SHSU Homepage

SHSU Update For Week Of June 29

University To Close For Independence Day
Planetarium Program To Make Astronomy ‘Colorful’
Center To Give Study Advice, Prep For LSAT
Psychology Prof Receives Teaching Award
Military Science Welcomes 18 For Junior Training
Picasso Project Founder Discusses Artist In Mexico
Send Update Items Here

University To Close For Independence Day

SHSU faculty and staff members will celebrate Independence Day with a day off, as the university will close in recognition of the July 4 (Friday) holiday.

Students will have a week-long break between summer session classes this year, with residence halls closing on Tuesday (July 1), at 10 p.m., and reopening at 11 a.m. on July 7.

Classes begin for the second summer session on July 8 and will be held through Aug. 7. Summer commencement ceremonies will be held on Aug. 9.

Planetarium Program To Make Astronomy ‘Colorful’

The physics department will continue to bring some “color” into its planetarium series program with “The Colors of Summer” and feature presentation “The Cowboy Astronomer” on Tuesday (July 1).

The program, which shows attendees which constellations, stars and planets they can expect to see in the upcoming weeks, will be held at 2 p.m. in the planetarium, located in Farrington Building Room 102.

The tour will point out and discuss the colors of the stars in such constellations as Cygnus, Lyra, Scorpio and Sagittarius, according to Michael Prokosch, staff aide for the physics department.

In addition, cowboy humorist and poet Baxter Black will give colorful commentary on the Big Dipper, Orion and Pegasus, helping “the viewer explore the stars from a cowboy's point of view,” as the narrator for “The Cowboy Astronomer” presentation, Prokosch said.

The planetarium seats up to 29 visitors and includes a dome that is approximately 18 feet in diameter and more than 20 feet high in the center.

“Essentially a time machine, the planetarium's projector can show how the night sky appears to an observer at any point in time from any place on the earth, from 100,000 years in the past, to 100,000 years into the future,” he said.

The entire program will last approximately an hour and fifteen minutes.

Admission is free, and a visitor's parking pass can be obtained at the Visitor and Alumni Center for the parking lot near the Farrington Building.

Other show dates include July 11, July 15, July 25, July 29, Aug. 8, Aug. 15, and Aug. 29.

All Tuesday programs will be held at 2 p.m., and Friday programs will be held at 7 p.m. An additional 2 p.m. showing will also be held on Aug. 15.

For more information on current show times for the planetarium or the observatory, call 936.294.3664 or e-mail Prokosch at vis_mwp@shsu.edu.

Center To Give Study Advice, Prep For LSAT

The Student Advising and Mentoring Center will teach students how to “study smart” with its second summer edition of its Study Skills Workshop series beginning July 7.

The four, one-hour sessions will introduce study skills, as well as discuss procrastination, time management, reading textbooks, test-taking strategies and stress management.

Sessions will be held at a variety of times on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays to accommodate student schedules.

Space is limited, and students must call or stop by the SAM Center to sign up.

Beginning July 8, philosophy professor Glenn Sanford will also help law school bound students prepare for the LSAT, the standardized entrance exam.

The four-week, SAM Center program will be held on Tuesdays from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. through July 29.
Class size is limited and students must register to attend.

For more information on the study skills series, call 936.294.4444, e-mail samcenter@shsu.edu or visit the SAM Center, located in Academic Building IV Room 210.

For more information on the LSAT prep course, or to register, contact SAM Center staff associate Margaret Ferguson at mxf001@shsu.edu or call 936.294.4628.

Psychology Prof Receives Teaching Award

Psychology professor Rowland Miller has been named the recipient of the 2008 International Association for Relationship Research Teaching Award.

The award, presented biennially, is based on an individual's contributions to the scholarly study of relationships, teaching students about relationships and mentoring new generations of relationship researchers.

“To my very real delight, I found out this was my year,” Miller said in an interview with the Huntsville Item. “It’s a wonderful recognition of me by my colleagues.”

Miller will travel to Providence, RI, to officially receive the award July 17-20 during the 2008 IARR Conference.

A faculty member at SHSU for 30 years this fall, Miller is currently working on revisions for the fifth edition of his popular psychology textbook “Intimate Relationships,” which is anticipated to be released for the Spring 2009 semester, according to the Item story.

