Out of the Big Blue

I met UK alumna Emily Sandford about six years ago through a mutual colleague. For a long time, she was someone I admired for her charismatic personality, marketing savvy and fabulous blog. Now I admire her for so much more. Check out the story below about Emily’s fight against Parkinson’s disease and her quest to run her own race. I am proud to call Emily a friend and I am inspired by her determination and spirit every day. I’ll be cheering her on, along with the rest of her UK family, as she completes Run the Bluegrass this Sunday! –Christina Noll

Article by Allison Elliott

With every step of her first half-marathon on April 3, University of Kentucky alumna Emily Sandford will be fighting Parkinson’s disease.

Sandford, 29, lost her mother, Claudette Hill, to young-onset Parkinson’s on April 3, 2007. To mark the fourth anniversary of her passing, Sandford is on a mission to raise $2,500 to further Parkinson’s research at the Kentucky Neuroscience Institute (KNI) by participating in the Run the Bluegrass Half-Marathon.

The day will also mark two other milestones for Sandford: the loss of more than 100 pounds, and her 30th birthday on April 5.

Sandford, who works as a marketing manager, is also a prolific blogger who has chronicled her fitness journey through her blog for approximately two years. A few months ago she announced her fundraising endeavor for KNI. So far she has raised over $1,500 in donations and sponsorships for the half-marathon, primarily through her blog. She has received donations from as far away as Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, as well as many from across the United States.

On her blog, Sandford discusses her workouts with a trainer, her progress toward being able to complete the 13.1 miles of the half-marathon, her weight loss, and her feelings about her body and herself. Although she has completed two 5K races, Run the Bluegrass will mark the most distance she has ever covered at once. Blog readers have been able to share her training and fundraising journey toward the half-marathon.

“I really am exposing myself. The best thing to come out of it is the support I receive from readers,” Sandford said. “My husband has also been amazing. He’s a nurse, and compassionate and caring.”

So, what inspired Sandford to challenge her body, while honoring the memory of her mother?

“My mom had young-onset Parkinson’s, beginning in her mid-40s,” Sanford said. ”She passed away at the age of 50. She could not control her health; I can control obesity and my own health. Parkinson’s is something you can’t prevent. It slowly takes away people’s motor skills and abilities. It can happen at any age and progress at any rate. By doing something active that people affected by Parkinson’s can’t do, we can bring light to the cause.”

Sandford relates that after the death of her mother and a series of stressful life events she gained a large amount of weight.

“My mom died, I had my birthday, I graduated with my MBA, I got a job, got married, got laid off, and started another job. That whole period was the breaking point,” she said.

While on travel for work, she felt herself becoming easily winded and realized “something has got to give.” It was then she reached out to a personal trainer and started her blog. She rallied the resources of sponsors like the Lexington Athletic Club.

“That was difficult,” she admits. “I don’t like asking for help, ever.”

Sandford was inspired to fundraise for KNI after participating in the 2010 Business Lexington Trivia Bowl, which also benefited Parkinson’s research at KNI.

“I just want to encourage people to support the people locally who are making a change. We have this fantastic resource at KNI,” Sandford said.

Emily Sandford holds a bachelor’s degree in Integrated Strategic Communication, and an MBA, both from the University of Kentucky. She blogs at http://skinnyemmie.com/ and Tweets @skinnyemmie.

Like many alumni, you may be looking for a new job, or just want to polish your skills in pursuit of a better opportunity. The UK Alumni Association Career Services is here to help!

UK Alumni Career Counselors can assist you in all phases of your career/job search including: exploring career fields, identifying marketable skills, polishing your resume, refining your interview skills, researching employers, preparing for an interview or customizing a job search campaign.

Whether you still live near campus or your home is across the country, Career Services are available in person, by phone, through e-mail and via Skype to all association members.

Make an appointment by calling 1-888-9-UKCATS. Or check out the CareerCat blog for helpful tips on job searching and professional development.

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Upcoming events include:

LinkedIn Workshop

April 02, 2011
10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Stuckert Career Center

Using LinkedIn for networking and your job search is the latest professional development trend. Employers, recruiters and professionals alike are using LinkedIn to find others & be found. Alumni Career counselors will offer LinkedIn tips to help enhance your online presence.

Last Minute Job Search

April 05, 2011
10:45 AM to 2:30 PM
King Alumni House

Are you about to graduate but still looking for a job?  Attend this workshop and choose from a variety of breakout sessions to help you maneuver your job search, including interviewing tips, branding and advice on your resume and cover letter.

Find out more and check the calendar for more events at ukalumni.net/career

by Linda Perry

March Madness always brings talk from UK fans of great shooting and the NCAA championship. But UK already won an NCAA championship earlier this month —the UK rifle team took the overall national title at the 2010-11 NCAA Championships held in Columbus, Ga.

The 12-member team was bolstered by the efforts of veterans Heather Greathouse and Ethan Settlemires , along with freshman Emily Holsopple and Henri Junghanel.

Now, I have to admit that I don’t know anything about what it takes to have excellent shooting in a rifle match. The meaning of the word “smallbore” escapes me and seeing that UK finished with a team total score of 4700 is incomprehensible. But learning that this is the first time in the UK program’s history that it has won the championship is all I really need to know. I know it involves lots of practice and dedication on the part of the UK students and Harry Mullins, who has a 26-year tenure as head coach of the team.

The UK program, over the course of the years, has accomplished a great deal, producing All-Americans, Olympians and winning conference championships. Winning the national championship over West Virginia by three points is truly the icing on the cake.

