Help Document the History of the Our Organization

by Beth Davison
Appalachian State University

The New Year ushers in the centennial celebration for the American Sociological Association. Part of the planned celebration is to reflect back on the history of ASA and its sister organizations. ASA has asked NCSA to document our history and provide a weblink for the ASA webpages. Over the next year, I and other members of the NCSA council will be working to establish a NCSA history webpage for the NC Sociology website.

If you have interesting historical information you would like to share about the NCSA organization or recommendations of individuals who can provide such information, please contact me: Beth Davison, davisonb@appstate.edu, 828.262.6397, Dept of Sociology & Social Work, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608.

From I-85 North (Charlotte): Take exit 173 (Cole Mill Rd). Turn right at light onto Cole Mill Rd. Turn right at the second traffic light onto Hillsborough Rd. The Hilton Durham is a half mile ahead on the right.
From I-85 South: Take exit 173 (Cole Mill Rd). Turn left onto Cole Mill Rd. Turn right at the first traffic light onto Hillsborough Rd. The Hilton Durham is a half mile ahead on the right.
From I-40 West (RDU Airport/Wilmington): I-40 West to exit 279-B (Highway 147/Durham Freeway). Remain on Durham Freeway for approximately 11 miles. Take exit 16-A. At the end of the ramp remain in the right lane and take exit 108-D. At top of ramp, turn left. The Hilton Durham is one mile ahead on the right.
From I-40 East (from Winston-Salem/Greensboro): Take I-40 to I-85. Take Exit 173 (Cole Mill Rd.) Turn right onto Cole Mill Rd. Turn right at the first traffic light onto Hillsborough Rd. The Hilton Durham is a half mile ahead on the right.
From 15-501 North (from Chapel Hill): Take exit 108D (Hillsborough Rd.) At the top of the ramp turn left onto Hillsborough Rd. The Hilton Durham is one mile ahead on the right.
From 15-501 South: Take exit 108D (Hillsborough Rd.) At the top of the ramp turn right onto Hillsborough Rd. The Hilton Durham is one mile ahead on the right.

This year the Nominating Committee has found three candidates for positions on the NCSA Executive Council and one candidate willing to stand for office as president-elect. NCSA members are invited to write in candidates for these offices should they so desire.

Miles Simpson is the candidate for president-elect. The nominees for the three openings on the NCSA Executive Council are Ella Keller, Tom Plaut, and Ken Wilson.

The president-elect of the NCSA will serve as the program chair for next year’s annual meeting. Following a year as president, this person will serve for one year as a member of the Executive Council.

Miles Simpson is Professor of Sociology at North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC. He is presently represents North Carolina Central University at the University North Carolina Faculty Assembly and serves on the University Personnel Committee. His research activities include studying HIV in older, rural, African American women. He is also involved in an initiative to integrate Durham county-level public health, education, crime housing, and crime data. He has served as a researcher at the Human Resources Laboratory, Army Research Institute and the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute. He edited of the Journal of Applied Gerontology. His publications have appeared in the American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces, Psychosomatic Medicine, Environment and Behavior, and the Annual Review of Sociology.

The membership will elect three of the following candidates to serve three-year terms on the NCSA Executive Council. Please use the enclosed ballot. You may write in candidates if you wish.

Ella T. Keller is Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology at Fayetteville State University. She received the Ph.D. from Mississippi State University and has taught at Fayetteville State since 1981. Her areas of specialization are sociology of the family and deviance. Among her teaching and research interests are African American families and the history of sociology. At Fayetteville State, she has served as Coordinator of the undergraduate sociology program and as advisor to the Sociology Club. She has been a member of the NSCA for over twenty years and has twice served on the Executive Council, 1986-89 and 1991-94. She was the 1995 recipient of the NCSA’s Distinguished Contributions to the Discipline Award and a 1997 recipient of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors’ Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Thomas Plaut is a Professor of Sociology at Mars Hill College and director of the college's Center for Assessment and Research Alliances (CARA). He came to western North Carolina in 1977. His sociological career has focus on communities and social change, but since 1990 has increasingly focused on applied research, especially in support of community-based preventive health initiatives. Beginning with a Kellogg Foundation-funded initiative in Madison County in 1989, he has assisted community-based health partnerships in North Carolina conduct needs assessments and project evaluations. CARA demonstrates the utility of sociology and social research to students, faculty and community members. In conjunction with this work, Plaut has published a statistical primer People, Politics and Economic Life: Exploring Appalachia with Quantitative Methods. He also co-authored Building a Healthier Tomorrow; A Manual for Rural Coalition Building. Both volumes have been published by Kendall/Hunt.

Ken Wilson is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at East Carolina University. He is the founding director of the ECU Survey Research Laboratory. He teaches courses in introductory sociology, methods, and research design. His current research includes investigations on internet access and the "Digital Divide," hurricane and disaster research, and guidelines for the responsible conduct of research. Wilson has previously served as president of the NCSA.

