University of Kentucky - Kentuckian Yearbook (Lexington, KY)

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Classroom Prescriptions said Pisacano. But I have a compul- sion to teach young people. Part is vanity, it really builds your ego. The other part is that I love it and simply enjoy it. I enjoy the privilege of tea- ching and working with the Biology department. I think that if you can show someone something they've never known before, and make them appre- ciate it, then you've really done something, he said. A lot of teach- ers give students a lot of junk out of books. I teach them concepts. His methods were effective. Most students who took his class said re- gardless of good or bad grades, they learned a lot. Pisacano's main targets of teaching were the heart's functions and misfunctions, aging, mental health, and cancer. I remember so much from that class, said Dana Cooper, a 22-year- old psychology sophomore. He ex- plained about the main causes of heart disease and cancer and I've really tried to live by the preventions he told us about. I try and stay away from all the foods he told us were harmful. Cooper's attitude backed up Pisa- cano's philosophy of teaching preven- tion. Although some students felt he used unneccesary scare tactics in his class, Pisacano felt he was justified in 26 Pisacano Away from his professional life, Dr. Pisacano likes to take time off to spend with his wife and six children. For leisure, he liked to spend time playing the piano or feeding his fascina- tion for literary works in his private study at home. —Photo by David Coyle

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25 Pisacano With a familiar look of concern, Pisacano drills a point home to his students. —Photo by David Coyle Using touches of theatrics, Pisacano keeps his audience captivated in order to teach them what might otherwise be boring material. — Photo by David Coyle The face of a man who enjoys his work. After years of teaching the same material, it always seems fresh and alive to Pisacano. —Photo by David Coyle

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using frightening statistics to get a point across. They need to be made aware of these problems and their causes. Why wait until you need surgery? Why not by-pass the by-pass? It's by pre- vention that we're going to see these things wiped out from our society ' he said. Glenn Terndrup, a biology and ge- ology education senior, said the stu- dents had a positive reaction to Pisa- cano's strong convictions. 'I think the reason people liked it is because he's very authoritative and strongly opin- ionated, where other people are kind of neutral about things.' I think that if you can show someone something they've never known be- fore, and make them ap- preciate it, then you've really done something. As with most professors, Pisacano had his critics, but overall most stu- dents appreciated his class and his techniques. 'He was an intense teach- er, but you could tell he enjoyed tea- ching and really knew what he was talking about, said Brian Cotton, an art senior. 'You could tell he cared about us. Pisacano's heartfelt concern for people was why his class was so suc- cessful. He cared about his subject, but more importantly, about his stu- dents. Students need a lot of love, and occasionally, a good left hook. Pisacano 27 Pisacano's appreciation for literature and jour- nalism is evident in his teaching and in his home life. I love language, I love words. If I hadn't gone in the medical field, I probably would have gone into some sort of journa- lism. —Photo by David Coyle