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October 28, 2004

People of the Times

James P. Cassaro, head of the Theodore M. Finney Music Library of the University Library System, has been elected one of four vice-presidents of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML) for a three-year term. In his role as vice-president, Cassaro chairs the association’s programme committee, the body responsible for creating the annual conference program. The association’s next conference will take place in Warsaw, Poland, in July 2005.

Recognizing that an athlete’s state of mind can significantly affect athletic performance and to help athletes mentally prepare for the demands and challenges of their sports, the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine has appointed Aimee C. Kimball to a newly created position – director of mental training.

Kimball works with individual athletes of all levels to identify and recreate their ideal mindset during games and practices. Individual mental training not only addresses performance problems, but it also is used to prevent problems from occurring and to help athletes reach higher levels of competition.

Kimball also works with teams in creating mental training programs to meet their specific needs. Team training includes enhancing group cohesion through team building, leadership development, improved communication and goal setting. Additionally, she works with groups of parents and coaches educating them on ways they can help young athletes enjoy a positive sport experience.

She also assists athletes outside of their sport in developing life skills, balancing sport with other priorities, working through major life decisions and transitioning out of sport.

Kimball earned a doctorate degree, specializing in sport psychology and counseling, from the University of Tennessee, a master’s degree in sports studies from Miami University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in movement science from Penn State.

She recently earned formal certification as a mental training consultant from the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology.

Last week, Toni Carbo, professor of information sciences and public and international affairs, was honored as one of six Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania by Gov. Edward G. Rendell and Judge Marjorie O. Rendell, First Lady of the Commonwealth, in a ceremony at the governor’s residence in Harrisburg.

Carbo and this year’s six other honorees received medals and citations of their accomplishments.

Carbo served as dean of Pitt’s School of Information Sciences from 1986 to 2002. She has served as executive director of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Sciences during the Reagan Administration, as executive director of the National Federation of Abstracting and Indexing Services in Philadelphia, as a consultant to the Institution of Electrical Engineers in London and in several other positions in the library and information sciences field. She was also a Madison Council Fellow in Library and Information Science of the Library of Congress.

Carbo has served on the jury of the Heinz awards for technology, economy and employment, and is currently on the boards of Three Rivers Connect and of the Center for Democracy and Technology. She was appointed by the Clinton Administration to the U.S. National Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee. She is on the American Library Association Honor Roll and has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Pennsylvania Library Association and the 100 Most Distinguished Alumni Award from Drexel University, where she earned the master’s degree in library and information science and the Ph.D. degree in management of information resources. Her undergraduate degree in English literature is from Brown University, and she is a fellow of several organizations.

To be considered for Distinguished Daughter selection, women must be nominated by organizations within the Commonwealth for accomplishments of statewide or national importance. Carbo was nominated for the honor by the Women’s Association of the University of Pittsburgh.

Christina Graham, director of student activities at the Bradford campus, served as regional conference coordinator for the National Association for Campus Activities Mid America Regional Conference.

The Oct. 14-17 mid-America region conference, held in Covington, Ky., included schools from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois and western Pennsylvania.

The National Association for Campus Activities, also known as NACA, is the nation’s largest collegiate organization for campus activities with programs and services designed to reflect the field’s increased responsibilities for student leadership development as well as entertainment programming. NACA’s activities and services link the higher education and entertainment communities, providing a forum for business and professional development.

As part of her responsibilities, Graham oversaw a committee of 42 volunteers, which includes staff from other universities and colleges, graduate and undergraduate students, and associate members of the association.

Graham, who has been employed at Pitt-Bradford since September 2002, is a graduate of Pitt-Johnstown, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a minor in computer science. She also holds a master’s degree in student affairs in higher education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Melanie O. Anderson, assistant professor of business at Pitt-Titusville, has been named a Sam M. Walton Free Enterprise Fellow for the UPT Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team, which she advises.

SIFE is a non-profit organization that works in partnership with business and higher education to teach college and university students leadership, teamwork and communication skills through learning, practicing and teaching the principles of free enterprise.

Under Anderson’s direction, the UPT SIFE Team coordinated 17 projects this year, including E-SIFE and SAFE.

With E-SIFE, the team helped area fourth grade students set up and operate school stores. The elementary students learned about economics, product selection, marketing, public relations, sales, accounting, inventory and customer service.

SAFE, or Seniors Against Fraud via Education, provided important information to senior citizens to help protect them against mail, telephone, Internet and other types of fraud.

The Walton fellowship was created in 1990 by the Wal-Mart Foundation and is named for Samuel More Walton, founder and chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. More than 700 Sam Walton fellows nationwide train and motivate more than 15,000 SIFE Team members every year.

Filed under: Feature,Volume 37 Issue 5

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