Thursday, February 17, 2005
7-9 pm Welcoming Reception at the Durham Hilton
Hot Hors D’ Oeuvres and Beverages
Friday, February 18, 2005
8:15-9 am Registration and Exhibits
Coffee, Bagels and Muffins
9-9:15 Welcome and Program Overview
Cathy Zimmer, NCSA President
9:15-9:45 Presidential Address: "The State of Sex Education in North Carolina," Rebecca Bach, President-Elect
9:45-10 am Exhibits and Mingle
10-11 am General Sessions I: Thematic Sessions
1. Latino Immigrants in North Carolina
Rebecca Bach, Organizer; Emilio Parrado, Presenter; Tom Plaut, Presenter
2. Health and Healthcare in North Carolina
Jammie Price, Organizer and Presenter; Jennifer G. Nooney and Linda M. Lacey (NC Center for Nursing), Presenters
3. Global Economy in North Carolina
Leslie Hossfeld and Ida Simpson, Organizers
11-11:15 Exhibits and Mingle
11:15-12:15 General Sessions II: Student-Focused Sessions
1. Students Doing Public Sociology
Beth Davison and Cheryl Brown, Organizers
2. Now that I have my BA in Sociology, where do I go from here?
Cheryl Brown, Organizer
3. Transferring Sociology Courses from one Institution to another in North Carolina
Lori Heiger, Organizer
12:30-2 pm Banquet and Awards
"Taste of the South" Buffet Lunch
Business Meeting
2-3 pm General Sessions III: Continuing our Theme
1. Crime and Justice in North Carolina
Cathy Zimmer and Bill Smith, Organizers
2. Sociology in Song
Rebecca Bach, Organizer; Al Dunkleman, Presenter
3:15 Meeting adjourns

by Cathy Zimmer
NCSA President

The Executive Council of the North Carolina Sociological Association proposes to separate the Secretary-Treasurer position into two positions, a Recording Secretary and a Treasurer. To make this change official requires changes to the NCSA Constitution. To amend the Constitution, the changes proposed below need to be approved by a two-thirds vote of the members present at our annual meeting. Underlined sections in the original wording indicate where changes will be made and in the amended wording indicate the changes. Please read over these proposed amendments and be ready to vote!

AMENDMENT 1

Original: ARTICLE IV, Section 1. The officers of the association shall be the President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary-Treasurer, and Editor(s).

Amended: ARTICLE IV, Section 1. The officers of the association shall be the President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Editor(s).

AMENDMENT 2

Original: ARTICLE IV, Section 2. There shall be an Executive Council of nine members broadly representing the membership, elected for three years, staggered terms, three being elected each year. The Executive Council acts for the Association, subject to the will of the membership. Officers of the Association sit as members ex-officio on the Council, and the President acts as Chairman of the Council.

Amended: ARTICLE IV, Section 2. There shall be an Executive Council of nine members broadly representing the membership, elected for three years, staggered terms, three being elected each year. The Executive Council acts for the Association, subject to the will of the membership. Officers of the Association sit as members ex-officio on the Council, and the President acts as Chair of the Council.

AMENDMENT 3

Original: ARTICLE IV, Section 5. The Secretary-Treasurer shall be chosen by the Executive Council for an indefinite term.

Amended: ARTICLE IV, Section 5. The Secretary and Treasurer shall be chosen by the Executive Council for an indefinite term.

by George H. Conklin
Editor, SOCIATION TODAY

The Spring 2005 issue of SOCIATION TODAY, to be published in March 2005, will include four articles on W.E.B. DuBois and will begin a new feature called Teaching Notes dedicated to providing information to teachers of sociology on information found useful by other professionals. The Fall 2005 issue of SOCIATION TODAY still has room for one more article on a subject of the author’s choosing.

The NCSA board has suggested that future issues contain information documenting the history of NCSA. If you are a long-term member of our society, we would be glad to hear from you and consider any information you can provide us of our activities since our founding in 1969. (If no one responds, I will be forced to make phone calls.)

SOCIATION TODAY has been accepted for listing in the Sociological Index. Since we do not charge for the journal, we are now known as an open-access publication. Lund University Libraries has developed a Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) at http://www.doaj.org/openurl?genre =journal&issn=15426300, which gives readers of SOCIATION TODAY an on-line search system. So far DOAJ lists 25 sociology journals; you may want to check out information students can find without going to the library. Please remember to use SOCIATION TODAY in your classes because our articles are more accessible to the public and students than is true of many professional journals these days.

Finally, I would like to thank our Board and the referees for the time and effort they have spent in the past two years in reviewing the articles submitted and for their tireless work for the journal. Open-access journals are the wave of the future.