The International Association for Relationship Research is an organization of relationship scientists that “seeks to stimulate and support the scientific study of personal relationships and encourage cooperation among social scientists worldwide,” according to the IARR Web site.

Military Science Welcomes 18 For Junior Training

Retired Lt. Col. Alan Mooneyham, former head of SHSU’s Military Science Department, instructs Sam Rayburn High School sophomore cadet Joshua Garza on how to rappel off the roof of the Farrington Building during training on the SHSU campus.

Eighteen Junior ROTC cadets from Sam Rayburn High School in Pasadena conducted their JROTC Leadership Camp at Sam Houston State University June 23-26.

Hosted in large part by Lt. Col. Rick King, head of the SHSU Military Science Department and the Bearkat Battalion, this was the second consecutive year SRHS students came to campus for the training.

The leadership camp included several days at Gibbs Ranch, during which the JROTC members bivouacked and used the ROTC facilities to participate in the obstacle and leaders’ reaction course, as well as conducted land navigation and practiced basic leadership, according to retired Lt. Col. Alan Mooneyham, SRHS JROTC instructor and former head of SHSU’s Military Science Department.

The JROTC cadets also had an opportunity to spend some time on campus during freshman orientation and at the Visitor Center and the Health and Kinesiology Center.

The 18 JROTC cadets were selected from the Rayburn JROTC program of over 250 high school other cadets, according to Mooneyham.

“They are the best of the best,” he said. “They have all successfully passed TAKS (the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test), have a good grade point average, are members of at least one high school organization or team, have met high physical fitness standards and hold leadership positions within JROTC.”

Mooneyham and King said this event is a win-win opportunity for both SHSU and Sam Rayburn.

“The leadership camp teaches basic leadership and self-discipline, while conducting it on a great university campus like Sam exposes high school students to an achievable alternative after high school,” Mooneyham said.

In addition, King awarded each of the cadets with their camp completion certificates, recognized six for earning the RECONDO badge, and extended an invitation to SRHS again next summer.

Picasso Project Founder Discusses Artist In Mexico

SHSU foreign languages professor Enrique Mallén gave his perspectives of Pablo Picasso to art students and professors at the Universidad Iberoamericana—Puebla on June 25.

Mallén’s lecture, “Una nueva perspectiva sobra la obra de Pablo Ruiz Picasso” (A new perspective on the work of Pablo Ruiz Picasso), was delivered in Spanish in the campuses’ main auditorium and was followed by a 45-minute question-and-answer session.

It was very well received by the audience,” Mallén said.

Mallén was invited to discuss his Picasso Project, an online catalog of the famous Spanish artist’s works, by José Valderrama Izquierdo, director of the department of art, design and architecture at the Universidad Iberoamericana-Puebla, who is a “regular user” of the Web site, Mallén said.

Send Update Items Here

Information for the SHSU Update can be sent to the Office of Public Relations electronically at Today@Sam.edu or to any of the media contacts listed below.

Please include the date, location and time of the event, as well as a brief description and a contact person.

All information for news stories should be sent to the office at least a week in advance to give the PR staff ample time to make necessary contacts and write the story.

For electronic access to SHSU news see the Public Relations Web page Today@Sam.

- END -

SHSU Media Contacts: Frank Krystyniak, Julia May, Jennifer Gauntt
June 27, 2008
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu

This page maintained by SHSU's Communications Office
Director: Bruce Erickson
Assistant Director: Julia May
Writer: Jennifer Gauntt
Located in the 115 Administration Building
Telephone: 936.294.1836; Fax: 936.294.1834

Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu.

SHSU 'In the News'

Brian Domitrovic, assistant professor of history, appeared on Book TV (C-SPAN) May 1-2, speaking about his recent book "Econoclasts: The Rebels Sparked the Supply Side Revolution and Restored American Prosperity" (www.econoclasts.net).

Houston Chronicle education writer Jeannie Kever recently turned to Regents Professor of English Paul Ruffin for his views on university presses moving toward "digital books" as opposed to traditional ink-on-paper."We're fulfilling the ancient role of the university press, and that is to produce books," said Paul Ruffin, the Texas poet laureate for 2009 and director of the Texas Review Press at Sam Houston State University. "I don't want to give up the book because it is an art."