Board
donated 37 boxes on school desegregation to the
special collections department at Old Dominion
University. These new sources provide a fresh
understanding of what happened in Norfolk’s
schools over the last 50 years.
The work integrates black and white sources from
Norfolk in a way that has never been done before,
synthesizing ignored voices with those that are more
familiar. Most significantly, the researchers used the
Norfolk Journal and Guide and interviews with local
African-American leaders to rebut the standard
historical narrative, which holds that Norfolk was
a moderate Southern city where desegregation
occurred smoothly and swiftly. In fact, just the opposite was found. Desegregation occurred slowly and
painfully here, requiring constant legal and social
agitation into the 21st century, proving Frederick
Douglass’s assertion, “Power concedes nothing
without a demand.”
The legal confrontations between African-American
civil rights activists and white political elites in Norfolk are historically significant for a number of reasons. First, occurring as they did, at critical times in
the civil rights movement, the educational cases in
Norfolk exemplified three very different tactical
methods for achieving the same strategic objective:
educational equality. First, in the Alston case, civil
rights lawyers fought for salary equalization within
the existing segregationist framework. Second, in
Beckett, lawyers challenged segregation by insisting that students, regardless of race, had the right
to attend the school closest to their homes. Finally,
in Riddick, civil rights lawyers argued that crosstown busing must be used to achieve racial balance
and true integration. Although this transformation
in legal strategy has been examined before, it has
rarely if ever been analyzed and traced in a single
geographical area.
Thus, Norfolk presents
an invaluable opportunity, the chance to analyze the evolution and
generational differences
Charles H. Ford, a professor of
within the civil rights
movement in one critically History and Interim Dean of the
College of Liberal Arts at
important location. More Norfolk State and Dr. Jeffrey L.
importantly, the genesis Littlejohn of Sam Houston State
University in Huntsville, Texas
of the project could have (formerly of NSU) have written
a book entitled, Elusive Equality:
only begun at Norfolk
Desegregation and ResegregaState, itself an important tion in Norfolk’s Public Schools.
It is expected to be published
vehicle in this long and
next summer.
continuing struggle.
NSU Research • Spring 2010 19
700 Park Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23504-8060
NSU: 75 Years of Pride, Achievement and Promise
Giving to NSU
Norfolk State University is an institution of higher
learning that strives to provide a quality education
for all of its students. NSU is proud to be one of
the nation’s largest Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs) and serves many students
who are the first in their families to attend college.
Although NSU is a public University to which the
Commonwealth of Virginia provides funding, that
funding comprises only 34 percent of the University’s
annual budget. NSU relies on grants and private
giving to supplement the state’s funding so that it
can fulfill its mission “to provide an affordable, highquality education for an ethnically and culturally
diverse population, equipping them with the capability
to become productive citizens who continuously
contribute to a global and rapidly changing society.”
The University works to fulfill the mission by enriching
academic programs, attracting and retaining quality
faculty, providing scholarships to promising students,
and increasing student access to cutting-edge technology. In order to be implemented and sustained,
all of these resources require the support of private
donors.
For more information, call University Advancement
at 757-823-8323 or visit us on the web at www.nsu.edu.
Make checks payable to the Norfolk State University
Foundation, Inc., 700 Park Avenue, Norfolk, VA
23504-8060.