“This is perhaps the most important and even the most exciting thing to happen to me,” she said, adding that Chicago is one of the foremost schools for studying ancient history.

Howlett said she has always been interested in studying Egypt and ancient history.

“In studying Egypt I am not only studying the beginnings of the modern world, but my own beginnings,” she said. “Egypt is one of the oldest civilizations, an example of what we were when we were just beginning to think on a grand scale. The Western World likes to believe it began with Greece and Rome, but the beginnings can be traced back even further, to the first civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia.”

Wayne Riggs, Ph.D., Howlett’s adviser and assistant professor of history at Flagler, said Howlett is an outstanding student, both academically and personally.

“Nicole is a brilliant person with a very gracious personality,” he said. “We’re all very excited about
her acceptance.”

Don’t dally in the bathroom. That’s part of what Casey Welch, an associate professor of sociology at Flagler, learned a few years back when he went to work at a national fast food chain. He won’t name the burger-flipping joint where he took a minimum-wage job to study how chains exert total control over workers. Even bathroom breaks are timed!

Welch admits he wasn’t a very good worker. But it did give him fascinating material that he has presented at conferences and plans to eventually publish in an academic journal. Wanting to know more, we interviewed him about this unique study, as well as what it was like shoveling fries.

Q. How did the idea for this come about?
A. The background issue for me was marginalization and power. All of my research, all of my interests have been the distribution of power, the use of power, the shifts of power in all types of ways.

Q. What made you think to look into fast food restaurants?
A. I remember being struck while going into a [fast food chain] that everybody on the dayshift was older — no high school kids. Before I entered the field I knew that at least several of them had kids. So they’re working minimum wage, no benefits, just the worst of jobs as adults raising children. … What they would do is as soon as you were there long enough to get raises, they would cut your hours or they would fire you. So there were just constant labor cost caps, and I just thought it was such an abusive system. … They had a help wanted sign in concrete in the front lawn. So they were always hiring. That just struck me as weird. Why would anyone work there?

Q. In your background research you use the term “cheerful robots” to describe fast food workers. Where did that come from?
A. American sociologist C. Wright Mills is the one who described what our modern system is becoming — the automatization and standardization of American culture. He was referring not just to production, but to social and cultural life. So we are “cheerful robots” in our homes, in our social lives. We’re so incredibly conformist even as we espouse individualism.

Q. How does that apply to fast-food workers?
A. The majority of workers [in the restaurant] do not question the value of their work, per se. They might be disgruntled about their manager, their supervisor or their pay. But overall they just clock in and do their work. … They liked being at work. They liked their co-workers. They worked really hard to get the average time for the drive-thru down. They got nothing. Every time they got it low, the MANAGER got a bonus! … The manager I was under never did a thing for the workers. Not a single thing. Didn’t give them a free fry. But [the workers] still were like, “Let’s do it guys!” They would yell at each other. And when the shift was over they would high five. They were just “cheerful robots.”

Q. Was it a sense of accomplishment they were looking for or were they conditioned to do it?
A. That became my first research question, which was how do they control the people? I was really looking at the systems of control. If someone spent too much time in the bathroom — and too much time was like three or four minutes — the manager would say, “What are you doing in there?” Whenever you went on break, they had a timer. You set the timer and it would beep loudly when it was done. Of course all the food was timed. They had what we referred to as stations, and a common phrase was, “don’t forget you’re chained to your station.” You weren’t literally chained, but it was metaphorical.

Q. Was it difficult to get a job in a fast-food restaurant?
A. No experience necessary. … They were a bit puzzled by the educational level of my application.

Q. You say in something you wrote that you were not a good fast-food employee, but you tried to be. What did you mean?
A. That type of operation depends on standardization and repetitiveness. Coming out of owning my own business and academics, I just wasn’t accustomed to that. That was a general problem, and was manifest in situations like assembling the sandwich: I would communicate with the customer on the other side of the counter about their preferences. This slowed down the process. … The idea of speed of production being the dominant principle did not make sense to me personally … I would make very thoughtful double bacon cheeseburgers, and the manager would chastise me (and make me re-watch the instruction video on the official way to assemble each sandwich).  

