Marietta College's Dr. Jacqueline DeLaat, a McCoy Professor of political science, will address the local chapter of the American Association of University Women at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 11.

The gathering will be held at St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Fourth and Scammel streets, Marietta. DeLaat will speak on "Women's Political Participation and Public Policy Attitudes."

She is a frequent teacher and presenter on topics related to women and U.S. politics, and has published a book, Gender Issues in the Workplace: A Case Study Approach, which addresses issues of workplace discrimination.

Marietta College's Dr. Marybeth Peebles, associate professor of education, has had the educational program she co-authored, Nuts and Bolts of Nonfiction: A Tool Kit for Building Better Readers and Writers, selected as a finalist for the honorary Golden Lamp Award. The Association of Educational Publishers, who selects the winner, said the Gold Lamp "is the most prestigious award within the field of educational publishing."

Published by Red Brick Learning, a nationally recognized publisher of educational texts and teaching/learning materials, Nuts and Bolts of Nonfiction is a program designed for students in grades 3-6. One of its goals is to decrease "writing anxiety." Peebles described writing anxiety as "an extreme apprehension, dread, or fear experienced before, during, and/or after writing that causes inordinate levels of stress and interferes with students' learning and academic achievement."

She continued with, "It is important to minimize the enervating power of writing anxiety. It is imperative that teachers at all levels recognize and understand the phenomenon of writing anxiety - its causes, effects, and possible treatments."

Peebles is thrilled her work and that of her colleagues on the Nuts & Bolts project has been honored by the AEP. She never expected her first venture into educational publishing would lead to being a finalist for the Golden Lamp Award. "Being a finalist is indeed an honor," she said. "I will have my fingers crossed from now until sometime this summer when we hear the results."

Peebles said the experience of researching and writing Nuts and Bolts has been extremely rewarding. "Working with and getting to know a wide range of people with a wide range of talents, increasing my knowledge of the publishing industry, and motivating me to translate some of my writing for Nuts and Bolts into articles for educational journals and other publications has been the most rewarding," Peebles said.