You can watch a recap of the NCAA competition and be proud that UK can out-shoot in more than one sport! Kudos to the entire program!

By Erin Holaday Ziegler

The road to success for University of Kentucky master of social work graduate Audrey Tayse Haynes has been anything but conventional. Haynes attended weekend school at Spalding University for her undergraduate degree in social work, night school at UK for her MSW and held down a full-time job in a community mental health center from start to finish.

Haynes, who is responsible for leading government relations at the nation’s 2,687 YMCAs and 50 YMCA state alliance organizations, doesn’t see her path or her destination as unusual in the least. “People think it’s a stretch that someone with an MSW background and experience in a community mental health center now has had the opportunity to work in the White House,” she said. “I see it as the next step. When you’re doing clinical work, or working in a social service agency, you’re advocating for that client or family. To me, it’s all part of the same conversation.”

Haynes will tell her inspiring story in a talk sponsored by UK’s College of Social Work titled “The Art of Supporting Kids and Families Through Politics and Policy” at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, at the W.T. Young Library Auditorium.

“There are a lot of misperceptions about what you can and can’t do with a degree in social work,” said the 1985 UK grad who worked full-time and took night classes to complete her degree. “Anyone who works on the ground would be more prepared to engage in a policy debate.”

She said many government officials don’t see public policy issues through the same lens. “Social work students often think that we can’t do certain things or we’re not allowed, and we use it almost as a reason not to be involved,” she said. “But we’re the ones that should be helping to improve policy. If we aren’t, who is?”

Haynes career in Washington, D.C., dates back to 1993. She held different posts in the Clinton/Gore administration, as well as directing former Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton’s national office. She has held appointments in the administrations of two other Kentucky governors as well.

Throughout her career, Haynes has been a strong advocate for welfare reform, health care, education, family and medical leave, domestic violence prevention and many other issues important to youth and families. She has received numerous state and national awards for her advocacy for mental health care, adult education and other issues impacting youth and families.

“I’ve always been politically active, which doesn’t mean one party over the other,” she said. “Usually the parties agree more on solutions than we think.  Usually, the debate is about the money: how much and where it’s going to come from. But unless we shape the debate with ways to improve the system, then we’re not even at the starting gate.”

Haynes joined YMCA of the USA as the chief government affairs officer in August 2002. The YMCA of the USA is the nation’s leading nonprofit committed to strengthening communities through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.

“Everything that has to do with children is government,” Haynes said. “It’s not just about helping these families out, but being a voice. How can we educate policy leaders about the realities and the barriers that families face?”

For more information on Haynes’ talk, please contact Heather Bosworth in the College of Social Work at (859) 257-6654 or heather.bosworth@uky.edu.

It was the great debate all over Big Blue Nation this morning: should you wear green, to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, or should you wear blue, the required game-day attire for Wildcat fans?

The answer was easy! While some fans did opt for a combination of the two, most would rather risk being pinched than forsake their lucky blue on game day.

A few ideas to make sure you’re covered on this day of luck–

• Wear your favorite UK t-shirt with a “Luck of the Irish” pin attached.
• Combine your UK blue dress shirt and a shamrock tie.
• Put on your lucky green socks with your UK gear.

How did you resolve this fashion dilemma today?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day and GO BIG BLUE!!

March Madness is finally here! It’s NCAA Tournament time and all across Big Blue Nation, fans are set to cheer on the Wildcats and UK Hoops as they compete for college basketball’s biggest prize.

From the moment our team takes the court to those last-second, buzzer-beating baskets, Kentucky fans are thrilled to be part of March Madness! Wearing blue, lucky T-shirts, painting our faces, and hosting Game Watch Parties are all part of the fun.

What are your game day traditions? Do you have any tournament time superstitions? Share them with us!

by Linda Perry

We all know the reward of hard work. But sometimes that delayed gratification takes longer to achieve than most folks are willing to endure.

But not for Gerald Smith, who is a history professor at UK.  He’s been helping to edit the Kentucky African American Encyclopedia, a comprehensive volume of research on the black experience in the Kentucky. It covers the individuals, events, places, organizations, movements and institutions which have shaped the state’s history since its beginning. He’s being helped by others, including UK grad students, but there is so much information to compile that the project is still a little less than half done.

The bright spot is that The University Press of Kentucky intends to publish the volume in 2013. It is believed that it will be the first book of its type in the United States.

The project is facing some financial difficulties, but so far the team has been able to continue its research, which includes traveling to various parts of Kentucky to acquire the valuable information.

To learn more or get involved, watch a video of Professor Smith as he discusses the Kentucky African American Encyclopedia project.

Click here to see the live blogging on Monday, Mar. 7, at 4 p.m.

by Linda Perry

I just found out the state of Kentucky has an official insect. It’s the Viceroy butterfly. Kansas has chosen the Viceroy, as well.

I was browsing the UK College of Agriculture entomology website, looking for something else, and tripped over this fact in an article about insects. The info was fascinating enough that I had to stick around and read the whole thing.  That means I discovered other insect trivia like a tabanid fly, related to the horse fly, is fast and has been clocked at 90 miles per hour. And that the queen of a termite colony can lay 6,000 to 7,000 eggs per day, and live 15 to 50 years. Yikes!

What type of insect has been on Earth the longest? We’ve all joked about it and apparently it’s actually true. The oldest group of insects are the cockroaches, dating back 300 million years.

Kudos to Rudy Scheibner, Extension entomologist, and Stephanie Bailey, entomology Extension specialist, for putting together these tidbits —and more — for all of us to enjoy!