Q. How important is it for researchers to really get boots on the ground and see for themselves what they’re studying?
A. Very important. We can’t identify patterns with single interviews, observations, anecdotes or even surveys. This is the irreplaceable advantage of good qualitative research — the domain is smaller, but the depth of knowledge is much deeper.

Q. Why is research like this important?
A. Any research that can assist us in more accurately and fully understanding social phenomena is beneficial.  In the case of my work, it is good for people to know more about our economic and labor system — how it operates and how it impacts the lives of real people.

Professional Profile: Dr. Casey Welch
Welch earned his Ph.D. and his M.A. in sociology from The University of Illinois. He earned his B.A. in criminal justice with a minor in philosophy from The University of Florida. His research interests include crime, marginality, stratification and social control. This summer his Sociological Research Methods class produced a study for the city of St. Augustine about public opinion on the future of the Willie Galimore pool in Lincolnville.

Ten Flagler students spent part of April pushed from their comfort zones when they hopped on a plane to Quito, Ecuador. They lived without clocks, quenched their thirst with licorice-flavored water, slept with monstrous insects and ate yucca for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Needless to say, it wasn’t your typical spring break trip.

Kristin Nelson, former director of student activities, led the 11-day alternative break to Ecuador in April to work with the Foundation for Indigenous Community Development in Pastaza, Ecuador. It’s a nonprofit organization aimed at creating sustainable development in indigenous communities of Pastaza. FUNDECOIPA manages the 2,200 acres of the Arutam Rainforest Reserve.

“Any time you experience another culture and you’re out of your comfort zone, it’s hard,” Nelson said. “No matter how much you talk about it before you go, everything is taken from you.”

But the students relished their rainforest adventure, despite the culture shock. During the first week they lived in the Shuar community of Arutam, where they lived in a wooden shelter with a view of three volcanoes in the distance. They worked on several projects with the Shuar tribe, including constructing a cafeteria for local school children and working on a family garden in the jungle.

Liberal arts major Tina Hudzinski said they helped the community with daily tasks, such as collecting, harvesting, cooking and preparing yucca. She said it was a ton of work split up into three sections every day: work, a jungle lesson and a cultural session.

“We learned about the plants and how people live,” Hudzinksi said. “They talked about the history of the people, their customs, how they are different, and they showed us their traditional Shuar dance.”

Political science major Haleigh Smith said the trip to Ecuador left her thirsty to sharpen her Spanish skills and to become more proactive about making positive environmental changes. It brought to life the environmental issues she is used to hearing about from professors and textbooks.

“It makes it completely different when you go and see what’s happening … you see the people who need the Amazon, and they need the forest. That’s their livelihood,” she said.

Smith said she had a huge “aha!” moment in the jungle.

“I saw this is worth fighting for,” she said. “All of my research and my reasoning — there is a purpose for it, and I have got to do more to help.”

Nelson said the main goal of the trip was to do a knowledge-exchange program.

“Our students learned western farming techniques by working in local community gardens on and around Flagler College,” she said. “We then learned the farming techniques of the Shuar Indians while being completely immersed in their culture.”

She said being immersed in that lifestyle blew her away.

“One student said something like, ‘We think water is a necessity, but here, it’s like a luxury,’ ” she said. “The showers just dripped on you, it takes time to prepare water; they have to make sure it lasts the whole day … and here [in the U.S.] we just turn on the tap and drink all the time.”

Hudzinski was exhausted by the end of each day, but said it was well worth her energy.

“I loved the little things – like when I fell asleep in a hammock every night, and I was outside all the time, which I loved,” she said.

Hudzinksi’s greatest shock was the locals’ concept of time — it’s drastically different from the American lifestyle. Although the Shuars have a strong work ethic and are determined to get things done, she said she never knew what time it was or how long activities were going to last. But it taught her to stay in the present and to not worry about what would happen next.

“Since I have been back, I have been much more relaxed about time,” she said. “I learned to let go of time constraints, and to know that things will happen, and it’s good.”

The Flagler College Ecuador Alternative Break was helped by a $3,500 donation from the Don Ausman Foundation, which hosts a St. Augustine 5K run called Don’s Run in memory of a Michigan State student who died in 2009. The organization also gave $1,000 in 2010 to help two site leaders with stipends toward their trip. Nelson said leftover funds will help other Flagler students go on future alternative breaks.

Photo by Zach Thomas, '00

Abrams lettered in basketball at Flagler from 1976-80. He still holds the college’s record for most free throws attempted in a game with 19 vs. Saint Leo College in 1978. Abrams is currently the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Flagler College Alumni Association.

Sherri Anthony, ‘82 – Women’s Basketball & Softball

Anthony was a four-year starting point guard at Flagler from 1978-82. She helped lead the Saints to an 18-7 record and the AIAW State Title as a freshman. Flagler went on to play in the regional tournament, representing all the schools in Florida. As a senior, Anthony was selected as the team’s most valuable player. She still holds the career record for assists at Flagler with 368 and is 11th on the all-time scoring list with 751 points. Anthony has coached girls’ basketball at Allen D. Nease High School for the past 25 years.

Photo by Zach Thomas, '00

The team won the NAIA National Championship, the first of two titles. Gordon Jones was the singles champion, and he teamed with Jim Twigg to win the doubles title.

Three alumni awarded for achievements and contributions

Photo by Zach Thomas, '00

Stewart began working at Flagler College in 1980 and was the director of Athletics from 1982 to 1993. He helped form the Florida Sun Conference and served as commissioner from 1993 to 2006. In 1993, he was appointed dean of Student Services and has received the Administrator of the Year award four times.

Professional Achievement Award – Dr. Thomas Kelleher, ‘93

Kelleher serves as associate professor and chair of the School of Communications at the University of Hawaii. He published “Public Relations Online: Lasting Concepts for Changing Media” in 2006 and has been published in 10 scholarly journals.

Community Service Award – William “Bill” Walter, ‘84

Walter is the owner of St. Augustine Center for Living, a care facility and day treatment program for developmentally disabled adults. Over the past two years, he helped raised thousands of dollars for Relay for Life, and he is funding a bedroom at the Bailey Family Center for Caring for the terminally ill.

• Hugh Shaw Memorial Surf Contest
• Athletics Hall of Fame Ceremony and Dinner
• Alumni Awards Luncheon
• Markland Reception
• Alumni Art Show
• Public Administration Alumni Picnic

“The Flagler College Auditorium is one of the most important and widely used facilities in St. Augustine,” said Flagler College President William T. Abare Jr. “Since its opening in 1991, the auditorium has played host to hundreds of events and thousands of patrons.”

The first phase of renovations is planned for the summer of 2012 and will include interior upgrades to seating, carpet and décor. Improvements will also be made to technical components like sound and lighting. The estimated cost of the first phase of renovations is $1 million.

“The auditorium is used by community organizations for concerts, music festivals, film festivals, recitals, other forms of entertainment, and public and governmental meetings,” Abare said. “The educational and cultural programs offered in the auditorium have enriched the lives of our residents and have made our community a better place in which to live and work.”

The second phase — estimated at $1.2 million — is scheduled to commence after funds are raised, and will consist of a structural addition to the facility. The addition will feature more classroom space, meeting rooms and offices for faculty and staff.

Along with Theatre Department productions and other student events, community groups including The EMMA Concert Association, The St. Augustine Community Ballet, The St. Johns County Cultural Council, The Gamble Rogers Folk Festival and The Tourist Development Council have used the auditorium.

The educational and cultural programs offered in the auditorium have enriched the lives of our residents and have made our community a better place. – Flagler President William T. Abare, Jr.

In addition, through Flagler College programs such as Writers-in-Residence and the Forum on Government and Public Policy, the auditorium has hosted community presentations by the likes of Pat Conroy, Dennis Lehane, Robert Novak, David Broder and Andrew Young.

Renovations funded by Setting the Stage will ensure the venue’s continued availability for upcoming keystone events including the 500th Anniversary of Juan Ponce de Leon’s landing, the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act and the 450th Anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine.

For more information about the fundraising campaign, contact F. Mark Whittaker, vice president for Institutional Advancement, at (904) 819-6437, or visit www.flagler.edu/settingthestage.

Fueled by nature and tinged by oddity, Brandon Nastanski’s installation art and sculptures provide a glimpse into the mind of this 2000 grad.

Nastanski created his best-known installation art while exploring Boston’s 527-acre Franklin Park. Walking his dog took him to the park several times a day, where he started collecting discarded items. As a refuge for his collection, Nastanski built a lean-to against a rock outcropping, using sticks and twine he found in the park. He hung a picture of nature’s original ombudsman, Henry David Thoreau, at the entrance and dubbed his creation the “Unofficial Franklin Park Research Outpost.”

“Unofficial” because there was no map to find your way — at first, visitors just happened upon it accidentally — and he didn’t seek permission from the Boston Parks and Recreation Department to build the structure. Spurning the officials landed Nastanski and his outpost on the pages of The Boston Globe and local alt weekly The Boston Phoenix. In an editorial, The Globe celebrated the project, while wagging a finger at Nastanski’s bypass of the permits process.

Permit squabbles aside, Nastanski used the structure to house the growing collection of artifacts he’d found wandering Franklin Park: a rusted shopping cart, old bottles, tea tins, candles, a raccoon skull, religious statues and a keyboard, among other items. Nastanski has almost created an altar to the park itself — a form he’s familiar with — as he admits to a history of “almost obsessively” collecting things.

“I’ve always displayed these things around my home, toeing a fine line between a natural-history-type display slash altar-type display,” he said.

As part of his MFA work from the prestigious Parsons Fine Arts in New York City, Nastanski created a miniature speakeasy that was featured in the 2008 Pulse Contemporary Art Fair in New York City. Visitors entered the tiny wood cabin through a trick bookshelf. Inside, Nastanski served drinks amid found furniture and other curiosities.

“Brandon Nastanski’s speakeasy … reminds us of the at-first cozy, then-frankly-spooky cabin in which Jeffery Euginides’s hermaphrodite protagonist realized she was more than just a little girl in Middlesex,” New York Magazine remarked in its write-up of the work, before celebrating the artist’s eccentric sense of humor by adding, “Or is that just us?”

“Getting the public in is a big part of my installations, [especially in] a public piece like that,” Nastanski said.

An assignment from a Parsons professor to create an art piece involving a shelf, liquid and a jar helped him realize the connection between his collecting past and his artistic future.

“A friend pointed out that this should be the easiest project for me,” he said. “I had these things all over my house. Duh.” From there, Natanski began to marry his personal life with his art life, embracing things he’d previously considered outside the realm of his artistic practice.

During his stay in Boston, Nastanski also helped form Esprit de Corps, an art collective dedicated to providing open access to the art world. The group has exhibited many shows in its own basement residence in Jamaica Plains, along with hosting or curating shows at other galleries.

Now living in Richmond, Va., Nastanski has returned to some of the pieces he began at Flagler, working with plaster to create body casts, which he’s now melding with his love of natural history by attempting to create sculptures of “sort of animal-human hybrids.” Whatever work is yet to come, you can be assured it will be equals parts nature, spook and art.

Natanski says his art in and of the Boston woods is still standing more than two years later. The “Unofficial Franklin Park Research Outpost” has withstood the brunt of two northeast winters in its attempt to reach out to the public and bring them more into the world of art.

“I didn’t have permission to do this, but the area was very underused,” Nastanski said. “I like to think that I bettered the space — I cleaned up tons of trash and made a safer place and a destination in the park.”

He recently visited it and said community has helped to maintain the piece.)

In Richmond, e is also working on a project similar to Franklin Park called, “The Unofficial Chimborazo Museum of Curiosities.” You can view his work at: www.brandonnastanski.com.

Play: Flagler College Jeopardy

Answers

Photo by Scott Smith, '04

There they were, some of the biggest names in the world of golf: Tiger Woods. Michelle Wie. Donald Trump’s son, Donnie, and even pop star (and golf aficionado) Justin Timberlake.

They were all part of Golf Magazine’s “40 Under 40” list, which was billed as a collection of “the most influential people in golf under 40-years-old.”

But if you looked past the celebrities and sport stars, you may have noticed two more recognizable names on the list: Flagler alumni Laura Hill and Guy Garbarino, both 1998 sport management grads.

Hill is senior director of communications for the PGA Tour and Garbarino is senior director of outreach for The First Tee, an organization that helps bring golf to elementary schools across the United States.

Garbarino said his inclusion on such a star-studded listed was pretty unexpected.

“Honestly when I heard that I made (the list), it was pretty humbling,” he said. “There are some big names on the list (Timberlake, Tiger, and others) and I was glad to see that The First Tee was recognized for our youth development efforts in golf.”

Hill — whom the magazine lauded for her media liaison skills, saying it was “no small chore in the eye of the Tiger storm this year” — was also shocked by her inclusion.

“Of course, I headed to the bookstore to pick up a few copies,” she said. “The woman at the cash register asked, ‘Oh, do you know someone in here?’ … I have to admit it was kind of fun to tell her, ‘Yes … me!’ ”

Garbarino was picked for his involvement in the The First Tee National School Program, which helps to bring the sport to elementary schools across the United States.

“At the end of the day, I hope that the article will help to create more recognition of our organization and that it will lead to additional opportunities to reach more young people in this country,” he said.

For Hill, it was a reward for what has been a difficult year with the controversy surrounding Woods as he returned to the links.

“It’s been an interesting year, definitely,” she said. “We’ve been dealing with media that don’t typically cover the PGA Tour or golf in general — more from the entertainment side of the business — because of Tiger’s situation.  

“But it’s also given us a chance to highlight the personalities of some of the other players who often get less attention because Tiger was dominating the Tour for so many years. Every day is different, which keeps this job exciting and challenging for me.”  

The magazine called the 40 picked for its list the game’s “up-and-coming generation of influencers, trendsetters and newsmakers, an eclectic mix of talent worth watching today and for many years to come.”

Nominees for the ranking were solicited from a wide variety of sources and the finalists were picked by a panel of Golf Magazine editors. See the full list at www.golf.com.

King joined the Flagler faculty in the fall of 1987 as an assistant professor of philosophy and religion. He retired with the rank of associate professor in 1999.

He is survived by his wife of 20 years, Dr. Darien Andreu, whom he met in 1987 when they were both new faculty members of the college.

While he had not taught at Flagler in more than a decade, he remained an integral part of the college community and was widely popular among alumni. In 2005, the Dr. Robin King Philosophy and Religion Scholarship was established by his former students and is awarded annually to a student who demonstrates academic achievement and exceptional community service.

He graduated with a B.A. in history and religion from Wesleyan University in 1969; served in the U.S. Army for two years, including eight months in Vietnam; earned a master’s degree in religious studies from the Hartford Seminary in 1974; and was awarded a Ph.D. from Florida State University in 1977.

There will be a memorial service at Alumni Weekend on Friday, April 29, at 3 p.m. in the Ringhaver Student Center.

Read More: Tribute to Dr. King by alumna Ginger Riggs, ’90